Pro autonomous TV tuner
Despite the fact that Internet television continues to gain momentum, devices for working with a familiar TV signal (other than tele) are not becoming less - after all, channels can still be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Today, one of these devices was the stand-alone WinFast TV Pro 1920 TV tuner from Leadtek . Welcome under the cut!
To be honest, I try to stay away from the TV - it shows either something terrible or very addictive :) But suddenly, at the same time, there was time and courage))
')
The index in the model name, perhaps, informs us that the device is capable of working with resolutions up to 1920x1080, which many now take into account. Without relying on guesswork, take a look at the characteristics:
The medium size box contained:
- Tuner Leadtek WinFast TV Pro 1920 ;
- Stand for vertical installation of the tuner;
- Remote control and two finger batteries;
- Audio cord (3.5mm mini-jack-mini-jack);
- Network adapter;
- VGA cable;
- Instruction.
The package bundle is no different from similar devices, although the stand for vertical installation is not found everywhere. The size of the network adapter turned out to be pleasant - it is small ... but it still does not realize that the device itself was not originally designed for constant movement around the house.
The tuner is made mainly of white matte plastic and only the front and rear ends give manufacturers love for gloss - they are made with contrasting dark plastic. The device has an unusual shape - I do not even know what to compare it with. It is probably easier to look at the photo once:
As you can see, smooth lines and rounded shapes prevail, which turn out to be symmetrical along one axis - this makes it possible to install vertically into the stand in two ways (that is, the tuner will conveniently stand on both the right and left of the monitor).
In addition to this (more economical) attachment, the tuner can be put on the surface in the old-fashioned way - it has several rubber feet on the bottom that will try to hold the tuner in one place. In this case, there will be a party on top of which the company’s name and six buttons are placed. Among them - the volume control and channels, as well as the on-screen menu and shutdown.
All functional elements and connectors are placed on the front and rear side: in front it is a power indicator, IR receiver, ambient light sensor, two audio inputs and three video inputs - composite, component S-Video;
Rear - power connector, two VGA ports (In and Out), two audio connectors and a TV antenna input:
With the connection no problems should arise - firstly, all connectors are color-coded and signed, and secondly, there is a detailed instruction.
Despite the fact that the form of the tuner itself is interesting and unusual, these properties were not transferred to the console from the kit) As if the manufacturer stole a batch of consoles from other (rectangular) devices and equipped this tuner with them.
In general, the console is really somewhat angular, although otherwise it’s very comfortable to hold in your hand, and buttons to press a pleasure — firstly, it is done softly and tactilely pleasant, and secondly, the device responds instantly.
There are 30 buttons of different shapes on the console - this is quite a lot by “console” standards, but it’s difficult to get confused - everything is physically broken up into logical groups, and thanks to the non-standard form of some buttons, over time they become recognizable even in the dark. Unusual may be the location of the volume buttons and channel switching - they are at the bottom.
The remote is powered by two finger batteries, which are inserted into the remote in series.
I did not climb inside the device, but if anyone is interested, a sufficiently detailed description of the filling can be found at 3DNews .
As such, the autonomous mode of operation of the device was interesting, i.e. when the computer is turned off (when it is turned on, you can watch TV from LAN). Therefore, the device was immediately connected to the 19-inch monitor directly.
The tuner has a very nice on-screen menu, but its translation was not without flaws - for example, the Latin letter “k” is written instead of the letter “k”, and in general the abbreviations are sometimes surprising - you suddenly see this localization on a device adapted to our market . Nevertheless, everything can be sorted out without any problems. * UPD * In the new firmware, localization problems have been fixed.
So, there are 5 main points:
Video Settings
In this section, the picture parameters are adjusted - brightness, contrast, saturation, hue, clarity and noise reduction. Initially, the picture is not the most intense, but by setting the sensitivity to almost the maximum, I managed to get a very pleasant result - I almost did not touch the rest. Noise reduction has four positions - weak, medium, strong and disabled.
TV settings
Perhaps, the main menu for a TV tuner) So, you first need to specify the country, and then select the type of signal - cable or antenna. Then you need to search for channels - this is either a quick search on the standard frequency grid, or a detailed scan of the entire range of TV frequencies. The second, of course, is more efficient, but will take more time. In my case, in the first mode 8 channels were found (in 2 minutes), in the second (5 minutes minutes) - 49. In the menu item “Channels” you can delete any of the found channels or make a frequency adjustment.
Screen
Here you can adjust the resolution and frequency of the vertical scan. It is strange that the function of changing the format of the picture was not placed here - it is available only through the console. For a monitor with an aspect ratio of 4: 3, the maximum resolution is 1280x1024 at 75Hz, while for widescreens the maximum sweep is almost everywhere 60Hz, and the resolution is 1920x1080 (16: 9) and 1920x1200 (16:10).
A source
To select the source highlighted a separate menu item. Well - the following options are hidden in it: TV, AV, S-Video, YPbPr and PC.
Installations
This tab contains several interesting settings - “Transparency” (in the menu), “Information” (displaying information about the firmware), “Sleep Timer” (the same function is on all TVs) and “Illumination Sensor” (about it later).
In general, I was pleasantly surprised by the sensitivity of the tuner - I didn’t know that I had so many channels rummaging through the wire) The signal, like on the TV set, was very confident and with a slight level of noise, the color and clarity were arranged by unbalanced eyes.
If you use a TV tuner in the video monitor-monitor circuit, the result may not please the owner - if you do not turn on the monitor's auto-tuning after each resolution change, the output image will have small distortions that may interfere, for example, with comfortable reading of small text. The PIP (Picture-In-Picture) function can be quite interesting when you can combine work on a computer with watching TV.
As I said, on the front side of the device is a light sensor, which can automatically adjust the brightness of the picture depending on external conditions. It is unlikely that many suffer from a problem with brightness in different lighting conditions - I don’t remember anyone who would manually change the brightness each time) However, this feature adds a small contribution to the convenience of viewing.
Pros :
- Sure reception of a signal;
- Ability to work offline;
- Attractive appearance (and opaque plastic);
- Possibility of vertical installation of the device and duplicated buttons on the case;
- Support for a wide range of resolutions and work with 75Hz scan
- Unpretentiousness to the operating system;
- Reasonable price (from 2700 rubles).
Additionally, this list includes the presence of a light sensor, the “picture in picture” mode,
Cons :
- The remote did not fit the design :)
- Can not connect via DVI / HDMI;
Initially, there were problems of Russification in the list of minuses - as it turned out, this was eliminated in the new version of the firmware.
In other reviews it is said about unrecoverable deterioration of picture quality when connected via a video card - it can be solved by turning on the monitor auto-tuning.
What is missing? Perhaps someone would like to support the work in the FM-band.
Despite the fact that many have begun to increasingly prefer television over the Internet, it is still too early to talk about the extinction of the TV signal. So devices like this will appear today and even tomorrow.
If we take into account the price for which most competitors offer only unpretentious external solutions, it can be said with confidence that the product from Leadtek will find its buyer. In the compact stand-alone case, a lot of positive qualities have gathered, which clearly exceed the significant disadvantages.
The price of the device in Moscow starts from 2700 rubles.
Successes!
Today, one of these devices was the stand-alone WinFast TV Pro 1920 TV tuner from Leadtek . Welcome under the cut!
To be honest, I try to stay away from the TV - it shows either something terrible or very addictive :) But suddenly, at the same time, there was time and courage))
')
The index in the model name, perhaps, informs us that the device is capable of working with resolutions up to 1920x1080, which many now take into account. Without relying on guesswork, take a look at the characteristics:
The medium size box contained:
- Tuner Leadtek WinFast TV Pro 1920 ;
- Stand for vertical installation of the tuner;
- Remote control and two finger batteries;
- Audio cord (3.5mm mini-jack-mini-jack);
- Network adapter;
- VGA cable;
- Instruction.
The package bundle is no different from similar devices, although the stand for vertical installation is not found everywhere. The size of the network adapter turned out to be pleasant - it is small ... but it still does not realize that the device itself was not originally designed for constant movement around the house.
Appearance
The tuner is made mainly of white matte plastic and only the front and rear ends give manufacturers love for gloss - they are made with contrasting dark plastic. The device has an unusual shape - I do not even know what to compare it with. It is probably easier to look at the photo once:
As you can see, smooth lines and rounded shapes prevail, which turn out to be symmetrical along one axis - this makes it possible to install vertically into the stand in two ways (that is, the tuner will conveniently stand on both the right and left of the monitor).
In addition to this (more economical) attachment, the tuner can be put on the surface in the old-fashioned way - it has several rubber feet on the bottom that will try to hold the tuner in one place. In this case, there will be a party on top of which the company’s name and six buttons are placed. Among them - the volume control and channels, as well as the on-screen menu and shutdown.
All functional elements and connectors are placed on the front and rear side: in front it is a power indicator, IR receiver, ambient light sensor, two audio inputs and three video inputs - composite, component S-Video;
Rear - power connector, two VGA ports (In and Out), two audio connectors and a TV antenna input:
With the connection no problems should arise - firstly, all connectors are color-coded and signed, and secondly, there is a detailed instruction.
Despite the fact that the form of the tuner itself is interesting and unusual, these properties were not transferred to the console from the kit) As if the manufacturer stole a batch of consoles from other (rectangular) devices and equipped this tuner with them.
In general, the console is really somewhat angular, although otherwise it’s very comfortable to hold in your hand, and buttons to press a pleasure — firstly, it is done softly and tactilely pleasant, and secondly, the device responds instantly.
There are 30 buttons of different shapes on the console - this is quite a lot by “console” standards, but it’s difficult to get confused - everything is physically broken up into logical groups, and thanks to the non-standard form of some buttons, over time they become recognizable even in the dark. Unusual may be the location of the volume buttons and channel switching - they are at the bottom.
The remote is powered by two finger batteries, which are inserted into the remote in series.
I did not climb inside the device, but if anyone is interested, a sufficiently detailed description of the filling can be found at 3DNews .
Testing
As such, the autonomous mode of operation of the device was interesting, i.e. when the computer is turned off (when it is turned on, you can watch TV from LAN). Therefore, the device was immediately connected to the 19-inch monitor directly.
The tuner has a very nice on-screen menu, but its translation was not without flaws - for example, the Latin letter “k” is written instead of the letter “k”, and in general the abbreviations are sometimes surprising - you suddenly see this localization on a device adapted to our market . Nevertheless, everything can be sorted out without any problems. * UPD * In the new firmware, localization problems have been fixed.
So, there are 5 main points:
Video Settings
In this section, the picture parameters are adjusted - brightness, contrast, saturation, hue, clarity and noise reduction. Initially, the picture is not the most intense, but by setting the sensitivity to almost the maximum, I managed to get a very pleasant result - I almost did not touch the rest. Noise reduction has four positions - weak, medium, strong and disabled.
TV settings
Perhaps, the main menu for a TV tuner) So, you first need to specify the country, and then select the type of signal - cable or antenna. Then you need to search for channels - this is either a quick search on the standard frequency grid, or a detailed scan of the entire range of TV frequencies. The second, of course, is more efficient, but will take more time. In my case, in the first mode 8 channels were found (in 2 minutes), in the second (5 minutes minutes) - 49. In the menu item “Channels” you can delete any of the found channels or make a frequency adjustment.
Screen
Here you can adjust the resolution and frequency of the vertical scan. It is strange that the function of changing the format of the picture was not placed here - it is available only through the console. For a monitor with an aspect ratio of 4: 3, the maximum resolution is 1280x1024 at 75Hz, while for widescreens the maximum sweep is almost everywhere 60Hz, and the resolution is 1920x1080 (16: 9) and 1920x1200 (16:10).
A source
To select the source highlighted a separate menu item. Well - the following options are hidden in it: TV, AV, S-Video, YPbPr and PC.
Installations
This tab contains several interesting settings - “Transparency” (in the menu), “Information” (displaying information about the firmware), “Sleep Timer” (the same function is on all TVs) and “Illumination Sensor” (about it later).
In general, I was pleasantly surprised by the sensitivity of the tuner - I didn’t know that I had so many channels rummaging through the wire) The signal, like on the TV set, was very confident and with a slight level of noise, the color and clarity were arranged by unbalanced eyes.
If you use a TV tuner in the video monitor-monitor circuit, the result may not please the owner - if you do not turn on the monitor's auto-tuning after each resolution change, the output image will have small distortions that may interfere, for example, with comfortable reading of small text. The PIP (Picture-In-Picture) function can be quite interesting when you can combine work on a computer with watching TV.
As I said, on the front side of the device is a light sensor, which can automatically adjust the brightness of the picture depending on external conditions. It is unlikely that many suffer from a problem with brightness in different lighting conditions - I don’t remember anyone who would manually change the brightness each time) However, this feature adds a small contribution to the convenience of viewing.
As a result
Pros :
- Sure reception of a signal;
- Ability to work offline;
- Attractive appearance (and opaque plastic);
- Possibility of vertical installation of the device and duplicated buttons on the case;
- Support for a wide range of resolutions and work with 75Hz scan
- Unpretentiousness to the operating system;
- Reasonable price (from 2700 rubles).
Additionally, this list includes the presence of a light sensor, the “picture in picture” mode,
Cons :
- The remote did not fit the design :)
- Can not connect via DVI / HDMI;
Initially, there were problems of Russification in the list of minuses - as it turned out, this was eliminated in the new version of the firmware.
In other reviews it is said about unrecoverable deterioration of picture quality when connected via a video card - it can be solved by turning on the monitor auto-tuning.
What is missing? Perhaps someone would like to support the work in the FM-band.
findings
Despite the fact that many have begun to increasingly prefer television over the Internet, it is still too early to talk about the extinction of the TV signal. So devices like this will appear today and even tomorrow.
If we take into account the price for which most competitors offer only unpretentious external solutions, it can be said with confidence that the product from Leadtek will find its buyer. In the compact stand-alone case, a lot of positive qualities have gathered, which clearly exceed the significant disadvantages.
The price of the device in Moscow starts from 2700 rubles.
Successes!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/79353/
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