TEST REPORT

Miniature HDTV Receiver

Skyworth

HT21

Filled with features just like a big receiver Sensitive DVB-T tuner Extensive program menu PVR compatible through USB interface Futuristic menu

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TEST REPORT

Miniature HDTV Receiver

A Mini DVB-T Receiver

Why should the housing of a receiver be unnecessarily big, clumsy and heavy when all of the electronics would take up no more space than 10.5 x 6 x 1.5cm? The engineers at Skyworth started thinking about this too and began working on developing a new DVB-T receiver. DVB-T, compared to satellite reception, is more perfectly suited for mobile applications because of its minimal antenna requirements. Just think: you could watch TV in the gazebo in your back yard, in your RV or in your summer home. Of course, a receiver like this would also need to have a place in your living room and in this age of HDTV would also need to have a high-resolution A/V output. When we opened the carefully packaged Skyworth HT21 DVB-T, we instantly had flashbacks of those mini receivers from the past. Back then they were fitted with Scart connectors; todays modern, HD compatible version from Skyworth comes with a short HDMI cable hard-wired into the receiver for connection to an LCD or plasma TV. The receiver is not only inconspicuously small, but it also weighs a mere 92g. As for connectors, it comes with a DVB-T input, a loopedthrough output, a USB 2.0 interface as well as a connection for the external IR receiver. The IR receiver also has an integrated LED so that the user can easily identify what mode the receiver is currently in. Because of its size, Skyworth had no room to integrate a power supply inside the receiver housing; instead it uses an external power supply. The overall workmanship of the receiver, the remote control and the IR receiver is quite exceptional. Thanks to the practical installation assistant, the initial setup of the Skyworth HT21 DVB-T is actually quite simple. After selecting the OSD language (English, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Russian, Turkish, Farsi and Arabic), the receiver switches over to region selection. Unlike satellite reception, there are small differences

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Sky wor th HT21 DVB -T Extremely small receiver with exceptional characteristic s

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in the frequency arrangements from one country or region to another. This makes selecting the correct location necessary so that a successful channel scan can be achieved by the user. The following choices are available: England, Germany, Italy, Spain, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Poland and Iran. Once the user has made a choice, the completion of a scan across the entire frequency spectrum in less than a minute completes the initial installation. The entire team here at the test center was completely fascinated by the OSD display of this new Skyworth receiver. The various menu entries and windows are presented in a modern, futuristic fashion. This is a

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welcome change from the format found in many other receivers! Even the structure of the main menu left us with an overall positive impression. It is logically constructed and easy to use. While the main menu point is selected in the vertical level, youll find the sub-menu selections in the horizontal level. At first this arrangement might appear to be unusual but youll get used to it after only a short time and soon after wont want it any other way. Naturally the very first thing we wanted to do was test this receiver with our test equipment. For mobile applications, such as in an RV, this turns out to be a 22 LCD TV. But we also wanted to see how it behaved with a 55 plasma TV and whether it could really deliver incredibly sharp pictures via the HDMI interface. On the receiver side, the video output signal can be set to 720p and 1080i (each at 50Hz). You can also match the picture frame rate to your TV or display 4:3 programs on a 16:9 TV. A wide assortment of languages for the audio tracks and subtitles is an ab-

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1. The Skyworth HT21 Installation Assistant 2. Automatic channel scan 3. Main Menu 4. The HT21 is a real multimedia machine with MP3 and video playback plus picture viewer 5. The HT21 can be matched with any equipment thanks to its broad settings capabilities 6. Manual channel scan 7. Setting the time 8. The HDMI video output can be set to 720p or 1080i (50Hz) 9. A calendar, a calculator and a video game round out the functional capabilities of this receiver 10. Info bar with information on the current and upcoming program 11. Current channel technical details 12. EPG Overview 13. Creating a timer entry 14. The internal teletext decoder

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solute must to have in any of todays digital receivers and should be integrated into a high-end product like the Skyworth HT21. The same is also true for the automatic time setting via the DVB-

number of available DVB-T channels will never be able to keep up with the number of satellite channels. Skyworth still incorporated extensive channel list

ites lists. These Favorites lists cannot be individually named but are instead differentiated from each other by symbols. The channel list can also be sorted alphabetically, by PayTV/FreeTV or by frequency. Yes, this feature is available although you might find that you hardly ever use it. The tuner in the HT21

unfortunately opted to do without a DVB-T2 tuner. We tested this with an HD signal in MPEG-4/H.264 on a DVB-T carrier and can confirm that it worked perfectly. A momentary push of the OK button presents the channel list and after every channel change the receiver blends in, as we expected, an informative Info bar with in-

T data stream so that user merely needs to enter the time difference of the users location from UTC/GMT. Despite the fact that the

editing capabilities into their receiver. The user can move channels around, rename them, lock them or delete them, or move them into one of eight different Favor-

does not support DVB-T2 so in many cases you might not be able to enjoy an HD picture. The HT21 can handle HD content but for some reason the manufacturer

formation on the current and upcoming programs. A push of the EPG button opens up a complete electronic programming guide that lists all the channels on the currently

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15. Setting the length of a recording 16. Recording list 17. MP3 playback 18. Internet downloaded videos can be played back without any problems 19. DivX playback 20. MOV playback 21. Data Manager 22. Photos can easily be displayed 23. Photo selection 24. PVR settings 25. A wide assortment of editing capabilities are available for the channel list 26. Dubai Sports HD from one of our own modulated DVB-T frequencies 27. For our tests we set up a complete transponder from BADR 26 east as a DVB-T frequency for the Skyworth HT21 28. Saudi Sport 2 from BADR 26 east as received by a DVB-T receiver in our Austrian test center 29. All six HD channels from our homemade DVB-T frequency were processed by the Skyworth HT21 without any problems 30. Saudi Sport 1 on BADR 26 east as received by a DVB-T receiver in our Austrian test center

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selected frequency. But, as usual, this data is only displayed if the providers make this information available in the first place. We appreciated the ability to set up timer recordings directly from the EPG; the HT21 can be turned into a PVR-ready receiver simply by connecting an external storage device to the USB port such as a USB stick, an SD card or an external USB 2.0 hard drive. Since timer entries can be set to repeat on a daily, weekly or weekend basis, youll never again have to worry about missing the next episode in your favorite TV series. Thanks to the included time shift function, unexpected visitors or telephone calls wont interrupt your TV pleasure. The live TV program is simply paused and then restarted at a later

time when the interruption has passed. You wont miss a thing! During our tests we also liked another feature in the HT21 that can be activated while watching TV by pushing the NAV button on the remote control. This feature allows you to select subtitles or various audio tracks and also lets you turn on the internal teletext decoder. A zoom function and diverse channel list editing capabilities are also available here. Since the HT21 is a receiver that is especially suitable for mobile applications, we tested it not only with our large rooftop UHF antenna, but also with a small rod antenna. As we have already seen in tests with other receivers, this small antenna can also deliver a strong enough signal for interference-free DVB-T reception. And with
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the HT21 it was no different: the little Skyworth worked together with the small antenna very well and thanks to its error correction was able to provide for excellent TV reception even with weaker signals. Even when we created our own DVB-T signal in our test center and routed it to the HT21 through a corresponding modulator, the intentional error bits we added to the data stream did not bother the receivers software at all. Additionally, the receiver proved itself even when the picture quality was reduced by our artificially introduced errors. The HT21s PVR functions revealed the receivers best side: previously recorded content could be played back without any problems or the

content could be transferred to a PC for further processing. The little receiver can even be used as a jukebox at a party. Thanks to its MP3 playback, it could create the perfect atmosphere at a celebration; its picture viewer could also set the right mood when showing your friends and family your latest vacation pictures on your TV. The Skyworth receiver can also playback downloaded movies from the Internet in DivX, MPEG, MOV and TS. All of the features mentioned so far are even further enhanced by the ability to upload new software into the HT21 through a USB storage device so that new software from the manufacturer can easily and quickly find its way into the receiver.

While some users will pass the time during long commercial breaks by playing the integrated video game, others will take advantage

of the integrated calculator or calendar. Overall the Skyworth HT21 is a well-rounded receiver that we really enjoyed testing.

Expert Opinion
Living room friendly receiver with excellent reception characteristics. The OSD is futuristic and a welcome change from the typical display found in receivers from other manufacturers. Thanks to the USB 2.0 port,

the HT21 can with one hand be expanded to include PVR functions and yet its small size lets you easily slip it into your pants pocket

Thomas Haring TELE-satellite Test Center Austria

so that you can take it with you in your RV or outside to your gazebo. Picture quality is excellent regardless if the HT21 is used with a 22 LCD TV or a large plasma monitor. The receivers audio quality is also outstanding.

Unfortunately the built-in tuner doesnt support DVB-T2

TECHNICAL
DATA
Manufacturer Shenzhen Skyworth Digital Technology CO., LTD. Unit A 13-16/F, Skyworth Mansion, Gaoxin Ave. 1.S. Nanshan District, Shenzhen 518057, China ganweicai@skyworth.com www.skyworthdigital.com +86-755-26010018 HT21 Very small yes 720p, 1080i 50 Hz no no yes yes (only via yes (only via ) ) PVR Receiver with HDMI VHF (177.5 bis 226.5 MHz) UHF (474-858 MHz)

Email sales Internet Tel Model Function Input frequency EPG Supported standards Video resolution RS232 Ethernet USB 2.0 HDTV MPEG4/H.264

ENERGY
DIAGRAM
Apparent Power Mode Active PVR StandBy Apparent Active Factor 10 W 5W 0.5 11 W 5W 0.45 3.5 W 0.5 W 0.14

Active Power

The first 15 minutes: active use with channel switching as well as recording and playback via the USB 2.0 interface. The second 15 minutes: standby

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