04-05 - TELE-satellite International Magazine

does not take place via PCI
or PCI-e but via FireWire.
With this, end users have the
added benefit of being able to
choose either an internal or
external model of this product.
The external version is
called FireDTV and comes as
a small box with all necessary
ports being located on
one side. The internal version
bears the name FloppyDTV
and can simply be plugged
into an available PCI or PCIe
slot.
What unites both models
is their FireWire interface for
data transfer. Some readers
may ask ‘Why FireWire?’ at
this point. Well, contrary to
USB 2.0, FireWire can maintain
a specified minimum
transfer rate, which is a particular
bonus when it comes
to high-resolution video.
While in theory, USB 2.0 can
reach slightly higher transfer
rates, most real-world scenarios
prove that FireWire
has the leading edge.
Apart from that, most
modern PC systems these
days come with a FireWire
interface anyway, and even if
you should find out your particular
PC doesn’t, you can
always add a FireWire interface
and it won’t cost you a
fortune.
As it turns out, DVBShop
made a smart move with
focusing on FireWire, even
more so as this type of interface
has been gaining ground
in the home video segment
for many years now anyway.
DVBShop sent us the internal
model for our test – the
FloppyDTV. It can easily be
slotted into any PCI or PCIe
port and draws its power
directly from the PC’s internal
power supply. All you
need to do is connect the
supplied power cord to one of
the 4-pin power sockets that
are also used to power hard
disks, DVD drives and so on.
The outward facing side of
the card features the tuner
connection as well as – slightly
below – a CI slot that can take
any standard module for conditional
access systems like
Irdeto, Seca, Viaccess, Conax,
Cryptoworks, Nagravision and
so on. The FireWire interface
required for data transfer is
located directly on the printed
circuit board of the FloppyDTV
and cannot be accessed from
the outside. This means the
card needs to be connected
to one of the PC’s internal
FireWire ports. In case such
an internal port is not available,
the FloppyDTV package
includes a second slot sheet
that can be used to guide the
FireWire cable to the outside
and then connect it to one
of the regular FireWire ports
of the PC. The manufacturer
can even supply a suitable
adapter kit to install the card
into a 3.5 inch hard disk slot,
but this device is not included
as standard.
DVBShop ships three versions
of the FloppyDTV card:
DVB-S/2, DVB-C and DVB-T.
It’s a pity that the card is not
designed for swapping tuners
because the tuner is permanently
soldered onto the
printed circuit board. A tuner
that could easily be changed
even by users with only moderate
technical skills would
provide some wonderful icing
on the cake.
Installation
If you’re looking for an
impressive demonstration of
how Plug&Play is supposed
to work you’ve come to the
right place. Simply identify
an available PCI or PCI-e slot
and insert the card. Indentations
for both slot types are
provided or you may also
choose to simply detach the
bracket that is not required to
38 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 04-05/2009 — www.TELE-satellite.com
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make sure the card firmly sits
in place. Usually you will also
easily find an unused power
connector and be able to connect
the card to an internal
FireWire port. And that’s it!
The manufacturer ships
this product with a handy
step-by-step installation
guide. The minimum system
requirements are Pentium IV
1.5 GHz or Athlon XP+ 200
for SDTV and Pentium IV 3.5
GHz or Athlon XP+ 3500 with
a DXVA/H.264 compatible
graphics board for HDTV. Both
the Windows XP and Windows
Vista operating systems are
supported, the latter with
32bit as well as 64bit.
Apart from the provided
FireDTV Viewer you may also