Question VBox XTi-3332 or Something Else?

Eddy555

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I want to be able to record Freesat TV (SD/HD) to either a drive that can be accessed by other devices on my network, or to a network drive.

This VBox XTi-3332 looks like it's just the job, although there seem to be some mixed reviews on the usuability and reliability of it.
VBox | UK Freeview and Freesat to IP - Network TV Tuner and PVR
I'd say I'm fairly tech savvy so I'm not scared of a complex setup as long as it's simple to use once running.

Is this my only option (I can't find anything else) or is there something else I should consider?
 
Just bought one of these using the Olympics £99.00 (inc VAT and delivery) offer. Only had it a couple of days but here are a few observations.

Word of warning, anyone buying should make sure their router supports UPNP (most modern ones will).

Basic setup is simple using the web interface and Firefox. Tried using android and found the PC much more user friendly. I used the manual tune option to save time. All you have to do is tick the Mux your local transmitter uses and press scan. No real expertise is required for this.

The unit can't handle the Huffman encoded Freeview epg, but you can map the equivalent SD epg to appear alongside the HD entry (Vbox refer to this as pairing). I had to ask Vbox support how to do this as none of the documentation includes this though the latest software mentions this in the release notes.

Channel pairing is available in the VBox web admin page under – Streaming – Program Guide

Once you choose channel pairing you will be able to link the guide between your channels

I was unable to record HD on Android (not had time to check if having paired this now works).

Recording possible using the Web access in Firefox (The preferred browser because it supports playback using the VLC addon).

Recording appears to be limited to 4 channels at once (subject to MUX restrictions)

Replay devices.

PC works fine using the aforementioned VLC add on for Firefox and using Vbox's own PVR add on for Kodi.

Android devices - Vbox has their own app, but using Kodi is superior. I have Galaxy TAB S2 tablet which has a 4:3 aspect ratio. VBox app distorts the picture to fill the screen, Kodi displays at the correct aspect ratio for the programme. Also works fine on my Samsung Galaxy S4 phone.

Here's a surprise, my LG blu-ray recorder recognises the Vbox TV gateway and replays both Live TV and recordings to my Panasonic 47" smart TV. Not tried the TV apps basically because it's easier to use the blu-ray as it connects by HDMI to my Yamaha AV receiver.

HD picture quality is excellent on all devices.

Remote access to TV Gateway, live TV and recordings works fine after following the simple instructions from the Vbox support site to set up port forwarding on my Asus router. I also setup Asus free Dynamic DNS service as I believe Virgin do not use a fixed IP address.

You should also set up a fixed IP address based on the TV gateway using the box MAC address (a pretty simple job on my router).

Recordings were made t o the box usb port using a portable USB drive. I haven't tried using USB on my routers two usb ports (one 3.0 and the others 2.0) using the nework drive option, setup looks to be pretty simple though.

Hope this helps.
 

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Sorry for dragging an old thread up, but it felt neater than starting a new thread. I'm thinking about buying one of these.

Graham, can you tell me if the recordings from HD channels are encrypted on the vbox. I would be planning on having it record to my "my cloud" nas, and play back recordings on smart TVs, Apple TV etc.

Also, what video format are the recordings saved as?
I appreciate any replies.
Thanks
Duncan
 
Sorry for dragging an old thread up, but it felt neater than starting a new thread. I'm thinking about buying one of these.

Graham, can you tell me if the recordings from HD channels are encrypted on the vbox. I would be planning on having it record to my "my cloud" nas, and play back recordings on smart TVs, Apple TV etc.

Also, what video format are the recordings saved as?
I appreciate any replies.
Thanks
Duncan

Nothing is encrypted. I will check tommorow but pretty sure they are in a transport stream container (.ts), in common with all pvrs they are a bit for bit copy of the original broadcast. HD recordings are H264/AVC Video with AAC Audio (2.0 or 5.1 as broadcast) mostly 1080p25. SD ones are mpeg2 Video 576i and MP2 audio. If you want to record to cloud storage you would need a very fast upload speed. EG 4 simultaneous HD recordings would need around 40Mbps. No problem with a local NAS drive connected to your router though. You can access a local connected NAS remotely anyway, but again upload speed is likely to be the restriction.
 
Memory slightly faulty. Container is standard programme stream (.mpg). Full details

General
ID : 16517 (0x4085)
Complete name : E:\BBC TWO HD_2016_02_10_2059_62_75042751066149.mpg
Format : MPEG-TS
File size : 1.90 GiB
Duration : 1h 1mn
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 4 380 Kbps

Video
ID : 101 (0x65)
Menu ID : 17472 (0x4440)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : 27
Duration : 1h 1mn
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Standard : Component
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709

Audio
ID : 102 (0x66)
Menu ID : 17472 (0x4440)
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Muxing mode : LATM
Codec ID : 17
Duration : 1h 1mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : -373ms
Language : English
descriptor_tag_extension : 6

Text
ID : 105 (0x69)
Menu ID : 17472 (0x4440)
Format : DVB Subtitle
Codec ID : 6
Duration : 1h 1mn
Delay relative to video : 2s 480ms
Language : English
 
Graham,
I'm definitely planning to get a Vbox, but am deliberating between freeview or satellite.

Do you know if there is a difference in terms of setting up epg data, I'm assuming the epg data is automatically there for the free view model? Would I have to manually update the epg data each week if I went for the satellite version, or would it just be a matter of setting up the source of the epg data, and then it would automatically populate and update going forwards.

I appreciate any information you are able to give me.
Thanks
Duncan
 
Graham,
I'm definitely planning to get a Vbox, but am deliberating between freeview or satellite.

Do you know if there is a difference in terms of setting up epg data, I'm assuming the epg data is automatically there for the free view model? Would I have to manually update the epg data each week if I went for the satellite version, or would it just be a matter of setting up the source of the epg data, and then it would automatically populate and update going forwards.

I appreciate any information you are able to give me.
Thanks
Duncan

Sorry no experience of the satellite box so can't answer the epg question. Generally generic free to air satellite kit only has now and next programme data that is transmitted along with the programme content. Vbox have a user forum of their own so you might get a better answer from there.

The Kodi app downloads the Freeview epg when you open the add on. Though still have no epg for the BBC channels due to the Huffman encoding used.
 

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