The DSR4639 Dual Channel High Definition Personal Video Recorder or 'PVR' for short.
It utilises a 2.5“ hard drive which makes it a very compact recording device.
Based on the STi7105 (Mpeg2/4) high speed processor, the DSR4639 can process 3 streams simultaneously. What this means is flexibility. It is this processor which enables you to record two seperate channels while watching something else you have recorded.
KEY FEATURES
- VAST certified ... for any satellite decoder to legally read and display the VAST television and radio services, all receivers must meet exacting standards as set out by the body governing VAST transmission.
At present, Altech UEC are one of only two manufacturers meeting this criteria.
- Simultaneous 2 channel recording and playback of recorded file from hard drive ... although this one is self explanatory, what this means is that you can literally record a movie on one channel while you are recording a football game on another channel and watch a recording you made earlier of you favorite comedy show!
- 8 day Electronic Program Guide ... allowing you to see whats on for more than a week in advance but more so allowing you to highlight a particular program and receive an in depth review similar to what is offered by most printed TV guides you find in news papers and magazines, (now you know where they get their information!).
- ECR (Episode Chain Recording) ... this is simply brilliant! Imagine if you could just browse through the on screen electronic program guide mentioned above, highlight your favorite television series, press one button and have the entire series recorded automatically every time it is broadcast. That is what the ECR function does for you. No messing about with recording times. Just a simple one click function.
- 3 record modes ( Manual, Timer and via EPG ) ... permitting flexibility in you recording habits. Manual recording is straight forward. Simply press the record button on the remote and the PVR will start recording whatever happens to be on the screen. Or you can simply highlight a program in the program guide and press the record button.
Timebased recording can be scheduled, where you manually set the recording name, channel, start date, start time, duration, recording days and parental guidance setting.
Chain recording (ECR) is simple, highlight the show and press the Chain Record button - see the above ECR feature for more information.
- Chase play ... now a standard feature on most PVR's today, this function allows you to watch a recording from the beginning while you are still recording.
- Pause live TV ... This is a very handy feature. It could be in the middle of a football game or something else; just hit the Pause button on the remote control and live TV pauses. You can get up and go to the kitchen and make yourself a tomato sandwich, grab a drink from the fridge, come back to the TV and press play and pick up exactly where you left off.
- Preset recording offsets ( early start, late finish ) ... allowing you to start a recording early or finish late or both
- Trick modes ( play, FFW, REW, pause, jump back, jump forward) ... on recorded programs with these functions you can skip over ads with ease or hone into the part of the show you really want to watch.
- HDMI output ... You actually have composite and component outputs so you can hook the recorder up to almost any television but for true high definition video, a HDMI connection is essential and well worth the money for the lead.
- 500 GB hard drive for up to 400 hours of recording ... This is a heck of a lot off recording space in anybody's terms.
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Of course, no review would be complete without a list of technical features so here they are...
DSR4639
Technical Features
Front End Tuner Specifications
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Frequency range
DVB- Standard
Symbol Rate ( DVB-S2 )
Symbol Rate ( DVB-S )
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950 - 2150 Mhz
DVB-S2 QPSK Demodulator , 8 PSK
2 Msym/sec to 30 Msym/sec
2 Msym/sec to 45 Msym/sec
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Processor Core
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Host Processor
Flash Memory
RAM
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STi 7105, 450 Mhz core processor
32 MBytes
256 MBytes
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Video
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Video Decoder
Video Format
Video Outputs
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MPEG-4 (H.264), MPEG-2 MP@HL
PAL
1080p,1080i, 720p, 576p, 576i
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Audio
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Audio Decoder
Dolby audio support
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Mpeg 2 layer 1&2 ( Musicam ), MPEG4 AAC/AAC+
Downmix and pass through via HDMI, optical and coaxial connectors
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Connectors
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RF in
HD video
SD Video
Digital Audio
Analogue Audio
USB
Smart Card
Ethernet
Power Supply
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F- Type
HDMI
Composite video and Component video
Optical , Coaxial and HDMI
RCA Left & Right
USB 2.0
ISO 7818
RJ45
12 Volt external power supply
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HDD
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500 GB
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