Freeview HD PVR - Philips / Pace HDT 8520

[professorhat]

Hmmm...

nicholasc1585:Please can you advise if you are listening to the HD box through your T.V or an AV receiver as Dolby Digital Surround sound has not yet been included and using an AV system is not advised as it may incur issues? We would recommend using the sound through your television until this feature is added in a future update.

Say what?!!! So now they're saying it can't even be used with an AV receiver in stereo it's so buggy!

nicholasc1585:however the other schedule display issues you have described have been corrected in V4.22. If they are still occurring then I would recommend performing a factory reset on the unit to ensure changes made have taken effect by pressing Menu on your remote control and selecting Setting, Set up, Factory reset and reset settings.

Seen others on other forums with the same issue getting the same reply. I would humbly suggest that, since quite a few people are still getting these issues, perhaps they weren't actually fixed in the V4.22 update...

nicholasc1585:Please can you advise of instances when the HD & SD issue has occurred providing the following information for each programme so we are able to pass your feedback for investigation?

1. Schedule Information - date

2. Schedule Information - Start and end time

3. Schedule Information - Channel

4. Library Recording Information - date

5. Library Recording Information - Start and end time

6. Library Recording Information - Channel

Also seen that others have been asked for this info. So only 5 months after the box has come out, they're now actually asking people for some info on how to fix issues. Well, it's a start I guess.

nicholasc1585:This product does not have a feature called "Accurate recording" and currently relies on the scheduled broadcast times however manual recording is currently being looked into and may be introduced in the future.

If that's the case, it doesn't meet the Freeview+ certification and shouldn't be displaying this on the box. Personally, from my past experience of the Philips customer support, I'd be pretty sure the person who wrote the email is clueless here and doesn't realise it uses Accurate Recording rather than the other way round.

nicholasc1585:Anyway, with the benefit of the doubt tucked firmly under my arm, I shall continue to participate in the ultimate test of human endurance and sanity, i.e. continued ownership of a Philips HDT8520! Is that a light I see at the end of the tunnel....................?

You're infinitely more patient than me!

 

[Anonymous]

Prof,

I think you are confusing patience with stupidity!!

I agree with your assessment of the technical competency of the Philips Product Support Advisor who provided the response. So, whilst we shall assume that they are a little "technically misguided", I do hope their sincerity is not equally misdirected!

With respect to their response regarding Audio issues, I sent a reply explaining that the symptoms experienced (lip syncing) could not possibly be associated with the HDT8520's current inability to process Dolby Digital surround sound. Again, I think the statement advising against using the PVR with an AV receiver demonstrates the author's technical naivety (or ill informed information). This belief is further reinforced by the response I received today (see below). This proclaims that the Digital Audio outputs still require enabling; which I can say with utmost certainty that they are already outputting a digital audio signal! Perhaps their interpretation of the developers update brief is somewhat confused, a 2 and 2 making 5 scenario perhaps?

Although you are correct regarding the Freeview+ specification requirement for Accurate Recording, I've done a quick trawl, and cannot find any Philips literature which states that this functionality is included. Now, like me, it could be inferred from the Freeview+ requirements (which the HDT8520 proudly boasts) that 'Accurate Recording' is included. The Philips PVR is even endorsed on the Freeview website! Another example inadvertent technical misdirection..........................................?????????????

"Thank you for your e-mail.

I appreciate your kind comments, the time scale we have been given by the developer is within the next few months, the details given for the update at the moment are enabling Dolby Digital surround sound, enabling the use of the Digital Audio outputs and other audio related issues such as the volume levels.

I hope these steps help you to resolve the problem, but please do not hesitate to contact me again if you need some more assistance.

Please remember to quote your reference number if you need to contact us.

Kind Regards,

Product Support Advisor

 

[Anonymous]

I was going to ask whether this box was now worth purchasing.......I guess not!

 

[Anonymous]

My patience finally expired with the Philips HDT8520 and I took it back to Comet yesterday and exchanged it for a Humax HDR-Fox T2, phew! I would like to compliment Comet on their customer service who replaced the Philips after 6 months ownership without a quibble

The Philips had improved immeasurably with its first and only (to date) firmware update, but it still had some significant flaws IMO. What did it for me was that fundementally it could not be relied upon to record the programmes intended. also the lip syncing issues, along with intermittant picture judder on HD recordings were frustrating. However, the HD picture quality on the Philips was top notch and shades the Humax IMO.

Ultimately owning a HD PVR which was unreliable regarding its recording abilities and HD playback undermines its purpose.

Shame really 'cos I really liked alot of things about the HDT8520 (even the random flashing Ambilight!).

Nick

 

[professorhat]

Good to hear Comet have been so good on this occasion and done the swap. Agree with you, as much potential as the Philips box had, when you can't trust a PVR to record programmes, it kind of loses it's raison d'ˆtre!

 

[Anonymous]

There is a new (v5.15) software update for the Philips HDT8520 available OTA from Friday 5th November until Sunday 7th.

http://www.dtg.org.uk/industry/download_schedule.php

 

[professorhat]

Now available from their website here.

Here's the list of "features" included in this update:

1. Time offset feature which will enable correct display of EPG data at Daylight Saving Time change (first change to come is by Sunday the 31st of October 2010).
2. Related Content Signalling which enables scheduling of recordings from "Trailers" (trailer booking feature).
3. Recordings are unprotected by default which will allow faster deletion of recordings to the users.

So in the two months since the last update, they've sorted issues due to the clocks going back (4 days late), enabled trailer booking (has been enabled on the Digital Stream box for a while now) and slightly speeded up deletion of recordings by unlocking them as default...

 

[Anonymous]

sorry to be stupid, but what's trailer booking?!!

edit: oh, is it like on sky when something is advertised you can press a button to record that programme/series?! it's the word 'trailer' that confused me!! shouldn't it be 'ad' instead cos most people refer to 'trailers' for movies at the cinema etc!! again, sorry for being stupid!!

 

[professorhat]

No worries! I guess trailer works better in that it's an upcoming programme (much like a trailer at the cinema is for an upcoming film) rather than an advert which tends to be for commercial products which are for sale (on both TV and in the cinema).

 

[Anonymous]

professorhat:

Now available from their website here.

Here's the list of "features" included in this update:

1. Time offset feature which will enable correct display of EPG data at Daylight Saving Time change (first change to come is by Sunday the 31st of October 2010).
2. Related Content Signalling which enables scheduling of recordings from "Trailers" (trailer booking feature).
3. Recordings are unprotected by default which will allow faster deletion of recordings to the users.

So in the two months since the last update, they've sorted issues due to the clocks going back (4 days late), enabled trailer booking (has been enabled on the Digital Stream box for a while now) and slightly speeded up deletion of recordings by unlocking them as default...

Hmmmmmm.. so, no sign of a resolution for minor issues such as the inability to record series HD programmes correctly or lip sync errors?

Suggests that these areas are more complex and may take considerably longer. Starting to feel happier about 'jumping ship'. If only my Humax had a random flashing white light on the top................

 

[professorhat]

Just in case anyone looks, there has been a new update for this box in the last few days (version 6.20 available on the Philips website - no link provided for reasons outlined below). However, Philips have yet to provide any information on what it's supposed to fix / implelement and a number of users have reported issues with the sound since applying the update i.e. the sound stutters no matter what channel you are on and what mode you choose or what audio output you use i.e. HDMI, optical and analogue outputs all have the same stuttering, either going into an amp or direct into the TV. Those who have it plugged into an amplifier say the display flashes PCM on and off which indicates that it's the actual output of the sound from all audio outputs causing the issue. This has affected all users who have reported applying the update on another forum so far.

My advice would be do not apply this update until more information has been provided as to what is causing the issue.

It would seem from user reports that other things that have been implemented are:

1. EPG now has smaller text and includes channel numbers.
2. Within the Media Library you can now delete folders - use with caution though as unless you have selected only certain programmes within the folder, it will default to deleting everything in that folder!
3. In Media Library, a bubble with N indicates a new recording which hasn't been watched (only on new recordings since the update).
4. Indicates if HD version of a programme is available when recording the SD version (though still to be confirmed if the bug which causes duplicate recordings of both SD and HD versions has been fixed).
5. Ability to read JPG and MPG files from USB disks.

However, even if the above look good, I would definitely not update the box as, without proper sound, your box will effectively be rendered fairly useless. No update at all yet from Philips (unsurprisingly) and the update is still available on the website despite many users complaining of this new sound issue.

As always, I'll keep this post updated as I see anything develop.

EDIT - Been confirmed that the issue only affects live TV, not recordings. A workaround for anyone with the issue is to press pause and allow live TV to buffer for a few seconds, then press Play and everything should work okay. An update is being worked on and an unofficial post says hopefully a patch will be sent out next week.

 

[milesc]

Version: 6.21 is now available on the Philips web site.

From the PDF supplied with the update - issues that are fixed and new features are as follows

"SD/HD Simulcast" to allow, when available, the selection of the same content in HD when watching

or recording the relevant SD content.

"Multi-Network and Target Regionalization (TRD)" to allow:

- The installation of all channels from your aerial whatever network they are belonging to.

- The selection of preferred region among those available from your aerial.

"Multi-PLP" to prepare you Receiver and Recorder to future broadcast conditions.

"EPG screen in High Definition": to get a sharper view on data crowded EPG screens (bitmaps and

fonts).

"USB Media Player" to enjoy playing JPEG photo and MP3 audio files.

If "Original" resolution mode is selected in the menu for HDMI, then SD channels will be watched in

576i resolution.

Display of channel numbers in the EPG.

Manual Timer recording

The (scheduled recording) remote button gives access to manual programming via the "New

manual timer" menu item.

Deletion of recordings by group:

Allows users to delete multiple recordings in the library and scheduled timer menu.

Also allows users to delete a series folder in the library

Indication of unwatched recordings in the library (so called "New" icon)

Fixes the duplicate recordings issue

TSB (Time Shift Bar) improvements: On HD channels, pressing Pause or Rewind will now take you

into the TSB at the position you where watching from.

Front Panel Record LED will light up when recording is in progress in Standby

 

[professorhat]

Thanks milesc - have you been able to apply the update? As yet, I've seen one user confirm it seems to have fixed the sound issues, but was going to wait for a few more positive responses before confirming it.

 

[professorhat]

A couple of people have now confirmed the 6.21 update has fixed the sound issues, so here's a direct link to download it.

Fix list is included in a PDF with the download (as milesc has posted above) - probably the best news is the "Fixes the duplicate recordings issue" entry - good news for all those that have patiently stuck with this box. Hopefully, it'll now be the box it always should have been from the very beginning. I'll be keeping an eye on the forums to see how this update fares as people use it.

 

[milesc]

Yes professorhat, I did apply the update- but i thought it was too early to start saying "with no problems". However so far so good- sound problem is fixed. Haven't done enough taping to see if the dreaded double recording bug has been eliminated, but fingers crossed....

 

[professorhat]

Seems things are not completely rosy even with this new update. A number of people complaining about very sluggish responses to the remote, issues getting the box to come out of standby, still some issues with duplicate SD and HD recordings, and also the box just crashing sporadically and needing unplugging / plugging back in to get it working.

So I'd still recommend avoiding it for the moment.

 

[professorhat]

New update, 7.19 has been released (click here). Early indications suggest several fixes are working including (finally!) Dolby Digital 5.1 over optical. The information reports it also works over 5.1, but actual users are (at the moment) reporting this doesn't work, only over optical.

Also, it seems issues with standby, chase play and fast forward and rewind should be solved - no solid info on whether this is true as yet or whether duplicate recordings issues has been resolved, so if you've updated yours, please update this post to let others know your experience.

 

[Anonymous]

And software nicely downloaded OTA the other day.

Can't agree that it has sorted out the duplicate recordings issue - recordings on Channel 5, 5 USA and 5* seem to be the main culprits. Plus I can't tell if the irritating not waking up from standby has also been sorted.

Did actually get to the end of my tether with this box a few weeks back and took it to John Lewis. They sent it off to be checked, as they wouldn't offer anything else ten months in, and it came back in just the same state despite alleging it had new software installed (quite where this new software was supposed to come from I have no idea).

 

[professorhat]

From what I've seen elsewhere, the wake on standby issue has been fixed, but some people are reporting a couple of new issues:

1. When powering on the box, it goes back into standby mode. You then have to press power on again to wake up the box.

2. There's stuttering on playback of some HD recordings.

Not everyone is reporting these issues, but obviously for the guys that are, this isn't much consolation.

It does seem to be one step forward, one step back with Philips / Pace on this one...

 

[professorhat]

And in latest news, quite a few reports of the HD playback stuttering issue now which Philips have confirmed they are looking into a fix for, so this may be solved in a couple of months time, but it does beg the question on what will be the next issue they introduce in that update...

In the same manner as the previous issue where the box did not wake up from standby and Philips suggested the workaround of just leaving the box switched on, for this latest bug, Philips' advice is not to record from the HD channels, but record the SD equivalents instead

One assumes they're actually serious with these "workarounds", but I do wonder how long it will be before their suggestion is just to watch all TV live, rather than recording it. Or maybe use your TV's built-in tuner for live programmes and BBC iPlayer / ITV Player / C4OD for anything you've missed?

 

[professorhat]

As predicted, two months later, Philips have released an update to fix the following issues:

1. Video stuttering observed on v7.19 software, when playing back recorded files from HDD or from the Time Shift Buffer.
2. Crash in library when trying to access one of the ongoing recordings while 2 simultaneous HD recordings are in progress.

No further improvements or bugfixes are included, suggesting that there won't be any further new features for the box. Of course, there's always the chance of a new bug being introduced in this update which Philips will then need another minimum of 2 months to fix - so far every update released has required this.

For the brave (or desperate), 7.21 update can be downloaded here - if anyone is still struggling with this box, let us know how you fare!

 

[Anonymous]

Desperate HDT8520 owner here (and that's only because I failed in my attempt to return it so I'm stuck with it).
Update downloaded and transferred via USB successfully last night. So far no juddering on the playback of HD recordings. Box hasn't crashed when it's in the library but this seemed to be very unpredictable and in no way linked to only happening when two HD recordings are taking place.
But as we've seen before and as the prof so wisely states this doesn't mean it just hasn't created a problem (or several) elsewhere.
Such a shame as when it works it does it well and HD freeview looks great on it. Just that I'm so used to unplugging to reset, crashes, juddering, failed recordings, etc I have little faith left in it.

 

[Anonymous]

No idea how to delete my repeated post!

 

[Anonymous]

Is the software update an easy operation? Just download onto a memory stick, plug into the USB and away it goes? Or is it more complicated?

 

[professorhat]

Is the software update an easy operation? Just download onto a memory stick, plug into the USB and away it goes? Or is it more complicated?

It's a bit more complicated than that, but not a lot. The process is outlined on page 32 of the user manual (download here). Essentially, download the update, unzip the files to the root folder of a USB stick, plug it in, then go to Settings > Set-up > Software update.