MultiChoice Launches High Definition PVR
July 25, 2008 - By Guest Reviewer
Yesterday evening I attended MultiChoice’s launch of its High-Definition Personal Video Recorder (HD PVR) decoder and let me tell you this is something I simply have to get. The picture quality is unbelievable and this is the way television was meant to be watched!
The introduction of High Definition television is another milestone achievement for television in the country and for the first time South African consumers can now experience HD TV in its purest form.
MultiChoice’s Chief Executive Officer Nolo Letele says:
“We are delighted and extremely proud to launch High Definition television into the South African market. HD television will bring with it detail, vividness and clarity of picture never seen before on our television screens.”
What’s in store for you
The Beijing Olympic Games will be the first to broadcast in HD format (on channel 170) at the beginning of August and the HD PVR will be made available for this special event, with pre launch software which does not include all the features such as a full suite of interactive applications.
From August 24, DStv viewers with HD decoders and television sets will be able to enjoy M-Net HD, a brand new enhanced television channel on DStv, propelled by state-of-the art High Definition (HD) broadcast technology. The M-Net HD schedule will contain a variety of programming from different M-Net channels – such as M-Net, GO, M-Net Series, M-Net Action and M-Net Movies.
During August and September M-Net HD viewers can enjoy the high-stakes big-money local game show - Power of 10, CSI Miami, CSI New York, Gossip Girl and the romantic thriller Moonlight on the new channel. In addition, at least one English Premier League match will be broadcast each week as well as movies like Die Hard 4, Zodiac, Fantastic Four, Spiderman, Oceans Thirteen and Shrek the Third.
How to make it work
For this all to work you will now need to buy an HD PVR decoder and an HD ready television set to view this awesome HD content.
One of the key differences of the new HD PVR to the old one, apart from the better picture quality, is that you can now record two channels simultaneously while watching a third. Current PVR owners can only record one channel while watching two others simultaneously. According to MultiChoice it was not possible to build in functionality to view two channels at the same time as this would have made the HD PVR unaffordable.
The good news however is that MultiChoice subscribers will be able to link the HD PVR to their current Dual View PVR to enjoy 3 viewing environments, or link the HD PVR to the 1110 decoder to enjoy 2 viewing environments, as part of the XtraView offering. The only additional cost to the monthly subscription fee is R55, which is the amount currently payable on the Dual View service.
Price and Availability
The HD PVR decoder will be available in major retail stores from August 2008 and will launch at a special price of R2,499.00 (for a limited time period). I must admit this price surprised me as I was expecting close to the R4,000 mark so if you’ve got some spare cash lying around I’d get me one of these!
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Filed Under Audio/Visual, Gadget News, Home Entertainment
This explains the recent drop in price with the old PVR…the new unit looks awesome!
At first I could not possibly think of buying the new one as the only justification is getting 1 HD channel. But after seeing the decoder - i think i need one, its just that good looking
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So what you’re saying - ‘How to make it work’ - third paragraph - is that I can keep my current PVR, and card, add the new HD PVR, at R2,499, then pay nothing more to get three channels and record 2?
I cant believe that . .
Hi Peter
Yes that’s what Multichoice are saying. If you have a PVR or a 1110 decoder you can link either of them to your HD PVR. There is an additional cost of R55 p/m for this linking but this is the current price of the dual-view anyway.
In your case, you’d be able to view 3 channels and record 3 channels because the HD PVR records 2 while the PVR records 1.
On caveat to all of this is that this solution is available only on the Premium, Compact, Indian and Portuguese bouquets. You can’t do this on the cheaper bouquets.
Hi Justin.
No, I get that, I’m quite tech savvy and read everything that DSTV have released, I just find it hard to believe - in the same way that you commented upon,and I’m equally shocked about, the price on release. Its almost cheap. And HD for no extra charge? I mean, the options have DOUBLED, plus HD, for R55?
The only option I see is that this is for early adopters, the real charges and stealth charges will appear onvce the hullabaloo has died down. think about it, its only high end consumers who are going to go for this anyway - to make the most of it you need decent kit - so pretend its cheap, suck hind t*t for a year then WAMMO! real charges. We’ll all be addicted to crack HYD by then, and unable to give the sucker up . .
Mark my words . .
Hi Peter
Yes you’re right. The interesting thing is that this R2,500 price is an introductory offer - meaning it will probably rise to R4,000+ in the very near future. Also, I feel that Multichoice will increase price once they have a better HD offering.
For the launch only 1 channel will be HD so there is no incentive to increase price right now.
In essence, I agree with your thoughts on the future on HD!!!
My experience with marketing is that there are a number of identifiable customer peaks - early adopters will pay anything, the next generation, upon seing its viability will pay a reasonable price. It then moves on to the mass market who will pay market value. Like you say with a limited offering the only people who will buy the box on August 1 are those who would buy it at any price - the same crowd who currently own unbricked iphones (hands up).
Not that I’m complaining but if I was head of sales at DSTV (I’m not) I would have put it our for R5,000, 1 Oct upped the content, 1 Dec dropped the price to R2,499. You would still make the sales. I hate the olympics, and I’ll still have mine running by beer o’clock on the 1st.
Looks really really awesome - got the phillips 50″ and going to try it out. Current DSTV looks crap.
I assume the picture quality for non-HD channels wont improve?
Apart from the HD upgrade, aesthetically it looks much better than the old one. Do you know if they have expanded the hardrive size… find the current 120g hardrive a little pathetic…. i’m hoping for at least 500g or even a terrabyte would be nice?
Hi Matt
Yes the HDD has been upgraded. They didn’t actually give the HDD size but they said you could record 150 hours of normal SD TV and 50 hours of HD TV.
i an unregistered installer ,so where can i get a training regarding the Intergration of HD PVR with the old PVR and 1110 DSD .
I am still awaiting for my accrediation with Multichoice,so where can i get a training on the Intergration of the HD PVR with the old PVR & 1110 DSD.
1. If I link my old PVR to the new HD PVR to watch 3 channels and record 3 channels, What LNB will I require?
2. Does the HD PVR have a USB of firewire port? In other words, can I copy to my PC?
I have to get me one of these!!! What an awesome price too. Next phase would be to add a dvd playing and recording facility to it…
Hi Charles
We have not actually seen the device or reviewed it yet, we only went to the launch, so we don’t have any technical details yet from Multichoice. If we get more I’ll let you know.
This is definitely awesome news for SA’s TV viewers. My Question is will these new HD channels be broadcast in widescreen? If I watch the current standard channels on a widescreen tv, they appear to be a stretched 4:3 picture and not an actual widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio. This has been one of the reasons for many of my friends waiting for an actual widescreen braodcast.
Hi Stu, yes all HD channels will be in widescreen format.
will it only output pal, hope it does both pal and ntsc, converters running now on by LG 47″ are poor quality. can anyone tell me….????
Just got informed by multichoice you need a Quad LNB not to figure out how to squash those cables into one pipe????????????
Just heard the quad lnb thing now. Seems like a bit of a major issue to forget to tell you! So now with my pvr linked to my HD, does that mean I need 6 ?!?!!??
Yeee haaa i have one just to get it installed….
i have one xodosman@gmail.com for info Ian
“link the HD PVR to the 1110 decoder to enjoy 2 viewing environments, as part of the XtraView offering”
Just for your info, Multichoice have reneged on the HD PVR, 1110 combination they promised. I was really really unimpressed as my installer and I learned this together! Also the software is still not completed(no advanced menu’s like Supersport Active)
It’s really dissappointing, however the product is looking very promising
Hi Justin
Which TV is the correct one to buy now - HD ready or Full HD ? I note that DSTV will broadcast HD in 720p as there are cost / bandwidth issues with regards to 1080p. Are the Full HD TVs 1080i - if so, DSTV say that 720p has a better quality than 1080i
Many thanks
Chris
I am interested to get training for the installation of the hd decoders can you you direct me
Does anybody know if the HD PVR is Multisystem (both NTSC/PAL) or is an irrelevant question as HD is going to be 720 lines.? not 460/525.
i need to find out the right way of installing hd pvr with existing sd pvr in separate rooms. primary decoder will be sd pvr.
the best way to install a hd pvr. once installed, wats da next step.
Well i have have the HD pvr from the beginning and really at this moment i really do not think its worth the money i have a Quad LNB using 4 wires from the dish so it will be easily upgraded to xtraview there is still a problem with optical out sound you need to change it on the decoder from auto to manual to get the sound to sound great otherwise you get a noise the decoder locks up from time to time why i have no idea But overall just for the one HD channel wasted my money if all the channels were HD then it would be worth it. you can only watch one but record 2….Tivo technology would have been so much better and only 1 HDMI output where i have 2 TV’s so you need to get a splitter clearly a basic design of a HD decoder can not wait to see what the competition has to offer competition what competition clearly they they are sleeping too and for Icasa they suck too where is open competition clearly a controlled democracy
Multichoice are ripping us again!!! Nowhere on there advertising do they let us know that and LNB upgrade is required to use the HD decoder. I wish I could find the boss with my decoder and a pot of Vaseline!