Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive, I know it is being tested wondering if any of you guys are

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

The testers are probably subject to some kind of non-diclosure agreement tbh, but I'd be interested to know if anyone has one and is it any good.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Wish I had been given the chance to but sadly not

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

I believe that only selected employees have the box :)

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Showing my ignorance, what are you refering to?

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

NTL's up coming Sky + clone with Hi Definition Television. Basically the same as the Telewest TV Drive, but with different software.

http://www.telewest.co.uk/html/tvdrive/index.html

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Yep,

Has HDMI, USB, SATA, Optical out, 3 tuners, 160Gb Harddrive, 2 Scart sockets, RF socket, and lots of fancy other software, haven't much time on it, but to say it is a clone of Sky+ would be wrong considering the Scientific Atlanta TV drive has more features on it in one box than Sky's.

And of course you don't have to pay for the STB or installation as long as you keep your original STB for an extra £5.00 per month.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

I've no inside info to share on this one, but I'd be surprised if the software was that different from the Telewest version (bug fixes and under-the-hood changes for the new networks aside).

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

It probably isn't that different. NTL do seem to be spending an awfully long time testing it though.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Testing is the second stage; the first, "getting it to work", was probably what's taken them the time!

For example, the software would have required a lot of changes to recognise the data formats that are used on the Langley and Bromley networks, which are different from Telewest. Then every NTL headend would need to be set up to broadcast the 8-day EPG data required by the PVR. Then (potentially) the box would need to be programmed (or perhaps servers upgraded) to cope with the differences between the NTL and Telewest implementations of VOD. Oh, and Interactive. And the fact that the Langley return path system is different from Bromleys, which these days is probably different from Telewest's as well.

Basically, there was a hell of a lot of work to be done, and if they're testing it now for a December launch in some regions (as seem to be the rumours), then they've actually done pretty bloody well.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

I think the network testing is fairly advanced on Langley network with quite a few headends being HD ready now. My girlfriends Samsung box is showing PVR epg and also BBC Hd and Itv HD in channel listings on engineers boot up menu all say not provisioned so i would imagine her local headend is recieving the feeds and that local testing is taking place.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Its pretty much exactly the same as the TW version of the TVdrive... there are some issues I've heard about from others but I'm not testing it myself (was given the opportunity, but never got around to it). As previously mentioned, Langley customers, expect it around December time, Bromley, your looking at January.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Its very good.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

that seems to make sense wont be long.:D

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

But there is a monthly charge. Has Sky dropped its + monthly charge since HD has been released?

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

They waive the charge for standard Sky Plus if you take Sky Sports and Movies. But remember that this box is the equivalent of Sky Plus HD, for which they charge an extra £10pm no matter what package you take.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

I'm looking forward to getting the new NTL PVR and HD as soon as it is readily available. I presume that there will be a mad rush at the beginning but as I am not getting my new HD plasma TV until March 2007 hopefully things will have calmed down a little.
Something that concerns me though is the comments made in various forums regarding the availability of HD programmes for viewing. I assumed that if your NTL subscription included the movie channels you would automatically be able to view their HD programmes (except maybe the SKY Movies 10 HD Channel which isn't on NTL).
Is this true and if so what would be the incentive to subscribe to NTL HD if only ITV & BBC HD was available? I appreciate that the PVR with 3 digital tuners and HDD recording is a nice touch but is that enough to get someone to subscribe to HD?

Also, existing customers can waive the £75.00 installation charge by keeping their box and using in another room for £5 pcm but what if you already have a second box that you are paying £15pcm for? Can you cancel that one and save £10pcm or do you have to have a third STB you might not need?
Tony

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

[quote=Has HDMI, USB, SATA, Optical out, 3 tuners, 160Gb Harddrive, 2 Scart sockets, RF socket, and lots of fancy other software, haven't much time on it, but to say it is a clone of Sky+ would be wrong considering the Scientific Atlanta TV drive has more features on it in one box than Sky's.
[/quote]

what i'm trying to work out is - having recorded lots of favorite TV progs on the TVD can you then output these progs onto some kind of backup - either into a proper DV recorder or onto the hard drive of your laptop

ie can you get DVD copies of your fav progs somehow

RJ

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

I haven't used it, so I could be wrong, but I thought that in terms of physical features, the main advantage it has over Sky +HD is the three tuners. That is, of course, unless NTL are planning to actually use the SATA and USB ports. Bearing in mind that they never used the Serial port on my Pace and the USB port on my Samsung, I don't hold out much hope they will.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

the 3 tuners is a gr8t feature

but can you output the stored progs to a DVD recorder or a laptop ?

if not y not ? ? ?

I have MANY favorite progs 2 record

soon even a 160GB hard drive will be full

then what do you do ? ? ?

RJ

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

As far as I know there is no reason why you can't plug the scart output of the box into the input of a DVD recorder and record that way. Now this would involve a digital to analogue and back to digital set of conversions so quality will suffer and also you will only be able to copy in 'real-time'.

I would expect the raw data files on the internal HD will be encrypted to stop direct digital copying and they can also 'prevent' or at least hinder analogue copying using macrovision for certain 'copy-protected' programmes.

Of course someone may well come up with some third party solution but bear in mind that the TV-Drive box is rented from NTL, unlike Sky+ which is the property of the subscriber so you won't be allowed to get access to the HD anyway.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Yes you can record your stored programs onto DVD or VHS. Just plug them by scart into the 2nd scart socket on the TVD, there is an actual menu option for transfering recordings from the TVD, and you can still continue watching other channels.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Of course you can attach a DVD recorder to the output of the box and use that as a backup device. There would probably be restrictions in doing this with the HDMI output -- you know how paranoid the Hollywood types are that anyone might get a second copy of something on another format that they didn't have to pay for again.

I think NTL will eventually enable the SATA facility on the boxes, they've just got bigger priorities at the moment (i.e. fixing the existing bugs). The only reason for not doing so would be pressure from those evil Hollywood people again: it would be very easy to take that SATA drive and connect it to a PC, and if the encryption was cracked...

Lastly, the serial and USB connection on the boxes are primarily there for diagnostic purposes. What would you want to use the serial port for anyway? The only use I can think of for the USB would be using a keyboard for TV e-mail, but does anyone actually use that any more?

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Is the SCART out RGB enabled for those of us wanting to archive to DVD ?

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

The TV SCART is, but the VCR SCART isn't. So you can't archive with RGB whilst watching something else.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

nope, NTL:tw didnt see fit to include that standard option in these stbs, apparently the newer AVC stbs did have that option (as well as tcp:ip content streaming to/from PC etc).

the only way your ever going to get access to the saved MPeg2HD content is to break the T&C and pull the HD off that and place into a PC with special software to read off the harddrive contents, not something for your average user to even consider.

you might be able to replay the content off to the video scart connected VHS video/external £80 argos DVD recorder (if they dont protect that also?), but dont count on that working for to long or expect good video conversion, all told its a mess currently for keeping quality recordings.

and that scart output will be re-downscaled output so as to meet the DVD 720x576 spec.

---------- Post added at 21:03 ---------- Previous post was at 20:48 ----------

but your NOT simply transfering the raw ts or mpeg2, your sending it to the scart composite output and have to re-record that output with some device! (hvs/cd/dvd/computer video-input).

---------- Post added at 21:28 ---------- Previous post was at 21:03 ----------

:p: ;) your not thinking big enough or inovative enough Tristan, it will never happen on these underpowered/underspeced tvdrives but theres lots of uses for the USB (and even the extreamly slow serial connection, but we will ignore these for now as its used as you say for diagnostics ).

i forget is the tvdrive USB 1.1 or 2.0 ? , it matters due to the speed you can move stuff over the interface, for instance you cant transfer a full TS(transport stream) over the old usb1.1,only part of it at one time.

basicly anything the current 3rd party DVB-T/-S USB cards can do, the stb could also do with that usb slot.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Well the picture output still looks good, although I have only tried backing up to VHS.

True it won't be in HD or whatever but the point is the box lets you back up your recording via the scart to DVD or VHS. The box also removes the epg automatically from the Scart output, even if you were recording the channel you are watching the VCR scart does not output the EPG.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Of course it would be possible to send the raw MPEG (or even, as you say, the entire transport stream) over a USB2 connection, or Ethernet port. But why would NTL allow such a thing? What's in it for them?

If nothing else, allowing people to make perfect digital copies of HD programmes on their PCs would land them in very hot water with the content providers -- people they want to keep on-side for VOD purposes.

One thing I *could* see happening would be allowing two TVDrives on a home network to share their recording libraries -- so you could watch something upstairs that had been recorded downstairs -- but only if all network traffic could be encrypted an it was all locked down so that it couldn't be intercepted.

It's annoying, but sadly it's a fact. Hollywood is completely paranoid about anybody watching anything they haven't paid for three or four times, and NTL have no choice but to go along with them. :(

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

How does it compare to the one ntl were originally planning?

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

So people testing this how are you finding it,

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

there dosent seem to be many people saying maybe they are under secret.;)

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

I would have thought that the testers would not be allowed to talk about it

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

a lad at our work tested for ntl when they launched their digi service wouldnt let us down his house or anything said he had to sign a form or something for privacy couldnt even take photos of it.;)how true it was i dont know.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Doesn't surprise me as they would have loads of people ringing up saying Joe Bloggs down the road is testing xyz and I want to test it as well or when is it coming to my area etc they also don't want competitors getting wind of what they are doing I guess

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Lost me there :erm:
You have to keep your old box plus pay £5 per month?
Sounds promising the technology you mention if it is reliable, sadly I have many scars from NTL technology :erm:

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Well you don't have to. The current belief is that if you want the new box (and you are an existing customer), there will be a one off charge of £75. Or you can opt to keep your old box which NTL will move somewhere else in your house and have the Tv:Drive box for an additional £5 per month - which on the face of it seems to be a better deal. Presumably you would take out a new twelve month contract and after a year cancel the second (old) box and have only paid £60 instead of £75. I'm guessing that NTL assume that most people will forget and not bother cancelling 'as it's only £5'.

Does seem a bit unfair that new customers can get the box without paying the £75 but that's just how many businesses work.

Of course it might be possible to get them to waive the fee if you threaten to leave but I would expect them to 'call your bluff' at least in the early days when demand will be high. If you are prepared to wait until the initial rush has died down, then it might be easier to get them to waive it but I wouldn't be too hopeful.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

It would be nice is some new member of the forum post's up some pic's of the receiver & menu's etc;)

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

There are already plenty of pictures of the box available online, it's exactly the same as the Telewest one!

Likewise, I would expect the software to have changed very little by the time it's released. I'm sure you can find "picture's" of the Telewest "menu's" somewhere...

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

TVDrive is great, I love it. It had it's teething issues but the recent code downloads have resolved most of them. I work the late shift at the NSC so I don't get to watch much TV. I record all my programs and watch them the next day.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Is there any reason for a customer to keep the older box that the tv drive will replace? I guess what I am asking is if you have the brand new tv drive box what is the use of keeping the old one? apart from saving NTL the problem of getting rid of it but also charging you £5 per month for the pleasure :erm:

" Note: 14/04/06 - At this time, you can only record two programmes at the same time. You can, however, watch a third in "Delay TV" mode. The functionality to record a third programme will be added at a later date."

Has the above been adressed yet ?

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Well some people will still want a box in another room.

I am not sure. The box can record 2 channels and you can watch a 3rd actual channel. Maybe I shall try it out.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Just enquired when it will be available in the Swindon area and told in a month or so. I must admit, the CS I spoke to sounded very surprised that I knew about the product!

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

So if you already have two boxes, presumably your best option is to tell ntl to remove one, then follow up with a request to install a TVD and move the replaced box to where you originally had the 2nd box anyway.

That way you avoid the £75 installation fee, pay £10 per month for the TVD and £5 per month for the 2nd box, but save the £15 per month you currently pay for the 2nd box, thus effectively getting the entire upgrade free!

Of course ntl have to make two visits rather than one, but c'est la vie.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

that's what I was thinking seeing as I also currently have two boxes

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

If you want to keep your original STB you will pay £5.00 a month for this, and doing this will also prevent you from paying a £75.00 installation fee for the TV drive. If you don't keep your original STB you will pay £75.00 installation fee for the TV drive.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

wonder how it works if you have a box upstairs already like me.?;)

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Can anyone answer this query because i have to say i'm getting slightly confused about it all.

I have two boxes, one up and one down. I of course will be taking the TV drive when its available but i wish to keep the 2nd box to use with my Tivo.

So the million dollar question is, how much will i be having to pay for 3 boxes

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

I would imagine £15 (£10 for TVDrive, £5 for mirror subscription) if we go by Telewest's prices :)

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

I can not wait for this now, NTL want to get a move on sky are droping the price of there HD receiver to £199 from the 1st of november for new customers

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

unless you split the signal ?

---------- Post added at 08:36 ---------- Previous post was at 08:34 ----------

I agree why can't we get this now ?

They've had them in Telewest zone 4 ages ?

?

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Still £199.00 to much for me.

I will be having the TVdrive as soon as its in my area.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

I think you misread my post. I said "you can't archive with RGB whilst watching something else". The TVDrive has two video decoders, but the second one, which is used by the archive function, is only connected to the (non-RGB) VCR SCART socket. You can split the RGB signal as long as you are happy to watch what you are archiving.

I suppose you could swap the TV and VCR SCART plugs over, and watch one recording whilst archiving another.

Note that if you have the output set to HDMI or Component, the TV SCART socket is disabled completely, because it can't decode both in HD and SD at the same time.

Don't believe everything you read here. The Telewest version was very specifically designed for the Telewest network, and a lot of changes have been required to make it work on the ntl networks.

(ps. Less of the text-speak please. I was trying to work out where "Telewest zone 4" is :) )

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Just rang CS and got through straight away! must be something wrong :p:
Anyway asked about TV Drive and was told would be in the St.Albans area by 16th Jan.

As I only have one box at present I will be moving this to the bedroom. I want the cable under the floor so wish to run this myself. Is ntl ok about this and what cable would I need to use, is it standard 75 ohm coax?

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

That's disappointing for what is intended to be a high-end box. Is there any technical reason why both SCARTs couldn't be RGB?

Could you, hypothetically, archive to an HDMI connected DVD recorder, or is such a facility banned by the Copyright Gestapo?

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

As http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCART says: "RGB connections are not bidirectional. Bidirectional S-Video was added in an extension, although few devices support this, so downstream connections are almost always composite."

SCART has both input and output composite pins (19 and 20), but only one set of RGB pins (7, 11 and 13). These are wired as inputs on the VCR socket of all STBs AFAIK, so you can play back RGB through the box.

Yes, if there is such a thing and it supports HDCP. But only by using normal playback, not the archive function.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

your easyest option is to estimate the length and tell the fitter that you intend to reroute the cable under the floor, he/she should be fine with that as it makes their install faster to just cut the right length and no need to secure the cable as you will be finishing off.

or if you can do the prep work and make it easy for them to just thread the cable then that to could be done.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

I've been wondering about this myself. I currently have a splitter on the cable where it comes into the house. One cable then runs to my office for the cablemodem and the other is in the living room, but split a second time with one cable to the STB and the other providing terrestrial passthru to the DVD recorder.

As I am wanting to have the old STB in my office, could the coax going to the cablemodem just be split, or is adding a third splitter to the cable asking for trouble?


A.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

£199.00 Well spent imo, won top award for pvr in what hifi.
Said the picture quality is awesome.
Give it a bit longer and I see another £50 off soon ;)

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Thanks popper I'll work out the length and get them to leave enough.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

I am going to give ntl a call and see if there is any info for my area on tv drive

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Surely people should know better by now than to ask and expect a release date, the product appears to still be under testing.

If they give a release date now and it slips they'll just get a battering. :shrug:

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

I understand that you wish to keep the 2nd box to use with your Tivo but why do you need 3 boxes?

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

They said it will be out in a week or two in my area when i phoned them.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

As i'm still living at home for the present, one is for my parents and the TvDrive + 2nd box would be in my bedroom.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

OK, well at a guess I would assume you would have to pay £5 pm for the second box and £15 pm for the third.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

These conversations look all too familiar, about another box we're all waiting for!

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Why are we digging up old threads from 2006?

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive
 

Just a bit bored, and its funny seeing the same conversations almost as we're having about the tivo.

Re: Any one here testing the NTL S/A Tv drive