Black Boxes: Super Net-tops For All Budgets
In our never-ending quest to help make TV smarter, for our lead review this issue we took two super Net-top boxes and set them side by side: the Philips DVX-8000 and the Tiger PC Cinema. We call them “super Net-top boxes” because they each have all the components of a PC/TV, minus the monitor, which makes them like a Net-top box, but with super silicon processing power. Each promises a greatly expanded TV experience, complete with DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, CD-ROM, audio CD, Web surfing, PC game playing and miscellaneous PC processing. The pleasing result was that they both delivered, but in different ways.
Video Quality
The most obvious difference between the DVX-8000 and the PC Cinema is the price. The Philips retails for around $5,000, while the Tiger runs between $1,000 and $1,300 (depending on whether it has a 200 or 233 MHz processor). It’s no big secret why. The DVX-8000 has proprietary, internal “line-doubling” circuitry, which as high-end home theater aficionados know, greatly improves picture quality by doubling the number of lines represented on the screen. There are stand-alone line-doublers out there that cost roughly the same as the DVX-8000, and that’s all they do, so the Philips box gets good marks right off the bat for this feature alone.
We reviewed both the Philips and Tiger boxes using a Princeton Graphics 31-inch Arcadian TV-VGA monitor. The VGA quality was outstanding, but most people don’t have VGA in the living room, so S-video is really a better measurement.
Using an S-video cable to connect to the TV, the DVD-Video players of both boxes were incredibly rich in color and depth, with excellent audio and impeccable detail. Viewing the movie Fifth Element, with all its tricky special effects, provided an overwhelming sense (again) of how DVD is changing the standard for quality home video. Both of these boxes have excellent DVD playback functions.
As for plain old TV, the DVX-8000 has a TV tuner built-in, which is an integrated approach that allows you to get picture-in-picture Web and TV, and control TV channel tuning with the same remote control. The Tiger has no tuner, which means it has no picture in-picture and runs on a different source input (either composite, S-video or VGA) on the television. It’s a less integrated approach that requires a separate TV remote, but there is some benefit to being able to watch TV even if Windows crashes.
Audio Quality
Another outstanding—and expensive—feature of the DVX-8000 is its built-in Marantz audio components, featuring Dolby Digital (AC-3), Dolby ProLogic, LucasFilm Cinema Re-EQ, a 5.1 channel pre-amp and an AM/FM tuner.
Audiophiles know that these are elite components, and the DVX-8000 requires an external audio amplifier to run the audio signal to the speakers. The assumption, of course, is that if you have a DVX-8000, then you can obviously afford the requisite hardware required to enjoy its full potential. I borrowed a Bose Lifestyle 30 System, which features the amazingly small, amazingly powerful Bose Jewel Cube speakers, and the texture and clarity of the sound afforded by the DVX-8000 was truly incredible.
The PC Cinema is more modest in the name-brand component department, but it still offers Dolby Digital (AC-3) and Dolby ProLogic. The Bose performed with equal aplomb when reproducing the Dolby Digital sound rendered by the Tiger, and the audio from the DVD was of a superb quality.
PC Power
One of the main reasons for bringing PC power to the living room is to tap the potential of DVD-ROM, the computer version of the new disk medium. The same drives that played the DVD movies so well, also performed admirably with various CD gaming software titles. More and more, games and gaming machines are judged by the quality of their 3D effects, and both the Philips and Tiger boxes have graphics acceleration technology to enable speedy 3D rendering. The DVX-8000 features Trident 3D technology while the PC Cinema has the ATI Rage 2 chipset. While neither of these is the preferred choice for the gaming elite, they offer respectable rendering speed and texturing. Using Quake 2 for the test, both machines allowed me to immerse myself in an eerily realistic environment to satisfactorily dispatch an army’s worth of virtual enemies in a veritable shower of blood and guts. Very nice, if you like that sort of thing. The IBM-Crayola Color-a-Story in 3D CD-ROM interactive game for six-year-olds was equally well rendered. DVX-8000 is sold with a selection of software that is especially well suited for the machine. The PC Cinema comes a-la-carte (except for driver software), but it’s safe to say the Rage 2 technology is a more versatile and popular accelerator than the Trident.
One would assume that because both the DVX-8000 and the PC Cinema have the same speed processor inside (233 MHz) and the same amount of RAM (32 MB), they would process at roughly the same speed. While this is no Intel vs. AMD benchmark, in this instance the AMD was noticeably faster loading the same software. It’s also important to note that there is no mistaking these entertainment machines for desktop computers. Although they have comparable power, the Windows operating system just isn’t made for a couch and television. The desktop icons are fuzzy, the text in the dialog boxes is hard to read, and doing any kind of advanced configuration within the Windows environment is really a chore in squint-and-guess.
The Philips desktop resolution was good enough that I didn’t get a throbbing headache setting screen options, entering URLs in the browser or running the Install Wizard. Performing these tasks on the Tiger desktop was an exercise in patience, or should I say impatience. ATI makes some of the best PC/TV scan converter cards out there, however, so this is a hurdle easily overcome. Also notable is the fact that the PC Cinema has two PCI slots available for adding additional hardware.
The Tiger comes with MS Internet Explorer built-in, and even though the resolution made it somewhat difficult to enter URLs in the browser, the Boca Research 56Kbps modem screamed (fortunately, my ISP supports 56K). I got quickly where I was going, and once there, the resolution of common Internet graphic formats, including JPEGs, GIFs and RealVideo streaming media, were good enough that I could enjoy them.
The DVX-8000 also has the Microsoft IE bundled with it, and better screen quality made it easier to enter URLs. It has a 33.6 Kbps modem, however, and the difference in speed is definitely noticeable, especially if you are accustomed to 56Kbps and ISDN. There’s no reason the modem won’t be upgraded to 56 Kbps in the future, once the standard becomes more popular.
One of the most innovative ways you can use a PC/TV connected to high-end stereo components, incidentally, is to explore Internet-based audio. Even a RealAudio file streamed at 28Kbps sounds great on home theater speakers, and there’s a nearly unlimited choice of what to listen to. Explore the Net’s MP3 audio scene, and you can bring CD-quality digital sound straight from the Internet to your living room (please see our column on Other Smart Stuff, Page XXX).
Keyboard and Remote
Another difference between the two systems is the user input interface—the keyboard and remote control. Both systems come with a wireless keyboard and wireless remote, but that’s where the similarity ends.
The Philips keyboard is more compact and has a pressure-sensitive mouse-button pointer. The left-click button is on the left side of the keyboard and the right-click button is on the right side. This makes sense unless you are used to having them both right next to each other, which is almost always the case. The remote control is the Marantz RC2000 Learning Remote Control (LRC), which is an awesome piece of infrared technology. Not only does the remote control operate the DVX-8000 and perform all the expected tasks, such as changing channels, volume, audio format and from PC to TV to DVD, but you can also teach it “macro” commands to handle many functions at once, such as a full-system power-up or power-down. There is no crossing of functions between the remote and keyboard.
The Tiger’s keyboard is a little bigger because it has more functions integrated into it. A row of extra buttons across the top allow you to change modes—from DVD to Internet to Desktop. DVD playback functions are there as well. The remote has mini- joystick pointer and mouse functions, along with mode and DVD control buttons. I appreciated the integrated approach, because it allowed me in most cases to use whichever device happened to be within easiest reach.
Summary
The Philips DVX-8000 is a high-end PC/TV convergence product made by a leading consumer electronics manufacturer for the discriminating home theater consumer. It does seem priced excessively high, but remember that it packs the finest home theater audio and video components possible into a single box, and merges them into a slick, integrated product that is really unmatched in its audio and video quality.
The Tiger PC Cinema is a budget-minded PC/TV convergence product manufactured by a leading direct-sale PC manufacturer for the cost-aware mainstream consumer. The DVD-drive is an exceptional value, and although it needs some tweaking of its PC desktop video display to be a hands-down winner, the PC Cinema is a fast, powerful, user-friendly product that goes the farthest towards successfully integrating PC processing power into the home theater.
DVX-8000
Philips Consumer Electronics
$5,000
Processor: Intel Pentium 233 MMX
RAM: 32 Mb
Hard Drive: 3.1 GB
Video: Custom video solution; includes Philips line-doubling and Trident 3D
Audio: Dolby Digital (AC3), Dolby ProLogic, Cinema Re-EQ
DVD Drive: Plays DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, CD-ROM, CD-Audio
Source Input: Composite, S-video, Coaxial
Source Output: VGA, S-video, composite
PC Cinema
Tiger Direct
$1,000 (200 MHz AMD, 2.1 GB)
$1,399 (233 MHz AMD, 3.2 GB HD)
Processor: AMD 233 MHz
RAM: 32 MB
Memory: 3.2 GB
Video: ATI Rage II, PC-2-TV
Audio: Dolby Digital (AC3), Dolby ProLogic
DVD Drive: Plays DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, CD-ROM, CD-Audio
Source Input: Composite, S-video
Source Output: VGA, S-video, composite
To keep up with the latest, you need a digital satellite receiver, a digital TV and a digital versatile disc player. But what about your good old VCR? Thank goodness D-VHS is here. While it might seem hard to justify the need for another VCR format, considering changes in broadcast technology it makes sense a digital format would emerge. D-VHS is a brand new standard with the distinction of being able to record and play a digital audio and video signal without any loss of quality. Not only can it record and play back the audio and video parts of a digital signal, but the entire digital “bit stream” as well.
People with digital broadcast satellite (DBS) know the clarity and resolution of MPEG-2 digital video. It’s how video is sent to DSS and DISH receiver boxes, how it’s stored on DVD discs, how it’s sent in a High Definition Television (HDTV) broadcast, and how all high quality digital video will probably be compressed and sent well into the next century. The D-VHS VCR records the video and audio signals in this MPEG-2 state. This allows for no signal degradation in the recording process and, because the data is still compressed, a single D-VHS tape can store up to 7 hours digital programming.
The JVC HM-DSR100 is the first D-VHS VCR on the market and fans and followers of the DISH Network DBS service will love it. It was developed in partnership with EchoStar to work with the DISH Network system and the result is a tightly integrated unit that includes not only the VCR, but also a DISH receiver box. The box is sold either with or without a satellite dish.
The satellite receiver part of the unit has all the bells and whistles of a top end stand-alone box, including a versatile program guide, favorites list, themes menu, and parental controls. It also has a timer function that works exceptionally well because the VCR is integrated into the same unit. The slick result is one click recording with no clunky external infrared blasting.
From our experience with the unit, the quality of a D-VHS recording was equal to the original audio and video signal off the satellite. We recorded several movies and sporting events and the MPEG-2 video was crystal clear with no artifacts or pixelization. Later this year, when Dish Network is scheduled to provide Dolby Digital (AC-3) audio with select programming, the D-VHS will record and play that as well from a special AC- 3 audio jack.
Not only do you get digital video and audio, but all the other data sent with the signal is recorded too. All the information you can get by pressing the “info” button on the remote during a real-time broadcast, including program name, date and time, time remaining, channel number, channel name, channel list, rating and content codes, etc., is recorded on the tape and available with a press of the same button during playback.
The VCR also features high-end tape access functions, including index search, skip search, shuttle search, repeat playback, slow motion and still playback.
Our main complaint with this format and this unit is that they are extremely proprietary. A D-VHS tape recorded on the DSR-100 only plays on another DSR-100. Other D-VHS players, when they become available, will not necessarily be able to decode the Dish Network MPEG-2 signal. Nor is the unit able to record the compressed MPEG-2 from an HDTV signal, although that may change when those signals become more widely available, said a JVC company spokesperson. Luckily, the player will play and record in regular VHS format, so it is backwards compatible with an existing VHS library and with standard VHS tapes. If you are content with this, then the JVC DSR-100 is a savvy, well-designed solution for recording digital audio and video off the Dish Network satellite.
HM-DSR100
JVC
www.jvc.com
$799.95 (with dish)
$749.95 (box only)
$10.99 (JVC D-VHS tape)
--Jim Mikles is Smart TV’s Associate Editor
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