Don't rush into purchasing DVB-T2 tuners. Digital tuner DVB T2. What it is? External digital tuner dvb t2

02.11.2023

To watch your favorite films and TV programs in excellent quality, today it is not enough to buy a good TV. You will also need related equipment, and as soon as the package is complete, you will definitely be convinced that you did not make a mistake. What does TV tuner mean? An independent video tuner, receiver, decoder, digital set-top box - it’s so difficult to figure it all out. Meanwhile, all these names are for the same device, which is necessary to receive and decode digital television signals. In our article we will find out what a digital tuner for a TV is and what it is for.

Advantages of digital television

Why do you need a tuner and how does it work? All televisions are equipped with tuners that receive analog signals, but after digital television appeared, this may not be enough. Why is digital broadcasting so good?

Higher level of image quality.
Good signal protection.
The ability to unlock the potential of modern devices.
Large number of channels.
A lot of other functions: teletext, recording the program on external media, you can stop the broadcast, then continue it, and much more.

Digital television broadcast standards

The International Standards Organization includes national committees from a large number of countries. It consists of special teams that solve problems in different industries.

There are different television standards; let’s look at those adopted in European countries to understand which digital tuner is best for your TV:

DVB-C. Is standard cable digital television. To gain access to channels, a provider card is inserted into the tuner. This standard is based on MPEG-2 moving image and audio coding.
DVB-C2. It is the second generation of the standard mentioned above. One carrier is replaced by OFDM, resulting in additional noise immunity and flexibility.
DVB-S. Is a digital satellite broadcast. A satellite is used to transmit the signal, but it is received using a satellite dish and decoder.

Important! This type of digital broadcasting is the most reliable, fastest and most economical. At the same time, high signal quality is maintained at any distance.

DVB-S2. It is a modification of the previous standard. It does not bind the transport frame to certain standards, so it is possible to transmit both MPEG-2 transport packets and arbitrary streams with a packet or continuous structure.
DVB-T. Is a digital terrestrial television. Radio air is used for signal transmission, and an individual or collective antenna connected to a TV or receiver is used for reception. The decimeter or meter range is used for operation.
DVB-T2. It is the second generation of the previous standard, which has fundamental differences. Thanks to this improved type, programs are broadcast not only in HDTV format, but also in 3D. Audio and video are compressed into the international MPEG-4 standard.

Important! This technology features improved throughput and transmission is more stable.

Selecting a TV tuner

Television tuners are high-tech devices through which a video signal is received, which is then converted and broadcast on the screen. Which TV tuner is better to buy for a TV, since various manufacturers produce a lot of models?

Important! All of them are distinguished by wide functionality, thanks to which it is possible to capture video not only from external sources, for example, video cameras, but also receive a radio signal. If you install a tuner on your computer, you can easily listen to the radio, watch and record television programs, and much more.

As with other modern devices, devices of this type have characteristics and parameters that need to be studied before purchase.

Important! The first step is to determine for what tasks the receiver will be used, to watch what kind of television: satellite, digital or analog. To receive satellite or terrestrial digital television, you should pay attention to hybrid models that combine various television receivers.

It is advisable to decide on some technical details that are of great importance:

Connection type. A cable is used to connect external models; internal ones are inserted into special slots.
Video standards. It can be analog, digital and hybrid.
Video capture, making it possible to record any broadcast.
Video compression. Some models provide the ability to compress video into certain formats.
Radio reception available.
Freeze frame function.
Mirror projection.
Delayed viewing function.

Tuner type

These devices can have different types of installation and design:

External devices have their own video outputs. It is possible to directly connect these USB tuners to a computer, monitor or TV. It is usually presented in the form of a small box. Follow the link to learn about.
The internal TV tuners look like an expansion card. They are installed inside the computer.

Important! Of course, such devices have a number of advantages, primarily related to functionality. The downside is that not every computer can accommodate an additional expansion card.

The standalone tuner does not require a computer or software to operate. When receiving and processing the signal, the resources of the tuner itself are used.

Important! It has much better reception quality, as well as advanced capabilities.

Popular models

These days there are many manufacturers on the market, each with their own models of TV equipment. This variety can make your head spin, so let’s pay attention to the models that are most popular and find out which TV tuner is better.

Strong SRT 8202

It is one of the leading models on the modern market. Receives terrestrial digital television of DVB-T and DVB-T2 standards. The image quality is the highest - up to 1080p.

This device has the following functions:

Teletext;
TV Guide;
Supports video recording to external media;
Ability to stop the program.

Important! If you use a flash drive, you can play files in a variety of formats. Built-in support for AC3 audio.

The device is equipped with a small display to display basic information. In general, it has small dimensions. Additionally, this digital TV tuner comes with a remote control that is small and easy to use.

Galaxy Innovations Matrix Lite:

This receiver is distinguished by its support not only for terrestrial digital broadcasting DVB-T2, but also for satellite DVB-S2 and cable DVB-C. The weight of the device is 230 g, the dimensions are quite compact.
There are not only standard functions, but also Internet browsing.
The device can be attached to the TV, but it can be controlled using the remote control thanks to the remote infrared sensor.
The device supports a maximum resolution of 1080p, which allows you to watch programs in excellent quality.

Important! Thanks to the special function introduced by the developer, energy is consumed very economically. However, you will have to pay more for this.

BBK SMP017HDT2

This device is equipped with all the most necessary functions, and its price is quite affordable. As with other modern models, you can:

record and stop transmissions;
use TV guide and teletext;
view the TV program several days in advance.

Built-in support for playing files with different resolutions.

Important! The main disadvantage is the lack of a display, but there is a quite convenient and understandable remote control.

Ethereal DVB-T2 receiver for watching digital television. The device has HDMI And YPbPr(component) video output and USB 2.0 port to which you can connect external drives for recording channels and functions TimeShift. As a media player, the receiver supports most popular video and audio formats: MPEG1/2/4, DivX, T.S., MKV, MP3, WMA, AC3.

Progress cannot be stopped. Didn’t have time to completely switch to the digital broadcasting standard DVB-T, as a sudden change of course occurred, digital television broadcasting will be carried out in all newly created terrestrial networks only in standard DVB-T2. By Order of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 287-r dated March 3, 2012, the introduction of digital terrestrial television broadcasting in a modern standard DVB-T2 in Russia it is postponed from 2015 to 2012. And now your new TV receiver with a DVB-T tuner is outdated. How can this be, you ask, since just “yesterday” the presence of a DVB-T tuner was called a competitive advantage of your new TV by lively managers of electronics stores? “Take this model now and in the future you will be able to watch digital broadcasts,” you heard. And so, this is Spar Russia. Let it comfort you that the standard DVB-T2 one third better than the first digital standard DVB-T, it allows you to increase the signal quality by 30%, as well as transmit additional information in the same transmitted packet.

Buy a new TV?
What should owners of old analogue or new TVs, but with a tuner of an “outdated” standard, do? Fortunately, our Chinese friends have launched the production of inexpensive DVB-T2 tuners. You don't have to buy a new TV. Hurray, saved! Having learned that test broadcasting in a new digital format had begun in my region, I ordered an inexpensive set-top box to evaluate the prospects...

Package
The receiver was delivered by China-Russian Post tandem in 16 days. It was packed in bubble wrap and wrapped with tape.

Under the film and tape, a paper bag with hieroglyphs was discovered:

But in a paper bag... a box with a receiver (matryoshka, damn it):

The box describes in English the main capabilities and characteristics of the device and the country of origin - China. As you can see, there are no hieroglyphs - the product was clearly manufactured for export. There are no manufacturer's brands or logos, typical OEM product. As it turned out, this receiver was not exactly on Shenzhen Wisdigi Digital Products Co., Ltd. (then I found its twin brother under the DIGISAT brand, but more on that later).

Receiver features:

- Fully compatible with the format DVB-T2
- Exit HDMI 1.3 for high quality images
- Component video output YPbPr
- Digital coaxial audio output
- Digital LED display
- Video output SCART
- Record TV programs to external USB drives
- Function support TimeShift
- Function media player A
- Program guide support ( EPG)
- Convenient multilingual menu
- Support Teletext And Subtitles

Contents of delivery
Doesn't amaze you with generosity.

The box contained:
- DVB-T2 receiver
- remote control
- user manual (in English)
- user guide ()

Appearance and controls

On the front panel of the device there are:
1. Power button
2. OK button
3. MENU button
4. Display
5. Standby indicator
6. Remote control operation indicator
7. Volume buttons
8. Channel switching buttons
9. USB 2.0
This is enough to control the basic functions of the receiver without a remote control and indicate its operating modes.

On the rear panel of the device there are switching connectors:
1. Antenna input
2. Antenna output
3. Digital coaxial audio output
4. HDMI output
5. TV SCART output
6. Component Y/Pb/Pr video output
7. Composite RCA video output
8. Audio RCA output
This set will allow you to connect the receiver to almost any TV set, AV receiver, and some computer monitors (mine, for example, has an HDMI input). To connect the antenna, you need a coaxial cable with an F connector.

The remote control comes without batteries (2xAAA).

Preparing to turn on and starting the device
As you probably already understood, the set-top box can be connected to a TV or monitor using an analog (component/composite) or HDMI output. In my case, a composite output was used to connect to a Panasonic TC-2150R TV. Sound can be output via HDMI, or you can use the analog stereo output. But the most unusual thing, in my opinion, is the presence of a third method of sound output - using a coaxial output - a rarity for a device of this class. In my case, a stereo audio output was used and connected to the TV. To receive DVB-T2, I used a collective outdoor antenna, the same one used to receive analog TV. After turning on the receiver shows the splash screen:

Initially, the screensaver was different, I updated the device with firmware from a Russian clone and forgot to take a photo of the screensaver that came from the factory. It can be viewed at the respected eshikvtumane.

When you first boot, the Installation Assistant appears, asking you to select the menu language, country, and start searching for channels. Scanning the entire range takes 5-7 minutes. After the search was completed, a list of 10 TV channels and 3 radio stations appeared on the TV screen; it turned out to be a list of digital television channels from the first multiplex.

Multiplex

Multiplex - transmission over one digital radio frequency channel of different television channels generated by different signal sources (studios and television companies). The multiplex may also include radio broadcast channels, teletext signals, etc.

Channel One, "Russia 1", "Russia-2", NTV television company, St. Petersburg - channel 5, "Russia - Culture" (Russia-K), information channel "Russia-24", children's and youth TV channel "Carousel", regional channel (there is no broadcast, there is a splash picture), “Public Television of Russia” (similar to the regional channel).
Radio stations “Vesti FM”, “Mayak”, “Radio Russia”.
The quality of reception on the street antenna turned out to be no less than 85% for some channels even 100%. It is worth noting that digital broadcasting has a peculiarity, either the channel shows perfectly or does not show at all. Images breaking through noise and interference are a thing of the past. The image quality on the old Panasonic"e is at DVD level; this is not available for analogue broadcasting.
You can switch channels using buttons on the receiver body, digital buttons on the remote control, from the list of all found channels using the Point-and-Click method, sequentially (using the “previous channel”, “next channel” buttons), there is a button for quick access to the channel you were watching before the current one. The channel switches in about 2-3 seconds.

TimeShift
This is what every fan dreamed of when “the beer ran out” and the broadcast of the match was not interrupted by advertising. We pause the program and go about our business. After unpausing, the transmission will continue. In order for this to work, you need to connect a flash drive or an external hard drive with a USB 2.0 interface to the set-top box. NTFS and FAT32 file systems are supported. The settings indicate how much disk/flash drive space to allocate for this function to work, from 0.5 to 4GB. You can connect multiple drives via USB hub.

Recorded file parameters

This is the file that appeared on the flash drive when I pressed pause on the “Carousel” channel.
General #2 ID: 2 (0x2) Format: BDAV Format/Info: Blu-ray Video File size: 51.8 MiB Duration: 2mn 41s Overall bit rate: 2 695 Kbps Video #1181 ID: 1181 (0x49D) Menu ID: 8 ( 0x8) Format: AVC Format/Info: Advanced Video Codec Format profile: Main@L3.0 Format settings, CABAC: Yes Format settings, ReFrames: 4 frames Format settings, GOP: M=1, N=56 Codec ID: 27 Duration : 2mn 40s Bit rate: 2,324 Kbps Width: 720 pixels Height: 576 pixels Display aspect ratio: 4:3 Frame rate: 25,000 fps Standard: Component Color space: YUV Chroma subsampling: 4:2:0 Bit depth: 8 bits Scan type: Interlaced Scan order: Top Field First Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.224 Stream size: 44.4 MiB (86%) Color primaries: BT.470-6 System B, BT.470-6 System G, BT.601- 6 625, BT.1358 625, BT.1700 625 PAL, BT.1700 625 SECAM Transfer characteristics: BT.470-6 System B, BT.470-6 System G Matrix coefficients: BT.470-6 System B, BT. 470-6 System G, BT.601-6 625, BT.1358 625, BT.1700 625 PAL, BT.1700 625 SECAM, IEC 61966-2-4 601 Audio #1182 ID: 1182 (0x49E) Menu ID: 8 (0x8) Format: MPEG Audio Format version: Version 1 Format profile: Layer 2 Codec ID: 4 Duration: 2mn 41s Bit rate mode: Constant Bit rate: 256 Kbps Channel(s) : 2 channels Sampling rate: 48.0 KHz Compression mode: Lossy Delay relative to video: -1s 225ms Stream size: 4.91 MiB (9%)

Recording programs
It is possible to record programs according to a schedule or by pressing a button on the remote control. You can record one channel and watch another.

Music pictures
The declared formats are reproduced.

Playing video
So far, everything I fed to him was played without problems.
Containers: MPEG-PS (.mpg, .vob), Matroska (.mkv), AVI (.avi), MPEG-4 (.mp4), BDAV (.mts, .m2ts)
Codecs: MPEG Video, MPEG-4 Visual, AVC
Audio: MPEG Audio, AAC, PCM, DTS, Dolby Digital (AC-3)

Firmware update
As I mentioned earlier, the receiver had a twin brother. in Russia under the trademark

This topic came up when discussing a review of another similar tuner:

We added Multiple PLPs to the already working DVB-T2 in July
and all tuners stopped working without its support.
Local Orieli and Rolson have already updated the firmware and everything is working. Chinese support is usually more difficult

And on the page of the Russian “manufacturer” there is firmware dated 08/27/2012 Multi PLP. That’s it, I told myself, and asked for it. Instructions in the user manual.

Pros:
- DVB-T and DVB-T2 reception
- Wide range of output connectors (HDMI, SCART, RCA)
- Cheaper than in local stores
- For change we get a multimedia player
- All declared functions work
Minuses:
- There is no set of connecting cables and batteries in the remote control.
- It’s not like it’s a minus of the device itself, but the unclear fate of digital broadcasting in Russia. It is possible to introduce coding and use . Of course, it would be disgusting on the part of the authorities to change “horses in midstream” for the third time...

Thank you all for your attention.

P.S. For additional information, you can look at reviews of similar devices, because The software part is apparently the same (or very similar):
+81 Add to favorites I liked the review +63 +130

Relevance: July 2019

Television receivers (set-top boxes) are designed for broadcasting digital terrestrial broadcasting, providing viewing of open channels in high quality and without a subscription fee. The set-top box is compact in size, easy to set up and operate, which allows you to connect it to almost any TV, including older models with picture tubes.

Manufacturers of digital TV receivers are constantly improving their products, expanding the functionality of their products. In addition to traditional models that receive channels in T2 format, there are set-top boxes with Internet access via Wi-Fi, with the ability to record broadcasts to an external drive, with a built-in HD player and other additional features.

We have compiled a list of the best DVB-T2 set-top boxes based on expert assessments and reviews from real customers. Our recommendations will help you make a choice that suits your needs and desires. There are many competitors in the global technology market, but we have selected the best manufacturers and recommend paying special attention to them:

Budget / Inexpensive

LUMAX
World Vision
Selenga
HARPER
D-COLOR

Aver Media

For TV Inexpensive Multifunctional Recording Timer IPTV Support Video standard: Full HD For PC

*Prices are correct at the time of publication and are subject to change without notice.

DVB-T2 set-top boxes: For TV

Playing from a USB storage device/ Inexpensive / Video standard: Full HD

Main advantages

After the first tests, it became clear that this device is purely for viewing digital channels. Actually, the price hints at this. The reception is reliable and there is HD support.

The IR signal receiver works unsystematically: sometimes you have to aim with the remote control, and sometimes the channels switch, even if you stand half-turned. Switching, by the way, is fast, but the image does not always keep up with the sound, it takes a second or two.

Now about the sad thing: the USB recorder is here only for show. Playback is not so great, recording too: jerks, slowdowns, jumping from one file to another. But if you don't need these features, the device is decent.

Advantages

HD image output
Not bad sound
Digital radio
Bright board with a clock

Minuses

Failed USB recorder
Small remote control

Playing from a USB storage device Video standard: Full HD/ Recording timer

Main advantages

The device is not only a digital television receiver, but also a modern multi-format media player
Thanks to the pass-through antenna output, you can connect another device to the receiver, for example a second TV
The presence of a USB interface allows you to record TV programs to external media (flash drives or hard drives) or play video files
A special feature of the model is a large, clear and convenient menu that will be understandable even for people with impaired vision.
The device comes with everything you need for quick start-up - a cable for connecting to the TV and batteries for the remote control

Playing from a USB storage device / Video standard: Full HD/ Recording timer

Main advantages

Thanks to HDTV reception, users can enjoy high quality broadcast programs
The built-in TV guide allows you to plan your TV viewing in advance, providing a convenient program for the day
Using the receiver, you can record video in high definition 1080p to the hard drive, and then view it at a convenient time
Thanks to the presence of large ventilation slots, overheating of the processor is eliminated, which has a beneficial effect on the stability of operation and the service life of the tuner
The built-in media player supports almost all modern file formats and can display images on standard 4:3 or widescreen 16:9 screens

Playing from a USB storage device/ For TV / Video standard: Full HD/ Recording timer

Main advantages

Thanks to the use of a high-quality built-in tuner MaxLinear MXL608, which has increased sensitivity and noise immunity, the digital television signal is broadcast with exceptionally high quality
Supports Dolby Digital surround sound with the latest AC3 codec for an immersive, immersive movie experience
The tuner has a bright, clear display that displays the number of the included channel, teletext, signal strength indication, channel description, name of the current and next programs
The tuner has a durable metal body and stable rubberized feet, which prevents slipping and mechanical damage to the device.
Thanks to the included RCA cable, you can connect the set-top box to older TV models

Show all products in the category "For TV"

DVB-T2 set-top boxes: Inexpensive

Playing from a USB storage device/ Inexpensive / Video standard: Full HD/ Recording timer / For TV / IPTV support