This week Humax and Freesat announced the first Freesat+ PVR in the UK, the FOXSAT-HDR. The first freesat+ PVR incorporates twin high definition tuners, with the ability to record two channels at the same time, a large 320GB capacity hard drive, and a host of advanced state of the art recording features.
Since publishing both the specifications of the FOXSAT-HDR on our Freesat PVR Comparison table in August, and a few development screen shots and photos, we’ve received a ton of emails from readers, and some publications, asking for more details. If our mailbox is anything to go by, the UK is going mad for Freesat+ / FOXSAT-HDR information; and the Humax/Freesat press release confirms some of the details, like the November release, and at the price of around £299. The main specifications were also outlined in the press release; namely, the ability to record TV programmes in high definition, easy series recording, and programme tracking. We’ll expand on some of these.
As mentioned above the FOXSAT-HDR can record two channels at the same time. You can start watching a programme that is being recorded from its beginning if you like, even though the rest of the programme is still being recorded (commonly called ‘chase play’). Whilst dual recording it is possible to watch any previously recorded programme on the hard drive too, while the current recordings continue in the background. Technically, it is possible for the FOXSAT-HDR to record up to four programmes at the same time; however this feature will not be enabled on the release version but could be a free feature upgrade in the future.
With the 320GB hard drive the FOXSAT-HDR will be capable of recording about 160 hours of standard definition programmes, or around 45 hours in high definition. The PVR can collect the whole freesat 7 day electronic programme guide (EPG) in around 30 seconds, which is an improvement on its Freeview PVRs. Of course, it’s the EPG on digital recorders that make setting and recording such a doddle, and both freesat and Humax have worked on a layout which should work well for most people. As well as the usual grid style layout showing multiple channels at the same time, there is an option to view the EPG by one channel at a time in list view.
There are features when using the guide on the FOXSAT-HDR which are very useful indeed. One example is when selecting a programme to record; if the programme is part of a series, the machine will ask if you would like the whole series to be recorded for you, or just that one programme. If you select to record a programme that happens to be in two parts – for example a film that is split by the news – the machine will see the later continuing part and record it for you. There is another cool feature where, if you are trying to select programme to record, but it clashes with other timers already set, the machine will automatically search through the EPG to find an alternate instance of that programme, and offer to record it for you at the alternative slot available. The EPG comes with a search function which enables the user to search for programmes in the 7 day programme guide by keyword/s. You can also carry out a search by genre – for example you can search for all movies on this week and select from the results list which you would like to be recorded.
Another nice touch is the high definition recording suggestion. If a user selects a programme to record from the EPG, for example Strictly Come Dancing on BBC1, the machine can offer you the option to record the high definition version if that is available as well. The machine uses the alternate instance meta date in satellite broadcasts to achieve this, and this is how the option to record programmes on the freesat exclusive ITV HD channel will be achieved.
One of the main problems we face with recordings generally is when programmes to don’t stick to their scheduled broadcast time, even if this is only by a minute or two. How many times have you set to record a programme only to find its started earlier or ended later than it should have done – you miss some of the start, or the crucial ending of your recorded programme! Humax are providing two ways in which it can help customers here. One is the option for the machine to automatically add a little extra recording time to the beginning and ending of each scheduled recording. This is called autopadding. Perhaps its worth mentioning that series recording and autopadding can work together on the FOXSAT-HDR – which is something that has not been possible on any of the Freeview PVRs (for some reason).
The other recording method attempting to capture the whole programme being recorded is called autotracking. What happens here is the machine will keep an eye on the broadcast stream in case a programme is starting earlier than the scheduled time. Also, if a programme does not finish at the scheduled time, the machine can continue to track its progress even after the scheduled ending time so that the recording will finish properly. This is partly dependant on the broadcaster supplying the relevant meta data during broadcasting hours. At the receiver end, the FOXSAT-HDR will start tracking a scheduled programme start time 15 minutes in advance, even if the machine has to be woken up in standby to do so. When it gets to 4 minutes before scheduled broadcast time the tracking polling interval is set right down to every 10 seconds, resulting in very accurate recording start times, for programmes that have moved out of schedule.
There are a couple of other usability features that are worth a mention. Within the list of recorded programmes there is an option for users to create folders in which to organise their recordings. This is great idea and one can easily set up a folder for a particular series, children’s programmes, movies etc. Indeed each member of the family can have their own folder. Another nice feature is the 4in1 universal remote control for PVR, TV, DVD and AMP. The relevant codes will be included in the manual. As well as the scart cable Humax are also providing a HDMI cable which is nice of them.
The PVR automatically buffers the channel you are watching to the hard drive in order to enable pause live TV and instant rewind functionally. One minor negative is you are not able to retrospectively go back into the buffer and record earlier programmes, as the instant recording button only works at the live point. If you press the record button when in the rewind buffer the machine will tell you the recording will start from the current live position in the programme. This is no big deal but its amazing how having this feature on the Topfield and Humax Freeview PVRs has come in handy.
As this is a freesat PVR the machine is not set up to manage non-freesat recordings therefore we feel this is something worth pointing out. If setting up timers for non-freesat channel recordings is a requirement, readers will probably need to invest in a FTA satellite PVR. Unfortunately they can cost a lot more for anything approaching the same specifications as the FOXSAT-HDR. Having said that, the machine can be set to ‘non-freesat mode’ for watching channels outside of the freesat service, including those on other satellites (motorised dish supported with DisEqC/USALS), and the instant recording button on the remote control will work for those non-freesat channels. The setting up of non-freesat ‘timers’ is not available to the FOXSAT-HDR on release, but could be added at some stage.
The Ethernet port will be used for archiving and iPlayer services at some point after the November release. The two USB host ports on the PVR (one at the front and one at the back) allow users to archive their recordings (which are the transport streams) to a USB hard drive or flash key. It is possible to play or move those recording back to the PVR also. However the PVR on release will not be able to play MP2 or MP4 media. Additionally, Humax have decided the development and licensing of Divx support is not for this particular product. It is worth mentioning that the archiving of recorded programmes to external sources is subject to freesat specifications, therefore if a broadcaster sets a flag to prohibit the archiving of their programme, the FOXSAT-HDR will comply. Other media playback and transfer options are for photos and MP3 music files. There is a 20GB partition created on the PVR for users to add their own photos or music. However you can set the size of the partition to your preference during the set up process.
With the cost of hard drive based satellite high definition recorders averaging around £400-£500, and taking into account Sky’s high definition PVR listing as £399 (with half the user recording capacity) we are on one hand surprised at the £299 price tag for the FOXSAT-HDR. This, given it is ready for IPTV with the forthcoming BBC iPlayer catch up TV application, its future remote network PC connectivity options, and possibly the most advanced UK EPG based recording capabilities we’ve seen. Volumes are not likely to be anywhere near that of the Freeview market, where Humax also provide a standard definition PVR first developed a few years ago for under £200; therefore one wonders how long it will actually take Humax to recover its trailblazing development costs on the high definition freesat PVR. The FOXSAT-HDR will have to be a popular device and fly off the shelves. Judging by comments on forums and retailers it seems the FOXSAT-HDR is set to fly off the shelves. The initial breakthrough price, no-doubt, will help.
Related Artcles: Video: Watch The FOXSAT-HDR Freesat PVR In Action
