The Skyworth HT21 is an extremely small DVB-T receiver measuring just 10.5 x 6 x 1.5cm yet includes features of larger receivers. It has a sensitive DVB-T tuner, extensive programming options, USB recording capability, and a futuristic on-screen display. Despite its small size, the receiver produces surprisingly sharp pictures when connected to LCD or plasma TVs via its HDMI output. It offers an easy initial setup process and selection of reception locations. Overall, the engineering and design of the Skyworth HT21 was impressively executed in such a compact receiver.

1. 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
62 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 06-07-08/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com www.TELE-satellite.com — 06-07-08/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志 63

2. TEST REPORT Miniature HDTV Receiver
A Mini
DVB-T Receiver
06-07-08/2012
Sky wor th HT21 DVB
-T
Extremely small receiver
with
exceptional characteristic
s
www.TELE-satellite.com/1
2/07/skyworth
Why should the housing of When we opened the care- is currently in. Because of in the frequency arrange-
a receiver be unnecessarily fully packaged Skyworth its size, Skyworth had no ments from one country
big, clumsy and heavy when HT21 DVB-T, we instantly room to integrate a power or region to another. This
all of the electronics would had flashbacks of those mini supply inside the receiver makes selecting the correct
take up no more space than receivers from the past. housing; instead it uses an location necessary so that a
10.5 x 6 x 1.5cm? The engi- Back then they were fitted external power supply. The successful channel scan can
neers at Skyworth started with Scart connectors; to- overall workmanship of the be achieved by the user. The
thinking about this too and day‘s modern, HD compat- receiver, the remote control following choices are avail-
began working on develop- ible version from Skyworth and the IR receiver is quite able: England, Germany, It-
ing a new DVB-T receiver. comes with a short HDMI exceptional. aly, Spain, Holland, Sweden,
DVB-T, compared to satellite cable hard-wired into the re- Denmark, Finland, Poland
reception, is more perfectly ceiver for connection to an Thanks to the practical in- and Iran. Once the user has
suited for mobile applica- LCD or plasma TV. stallation assistant, the ini- made a choice, the comple-
tions because of its minimal tial setup of the Skyworth tion of a scan across the
antenna requirements. Just The receiver is not only HT21 DVB-T is actually quite entire frequency spectrum
think: you could watch TV inconspicuously small, but it simple. After selecting the in less than a minute com-
in the gazebo in your back also weighs a mere 92g. As OSD language (English, pletes the initial installation.
yard, in your RV or in your for connectors, it comes with French, Italian, Portuguese,
summer home. a DVB-T input, a looped- German, Spanish, Dutch, The entire team here at
through output, a USB 2.0 Swedish, Russian, Turkish, the test center was com-
Of course, a receiver like interface as well as a con- Farsi and Arabic), the receiv- pletely fascinated by the
this would also need to have nection for the external IR er switches over to region OSD display of this new Sky-
a place in your living room receiver. The IR receiver also selection. worth receiver. The various
and in this age of HDTV has an integrated LED so menu entries and windows
would also need to have a that the user can easily iden- Unlike satellite reception, are presented in a modern,
high-resolution A/V output. tify what mode the receiver there are small differences futuristic fashion. This is a
0.5
64 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 06-07-08/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com

3. 1 6 11
welcome change from the thing we wanted to do was
format found in many other test this receiver with our
receivers! test equipment. For mobile
applications, such as in an
Even the structure of the RV, this turns out to be a 22“
main menu left us with an LCD TV. But we also wanted
overall positive impression. to see how it behaved with a
It is logically constructed and 55“ plasma TV and whether
easy to use. While the main it could really deliver incred-
menu point is selected in the ibly sharp pictures via the
2 7 12 vertical level, you‘ll find the HDMI interface. On the re-
sub-menu selections in the ceiver side, the video output
horizontal level. At first this signal can be set to 720p
arrangement might appear and 1080i (each at 50Hz).
to be unusual but you‘ll get You can also match the pic-
used to it after only a short ture frame rate to your TV
time and soon after won‘t or display 4:3 programs on a
want it any other way. 16:9 TV. A wide assortment
of languages for the audio
Naturally the very first tracks and subtitles is an ab-
1. The Skyworth HT21 Installation Assistant
2. Automatic channel scan
3. Main Menu
3 8 13 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
4 9 14
5 10
66 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 06-07-08/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com www.TELE-satellite.com — 06-07-08/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志 67

4. solute must to have in any of number of available DVB-T ites lists. These Favorites unfortunately opted to do
today‘s digital receivers and channels will never be able lists cannot be individually without a DVB-T2 tuner. We
should be integrated into a to keep up with the number named but are instead dif- tested this with an HD signal
high-end product like the of satellite channels. ferentiated from each other in MPEG-4/H.264 on a DVB-T
Skyworth HT21. The same by symbols. The channel list carrier and can confirm that
is also true for the automatic Skyworth still incorpo- can also be sorted alphabeti- it worked perfectly.
time setting via the DVB- rated extensive channel list cally, by PayTV/FreeTV or by
frequency. Yes, this feature A momentary push of
is available although you the OK button presents the
might find that you hardly channel list and after every
ever use it. channel change the receiver
blends in, as we expected, an
The tuner in the HT21 informative Info bar with in-
T data stream so that user editing capabilities into their does not support DVB-T2 so formation on the current and
merely needs to enter the receiver. The user can move in many cases you might not upcoming programs. A push
time difference of the users channels around, rename be able to enjoy an HD pic- of the EPG button opens up
location from UTC/GMT. them, lock them or delete ture. The HT21 can handle a complete electronic pro-
them, or move them into HD content but for some gramming guide that lists all
Despite the fact that the one of eight different Favor- reason the manufacturer the channels on the currently
68 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 06-07-08/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com

5. 15 20 25 30
16 21 26 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
17 22 27 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
selected frequency. But, as time when the interruption
usual, this data is only dis- has passed. You won‘t miss
played if the providers make a thing!
this information available in
the first place. During our tests we also
18 23 28 liked another feature in the
We appreciated the abil- HT21 that can be activated
ity to set up timer record- while watching TV by push-
ings directly from the EPG; ing the NAV button on the
the HT21 can be turned into remote control. This feature
a PVR-ready receiver simply allows you to select subtitles
by connecting an external or various audio tracks and
storage device to the USB also lets you turn on the in-
port such as a USB stick, an ternal teletext decoder. A
SD card or an external USB zoom function and diverse
2.0 hard drive. Since timer channel list editing capabili-
entries can be set to repeat ties are also available here.
on a daily, weekly or week-
19 24 29 end basis, you‘ll never again Since the HT21 is a receiver
have to worry about missing that is especially suitable for
the next episode in your fa- mobile applications, we test-
vorite TV series. ed it not only with our large
rooftop UHF antenna, but
Thanks to the included also with a small rod anten-
time shift function, unex- na. As we have already seen
pected visitors or telephone in tests with other receiv-
calls won‘t interrupt your TV ers, this small antenna can
pleasure. The live TV pro- also deliver a strong enough
gram is simply paused and signal for interference-free
then restarted at a later DVB-T reception. And with
70 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 06-07-08/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com www.TELE-satellite.com — 06-07-08/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志 71

6. the HT21 it was no different: content could be transferred While some users will pass of the integrated calculator
the little Skyworth worked to a PC for further process- the time during long com- or calendar. Overall the Sky-
together with the small an- ing. The little receiver can mercial breaks by playing worth HT21 is a well-round-
tenna very well and thanks to even be used as a jukebox the integrated video game, ed receiver that we really
its error correction was able at a party. Thanks to its MP3 others will take advantage enjoyed testing.
to provide for excellent TV playback, it could create the
reception even with weaker perfect atmosphere at a cel-
signals. Even when we cre- ebration; its picture viewer Expert Opinion
ated our own DVB-T signal in could also set the right mood Living room friendly receiver with excellent
our test center and routed it when showing your friends reception characteristics. The OSD is futu-
to the HT21 through a corre- and family your latest vaca- ristic and a welcome change from the typi-
sponding modulator, the in- tion pictures on your TV. The cal display found in receivers from other
tentional error bits we added Skyworth receiver can also manufacturers. Thanks to the USB 2.0 port,
to the data stream did not playback downloaded mov- the HT21 can with one hand be expanded to
Thomas Haring
+
TELE-satellite
bother the receiver‘s soft- ies from the Internet in DivX, include PVR functions and yet its small size
Test Center
Austria
ware at all. Additionally, the MPEG, MOV and TS. lets you easily slip it into your pants pocket
receiver proved itself even so that you can take it with you in your RV or outside to your
when the picture quality was All of the features men- gazebo. Picture quality is excellent regardless if the HT21
reduced by our artificially in- tioned so far are even fur- is used with a 22“ LCD TV or a large plasma monitor. The
troduced errors. ther enhanced by the abil- receiver‘s audio quality is also outstanding.
ity to upload new software
The HT21‘s PVR functions into the HT21 through a USB
revealed the receiver‘s best storage device so that new
– Unfortunately the built-in tuner doesn‘t support DVB-T2
side: previously recorded software from the manufac-
content could be played back turer can easily and quickly
without any problems or the find its way into the receiver.
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
Email sales ganweicai@skyworth.com
Internet www.skyworthdigital.com
Tel +86-755-26010018
Model HT21
Function Very small PVR Receiver with HDMI
Input frequency VHF (177.5 bis 226.5 MHz) UHF (474-858 MHz)
EPG yes
Supported standards
Video resolution 720p, 1080i 50 Hz
RS232 no
Ethernet no
USB 2.0 yes
HDTV yes (only via )
MPEG4/H.264 yes (only via )
ENERGY
DIAGRAM
Apparent Power
Mode Apparent Active Factor
Active 10 W 5W 0.5
PVR 11 W 5W 0.45
StandBy 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
72 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 06-07-08/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com