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The DVB-T receiver Signal HD-527 A99252 is another receiver from Signal series. It is a complementary model to the already well-established in the market HD-507 A99250. They both make a set of multipurpose digital multimedia devices, easy to install and operate, which can be used in various configurations.
- Signal HD-507 A99250 is intended for users who want to hide the receiver behind their televisions. It is the only model in the market which employs IR sensor and LED status indicator mounted on additional cable. This way, the user can control the receiver despite it is invisible behind the TV, being directly inserted to its SCART socket (no need for an additional cable).
- Signal HD-527 A99252 is dedicated for users who prefer traditional solutions with set-top-boxes. The receiver has two SCART outputs and S/PDIF output. The additional SCART and audio output are used for connecting an audio amplifier.
The heart of the digital terrestrial television receiver Signal HD-527 A99252 is Mstar7818 chipset. Thanks to the chipset, the receiver reacts very quickly to user commands. A small, practical case houses DVB-T receiver and multifunctional multimedia device. The use of this digital receiver is one of the cheapest ways to adapt an older CRT, LCD, or plasma television (if the LCD or plasma TV has only an MPEG-2 tuner) for the new world of digital television using MPEG-4. Even the owners of fully-featured televisions equipped with MPEG-4 tuners may also be interested in such a multifunctional device due to its integrated media player and Personal Video Recorder option (PVR Ready - possibility of recording DVB-T broadcasts on external USB memory). Signal HD-527 can also play pictures, music and videos - including those in high definition.
The front panel of Signal HD-527 contains alphanumerical LED display informing about the current channel and operation status, IR sensor, and USB 2.0 interface. The rear panel includes two SCART sockets, HDMI and SPDIF outputs, antenna input and RF loop output.
The receiver is compatible with the most popular MPEG-4 compression standard and with the earlier version - MPEG-2 - used in some European countries. The device provides excellent image quality both in SD and HD resolution. The USB port (PVR Ready) can be used for recording the received broadcasts on external data storage device, such as a USB hard drive or a flash drive.
HDMI output provides signal of the highest quality, suitable for HD broadcasts. The output should be used for connecting LCD/plasma televisions, via quality HDMI cables.
DVB-T
The receiver is fully compatible with the DVB-T standard (ETSI ETS300744) and receives digital FTA (Free-To-Air) channels in SD and HD resolution (HDMI output), compressed in MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 standard. It is equipped with functional and clear Electronic Program Guide (EPG) containing detailed information on programming for the current day and the whole week (depending on the level of the service from the broadcaster). Navigating the menus of the receiver should not be a problem even for those who have no experience in the use of such devices.
PVR
Signal HD-527 with PVR Ready function can record selected programs on external memory device. It recognizes FAT32 and NTFS file systems. An external hard drive has to be powered from suitable power supply.
Available recording modes:
- instant recording (of the currently watched program)
- timer recording - schedule to start recording at a particular time and record for a certain length of time
- EPG recording - recording of programs chosen from the guide
Files recorded on an external data storage device are recognized by PCs as *. ts files. To play them back, the user should employ VideoLan Player (VLC) - free application that can be downloaded from the software developer site.
Multimedia
Signal HD-527 A99252 is also a fully-featured media player. The user can play pictures, audio and video files.
Supported file formats:
- Audio: MP3, WMA
- Pictures: JPEG, BMP, PNG
- Videos: MKV, AVI, VOB, MOV, DivX
An interesting feature is the possibility of playing files compliant with open standard Matroska (MKV). This format allows compression and recording of High Definition channels. It is characterized by good video quality and comparatively low memory consumption.
Distinguishing features
- Full compatibility with MPEG4, MPEG2, DVB-T
- Support for SD and HD channels
- Separate lists of favorite TV and radio channels
- Automatic or manual search of available TV and radio channels
- Automatic conversion PAL-NTSC-SECAM
- Support for logical channel number (LCN)
- Support for teletext and subtitles
- Electronic Program Guide (EPG)
- PVR Ready
- Multimedia player
Connectors
- Antenna socket (RF IN)
- RF loop (RF OUT)
- SCART x2
- HDMI
- SPDIF
- USB 2.0
Specifications
Name | DVB-T Receiver Signal HD-527 |
Code | A99252 |
Tuner | |
Processor | Mstar 7818 |
Antenna IN connector | IEC 169-2 (female) |
Input frequency range [MHz] | 174 - 230, 470 - 862 |
Input impedance [Ω] | 75 |
Antenna LOOP OUT connector | IEC 169-2 (male) |
Demodulator | |
Standard | ETSI EN300744 |
Guard Intervals | 1/32, 1/16, 1/8 of symbol duration |
FEC | 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 5/6,7/8 |
Types of signals | hierarchical and non-hierarchical |
Demodulation | COFDM (QPSK, QAM16, QAM64) 2k, 8k |
Channel width [MHz] | 7/8 |
Video Decoder | |
Standard | ISO/IEC 13818-2 and ISO/IEC 14496-10 |
Transport stream | ISO/IEC 13818-1 |
Video decoding | MPEG-2 SD/HD (MP@ML and MP@HL), MPEG-4 H.264/AVC SD/HD |
Supported resolutions | 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i |
Aspect ratios | 4:3, 16:9 |
Audio Decoder | |
Standard | ISO/IEC 13818-3 TR1011154 |
Audio decoding | MPEG-1, MPEG2 Layer I, II, Dolby Digital Audio, Dolby Digital Plus (AC-3, E-AC3), WMA, HE-AAC Digital Audio |
Dolby Digital (AC-3) | Downmix to stereo |
Sampling frequency [kHz] | 22.1, 32, 44.1, 48 |
Multimedia Player | |
Video formats | AVI, VOB, MOV, MKV, DivX 4.X - 5.X |
Audio formats | WMA, MP3 |
H.264/AVC codec | MainProfile/HighProfile up to 4.0 incl. |
Picture formats | JPEG, BMP, PNG, MJPEG |
USB | USB 2.0 |
Demultiplexer | |
Standard | ISO/IEC 13818-1 |
Maximum bit rate | 60Mb/s |
Video connectors | |
HDTV output | HDMI 1.3 |
SD outputs | SCART x2 |
Audio connectors | |
Digital | S/PDIF |
Analog | SCART (L+R audio) |
Power & Environment | |
Supplying voltage | 230 VAC, 50 Hz |
Power consumption | max 8W |
Operating temperature | 0°C...40°C |
Manuals and software
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Report from the tests of Signal HD-527 receiver performed by specialists from TV-SAT magazine (in Polish).