Humax DTR-T1000 YouView Personal Video Recorder Review & Comments

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Reviewed by Mark Hodgkinson, 21st August 2012. After all the waiting the Humax YouView DTR-T1000 is certainly not a let-down but it’s definitely not all it should be. The sense that it is somewhat incomplete as a PVR is almost inexorable and, for a product that will mostly be sold on the back of its recording abilities, that’s a fairly serious implication and one that YouView needs to attend to post-haste. It’s by no means a poor PVR, just not one that currently justifies the price-tag. Where the DTR-T1000 scores heavily is in the integration of the on-demand content, which is simply unrivalled for a non-subscription box. More thought certainly seems to have gone in to that side of the functionality and tips the scales just in favour of the first YouView branded product. It’s a Recommended, by the skin of its teeth, but we're expecting better - and soon.
Read the full review...
 
Maybe 5.1 optical could be enabled with a f/w update.

Lack of 1080i support is a non-issue, surely, virtually all TVs that support HDMI also support 1080p and thus saves the TV having to do the deinterlacing.

Wonder if there may be support for YouView on mobile devices in the future, as a one stop shop for free to air on demand content.
 
Lack of 1080i support is a non-issue, surely, virtually all TVs that support HDMI also support 1080p and thus saves the TV having to do the deinterlacing.

Nope, a lot of older HDTV's wont accept a 1080p signal. It's a big oversight.
 
I find it puzzling that even if the box asked my post-code during set-up, it still offered me a choice of the TV region to chose from during every tune. Why do you ask my post-code if you won't know where I am?
 
The box supports more HDMI resolutions than 1080p, the 5.1 issue will be fixed in the October update as well as the ability to delete channels.
 
Which box you are talking about antdaviesuk? My Humax box has a fixed 1080p output and there is no format setting in the menus.
 
TheHumax YouView DTR-1000 box should output a signal that's compatible with the TV. (720p, 1080i or 1080p - 1080i in my case ). It's negotiated between the 2 when you plug the cable in or turn on from standby. Although some TVs are very sensitive about HDMI negotiation.

The option to manually choose the resolution will be available in a future update.
 
antdaviesuk, from the language you use (will, has, etc.) I assume you are part of the YouView team. YouView forum has quite a few reports of their TVs not accepting signal. Maybe YouView should consider the issue of HDMI negotiations not working when the connection goes through a HDMI switch, like an AV amplifier and add the output format option to the settings?
 
I have recently purchased the youview Humax DTR1000 500GB PVR. Before this I had a Sharp freeview recorder which always had recording and signal issues from the start. The Humax is a breath of fresh air (so far!). The only issue I have with it is the picture ratio on some channels (often Ch4 & Ch5 films) where I get the black blocks either side of the screen and cannot change it. It doesn't happen on my TVs on the same channels I get an undistorted full screen picture. Hopefully there'll be a firmware upgrade at some stage in the future to fix this.

I've set it on low eco mode so it starts up pretty quick and I don't notice any noise from the box which again I got from the older Sharp box. It's connected via HDMI and sounds good through my surround system too.

All in all I'm happy...;)
 
The only issue I have with it is the picture ratio on some channels (often Ch4 & Ch5 films) where I get the black blocks either side of the screen and cannot change it.

You are not supposed to change that. It means the films you are watching were produced in 4:3 aspect ratio and when you watch them on a 16:9 widescreen TV the only option is to have those black bars on the sides.

Some PVRs or TVs have a zoom option that either crops the top and bottom of the picture or distort it by stretching the picture to fit the width of the TV screen. neither should be used as it alters the images intended by the filmmakers.
 
You are not supposed to change that. It means the films you are watching were produced in 4:3 aspect ratio and when you watch them on a 16:9 widescreen TV the only option is to have those black bars on the sides.

Some PVRs or TVs have a zoom option that either crops the top and bottom of the picture or distort it by stretching the picture to fit the width of the TV screen. neither should be used as it alters the images intended by the filmmakers.

Why does it not happen on my TVs just when watching via the Humax? I don't want to see the black bars I think it detracts from my viewing pleasure...
 
Why does it not happen on my TVs just when watching via the Humax? I don't want to see the black bars I think it detracts from my viewing pleasure...

As I tried to explain, your box or TV is zooming in the picture and either cropping the top and bottom or stretching the image in order to fit the 4:3 image to a 16:9 TV set. This was the done thing in the past. Thankfully it is not as uncommon now.

It is pure logic. If you understand what aspect ratio is then you should also understand that black side bars are the only way to show an 'unaltered' 4:3 picture on a 16:9 screen.

Your old box was 'altering' the image, YouView does not, as it shouldn't. It is not the job of the box to change the images that are broadcast.
 
Thanks, I can see what you're saying/getting at; That's my point though the viewing experience is different for everyone, I don't like the black bars so will watch the programmes that show like that through my TV rather than the youview box... (My TV won't allow any adjustment whilst via the youview box) but through the TV it doesn't appear distorted to me. Pointless having a widescreen TV like most if not all are these days if you can't watch everything using the full screen size available.
 
It could be pointless to you to see the bars but it is pointless to me to watch a cropped or distorted image. As you said everyone has different priorities.

All I will say is that there is no other trick that your TV is doing besides distorting your image. You are watching a 'distorted' image which is not what the filmmaker intended for you to see. If you are happy with that it is your choice.
 
I've had the Humax HDR FoxT2 for just over a year and decided to give it away when the DTR T1000 came on the market. I have regretted this decision ever since. There are so many problem area's its hard to know where to start.
The main things that really bother me is not being able to put recordings into folders. On series record, if I watch a recorded program then delete it, it will record the same one again and again until the following weeks episode.
I can't edit channel numbers as comprehensibly as the HDR either. If I want to add or delete a channel, I have to do a complete retune.
I have offered to swap it to get my HDR back, but she won't budge. I'm giving this Youview piece of rubbish to a charity shop and buying another HDR-foxT2.
 
It would appear that there is no way to record On Demand content using this YouView box........which is a pain!
 
There is no way to record OD content on any platform, or am I mistaken?
 

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