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Satellite receiver Humax VA-4SD

In December 2009, a new platform Surface + START was launched, for which Poverkhnost + offered the Humax VA-4SD receiver, already familiar to connoisseurs of satellite television through the NTV + Light product.

Main characteristics of the receiver:

■ Receiving DVB-S / S2 MPEG2 / MPEG4 satellite SD channels

■ Built-in Viaccess access system.

■ Memory for 2000 TV and radio channels.

■ Electronic Program Guide (EPG)

■ Support for Ukrainian, Russian and English on-screen menus.

■ Timer on / off terminal.

■ Access lock (child protection).

■ Software update from satellite.

■ Modes of automatic and manual channel tuning.

■ Supports DiSEqC 1.0 and 2.0 protocols

■ SPDIF digital audio output

■ SCART-TV output

■ RCA video / audio signal outputs

■ RF modulator for connecting a terrestrial antenna.

■ Dimensions: 260x180x50 mm.

The South Korean company HUMAX, specializing in the production of digital receivers and software for them, is well known in the post-Soviet space. The real expansion to the Russian and Ukrainian markets began back in 1999. In a very short time, satellite receivers of this brand have taken a leading position in the class of devices used to receive NTV-Plus channels. In fact, capturing almost the entire market.

Models such as F1, F1-VA, F1-VACI were reliable in operation, quickly turned on, and most importantly, the latter two were equipped with a Viaccess decoder. This made them ideal for receiving channels of the "NTV-Plus" package.

The HUMAX VA-FOX has become a truly popular model. It went on sale in 2000. For the most part, thanks to the use of a processor that was more modern at that time and excellent picture quality, this receiver remained popular among NTV-Plus subscribers for many years and not only.

Released in early 2006, HUMAX VA-ACE + is still on the list of receivers recommended for providing access to channels and additional services of NTV-PLUS.

But not only in the work with the packages of the above-mentioned company, the Humax satellite receivers proved themselves worthy. For example, Humax HDCI-2000 is one of the first satellite HDTV receivers recommended for viewing channels of the HD Platform provider.

After a short historical excursion, we turn our attention to a new model of the South Korean company - the Humax VA-4SD satellite receiver. My first correspondence acquaintance with this model took place in September 2009, when the company "NTV-PLUS" in the section "recommended receivers" placed a description and photographs of the front and rear panels of the terminal for receiving a new package "Light". It was then that I had a very strong sense of déjà vu for the first time. After all, Humax VA-4SD looked like a twin brother of the Viasat SRT-7700 receiver, developed by Strong specifically for the Ukrainian operator of pay satellite TV - Viasat.

And now, for a long time, the Humax VA-4SD receiver fell into our hands. But already as a satellite receiver for the Surface + START platform. The receiver is packaged in a small white box with a large Surface + logo.

When you remove the receiver, the feeling of déjà vu flares up with renewed vigor. Before us is the same Viasat SRT-7700, with minor changes in decorative elements. But all this can be forgiven, because the satellite receiver looks very, very good. Black body, austere design, straight, slightly beveled corners. Next to him, the PoverkhnostPlus HS 5001 IR receiver looks like a big guy.

The Humax VA-4SD is a really small device that doesn't take up much space next to your TV. The front panel contains navigation arrows and control keys "Power", "Menu", "OK".In the center, just above the arrows, there are three LEDs on the device. The entire right side of the front panel is occupied by a flip cover for the Viaccess CA card slot. The Reset button was disguised next to the card capture reader. The presence of the latter on the front panel can be added to the advantages of the device, although it suggests some not very good thoughts. What's really upsetting is the lack of any channel number indicator, let alone a full display.

Go ahead. The back panel is quite austere. For communication with the world, the necessary minimum is provided: a SCART connector, a composite RCA output, a digital output for stereo and multichannel sound in Dolby Digital 5.1 - SPDIF format, as well as an input for a signal from an over-the-air RF IN antenna and an output for an RF OUT TV antenna input. Updating software is possible only via satellite, there is no RS232 connector.

When you get your hands on a new device, what do you want to do the most? No, a normal person just wants to turn it on. Disassemble, of course! Removing the cover from the Humax VA-4SD was not difficult. It is enough to unscrew three bolts on the back cover, and two on the sidewalls. Now all the stuffing of the satellite receiver has opened to our eyes. What can we learn useful for ourselves?

We have to admit that the boards are assembled very carefully.

Installed capacitors with a maximum temperature of + 105 ° C. The processor is hidden from prying eyes by a large black radiator.

I do not want to deprive the attention of the remote control. After all, outwardly, it has nothing to do with its twin brother Viasat SRT-7700. It is made, to match the receiver, in a black case, but did not go on a diet. Thanks to this, the buttons are located at a great distance from each other, which is very convenient.

Those familiar with Humax equipment will recognize the company's corporate identity. The on / off button of the satellite receiver is located a little unusually. Not from the top left, as is customary for many manufacturers, but from the top right. It will take some time to get used to it.

The buttons for scrolling through channels and changing the volume level are duplicated. The presence of the "Exit" and "Back" keys has already become common in modern devices. Some buttons have no function assigned. The manufacturer has reserved them, which, possibly, in the future will allow you to control new functions of the receiver with changes in the software. The owner of the remote control does not have to worry that he will inadvertently lose the cover from the battery compartment, since the latter is attached with a special soft rubber band. In general, the remote control leaves a rather pleasant impression.

The inspection with passion is over, and now you can proceed to the most interesting thing - testing the receiver. I connect the device to the TV, press the power key, watch the software update message, and after 35 seconds I get ... a gray-blue screen prompting me to insert a smart card. They sailed, I thought. Sadly, the receiver refuses to work without the provider's conditional access card. So if you lose the latter, you will not be able to receive even FTA channels. You cannot feed the receiver and a third-party Viaccess card.

So, without further ado, we take out an access card from the subscription agreement. It lacks the company logo, as well as any drawing at all. Just Viaccess and a barcode. It doesn't look solid at all, but it's not so scary. Now that the card is inserted, the receiver is ready for use. But first, it needs to be properly configured.

First of all, the receiver suggested using the automatic setup procedure. Judging by the numerous reviews, this is not recommended if the converters are connected via DiSEqC. Since after a while it will give out an inscription about the missing signal, or, in extreme cases, it will even think about it before the next reboot. Since the converter was connected directly, I agreed to an automatic installation.Less than 20 seconds later, the receiver greeted me with the Ukrainian menu language and ... not the most pleasant system for building a channel list. The channel numbering started from 101,102, ... at 111 it was cut off, jumping to 201 and so on. So in the end I got 1006 TV channels of the Surface + START platform.

I don't know if Surface + START subscribers will like such a system, but after looking at all this disgrace, without thinking twice, I did a factory reset and decided to use the manual settings next time.

After 35 seconds, the satellite receiver once again greeted me with a message asking me to use the automatic tuning procedure. By prudently pressing "Hi", I got the receiver setup menu, consisting of five items.

Step 1. "Language selection". Everything is simple and clear here.

Step 2. "Country". A list of 5 states is proposed.

Step 3. "Installing the antenna". We are not offered great freedoms here. In addition to Eutelsat W4 and partners, 6 more satellites have been proposed. Also, it is not clear on what basis these satellites were added to the list. So, in the absence of the necessary satellites, you will have to enter them manually. Only HOTBIRD and SIRIUS are in demand in the Ukrainian open spaces. The content of the “DiSEqC input” sub-item makes it clear that the satellite receiver works only with DiSEqC 1.0 and 2.0 protocols. You can also forget about working with the positioner.

When going to the next step, the receiver will automatically scan most of the transponders from the selected satellite in the automatic search mode. We can agree and click “Save”. But so that later there would be no questions why this or that channel does not show, and this channel came running from NTV-PLUS in general, it is better to clear the list of channels. And only then, in the manual search mode, scan only those 4 transponders on which the "Surface +" powers are located.

Step 4. "Time setting". Here we will be asked to choose your time zone. If we live on the territory of Ukraine, then we choose +2 hours from world time.

Step 5. "As a result." Your TV screen will display information about all the settings you have selected, as well as the number of channels found. If you are mistaken at any stage, it does not matter. You can always go back. We press "Finish".

The receiver setup is complete.

The picture quality in the MPEG-4 standard is really good. Still, the H.264 codec, which replaced H.263, does its job. The colors are not distorted, the brightness and contrast of the image are not satisfactory. Of course, this is not an HDTV, with its amazing clarity, but even on a small LCD panel, everything will look very good.

Channel editor.

Now that the receiver is configured and the picture is received, we proceed to fine-tune the device to suit our refined taste. Press the "Menu" key and go to the second item "Edit channels". Here we can edit an existing channel list, or create, modify favorite lists.

So, we go into the channel editor, and first of all we try to move our favorite TV channels to the first positions. But it was not there. Humax VA-4SD insidiously trips us up. Channels can be deleted, even the possibility of blocking is provided, but in no case can they be moved. So, if you have an extra 2 hours, then you can easily arrange the channels by deleting and scanning, deleting again, scanning again ... I don't have that much time, so I leave everything as it is, remembering the kindly quiet word of the software developers provision.

Preferences.

Going to the "Preferences" menu item, we can move to the "Parental Control" section where it is possible to manage the parental access function by setting the restriction criteria.

In the "Language settings" section, you can select the language settings for the menu and subtitles. The section "Time settings" allows you to change the time zone and set the timer for automatic turning on, or turning off the device.

Many people will find the "Schedule" section useful.No, it has nothing to do with traffic. Here you can set the time to turn on or off the receiver on a particular TV channel, at the time you set, indicating the date, time and frequency. So do not worry that, being carried away by chores around the house, you will miss your favorite TV series or news release.

In the submenu "Audio Video Management" we can easily set the required screen format, audio and video source modes.

Antenna installation. Manual and automatic search.

The subsection "Installing the antenna" is not replete with a large number of settings, but the required minimum is available. Having played enough, we can always reset to the original settings using the "Standard Surface" option. I think this function will significantly relieve the company's call-centers from calls from novice experimenters. Due to the fact that a small number of satellites has been added to the receiver's memory, it is possible to edit the list of satellites and add the necessary ones.

In the subsection "Automatic search" we can scan all transponders of the selected satellite. It is possible to set a search filter by search type (FTA, Scrambled) and channel type (TV, Radio). A bit puzzled that by default, only Eutelsat W4 is present in the satellite list. Another trick from the manufacturer? Don't be intimidated. It is enough to go to the sub-item "Antenna installation", in the "Satellite" tab, select the necessary ones and enable the "Search" parameter. Why it was necessary to place all this so far is a separate question for software developers.

Now the required satellites are in the list for automatic search. A similar system for manual search.

Add a transponder.

In the subsection "Manual search" we can scan the necessary transponders, and, if necessary, add them. All the same filters are present. Added network search.

Everyday use.

Having finished with all the settings, I can finally start directly testing what this receiver was created for - receiving TV channels from the Surface + START packages.

When you press the "OK" button, we can contemplate on the screen a translucent list of TV channels, and the transparency can be adjusted, as well as information about the current TV programs. All this looks quite stylish.

Now for an interesting point. If at the first start the automatic setting of the receiver was selected, then only the TV channels of the “Surface +” provider will be displayed in the channel list. Also, only in this case filtering of channels by groups will be available: children's, sports, and so on. It's really convenient. If you abandoned the automatic setting and used the manual search, then the following groups appeared in the filter list: "Channels Surface" and "Channels not Surface". As for me, there is a very lack of a satellite filter.

All this to some extent brightens up the extremely limited functionality of the channel editor.

With the help of the "GUIDE" button on the remote control, we can call up the TV guide we are used to. Why familiar? Yes, because all modern satellite receivers are endowed with a more or less functional program guide. In addition, the EPG that we see now is identical to what we can see on the Humax VA-4SD for NTV-Light and the Viasat SRT-7700 receiver.

There are no problems when switching audio tracks using a special button on the remote control. Subtitling has been successfully tested on TV 5 Monde Europe.

Switching TV channels is relatively fast. In the case of coded channels, switching takes 3-4 seconds. Sound appears first, followed by video. Uncoded ones open within one second. In fact, these are pretty acceptable numbers.

I really did not like the long turn-on of the receiver. It takes 35 seconds from pressing a button on the remote control to the appearance of a picture with sound. This is a terrible figure, considering that the same receiver from "NTV-Light" is settled in 15 seconds.Perhaps the reason for such poor results is that the receiver gives a message every time it is turned on that it downloads additional software from the satellite. Moreover, regardless of which satellite the antenna is tuned to.

Compared to ...

If we compare Humax VA-4SD with Viasat SRT-7700, then positive trends are evident. The receiver software has become more stable. It also became possible to edit the list of satellites and transponders. The remote control looks much more interesting. On the other hand, the launch time has changed for the worse. Many will be saddened by the fact that the receiver refuses to work without an access card. In addition, the software maker stepped on the same rake. First of all, annoying is the lack of the ability to move channels in the editor.

The receiver is still of little use for receiving channels from other satellites.

As we have already found out, the Humax VA-4SD receiver provided to Poverkhnost + Start subscribers and Viasat SRT-7700 offered to the users of the provider of the same name are very similar. As it turned out, on some satellite receivers, the common points of contact for these Ukrainian operators do not end there.

Let's compare the content of these two companies.

Film.

In terms of film channels, the companies have parity. 16 on one side and the other. The main trump card in the hands of the operator Viasat is a group of TV1000 channels, covering a wide audience. A more modest answer from Surface + START is the RTVI and RTVi Nashe Kino channels.

Cognitive .

On the front of educational TV channels, Viasat has a slight numerical advantage. The provider equally presented the products of the Discovery line, Viasat, as well as the British Zone Reality and Zone Club. "Start" made an explicit bet on the "Discovery" line.

Sports.

Who would doubt that in the sports field "Start" will surely surpass its competitor. After all, initially "Surface +" positioned itself as a sports operator. The Sport channel group is doing its job, and Eurosport strikes the decisive blow. However, I would not call this victory a crushing one. After all, Viasat has two Eurosport channels at its disposal? as well as - a very promising "Football".

Baby.

Once again, Viasat has an insignificant quantitative advantage. However, in this case, I would recognize a draw. Jetix and Nickelodeon are well known, but target an older audience, while Gulli and Tiji target a younger audience.

Musical.

Confident victory for "Viasat". Both quantitatively and qualitatively.

News.

Again, Viasat has a significant advantage. For the most part, thanks to channels openly broadcasting from satellite.

Information and entertainment.

16 channels for "Viasat" versus 13 for "Start". For the most part, these are products of Ukrainian origin, which are the same for both operators. And this is quite understandable, because both providers are focused on the Ukrainian-speaking audience.

Both operators offer quality TV products. And in this struggle it is difficult to find a winner. In both cases, we are offered a good selection of quality TV channels. The only thing "Viasat" takes is quantity. But is it correct to compare two operators on this basis? Therefore, let's compare the cost of the packages.

Conclusions.

The review of the Humax VA-4SD receiver for the Surface + START platform smoothly turned into a comparison of the content of the two Ukrainian companies. What can we summarize our review? Satellite receiver Humax VA-45D has the right to exist. It is not worse, but not better than many similar devices. The receiver copes well with the reception of Surface + START TV channels, but is not very suitable for viewing other channels. However, this will not prevent you from using the Humax VA-4SD for this purpose as well.

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