General Forum

Re: Review of the DVB-T as an upgrade to AVANT DVD and BeoVision 3

pdoisy — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 06:37:12 GMT

Thank you Keith for your answer. I've received the same response from B&O.

Being a B&O afficionado, I was waiting for (a long time) the integrated DVB-T module for my AVANT, even ready to accept in some ways the high tag price and "special" usability... I am just convinced today to go with a (better) solution: STB.

Cheers

Re: Review of the DVB-T as an upgrade to AVANT DVD and BeoVision 3

Keith Saunders — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 04:01:35 GMT

With regards to adding the DVB-T to the AVANT CTV 28, I am sorry to inform you that this cannot be done on your version.

It is true that they use the same software except for AVANT DVD mark III, but the chassis is different.

Also, I have to agree with Peter, that the cost of the upgrade is difficult to justify particularly for UK users where the functions are different from a users viewpoint, when using the Beo4. Example, for none UK users you press RED button for the EPG, in the UK you must press EXIT followed by the RED button. If you just press the RED button in the UK you get the interactive text menu.

Re: Review of the DVB-T as an upgrade to AVANT DVD and BeoVision 3

pdoisy — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 18:34:04 GMT

Hello!

First, thank you for Keith for the very informative posts and FAQs, I have read them with great interest.

However, I was wondering why the DVB-T could not be compatible with other AVANT versions like 28" CTV (type: 8364 updated with Dolby Digital), even with a software upgrade... Don't they have the same chassis as BV 3?

Just asking because I have a AVANT CTV ;-)

Cheers

Re: Review of the DVB-T as an upgrade to AVANT DVD and BeoVision 3

Petros — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 15:40:42 GMT

Keith,

Thanks for that. I understand your point about having both the Beosystem 3 and Avant as masters and the resulting problems of control.

I tried taking the RF cable that runs from the RF 1 socket on the back of the Sky box and moving it to the Link Socket of the Beosystem 3. This allowed me to distribute the DTV signal to the Avant. However I lost the Sky signal to the Avant and I still could not get a DVD signal to go to the Avant.

Re: Review of the DVB-T as an upgrade to AVANT DVD and BeoVision 3

Keith Saunders — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 14:28:30 GMT

Petros,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

One thing about the Beolink protocol which needs to be understood is the principle of Video & Audio master where you can only have one master of each type and all other audio and video products on the Beolink must be slave products. So you have a Beosystem 3 and an AVANT which are normally both Video masters. Thats my first point.

Second, I now understand why you get Sky on the AVANT albeit with some problems, but none of the other facilities of the Beosystem 3. You will need a RF cable from the Beosystem 3 to the AVANT aerial to distribute everything including the Sky box. Even with the RF cable you will have issues in control because of conflict on the Masterlink. If your AVANT was say a Beovision 1L you would have no problems whatsoever.

So, I suggest you add the RF cable because you are going to need that anyway.

Re: Review of the DVB-T as an upgrade to AVANT DVD and BeoVision 3

Petros — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 13:24:45 GMT

Keith,

Sorry, missed reply to your last question. There is nothing else connected in the link room, only an Ouverture in the same room as the Beosystem 3.

Re: Review of the DVB-T as an upgrade to AVANT DVD and BeoVision 3

Petros — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 13:21:08 GMT

Keith,

Thanks for responding so quickly.

The Sky STB is connected to the Beosystem 3.

When I said that the Sky box generally works, I didn't want to overload with too many problems at once, but I've had problems where switching on the Avant from the link room seems to switch off the Sky box which has been on downstairs. I can switch back on by using Link - VTape again but then can't change channel on Sky. I seem to be able to get round that by then switching on TV on the Avant and then again going to Link - V Tape to bring back Sky with full control of the STB.

Their is no RF cable from Link TV on the Beosystem 3 to the aerial socket on the Avant. Their is a connection from the RF1 socket on the Sky STB to the Avant aerial socket. Their is a Masterlink connection to the Avant.

Re: Review of the DVB-T as an upgrade to AVANT DVD and BeoVision 3

Keith Saunders — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 11:49:40 GMT

Petros,

Well, it can be done, but I need to understand your complete configuration before suggesting the best way of approaching your problem. Your Dealer in correct from the official B&O accepted configurations, but that does not mean it is not possible.

Can you please clarify you last sentence of your post, Is the Sky STB connected to the AVANT or the Beosystem 3 ?

You also say the Sky box "generally" works, do you mean it only sometimes works ?

Can you confirm that you have an RF coax cable from the "LINK TV" output (socket to the right of S Video as below) of your Beosystem 3 to your aerial input of your AVANT ?

Is the AVANT and the Beosystem 3 connected with the Masterlink ?

Is there any other B&O products connected to the Masterlink in the link room with the AVANT ?

Look forward to your feedback so we can get your problem solved.

Re: Review of the DVB-T as an upgrade to AVANT DVD and BeoVision 3

Petros — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 08:07:45 GMT

Keith,

Wonder if you can help me. You refer in this article to linking DVB-T signal to a link room. I've recently installed a Beosystem 3 with integrated DVB - T/S. I have this linked to a 32 inch Flat screen Avant (age circa 2001 with video tape player) but I don't appear to be able to send the DTV video or audio signal from the Beosystem 3 to the Avant. My dealer advises that this is not possible but I'm not convinced. I've also tried linking a Pioneer DVD player that is connected to Beosystem 3 through HDMI without success. I have a Sky box connected and this works generally OK using Link - V Tape on the Beo4 in the link room.

Re: Review of the DVB-T as an upgrade to AVANT DVD and BeoVision 3

Flappo The Grate — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 07:00:42 GMT

i've been waiting years for this for our avant and tbh i'm distinctly underwhelmed not only by the bland interface , but the implementation and above all the ridiculous price

for less than £500 you can buy a top of the range sony / pioneer dvb-t recorder with 250gig+ hd

in fact that's what i have plugged into mine , the sony hdrx860 , highly recommend it

Re: Review of the DVB-T as an upgrade to AVANT DVD and BeoVision 3

nlb — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:11:25 GMT

Keith, thanks for updating the FAQs. My software version is 1.7 and during the first time set-up we did select "free to air" rather than all. IF B&O do make any improvements to the software and release new updates, I wonder how I will ever know! Can't trust the (average) dealer! nlb.

Re: Review of the DVB-T as an upgrade to AVANT DVD and BeoVision 3

Keith Saunders — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 11:34:11 GMT

nlb,

I have updated the FAQ with your points and the updated document can be found HERE

Re: Review of the DVB-T as an upgrade to AVANT DVD and BeoVision 3

Keith Saunders — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 10:26:15 GMT

nlb

Thanks for your feedback.

I will add the points you have raised to the FAQ..

With regards to your question about software updates. Software updates can only be done with the B&O Service Tool which is a software package which runs on a Windows PC. You will note that your DVB-T has a ribbon cable which goes to a 9 pin connector at the back of the TV, this is an RS232 interface which is connected to the COM's port on a PC with the software loaded on it. So, this means when a new software version comes out you will only know about it, if your B&O dealer tells you or you have a problem and the dealer suggests a software upgrade.

When you do a channel search the only thing it does is add channels, if any new channels are available. You may have also noted that you can set the unit to "Channel Search" either for ALL channels or "FREE to AIR" channels. However if you did your initial scan with it set to ALL channels, then subsequently changed it to "FREE to AIR" it will not delete the channels which are not "FREE to AIR". The only way you can scan for only "FREE to AIR" is reset it as if it were new. The big problem here, is by default the unit is shipped with "ALL" channels selected and after a reset therefore it scans for "ALL" channels unless you stop it.

Another point you may or may not have noted is that if you view the "System Information" it tells you the software version and I hope yours is at 1.7, but it also informs you that you can download an updated User guide from the B&O web Site. However if you go to the B&O web site there are no user guides whatsoever for DVB-T, let alone an updated version. I have informed B&O of this issue, but to date they have not done anything about it.

Re: Review of the DVB-T as an upgrade to AVANT DVD and BeoVision 3

nlb — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 09:20:52 GMT

Keith, great Q&As, I would add that the best way to get to all the DVB-T functions (the overlay menu) is to use the following Beo4 buttoms > EXIT > yellow (this brings up the main overlay menu) you can also use > EXIT > red for the programme guide (one of the best features). Also if you would like to rearrange the order of the TV channel list then you need to make sure the list sorting is set to numeric and not broadcaster. It also comes with full 7 day EPG and any new channels need to be added using the search function which leaves your TV list unchanged, but simply adds the new channels in. Not sure if the software is auto downloaded when new versions are availiable? I would repeat (as I noted above) that "usability" is appalling and will damage the reputation of B&O. Simple as that! Cost (UK) = £375 plus installation nlb.

Re: Review of the DVB-T as an upgrade to AVANT DVD and BeoVision 3

Bingo — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 05:06:56 GMT

As usual, B&O comes much to late with DVB and now a lot is going to HDTV and MPEG4, I wonder how long it takes for B&O to come with it. Making 1080P televisions wiht SDTV modules is not of much use in my opinion.