1. TEST REPORT HD Satellite Receiver with PVR
AB IPBox 91HD
Modern powerful Linux-based
HD PVR doesn’t have to be
expensive
We are living in hard times. It just happened that worldwide economic crisis hit us
right in the middle of HDTV boom. Everybody starts to save on all possible things.
HDTV might seem luxury under such circumstances. Would it mean that the bird that
flew so high lately would have its wings cut? Not at all! ABCom, the Slovakian expert
in Linux-based receiver manufacturing, offers a great anti-crisis solution. Just because
the income now is less than it used to be, picture quality is something that doesn’t
have to suffer. We got a chance to test their latest add-on to the HD receiver line,
the AB IPBox 91HD. Having pleasant memories about ABCom’s top receiver
models, we were excited to see what the budget member
of the family is going to be like.
08-09/2009
AB IPBOX 91HD
A smart choice both for DXers and
regular family usage
32 TELE-satellite — Broadband & Fiber-Optic — 08-09/2009 — www.TELE-satellite.com

2. TELE-satellite World www.TELE-satellite.com/...
Download this report in other languages from the Internet:
Arabic ‫ﺍﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ‬ www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/ara/abcom.pdf
Indonesian Indonesia www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/bid/abcom.pdf
Bulgarian Български www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/bul/abcom.pdf
After opening the package on the right is there to make Czech Česky www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/ces/abcom.pdf
German Deutsch www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/deu/abcom.pdf
that arrived to our test lab the pay-tv fans happy. And English English www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/eng/abcom.pdf
Spanish Español www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/esp/abcom.pdf
we first thought - is there a last but not least the four- Farsi ‫ﻓﺎﺭﺳﻲ‬ www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/far/abcom.pdf
French Français www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/fra/abcom.pdf
mistake? We already tested symbol segment display in Greek Ελληνικά www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/hel/abcom.pdf
Croatian Hrvatski www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/hrv/abcom.pdf
ABCom’s 250 and 350 Prime, case you would be inter- Italian Italiano www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/ita/abcom.pdf
Hungarian Magyar www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/mag/abcom.pdf
and the new box’s front panel ested in the channel number Mandarin 中文 www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/man/abcom.pdf
looked exactly the same. But currently on or other service Dutch Nederlands www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/ned/abcom.pdf
Polish Polski www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/pol/abcom.pdf
after a more careful look the information. Portuguese Português www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/por/abcom.pdf
Romanian Românesc www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/rom/abcom.pdf
curious eye is caught by HD Russian Русский www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/rus/abcom.pdf
Swedish Svenska www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/sve/abcom.pdf
and HDMI abbrevations on Rear panel might seem Turkish Türkçe www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0909/tur/abcom.pdf
the receiver, meaning that a little ascetic at first. But Available online starting from 31 July 2009
we have something brand what do we actually need
new in our hands! nowdays for HDTV recep- PVR? USB interface is right AB IPBox 91HD is a Linux-
tion? An HDMI output? You where you expect it to be. based receiver, and you
Front panel really gives got it. S/PDIF audio output Oh, you still wouldn’t like would miss a lot of fun if you
a deja-vu feeling with its for a perfect sound? Here to completely forget about don’t. Because of its power,
seven buttons in the middle it is. Of course, the whole Standard Resolution SDTV? 91HD needs to be ade-
of it (Menu, Exit, OK, Left, thing would not work with- Ok, there is a single SCART quately cooled, that’s why
Right, Up and Down), as out a satellite signal, so output, rather for backwards we again have here a cool-
well as a horseshoe-shaped we have here an LNB input compatibility. But don’t ing fan. Luckily much more
Standby button on the left with a loop-through output. forget to connect the thing quiet then in our previously
side. The smartcard reader Multimedia features and to your home network, since tested 910HD sample, but,
unfortunately, still clearly
audible.
With the remote control
almost all features of the
box can be easily addressed
with, but it would have been
nice to keep the possibility
to control a TV-set with it
(as in all previously tested
ABCom models), as well as
0.61
www.TELE-satellite.com — 08-09/2009 — TELE-satellite — Broadband & Fiber-Optic 33

3. the button giving direct one- Third step brings us closer
click access to PVR record- to the satellite-related stuff.
ings. Except for that it can First you have to add receive-
be positively characterised: able satellites by pressing
it became lighter and all its the red button. LOF frequen-
buttons are easily reach- cies can be freely entered,
able with just one finger. as well as endless DiSEqC
91HD’s user manual keeps options selected, since the
up with good traditions. You receiver supports all ver-
can hardly wish for a more sions of this protocol, from
detailed explanation of all 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 to USALS. Once
receiver’s basic features. all work here is done, you’re
There are some interest- only one yellow-button-click HD reception with bitrate details
ing tips there as well, if you away from channel search.
would like to go beyond
simple satellite reception. Actually, ABCom prepared
Even a newbie would hardly some surprises for us here.
get lost. The package also For example, you can now
contains a CD with a lot of select from Default Scan,
goodies for your receiver, Smart Scan and Reset Scan.
including programs for a They might not be signifi-
software upgrade, chan- cant during the installation
nel editing and so on. It’s process, but might save you
no longer a need to hunt for a lot of headaches later on.
them on various websites. The first one just scans the
satellite, adding new chan-
Installation nels in the end of the main
Once 91HD is powered up list. Smart Scan completely
for the very first time, the resets the main list, keep- Shoutcast radio reception directly from the Internet
user lands in an Installation ing the favorite one, scans
Wizard that doesn’t differ the satellite, then updates
much from the one in top your favorite list with actual
ABCom HD models. Actually, channel parameters. Pretty
its software is as good as convinient! And the last one,
with its older brothers, but Reset Scan, just removes
first let’s set the preferred all the channel data from
languages on the welcome all lists, and initiates the
screen. search.
On-screen menu can be Hardcore DXers would be
displayed in English, Rus- happy with 91HD’s DVB-S/S2
sian, French, Italian, Dutch, tuner sensitivity, and also by
German, Danish, Slovak, its SCPC performance. Our
Czech, Hungarian, Norwe- SCPC test channel of the day
Weather plugin
gian, Polish, Portuguese, - Jamawar from EUROBIRD
Spanish, Swedish, Greek, 2, with SR of just 1780, was
Turkish, Korean, Croatian, processed flawlessly !
Bosnian, Serbian, Bulgarian,
Romanian, Finnish or Ukrain- But while we are still at the
ian. The same choice you get installation stage, it would
here for the preferred audio rather make sense to decide
language as well as teletext how fast you’d like to see
character set. Next step lets the first picture on your TV
you select your time zone, screen. If you would rather
daylight savings options prefer a more up-to-date
and if you would like to set channel list, run the regu-
the current time manually lar channel search, which,
or rather let the receiver for an 86-transponder sat-
update it automatically from ellite position in our test,
the satellite stream. was completed in 5 minutes Manual channel search in DVB-S2
34 TELE-satellite — Broadband & Fiber-Optic — 08-09/2009 — www.TELE-satellite.com

4. 46 seconds (significantly hiding, locking, renaming casting format as well as SD/ “Recorded Files”. In two pre-
faster then before!), result- and moving the channels, as HD resolution. Bottom right vious models of ABCom HD
ing in 1188 TV and 217 well as to our all-time fave corner contains information receivers this window could
Radio channels. However, if - adjusting the default audio about the transponder fre- be reached by pressing one
you find even that too long, volume for channels. Press- quency and SR. Second click single button on the remote
press the green button for ing the “FAV” button toggles brings up a bigger window, control. Except for this incon-
a “Quick Load”. Live picture to favorite-list mode, the with a provider name, used vinience, PVR is as good as
and sound would hit your same “Sports”, “Drama”, encryption systems list and before. Recording can be
screen within seconds ! “News”, “Movie” and “Music” a possibility to set record- either started by clicking
default groups are pre-pro- ing “bookmarks”, in case the the “red circle” button on
Everyday use grammed, the user is free to channel is being recorded the remote control, either by
add as many new ones as he by PVR or if you have the selecting the needed show
The menu system and end-
wishes. timeshifting mode turned in EPG, either by accessing a
user functionality of 91HD is
on. special “Recording Schedule”
almost equal to 900HD or
Adding new channels to submenu. No matter if it’s in
910HD, just set aside a bit
favorite lists takes place in a In case of 91HD, we can SD or in HD, the main match
by some minor hardware
convinient window with two only connect the hard disk of the year will no longer be
limitations. The channel list
panels, just copy the needed to the USB port on the rear missed, even if you have lots
is still feature-loaded, allow-
ones from left to right and panel of the receiver. At first of urgent work to do!
ing one-click sorting by voila, you have all the chan- this raised questions here
alphabet, FTA/encrypted, nels you like in one place, in the test lab if it would EPG in 91HD is also real-
provider or satellite. If the without the need to search be sufficient for HD record- ized in good old two-variant
alphabet sorting is on, it’s for them again and again in ing, however, numerous way. Pressing “EPG” button
easy to select the first letter the main list. And remem- tests didn’t raise any further once brings up a list of the
of the channel you’re inter- ber, if you choose “Smart concerns. The perfect HD upcoming events for the
ested in, just select it on the Scan” next time you’d like picture we had during the currently selected channel,
remote in a way you would to search for new channels, regular reception was re- second click opens a real
do on your mobile phone your favorite lists will not be played from the HDD without program guide - you will see
when typing an SMS. lost! any dropouts or glitches. a big grid with event titles
from current and neighbour-
Pressing the yellow button If you press the same “i” It’s easy to start record- ing channels. The schedule
allows you to jump right button once outside of the ing, easy to stop it, but, can be zoomed in and out,
to the next letter if some- channel list, it will bring unfortunately, not as easy and is only limited by amount
thing went wrong. Press- the good old infobar, show- to get back to it when it’s of information the broad-
ing “i” and entering the ing channel number, name, needed. The user first has caster is willing to share.
password (0000 by default) satellite, current time, avail- to go to the main menu,
gives access to deleting, ability of teletext, broad- choose “Multimedia”, then If it just happens that you
36 TELE-satellite — Broadband & Fiber-Optic — 08-09/2009 — www.TELE-satellite.com

5. can’t pick a show fitting for it’s just enough to google
your current mood, probably around, and your receiver’s
it’s the right time to discover functionality will go beyond
the rich amount of good- your imagination!
ies 91HD has, that are not
directly connected with sat- Multimedia
ellite reception. Since this is
a Linux-based system, vari-
features
Even if Internet is inacces-
ous plug-ins can be installed,
sible from the receiver, you
allowing you to play tetris,
can still view photos, play
sudoku or pingpong, check
MP3s or movies from your
e-mails or weather forecasts.
HDD. While testing the 910HD
Remember we advised you to
we noticed that sometimes Transponder editing
use the wonderful LAN socket
audio and video were not
and connect the receiver
perfectly synchronized; this favorite film and notice the
to your home network or
problem was solved quite lack of synchronization,
directly to Internet? Here it
elegantly in latest firmware just press “Channel Up” or
really starts to make sense,
versions, also for 91HD. “Channel Down” arrows to
because if the broadcaster
make the audio appear ear-
was not accurate enough to
If you start playing your lier or later. The step is 100
properly add the information
to the EPG, a special plug-in
would look for the needed
schedules on the Internet.
Or, what was really great
to discover, now it’s possible
to listen to Internet shout-
cast radio stations right on
the receiver! Forget about
remaining in silence if the
bad weather made satel-
lite reception impossible for
some time! And these are
just the ones included in the
offical firmware, there are
lots and lots of other plugins, Firmware upgrade via Internet
www.TELE-satellite.com — 08-09/2009 — TELE-satellite — Broadband & Fiber-Optic 37

6. HD reception with bitrate details EPG in Program Guide mode
PVR Timeshift options EPG in one-channel mode
ms, so after a few click you - within seconds it will be
would get a perfect match. copied to receiver’s memory
The only drawback is that if and installed.
you pause or fast-forward
the video, the selection is If your budget is tight
lost, and you would have to during crisis, it doesn’t
set it again. This hopefully mean that you have to
should be easy to fix for the forget about HD recep-
manufacturer. tion and all the wonderful
features brought by Linux-
Firmware based receivers. ABCom
upgrade introduced its 91HD just in
time, it’s offered at almost
We can also underline
unbeatable price for picture
some serious improve-
Additional channel info window quality and range of options
ments here. The convinient
Internet update is up and it delivers. DVB-S, DVB-
running again and is offer- S2, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4
ing the most actual version are perfectly received and
(9341 at the moment this recorded, your own media
report was written). If for files are easily played back,
whatever reason you prefer even listening to Inter-
not to use the direct Inter- net shoutcast stations no
net update, the USB one longer requires a computer.
also became much more The firmware is frequently
convinient. No more endless updated with new goodies,
rebooting, just go to Main and there are hundreds of
Menu - Advanced Setup - add-ons available for you
USB Mode, plug in the USB to install. Looks like 91HD
stick with a firmware file is worth every penny paid
Adjusting default audio volume in Channel List you’d like to use, and voila for it.
38 TELE-satellite — Broadband & Fiber-Optic — 08-09/2009 — www.TELE-satellite.com

7. Expert Opinion
+
Almost unbeatable value for its price ! 91HD
kept almost all goodies from ABCom high-end
Linux-based HD receivers. Perfect picture and
sound, convinient menu structure and EPG,
Nickolas
various multimedia options and a wide range of Ovsyadovskiy
TELE-satellite
available addons. Sensitive DVB-S/S2 tuner with Test Center
Hungary
flawless SCPC reception. A smart choice both for
DXers and regular family usage.
-
Although it can be understandable for a budget model,
some things were left out that it would have been nice to
Adding channels to Favorite lists
keep, like E-SATA port for the HDD connection or the remote-
control button for direct access to PVR recordings.
TECHNIC
DATA
Manufacturer ABCom s.r.o., Gogolova 1, 95501 Topolcany, Slovakia
Tel +421-38-5362-611
Fax +421-38-5322-027
E-Mail info@abcom.sk
Model IPBox 91HD
Function Digital Linux-based HDTV PVR receiver
Channel memory 10000
Symbol rate 1~45 Ms/sec.
SCPC yes
DiSEqC 1.0 / 1.1 / 1.2 / 1.3
USALS yes
Scart 1 Synchronizing audio and video in DivX playback
HDMI yes
RCA output no
YUV output no
UHF output no
S-Video output no
0/12 Volt connection no
Dig. Audio connection yes
Ethernet port yes
USB 2.0 port yes
RS232 interface no
EPG yes
C/Ku band compatible yes
Power supply 180-245 VAC, 50/60 Hz
Power consumption 30W (according to manufacturer)
Dimension 300x60x240mm
ENERGY
DIAGRAM Satellite options
Apparent Power
Mode Apparent Active Factor
StandBy 9W 4W 0.44
Active Power Reception 31 W 19 W 0.61
PVR 33 W 20 W 0.60
First 15 minutes standby, next 15 minutes regular TV viewing, then again
shortly to standby, after that 15 minutes PVR recording with external HDD
with its own power supply. SCPC reception with SR of just 1780 Ksps
40 TELE-satellite — Broadband & Fiber-Optic — 08-09/2009 — www.TELE-satellite.com