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TEST REPORT                     Miniature HDTV Linux Receiver




     AZBox
                                                                                                                        •	can be started with two different flash versions
                                                                                                                        •	excellent integration in existing home network
                                                                                                                        •	remote control compatible with AZBox ME –




     miniMe
                                                                                                                        both receivers can be operated with the same
                                                                                                                        remote
                                                                                                                        •	blind scan function as special treat for DXers
                                                                                                                        •	easy-to-use and intuitive on-screen menu




16 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com           www.TELE-satellite.com — 09-10/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志   17
TEST REPORT                     Miniature HDTV Linux Receiver


  Ever since we first test-
ed the AZBox ME in TELE-
satellite 02-03/2012 we
simply cannot take our
eyes off this receiver. The
latest variant arrived at
our test center in an unu-
sually small box and car-
ries the fitting name AZ-
Box miniMe.

   The AZBox miniMe sports
a stylish ‘set-top box design’,
which means it comes with
an unobtrusive back plastic
casing which will make it a
suitable addition to all your
existing home entertainment
gear.
   We were particularly taken
to the slightly inclined side
panels and the interest-
ing design of the ventilation
openings on the top side. In
contrast to those unusual
characteristics, the front
panel looks rather conven-                ■ Read Test Report of the AZBox miniMe's big sister AZBox ME in TELE-satellite 02-03/2012
tional and comes with a but-                www.TELE-satellite.com/12/03/azbox-me
ton on the left to switch on
the receiver. The button is               used to connect an infrared                a surprisingly wide range of              surely appreciate this optical
surrounded by an LED that                 receiver. This way the AZBox               connections:                              digital output in connection
indicates the current operat-             miniMe can be hidden out of                  • LNB-In und LNB-Loop:                  with a digital amplifier. For
ing mode of the receiver:                 sight in a cabinet or behind               Additional receivers or me-               analog processing you might
   • lilac: deep standby                  the TV panel, for example.                 ters can be hooked up to the              require a digital-analog con-
   • red: standby                           If you want to make use of               LNB loop-through output.                  verter (DAC).
   • blue: on                             that option you need to sepa-                • S/PDIF: Music lovers and                 • LAN: An RJ-45 connec-
   In addition, there is the              rately obtain the IR receiver,             home theatre enthusiasts will             tion is a must-have feature
‘AZBox miniMe’ model des-                 since the receiver itself is
ignation in white lettering               shipped without it.
and the characteristic Z logo               Due its small size the back
in black. Looks really great!             panel of AZBox miniMe looks
To the right there is a mini              a bit crowded, but that’s only                                                                                      09-10/2012
phone jack which can be                   due to the fact that it offers                                                                     AZBox mini ME
                                                                                                                                   Excellent mini receiver with network
                                                                                                                                functionality – the perfect fit for any home
                                                                                                                                                  network.

                                                                                                                www.TELE-satellite.com/12/09/azbox-mini-me




                                                                                                                                                       0.57




18 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com
for Linux-based receivers, as      from the mains to fully dis-       to any desired command. In                              AZBox miniMe                                      AZBox ME
                                                                                     it allows access to local serv-    connect the receiver, even         theory you won’t even need
                                                                                                                                                                                               CPU                 SIGMA processor SMP 8653                          SIGMA processor SMP 8655
                                                                                     ers and the Internet.              though we recommend us-            the TV’s remote control any
                                                                                                                                                                                               FLASH               256 MB                                            512 MB
                                                                                        • HDMI: Our preferred           ing a switchable power strip       longer, which is an absolute
                                                                                     method of connecting any           to be on the safe and eco-         bonus in this day and age of        RAM                 DDR 128 MB                                        DDR 256 MB

                                                                                     digital receiver to a TV pan-      nomical side. Obviously, we        multimedia overload.                VIDEO               DDR 128 MB                                        DDR 256 MB
                                                                                     el or monitor with a cor-          checked power consumption            Apart from the receiv-            Tuner               Single tuner (DVB-S2)                             Single tuner (DVB-S2)
                                                                                     responding input interface.        in deep standby, standby and       er, the remote control and          HDD                  eSATA                                            eSATA and internal SATA
                                                                                     Both digital video and audio       on modes. Please refer to the      adapter cables for compo-
                                                                                                                                                                                               Video Container     MPEG1/2/4 (M1V, M2V, M4V); MPEG1/2 PS (M2P,       MPEG1/2/4 (M1V, M2V, M4V); MPEG1/2 PS (M2P,
                                                                                     are provided via HDMI.             chart at the end of the report     nent video and composite                                MPG); MPEG2 Transport Stream (TS, TP, TRP,        MPG); MPEG2 Transport Stream (TS, TP, TRP, M2T,
                                                                                        • YPbPr: A mini phone jack      for all results.                   video mentioned above, the                              M2T, M2TS, MTS), VOB, AVI, ASF, WMV, IFO, ISO;    M2TS, MTS), VOB, AVI, ASF, WMV, IFO, ISO; Matroska
                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Matroska (MKV), MOV (H.264), MP4, RMP4            (MKV), MOV (H.264), MP4, RMP4
                                                                                     puts out a component video            The internal smartcard          manufacturer also supplies
                                                                                     signal using the YPbPr colour      reader is located on the left      a short manual and two AAA          Video Codecs         XVID SD/HD; MPEG-1; MPEG-2: MP@HL; MPEG-         XVID SD/HD; MPEG-1; MPEG-2: MP@HL; MPEG-4.2:
                                                                                                                                                                                                                   4.2: ASP@L5, 720p, 1-point GMC; WMV9: MP@HL;      ASP@L5, 720p, 1-point GMC; WMV9: MP@HL; H.264:
                                                                                     scheme, which provides bet-        side of the AZBox miniMe           batteries for the remote.                               H.264: BP@L3; H.264: MP@L4.0; H.264: HP@L4.0;     BP@L3; H.264: MP@L4.0; H.264: HP@L4.0; H.264:
                                                                                     ter video quality with higher      and by default it is not ac-         Before we went about                                  H.264: HP@L4.1; VC-1: MP@HL; VC-1: AP@L3          HP@L4.1; VC-1: MP@HL; VC-1: AP@L3
                                                                                     resolution than the conven-        tive, which means it does not      checking out all features and       Audio Container     AAC, M4A, MPEG audio (MP1, MP2, MP3, MPA),        AAC, M4A, MPEG audio (MP1, MP2, MP3, MPA), WAV,
                                                                                     tional FBAS signal. If you own     support any encryption sys-        functions of the AZBox min-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                   WAV, WMA, FLAC, OGG                               WMA, FLAC, OGG

                                                                                     a video projector without          tem known to us. The remote        iMe we first looked at aspects      Audio Codecs        AAC, AAC+, DTS, WMA, WMA Pro, MP1,                AAC, AAC+, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS, WMA, WMA Pro,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                   MP2, MP3, LPCM, FLAC, Vorbis, DTS (Audio          MP1, MP2, MP3, LPCM, FLAC, Vorbis, DTS (Audio
                                                                                     digital input options you will     control is the same that also      differentiating it from the AZ-                         Passthrough)                                      Passthrough), Dolby Digital Plus (Audio Passthrough)
                                                                                     certainly be grateful for com-     comes with the AZBox ME, so        Box ME. After all, the ‘mini’ in    In/Output Front     Coloured Leds; Power Button; 1x IR Jack;          1x USB 2.0; Coloured Leds & VFD; Power Button
                                                                                     ponent video. The receiver is      we were able to swap the re-
                                                                                                                                                           the model name is there for         In/Output Rear      1x HDMI; 1x JACK; 1x e-SATA; 1x RJ45; 1x          1x HDMI; 1x Component (YcbCr); 1x RCA Video; 1x
                                                                                     shipped complete with a suit-      motes and still operate both
                                                                                                                                                           a reason.                                               Optical S/PDIF; Power Switch; 2x USB 2.0; 1x AV   RCA Audio (L/R); 1x e-SATA 1x RJ45; 1x USB 2.0; 1x
                                                                                     able adapter cable.                receivers with any of the two                                                              connector;                                        Optical S/PDIF; Power Switch;
                                                                                                                                                             Even though the standard
                                                                                        • Recovery switch: This         remote controls.
                                                                                                                                                           AZBox ME is by no means a           Card Reader         1x (side)                                         1x (side)
                                                                                     is a neat feature for recon-          The remote sits nicely in
                                                                                                                                                           large receiver, the miniMe         ■ Table 1.
                                                                                     structing the boot loader in       your hand and sports an er-
                                                                                     case an unsuccessful flash         gonomic design that allows
                                                                                     attempt has damaged the re-        reaching all buttons with your
                                                                                     ceiver’s firmware. We’ll deal      thumb. What might be con-
                                                                                     with that in more detail a lit-    fusing at first is that in addi-
                                                                                     tle later.                         tion to the usual ring-shaped
                                                                                        • A/V: Another mini phone       buttons around the OK but-
                                                                                     jack is available for com-         ton there is another set of six
                                                                                     posite video and an audio/         buttons in an outer circle.
                                                                                     video signal. Older TV sets           New users might find
                                                                                     can be connected directly or       themselves       pressing    the
                                                                                     with the help of a euroscart       EPG button instead of the
                                                                                     adapter, depending on the          DOWN button when zapping
                                                                                     available input socket(s) of       channels at first, but after a
                                                                                     the TV. Once again, the cor-       short while your thumb won’t
                                                                                     responding A/V cable is sup-       miss its target. What’s more,
                                                                                     plied, while those requiring       we’ve been using the AZBox
                                                                                     a euroscart adapter have to        ME quite intensively in recent
                                                                                     obtain one on their own.           months so it’s great to know
                                                                                        • Two USB interfaces:           we can just stick to the same
                                                                                     You can use those to attach        remote.
                                                                                     external hard disks, flash            If truth be spoken, it only
                                                                                     memories etc.                      trickles down after a while
                                                                                        • e-SATA: This connec-          how smart the layout of the
                                                                                     tion can be used instead of        remote is: As mentioned
                                                                                     the USB ports for connecting       above, all buttons can easily
                                                                                     an external hard disk. e-SA-       be reached with the thumb
                                                                                     TA supports higher transfer        and individual buttons can be
                                                                                     rates than USB.                    distinguished even without
                                                                                        • 12V/2A socket: Like the       looking at them.
                                                                                     AZBox ME the AZBox miniMe             The actual high point of
                                                                                     comes with an external pow-        the remote control, however,
                                                                                     er supply unit. This reduces       is only revealed at second
                                                                                     the heat that is generated         sight: If you open the battery
                                                                                     inside the receiver and also       compartment you will detect
                                                                                     facilitates mobile use in cara-    a small button that activates
                                                                                     vans, for example.                 a learning function.
                                                                                        There is no mechanical on/         With that you can re-pro-
                                                                                     off switch, but with an exter-     gram the right button in the
                                                                                     nal power supply unit this is      first row of the remote. By
                                                                                     not really required. You can       default it turns on and off the
                                                                                     always plug out the cable          TV, but you can change that


20 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com                                                                                            www.TELE-satellite.com — 09-10/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志                      21
is considerably smaller. An        probably keep your finger on
                                                                                     overview of the distinguish-       the button much longer than
                                                                                     ing factors between the two        required.
                                                                                     can be seen in our table.
                                                                                        The receivers use differ-          The AZBox miniMe we re-
                                                                                     ent processors, even though        ceived for testing came with
                                                                                     both are clocked with 1230         pre-installed AZtrino v1.6.
                                                                                     DMIPS at 500/333 MHz (CPU/         We checked on the manufac-
                                                                                     DSP) and thus are largely          turer’s website (http://www.
                                                                                     identical.                         azbox.com) and found out
                                                                                        There are only marginal         that it was the current firm-
                                                                                     differences which go unno-         ware for the receiver.
                                                                                     ticed by users, since the pro-        Once we had connected
                                                                                     cessing capacity is identical      all cables to the receiver we
                                                                                     and in both receivers the CPU      were finally able to turn it
                                                                                     is not fully exploited. In the-    on. It always surprises us no
                                                                                     ory, for example, both pro-        end to see how user-friendly
                                                                                     cessors could support even         a receiver can be with top-
                                                                                     more flash memory. The sin-        notch software. In this case
                                                                                     gle genuine processor-based        we were smoothly guided
                                                                                     distinction is Dolby Digital       through various configura-
                                                                                     Plus, which is only available      tion steps by an efficient wiz-
                                                                                     with the AZBox ME thanks to        ard, starting with language
                                                                                     its SIGMA SMP 8655 proces-         selection.
                                                                                     sor.                                  Even though this receiver
                                                                                                                        is small, the range of avail-
                                                                                       Here is a quick rundown          able languages is huge and
                                                                                     of the major differences be-       we cannot think of a box that
                                                                                     tween the two receivers:           offers more options!
                                                                                                                           Video resolution is next,
                                                                                       • Hard disk: While it is         with all modes from 480p to
                                                                                     possible to install in internal    1080p being available, either
                                                                                     2.5’’ HDD in the AZBox ME,         with 50 Hz or 60 Hz. Obvi-
                                                                                     the miniMe only allows an          ously, it is also possible to
                                                                                     external HDD via USB or e-         select interlaced mode (i) for
                                                                                     SATA.                              all resolutions. We went for
                                                                                       • Firmware: The flash            1080i, a configuration that is
                                                                                     memory of the AZBox ME can         very popular in Europe.
                                                                                     store three different firmware        What follows is the cor-
                                                                                     versions. When switching on        rect time zone, and here too
                                                                                     the receiver you can either        the manufacturer seemed to
                                                                                     press 0, 1 or 2 on the remote      have thought of all corners of
                                                                                     control to select the firmware     the world.
                                                                                     you prefer. With the AZBox            From these basic settings
                                                                                     miniMe it is only possible to      we are guided to the net-
                                                                                     store two different firmware       work parameters. DHCP is
                                                                                     versions in the (smaller) flash    activated by default, and this
                                                                                     memory (0 and 1).                  actually makes sense since
                                                                                       • Display: With the AZBox        the router automatically as-
                                                                                     ME you get a blue alphanu-         signs all required values and
                                                                                     meric VDF display show-            addresses.
                                                                                     ing the channel name when             If you prefer to work with
                                                                                     switched on and the current        a static user-defined IP ad-
                                                                                     time when in standby. The dis-     dress you can of course also
                                                                                     play is particularly important     manually set all parameters.
                                                                                     when selecting the firmware           At this stage you can even
                                                                                     version to boot from – the         define a so-called time server
                                                                                     display will show BOOT[0],         from which the AZBox min-
                                                                                     BOOT[1] or BOOT[2] so that         iMe obtains the exact time.
                                                                                     you know you can release              While it is true that the cur-
                                                                                     the corresponding button on        rent time is also transmitted
                                                                                     the remote control. The AZ-        with DVB-S/S2 data streams
                                                                                     Box miniMe does not feature        we found that some provid-
                                                                                     such a display, which means        ers are simply incapable of
                                                                                     you select the firmware by         sending a correct and stand-
                                                                                     pressing the respective but-       ardised time stamp so that it
                                                                                     ton (0, 1 or VOL+) and most        may happen during zapping


22 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com                                       www.TELE-satellite.com — 09-10/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志   23
that the receiver’s internal       an impressive result for a
                                                                                     time jumps back and forth an       standard search with 60cm
                                                                                     hour or two. Thankfully, there     flat antennas in bad weather.
                                                                                     is a time server (NTP – Net-          Speaking of the channel
                                                                                     work Time Protocol) already        search, the AZBox miniMe
                                                                                     pre-set in the AZBox miniMe:       comes with a tuner that is
                                                                                     time.tu-berlin.de.                 capable of performing blind
                                                                                                                        scan searches, just like the
                                                                                       Now we‘re only one step          larger AZBox ME. The current
                                                                                     away from actually watching        AZtrino firmware supports
                                                                                     TV with the AZBox miniMe,          blind scan as well, which is
                                                                                     and this final step deals with     why we couldn’t refrain from
                                                                                     getting the receiver to work       hooking up our 2.4m mesh
                                                                                     with the reception equipment       antenna with C band LNB for
                                                                                     in place.                          a blind scan search on 37.5W.
                                                                                       Just so you know, all DiS-          The AZBox miniMe flaw-
                                                                                     EqC protocols are supported.       lessly detected a number of
                                                                                     We began with connecting           transponders as well as the
                                                                                     the box to our existing array      Metro TV channel from Gha-
                                                                                     of antennas, which consists        na. This signal is broadcast
                                                                                     of four flat antennas aligned      with a symbol rate of 1674
                                                                                     to the following positions:        and an FEC of 7/8. While the
                                                                                       DiSEqC-1 - ASTRA 1               resolution of only a quarter of
                                                                                     (19.2E), DiSEqC-2 - HOTBIRD        PAL standard is very unusual
                                                                                     (13.0E), DiSEqC-3 - HISPA-         and feels like an insult to the
                                                                                     SAT (30.0W) and DiSEqC-4           eyes – especially when com-
                                                                                     - ASTRA 2 (28.2E).                 pared to all the latest FTA HD
                                                                                       For that configuration to        channels on ASTRA 1 (19.2E)
                                                                                     work you don’t even need to        – it is truly exciting to be able
                                                                                     consult the manual, since all      to watch African TV in Eu-
                                                                                     OSD menus are self-explan-         rope. All DXers out there will
                                                                                     atory.                             surely understand what we
                                                                                       We then initiated a chan-        mean!
                                                                                     nel search across all four            The only thing that was not
                                                                                     positions, which had us wait-      met with our approval was
                                                                                     ing for a total of 34 minutes.     the wrong indication of the
                                                                                     While this is a tad on the long    transponders’       frequencies:
                                                                                     side, we were rewarded with        The figures given were based
                                                                                     3178 channels, which is quite      on a universal LNB, even




24 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com
though our LNB was specifi-        ternal hard disk to the USB     files on it that we of course     least we opened the Internet      the receiver has treats in
                                                                                     cally configured as a C band       interface of the AZBox min-     wanted to keep, which is why      browser on our PC and en-         store for everybody.
                                                                                     LNB. Apart from that, we           iMe. It was formatted with      we added the time-shift and       tered the IP address of the         If you like watching films
                                                                                     were genuinely pleased with        FAT32 and already included      recording directories manu-       AZBox miniMe.                     and playing back multime-
                                                                                     the blind scan results.            a number of multimedia files,   ally.                                Spoilt by the AZBox ME,        dia files you can simply hook
                                                                                        Let’s turn to another very      so that we were able to find       Once that was accom-           we had certain hopes in that      up an existing hard disk and
                                                                                     important aspect now. After        out how easy or difficult it    plished we were able to use       regard and luckily the min-       watch or listen to more or
                                                                                     all, the blind scan option is      would be to use a pre-for-      those functions to the full and   iMe did not disappoint us.        less all file formats.
                                                                                     nice to have, but a receiver       matted hard disk with exist-    could not detect any flaws.       The website of the receiver         If you’re the adventurous
                                                                                     can only prove its worth in        ing files in connection with    Everything worked just the        appears on the monitor and        type and love to spend hours
                                                                                     everyday use for watching          the AZBox miniMe.               way we knew it from other         allows remote access to all       on end hunting for out-of-
                                                                                     television.                          To cut a long story short:    Linux receivers.                  receiver functions.               the-ordinary channels from
                                                                                        No need to worry as far         The external HDD was de-           We went through all other         In addition, it is even pos-   exotic positions or for feeds
                                                                                     as the AZBox miniMe is con-        tected automatically and        menu options as well and also     sible to stream the currently     that are not intended for
                                                                                     cerned: It offers fast channel     added to the directory tree     tested a motorised antenna        received channel across the       the average viewer you will
                                                                                     switching and comes with a         under /media/sda1.              with the SG2100 DiSEqC 1.2        entire home network. Sitting      greatly appreciate the blind
                                                                                     very reliable software en-           The only thing we had to      motor from Motek, which           on your work desk and at the      scan function.
                                                                                     vironment. During our test         add manually was the path       worked right away. This part      same time watching a soc-           For the rest of the family
                                                                                     we were never faced with           for the time-shift directory    of our test was completed         cer match? No problem at all      who merely wants to watch
                                                                                     any freezes and all standard       which is normally created       extremely quickly since we        thanks to the AZBox miniMe!       TV this receiver offers ease
                                                                                     functions such as EPG, tele-       automatically at the time a     used the existing settings                                          of use and a logical user in-
                                                                                     text or subtitles worked with-     hard disk is formatted by the   from our AZBox ME. It pays           This is a receiver that        terface. Who could possibly
                                                                                     out a glitch.                      AZBox miniMe’s AZtrino firm-    off to stick to products from     meets all of our demands:         ask for more?
                                                                                        In order to test the PVR        ware. In our case the exter-    the same family!                  The pre-installed firmware
                                                                                     function we attached an ex-        nal HDD already had some           Last but by no means           lives up to its promises and         Well, there is always more.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            More features and more
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            functions, thanks to alterna-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            tive firmware versions that
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            can be used optionally.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Just like with the AZBox ME
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            you can find a range of dif-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            ferent firmware distributions
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            for the AZBox miniMe. There
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            is the official AZtrino firm-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            ware, with which the receiver
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            is shipped by default.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               And then there’s a firm-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            ware version called RTI or an
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            OpenRSI version. It’s really




26 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com                                                                                    www.TELE-satellite.com — 09-10/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志   27
not hard to guess that we          or VOL+ you have no in-
                                                                                     tried out both!                    formation on whether your
                                                                                        First we had to find out        command is being execut-
                                                                                     how to install new firmware        ed or how long you need to
                                                                                     in the first place. The short      press the button. This felt a
                                                                                     manual that is shipped with        little strange at first and to
                                                                                     the receiver is rather vague       be on the save side we kept
                                                                                     regarding alternative firm-        our finger on the button until
                                                                                     ware and the missing VFD           the first screen appeared on
                                                                                     display does not help either.      the TV.
                                                                                        Just like the AZBox ME the         After a while, however,
                                                                                     miniMe is started with the         we knew intuitively when to
                                                                                     0 or 1 button of the remote        release the button, and we
                                                                                     pressed in order to boot from      even discovered that the
                                                                                     flash memory 0 or 1. The AZ-       power LED flashes shortly
                                                                                     Box ME offers a third option       right after the selection has
                                                                                     by pressing button 2. Alter-       been executed.
                                                                                     natively you can press the            Contrary to the AZBox
                                                                                     VOL+ button to access the          ME a flash menu appears
                                                                                     flash menu.                        on the screen. At that stage
                                                                                        The AZBox miniMe does           it is possible to either flash
                                                                                     not have a display, so even        the receiver with BOOT[0],
                                                                                     though you press either 0/1        Boot[1] or MICOM (front-end




28 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com
processor), or to restart the               So we had to test the dif-
box. The current IP address               ferent firmware versions one
of the receiver is indicated as           after the other. This is not
well, so that you can flash the           such a big deal, and we ex-
receiver from your browser                pect the three firmware ver-
on the PC. In that case the               sions to be available for the
screen goes blank and you                 same kernel shortly. Consid-
control the receiver from the             ering the short time that this
PC.                                       receiver is on the market, the
   This is when we had to try             number of available firmware
out a few things since the                versions is already very im-
procedure is different from               pressive.
the one with the AZBox ME.
   To start with, we had down-               We mentioned on several
loaded a firmware version                 occasions that the AZBox ME
that was offered as a TAR file.           and the AZBox miniMe are
WinRAR then identified this               very similar in many ways,
file as corrupt, even though              so we went about install-
it was perfectly all right and            ing the ME’s AZtrino v1.7 on
included the flash image as               the mini-Me. To that end we
well as the kernel file. This             changed the file extension
TAR file can be flashed via               from IMP to RAR and extract-
the browser on the PC.                    ed the two firmware files onto
   Alternatively, you may go              our USB memory. Installation
for firmware files that come              was successful and we could
in the RAR format. In that                address the receiver via Tel-
case you will need two files,             net. The TV screen, however,
one with the flash image                  remained dark.
(image0.jffs2) and the other                 At this stage we were lured
with the corresponding ker-               into a flash tour as we simply
nel (zbimage-linux-xload).                did not want to believe we’d
   Please note that what you              manoeuvred ourselves into
just read is not a typo: Us-              a dead end. The final result
ing the browser you need a                after some 20 minutes was:
firmware image in TAR for-                rien ne va plus!
mat, using USB you require                   Most other receivers would
two files that are downloaded             have earned the name ‘brick’
as a single RAR archive and               by that time, but the AZ-
then unpacked onto the root               Box miniMe comes with the
directory of the USB mem-                 famed recovery button. Sim-
ory. Sounds complicated?                  ply switch it to recovery and
You bet, but that’s the way it            reboot the receiver.
works…                                       The power LED will flash
                                          in orange colour during that
   Both the AZBox ME and                  process and when the receiv-
the AZBox miniMe use a joint              er is all set again it will turn to
kernel in the flash memory,               blue. After deactivating the
that works with the differ-               recovery switch we restarted
ent firmware version. While               the receiver and were greet-
this certainly has its benefits,          ed by the familiar flash menu
it also means that the firm-              soon after.
ware version you intend to                   This allowed us to install
install must be compiled for              the standard AZtrino v1.6
that particular kernel version            firmware again. It remains
since they all share it.                  a mystery to us why other
   What follows from this is              manufacturers don’t make
that we were unable to keep               use of this brilliant safety
the current AZtrino and the               measure as well. Then again,
RTI firmware in the flash                 this is one of the distinguish-
memory at the same time,                  ing features of the AZBox
since the two require differ-             miniMe and you never need
ent kernel versions. If you               to despair after an unsuc-
do start a firmware with the              cessful flash attempt.
wrong kernel your screen will                We continued with the
stay blank. However, the re-              current v1.85 of RTI. While
ceiver can still be addressed             installation went smoothly,
via Telnet.                               you should make a point of


30 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com   www.TELE-satellite.com — 09-10/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志   31
removing the USB memory            image. As they say, you win                          and only place the picture          in all other rooms with a TV.
                                                                                     after flashing so that the re-     some, you lose some…                                 frame and IR receiver next to       These need not have a HDD
                                                                                     ceiver does not automatically        Just like with the RTI image                       your flat screen TV. Use it as      attached, since recordings
                                                                                     start the flash menu.              there is a pre-installed plugin                      you like, the sky’s the limit!      and time-shift viewing can be
                                                                                        Again, the receiver needs       server which provides a wide                           As far as multimedia use is       accomplished with the net-
                                                                                     to be re-started after the         range of plugins and there-                          concerned the AZBox miniMe          worked AZBox ME in the liv-
                                                                                     flash routine and it first         fore can be used to expand                           will also become your best          ing room.
                                                                                     shows the RTI welcome              the range of features of the                         mate: It plays back all cur-           This way all multimedia
                                                                                     screen, followed by an instal-     receiver enormously. Among                           rent file formats either from       content and recordings can
                                                                                     lation wizard.                     other things, e-mail plugins                         e-SATA or USB hard disks or         be distributed to all clients
                                                                                        The first parameter that        are available as is access to                        via your local network.             and films downloaded from
                                                                                     needs to be adjusted is            various content libraries.                                                               the Internet can be played
                                                                                     screen resolution, which we          Once again, the AZBox                                Now the big question that         back by simply connecting
                                                                                     once again set at 1080i with       manufacturer has come up                             begs answering is: Which            the USB storage device to
                                                                                     50 Hz. Language selection is       with a new product for a mar-                        receiver should you opt for?        any of the AZBox receivers.
                                                                                     next and just like with AZtri-     ket segment that has been                            Is the AZBox ME the box for            The really great thing with
                                                                                     no the list of options is very     neglected so far.                                    you, or rather the AZBox            such an environment is that
                                                                                     long.                                The AZBox miniMe is a very                         miniMe?                             two different categories of
                                                                                        Finally, we had to config-      small Linux receiver with el-                          You really want an answer         receivers can be used simul-
                                                                                     ure our reception equipment.       egant, yet low-key looks                             from us? Take both! There           taneously with identical firm-
                                                                                     To that end we selected the        plus a range of functions and                        you go. Or better still: One        ware and the same remote
                                                                                     SIMPLE mode and entered            features that are second to                          AZboxME and several AZBox           control.
                                                                                     the four satellite positions we    none. For more information                           miniMe’s!                              Even the not so tech-savvy
                                                                                     can receive. After that, we        about general features of the                                                            members of your family will
                                                                                     were able to initiate a chan-      AZBox range please have a                               The average home these           like that because they can
                                                                                     nel search, which was com-         read of our ‘AZBox Receiver                          days has more than one              easily change from the ‘small’
                                                                                     pleted after 48 minutes with       Software’ series which fo-                           TV: There’s one in the liv-         to the ‘large’ receiver without
                                                                                     a result of 4017 channels in       cuses on a specific aspect in                        ing room, the master bed-           worrying about different user
                                                                                     total.                             each issue of TELE-satellite.                        room, the children’s rooms          interfaces.
                                                                                        We should like to mention                                                            and more often than not the
                                                                                     at this point that the weather       In spite of its small size                         kitchen as well. And that’s            Make no mistake about it,
                                                                                     had vastly improved since the      the AZBox miniMe does not                            not even counting the study,        the AZBox miniMe is a fully-
                                                                                     previous search and when           heat up even during heavy-                           basement, or any other area         fledged satellite receiver all
                                                                                     looking up we saw a blue sky       duty use: lukewarm is all we                         in your house or apartment.         by itself and offers almost
                                                                                     instead of grey cloud.             could feel. There is no built-                       TV has become a by-word for         the same range of features
                                                                                        We went on to test the          in fan required, which means                         multimedia.                         as the AZBox ME, but at a
                                                                                     media player of the RTI im-        the unit does not create any                            Long gone are the days           slightly lower price.
                                                                                     age, only to find out that the     noise whatsoever.                                    when the whole family as-              All we’re saying is that a
                                                                                     firmware version we used             No matter whether you                              sembled in front of the telly       reduced price brings with it
                                                                                     came with a bug of the media       only want to watch satellite                         to watch one of only three          the differences mentioned
                                                                                     player which meant that films      television or tinker with your                       available channels. With hun-       above: A smaller flash mem-
                                                                                     or music just would not play       hardware and software: The                           dreds or thousands of satel-        ory allowing only two firm-
                                                                                     back. What a shame, even           AZBox miniMe is the way to                           lite channels available, there      ware versions at the same
                                                                                     though we are convinced one        go. Not only is it possible to                       is no way a family would ever       time, no internal hard disk
                                                                                     of the upcoming release ver-       install different firmware ver-                      agree on a particular channel       and no front display.
                                                                                     sions will address that issue.     sions, two images can even                           to watch.                              If you can easily do without
                                                                                                                        be installed at the same time,                          What’s more, in this day         those features we can hap-
                                                                                        While we were at it, we         provided they work with the                          and age you want to watch           pily recommend the AZBox
                                                                                     simply could not keep our fin-     same kernel.                                         the beginning of a movie            miniMe, as it is on par with
                                                                                     gers off the OpenPLI image           If worse comes to worst,                           from the couch in your living       the AZBox ME, our reference
                                                                                     either. In terms of functions,     you can always switch the                            room, and the end from your         receiver.
                                                                                     it is largely identical with the   recovery button which will                           bed in the bedroom.                    Once again Opensat, the
                                                                                     RTI image, even though the         quickly get you out of trou-                            That’s why it does make          manufacturer of AZBox re-
                                                                                     pre-installed skins obviously      bles with a working image.                           sense to own more than one          ceivers, is to be congratu-
                                                                                     look different.                      Trying out new plugins is                          receiver, and to hook them all      lated.
                                                                                        You need to dig a little        fun, and creating network                            up to your local network.              The AZBox miniMe is a
                                                                                     deeper to discover the dif-        shares with all associated                              This is where all the capa-      great small Linux receiver
                                                                                     ferences: The OpenPLI firm-        possibilities will keep you en-                      bilities of the AZBox ME and        with which Opensat adds fur-
                                                                                     ware comes with a different        tertained for days. Even the                         the AZBox miniMe come to            ther proof that the AZBox se-
                                                                                     media player which was able        missing front display can be                         the fore.                           ries is here to stay.
                                                                                     to access all of our films on      retrofitted – find out how by                                                               For us (and you) this means
                                                                                     an external USB HDD or via         reading ‘Digital Picture Frame                          The ideal set-up would con-      continued technical support
                                                                                     the local network. The player      for the AZBox ME’ in TELE-                           sist of an AZBox ME in the          and a steady supply of new
                                                                                     even displayed subtitles cor-      satellite 06-07-08/2012.                             living room, equipped with a        and improved firmware ver-
                                                                                     rectly.                              Thanks to the IR jack it also                      large-capacity hard disk and        sions, just like we have come
                                                                                        On the other hand, blind        possible to position the re-                         acting as server. AZBox min-        to appreciate for the AZBox
                                                                                     scan is not available with this    ceiver completely out of sight                       iMe’s can then be installed         ME.


32 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com                                     www.TELE-satellite.com — 09-10/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志   33
Expert Opinion
                                                                                                                                                Small size
                                                                                                                                                Loads of functionality
                                                                                                                                          +     2 totally different firmware versions available
                                                                                                                                                Blind scan
                                                                                                                                                4:2:2 capability

                                                                                                                                          –     No front-display                                                      Vitor Martins Augusto
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           TELE-satellite
                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Test Center
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Portugal



                                                                                                                                                                            TECHNICAL
                                                                                                                                                                                       DATA
                                                                                                                                            Manufacturer	             OpenSAT Ltd, Lagoa, 4950-283 Mazedo, Portugal

                                                                                                                                            Website	www.azbox.com

                                                                                                                                            E-Mail	info@azbox.com

                                                                                                                                            Model	                    AZBox mini ME
                                                                                                                                            Function	 /                                Miniature HDTV Linux Receiver with Multimedia
                                                                                                                                            	Features
                                                                                                                                            Operating System	Linux
                                                                                                                                            Processor (CPU)	          SIGMA processor SMP 8653
                                                                                                                                            Working Memory	           DDR 128 MB
                                                                                                                                            Video Memory	             DDR 128 MB
                                                                                                                                            Tuner	                    Single tuner (         or         ) embedded.
                                                                                                                                            DiSEqC	                   1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, USALS
                                                                                                                                            Flash Memory	             256 MB
                                                                                                                                            HDD	eSATA
                                                                                                                                            Video Output	             PAL / NTSC
                                                                                                                                            Video Containers	         MPEG1/2/4 (M1V, M2V, M4V); MPEG1/2 PS (M2P, MPG);
                                                                                                                                            	                         MPEG2 Transport Stream (TS, TP, TRP, M2T, M2TS, MTS),
                                                                                                                                            	                         VOB, AVI, ASF, WMV, IFO, ISO; Matroska (MKV),
                                                                                                                                            	                         MOV (H.264), MP4, RMP4
                                                                                                                                            Video Codec’s	            XVID SD/HD; MPEG-1; MPEG-2: MP@HL;
                                                                                                                                            	                         MPEG-4.2: ASP@L5, 720p, 1-point GMC;
                                                                                                                                            	                         WMV9: MP@HL; H.264: BP@L3; H.264: MP@L4.0;
                                                                                                                                            	                         H.264: HP@L4.0; H.264: HP@L4.1; VC-1: MP@HL;
                                                                                                                                            	                         VC-1: AP@L3
                                                                                                                                            Audio Containers	         AAC, M4A, MPEG audio (MP1, MP2, MP3, MPA), WAV,
                                                                                                                                            	                         WMA, FLAC, OGG
                                                                                                                                            Audio Codec’s	            AAC, AAC+, DTS, WMA, WMA Pro, MP1, MP2, MP3,
                                                                                                                                            	                         LPCM, FLAC, Vorbis, DTS (Audio Pass-through)
                                                                                                                                            Picture Support	          JPEG, BMP, GIF
                                                                                                                                            Subtitle Supported	       SMI, SRT, TXT, SUB, SSA
                                                                                                                                            Resolution	               576i (480i), 576p, (480p), 720p, 1080i, 1080p
                                                                                                                                            Ethernet	                 10/100 Base-T Ethernet (max.100Mbit/s)
                                                                                                                                            Front I/O	                Coloured Led’s; Power Button; 1x IR Jack;
                                                                                                                                            Rear I/O	                 1x HDMI; 1x JACK; 1x e-SATA; 1x RJ45; 1x Optical S/PDIF;
                                                                                                                                            	                         Power Switch; 2x USB 2.0; 1x AV connector;



                                                                                                                                                                              ENERGY
                                                                                                                                                                                DIAGRAM




                                                                                                                                                             Apparent Power              Mode             Apparent Active Factor
                                                                                                                                                                                         Deep Standby     4.5 W    0.5 W 0.11
                                                                                                                                                             Active Power                Standby          15 W     7.5 W 0.5
                                                                                                                                                                                         Active           19 W      11 W 0.57




34 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com   www.TELE-satellite.com — 09-10/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志                               35

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Azbox mini-me

  • 1. TEST REPORT Miniature HDTV Linux Receiver AZBox • can be started with two different flash versions • excellent integration in existing home network • remote control compatible with AZBox ME – miniMe both receivers can be operated with the same remote • blind scan function as special treat for DXers • easy-to-use and intuitive on-screen menu 16 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com www.TELE-satellite.com — 09-10/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志 17
  • 2. TEST REPORT Miniature HDTV Linux Receiver Ever since we first test- ed the AZBox ME in TELE- satellite 02-03/2012 we simply cannot take our eyes off this receiver. The latest variant arrived at our test center in an unu- sually small box and car- ries the fitting name AZ- Box miniMe. The AZBox miniMe sports a stylish ‘set-top box design’, which means it comes with an unobtrusive back plastic casing which will make it a suitable addition to all your existing home entertainment gear. We were particularly taken to the slightly inclined side panels and the interest- ing design of the ventilation openings on the top side. In contrast to those unusual characteristics, the front panel looks rather conven- ■ Read Test Report of the AZBox miniMe's big sister AZBox ME in TELE-satellite 02-03/2012 tional and comes with a but- www.TELE-satellite.com/12/03/azbox-me ton on the left to switch on the receiver. The button is used to connect an infrared a surprisingly wide range of surely appreciate this optical surrounded by an LED that receiver. This way the AZBox connections: digital output in connection indicates the current operat- miniMe can be hidden out of • LNB-In und LNB-Loop: with a digital amplifier. For ing mode of the receiver: sight in a cabinet or behind Additional receivers or me- analog processing you might • lilac: deep standby the TV panel, for example. ters can be hooked up to the require a digital-analog con- • red: standby If you want to make use of LNB loop-through output. verter (DAC). • blue: on that option you need to sepa- • S/PDIF: Music lovers and • LAN: An RJ-45 connec- In addition, there is the rately obtain the IR receiver, home theatre enthusiasts will tion is a must-have feature ‘AZBox miniMe’ model des- since the receiver itself is ignation in white lettering shipped without it. and the characteristic Z logo Due its small size the back in black. Looks really great! panel of AZBox miniMe looks To the right there is a mini a bit crowded, but that’s only 09-10/2012 phone jack which can be due to the fact that it offers AZBox mini ME Excellent mini receiver with network functionality – the perfect fit for any home network. www.TELE-satellite.com/12/09/azbox-mini-me 0.57 18 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com
  • 3. for Linux-based receivers, as from the mains to fully dis- to any desired command. In AZBox miniMe AZBox ME it allows access to local serv- connect the receiver, even theory you won’t even need CPU SIGMA processor SMP 8653 SIGMA processor SMP 8655 ers and the Internet. though we recommend us- the TV’s remote control any FLASH 256 MB 512 MB • HDMI: Our preferred ing a switchable power strip longer, which is an absolute method of connecting any to be on the safe and eco- bonus in this day and age of RAM DDR 128 MB DDR 256 MB digital receiver to a TV pan- nomical side. Obviously, we multimedia overload. VIDEO DDR 128 MB DDR 256 MB el or monitor with a cor- checked power consumption Apart from the receiv- Tuner Single tuner (DVB-S2) Single tuner (DVB-S2) responding input interface. in deep standby, standby and er, the remote control and HDD  eSATA eSATA and internal SATA Both digital video and audio on modes. Please refer to the adapter cables for compo- Video Container MPEG1/2/4 (M1V, M2V, M4V); MPEG1/2 PS (M2P, MPEG1/2/4 (M1V, M2V, M4V); MPEG1/2 PS (M2P, are provided via HDMI. chart at the end of the report nent video and composite MPG); MPEG2 Transport Stream (TS, TP, TRP, MPG); MPEG2 Transport Stream (TS, TP, TRP, M2T, • YPbPr: A mini phone jack for all results. video mentioned above, the M2T, M2TS, MTS), VOB, AVI, ASF, WMV, IFO, ISO; M2TS, MTS), VOB, AVI, ASF, WMV, IFO, ISO; Matroska Matroska (MKV), MOV (H.264), MP4, RMP4 (MKV), MOV (H.264), MP4, RMP4 puts out a component video The internal smartcard manufacturer also supplies signal using the YPbPr colour reader is located on the left a short manual and two AAA Video Codecs  XVID SD/HD; MPEG-1; MPEG-2: MP@HL; MPEG- XVID SD/HD; MPEG-1; MPEG-2: MP@HL; MPEG-4.2: 4.2: ASP@L5, 720p, 1-point GMC; WMV9: MP@HL; ASP@L5, 720p, 1-point GMC; WMV9: MP@HL; H.264: scheme, which provides bet- side of the AZBox miniMe batteries for the remote. H.264: BP@L3; H.264: MP@L4.0; H.264: HP@L4.0; BP@L3; H.264: MP@L4.0; H.264: HP@L4.0; H.264: ter video quality with higher and by default it is not ac- Before we went about H.264: HP@L4.1; VC-1: MP@HL; VC-1: AP@L3 HP@L4.1; VC-1: MP@HL; VC-1: AP@L3 resolution than the conven- tive, which means it does not checking out all features and Audio Container AAC, M4A, MPEG audio (MP1, MP2, MP3, MPA), AAC, M4A, MPEG audio (MP1, MP2, MP3, MPA), WAV, tional FBAS signal. If you own support any encryption sys- functions of the AZBox min- WAV, WMA, FLAC, OGG WMA, FLAC, OGG a video projector without tem known to us. The remote iMe we first looked at aspects Audio Codecs AAC, AAC+, DTS, WMA, WMA Pro, MP1, AAC, AAC+, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS, WMA, WMA Pro, MP2, MP3, LPCM, FLAC, Vorbis, DTS (Audio MP1, MP2, MP3, LPCM, FLAC, Vorbis, DTS (Audio digital input options you will control is the same that also differentiating it from the AZ- Passthrough) Passthrough), Dolby Digital Plus (Audio Passthrough) certainly be grateful for com- comes with the AZBox ME, so Box ME. After all, the ‘mini’ in In/Output Front Coloured Leds; Power Button; 1x IR Jack; 1x USB 2.0; Coloured Leds & VFD; Power Button ponent video. The receiver is we were able to swap the re- the model name is there for In/Output Rear 1x HDMI; 1x JACK; 1x e-SATA; 1x RJ45; 1x 1x HDMI; 1x Component (YcbCr); 1x RCA Video; 1x shipped complete with a suit- motes and still operate both a reason. Optical S/PDIF; Power Switch; 2x USB 2.0; 1x AV RCA Audio (L/R); 1x e-SATA 1x RJ45; 1x USB 2.0; 1x able adapter cable. receivers with any of the two connector; Optical S/PDIF; Power Switch; Even though the standard • Recovery switch: This remote controls. AZBox ME is by no means a Card Reader 1x (side) 1x (side) is a neat feature for recon- The remote sits nicely in large receiver, the miniMe ■ Table 1. structing the boot loader in your hand and sports an er- case an unsuccessful flash gonomic design that allows attempt has damaged the re- reaching all buttons with your ceiver’s firmware. We’ll deal thumb. What might be con- with that in more detail a lit- fusing at first is that in addi- tle later. tion to the usual ring-shaped • A/V: Another mini phone buttons around the OK but- jack is available for com- ton there is another set of six posite video and an audio/ buttons in an outer circle. video signal. Older TV sets New users might find can be connected directly or themselves pressing the with the help of a euroscart EPG button instead of the adapter, depending on the DOWN button when zapping available input socket(s) of channels at first, but after a the TV. Once again, the cor- short while your thumb won’t responding A/V cable is sup- miss its target. What’s more, plied, while those requiring we’ve been using the AZBox a euroscart adapter have to ME quite intensively in recent obtain one on their own. months so it’s great to know • Two USB interfaces: we can just stick to the same You can use those to attach remote. external hard disks, flash If truth be spoken, it only memories etc. trickles down after a while • e-SATA: This connec- how smart the layout of the tion can be used instead of remote is: As mentioned the USB ports for connecting above, all buttons can easily an external hard disk. e-SA- be reached with the thumb TA supports higher transfer and individual buttons can be rates than USB. distinguished even without • 12V/2A socket: Like the looking at them. AZBox ME the AZBox miniMe The actual high point of comes with an external pow- the remote control, however, er supply unit. This reduces is only revealed at second the heat that is generated sight: If you open the battery inside the receiver and also compartment you will detect facilitates mobile use in cara- a small button that activates vans, for example. a learning function. There is no mechanical on/ With that you can re-pro- off switch, but with an exter- gram the right button in the nal power supply unit this is first row of the remote. By not really required. You can default it turns on and off the always plug out the cable TV, but you can change that 20 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com www.TELE-satellite.com — 09-10/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志 21
  • 4. is considerably smaller. An probably keep your finger on overview of the distinguish- the button much longer than ing factors between the two required. can be seen in our table. The receivers use differ- The AZBox miniMe we re- ent processors, even though ceived for testing came with both are clocked with 1230 pre-installed AZtrino v1.6. DMIPS at 500/333 MHz (CPU/ We checked on the manufac- DSP) and thus are largely turer’s website (http://www. identical. azbox.com) and found out There are only marginal that it was the current firm- differences which go unno- ware for the receiver. ticed by users, since the pro- Once we had connected cessing capacity is identical all cables to the receiver we and in both receivers the CPU were finally able to turn it is not fully exploited. In the- on. It always surprises us no ory, for example, both pro- end to see how user-friendly cessors could support even a receiver can be with top- more flash memory. The sin- notch software. In this case gle genuine processor-based we were smoothly guided distinction is Dolby Digital through various configura- Plus, which is only available tion steps by an efficient wiz- with the AZBox ME thanks to ard, starting with language its SIGMA SMP 8655 proces- selection. sor. Even though this receiver is small, the range of avail- Here is a quick rundown able languages is huge and of the major differences be- we cannot think of a box that tween the two receivers: offers more options! Video resolution is next, • Hard disk: While it is with all modes from 480p to possible to install in internal 1080p being available, either 2.5’’ HDD in the AZBox ME, with 50 Hz or 60 Hz. Obvi- the miniMe only allows an ously, it is also possible to external HDD via USB or e- select interlaced mode (i) for SATA. all resolutions. We went for • Firmware: The flash 1080i, a configuration that is memory of the AZBox ME can very popular in Europe. store three different firmware What follows is the cor- versions. When switching on rect time zone, and here too the receiver you can either the manufacturer seemed to press 0, 1 or 2 on the remote have thought of all corners of control to select the firmware the world. you prefer. With the AZBox From these basic settings miniMe it is only possible to we are guided to the net- store two different firmware work parameters. DHCP is versions in the (smaller) flash activated by default, and this memory (0 and 1). actually makes sense since • Display: With the AZBox the router automatically as- ME you get a blue alphanu- signs all required values and meric VDF display show- addresses. ing the channel name when If you prefer to work with switched on and the current a static user-defined IP ad- time when in standby. The dis- dress you can of course also play is particularly important manually set all parameters. when selecting the firmware At this stage you can even version to boot from – the define a so-called time server display will show BOOT[0], from which the AZBox min- BOOT[1] or BOOT[2] so that iMe obtains the exact time. you know you can release While it is true that the cur- the corresponding button on rent time is also transmitted the remote control. The AZ- with DVB-S/S2 data streams Box miniMe does not feature we found that some provid- such a display, which means ers are simply incapable of you select the firmware by sending a correct and stand- pressing the respective but- ardised time stamp so that it ton (0, 1 or VOL+) and most may happen during zapping 22 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com www.TELE-satellite.com — 09-10/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志 23
  • 5. that the receiver’s internal an impressive result for a time jumps back and forth an standard search with 60cm hour or two. Thankfully, there flat antennas in bad weather. is a time server (NTP – Net- Speaking of the channel work Time Protocol) already search, the AZBox miniMe pre-set in the AZBox miniMe: comes with a tuner that is time.tu-berlin.de. capable of performing blind scan searches, just like the Now we‘re only one step larger AZBox ME. The current away from actually watching AZtrino firmware supports TV with the AZBox miniMe, blind scan as well, which is and this final step deals with why we couldn’t refrain from getting the receiver to work hooking up our 2.4m mesh with the reception equipment antenna with C band LNB for in place. a blind scan search on 37.5W. Just so you know, all DiS- The AZBox miniMe flaw- EqC protocols are supported. lessly detected a number of We began with connecting transponders as well as the the box to our existing array Metro TV channel from Gha- of antennas, which consists na. This signal is broadcast of four flat antennas aligned with a symbol rate of 1674 to the following positions: and an FEC of 7/8. While the DiSEqC-1 - ASTRA 1 resolution of only a quarter of (19.2E), DiSEqC-2 - HOTBIRD PAL standard is very unusual (13.0E), DiSEqC-3 - HISPA- and feels like an insult to the SAT (30.0W) and DiSEqC-4 eyes – especially when com- - ASTRA 2 (28.2E). pared to all the latest FTA HD For that configuration to channels on ASTRA 1 (19.2E) work you don’t even need to – it is truly exciting to be able consult the manual, since all to watch African TV in Eu- OSD menus are self-explan- rope. All DXers out there will atory. surely understand what we We then initiated a chan- mean! nel search across all four The only thing that was not positions, which had us wait- met with our approval was ing for a total of 34 minutes. the wrong indication of the While this is a tad on the long transponders’ frequencies: side, we were rewarded with The figures given were based 3178 channels, which is quite on a universal LNB, even 24 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com
  • 6. though our LNB was specifi- ternal hard disk to the USB files on it that we of course least we opened the Internet the receiver has treats in cally configured as a C band interface of the AZBox min- wanted to keep, which is why browser on our PC and en- store for everybody. LNB. Apart from that, we iMe. It was formatted with we added the time-shift and tered the IP address of the If you like watching films were genuinely pleased with FAT32 and already included recording directories manu- AZBox miniMe. and playing back multime- the blind scan results. a number of multimedia files, ally. Spoilt by the AZBox ME, dia files you can simply hook Let’s turn to another very so that we were able to find Once that was accom- we had certain hopes in that up an existing hard disk and important aspect now. After out how easy or difficult it plished we were able to use regard and luckily the min- watch or listen to more or all, the blind scan option is would be to use a pre-for- those functions to the full and iMe did not disappoint us. less all file formats. nice to have, but a receiver matted hard disk with exist- could not detect any flaws. The website of the receiver If you’re the adventurous can only prove its worth in ing files in connection with Everything worked just the appears on the monitor and type and love to spend hours everyday use for watching the AZBox miniMe. way we knew it from other allows remote access to all on end hunting for out-of- television. To cut a long story short: Linux receivers. receiver functions. the-ordinary channels from No need to worry as far The external HDD was de- We went through all other In addition, it is even pos- exotic positions or for feeds as the AZBox miniMe is con- tected automatically and menu options as well and also sible to stream the currently that are not intended for cerned: It offers fast channel added to the directory tree tested a motorised antenna received channel across the the average viewer you will switching and comes with a under /media/sda1. with the SG2100 DiSEqC 1.2 entire home network. Sitting greatly appreciate the blind very reliable software en- The only thing we had to motor from Motek, which on your work desk and at the scan function. vironment. During our test add manually was the path worked right away. This part same time watching a soc- For the rest of the family we were never faced with for the time-shift directory of our test was completed cer match? No problem at all who merely wants to watch any freezes and all standard which is normally created extremely quickly since we thanks to the AZBox miniMe! TV this receiver offers ease functions such as EPG, tele- automatically at the time a used the existing settings of use and a logical user in- text or subtitles worked with- hard disk is formatted by the from our AZBox ME. It pays This is a receiver that terface. Who could possibly out a glitch. AZBox miniMe’s AZtrino firm- off to stick to products from meets all of our demands: ask for more? In order to test the PVR ware. In our case the exter- the same family! The pre-installed firmware function we attached an ex- nal HDD already had some Last but by no means lives up to its promises and Well, there is always more. More features and more functions, thanks to alterna- tive firmware versions that can be used optionally. Just like with the AZBox ME you can find a range of dif- ferent firmware distributions for the AZBox miniMe. There is the official AZtrino firm- ware, with which the receiver is shipped by default. And then there’s a firm- ware version called RTI or an OpenRSI version. It’s really 26 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com www.TELE-satellite.com — 09-10/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志 27
  • 7. not hard to guess that we or VOL+ you have no in- tried out both! formation on whether your First we had to find out command is being execut- how to install new firmware ed or how long you need to in the first place. The short press the button. This felt a manual that is shipped with little strange at first and to the receiver is rather vague be on the save side we kept regarding alternative firm- our finger on the button until ware and the missing VFD the first screen appeared on display does not help either. the TV. Just like the AZBox ME the After a while, however, miniMe is started with the we knew intuitively when to 0 or 1 button of the remote release the button, and we pressed in order to boot from even discovered that the flash memory 0 or 1. The AZ- power LED flashes shortly Box ME offers a third option right after the selection has by pressing button 2. Alter- been executed. natively you can press the Contrary to the AZBox VOL+ button to access the ME a flash menu appears flash menu. on the screen. At that stage The AZBox miniMe does it is possible to either flash not have a display, so even the receiver with BOOT[0], though you press either 0/1 Boot[1] or MICOM (front-end 28 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com
  • 8. processor), or to restart the So we had to test the dif- box. The current IP address ferent firmware versions one of the receiver is indicated as after the other. This is not well, so that you can flash the such a big deal, and we ex- receiver from your browser pect the three firmware ver- on the PC. In that case the sions to be available for the screen goes blank and you same kernel shortly. Consid- control the receiver from the ering the short time that this PC. receiver is on the market, the This is when we had to try number of available firmware out a few things since the versions is already very im- procedure is different from pressive. the one with the AZBox ME. To start with, we had down- We mentioned on several loaded a firmware version occasions that the AZBox ME that was offered as a TAR file. and the AZBox miniMe are WinRAR then identified this very similar in many ways, file as corrupt, even though so we went about install- it was perfectly all right and ing the ME’s AZtrino v1.7 on included the flash image as the mini-Me. To that end we well as the kernel file. This changed the file extension TAR file can be flashed via from IMP to RAR and extract- the browser on the PC. ed the two firmware files onto Alternatively, you may go our USB memory. Installation for firmware files that come was successful and we could in the RAR format. In that address the receiver via Tel- case you will need two files, net. The TV screen, however, one with the flash image remained dark. (image0.jffs2) and the other At this stage we were lured with the corresponding ker- into a flash tour as we simply nel (zbimage-linux-xload). did not want to believe we’d Please note that what you manoeuvred ourselves into just read is not a typo: Us- a dead end. The final result ing the browser you need a after some 20 minutes was: firmware image in TAR for- rien ne va plus! mat, using USB you require Most other receivers would two files that are downloaded have earned the name ‘brick’ as a single RAR archive and by that time, but the AZ- then unpacked onto the root Box miniMe comes with the directory of the USB mem- famed recovery button. Sim- ory. Sounds complicated? ply switch it to recovery and You bet, but that’s the way it reboot the receiver. works… The power LED will flash in orange colour during that Both the AZBox ME and process and when the receiv- the AZBox miniMe use a joint er is all set again it will turn to kernel in the flash memory, blue. After deactivating the that works with the differ- recovery switch we restarted ent firmware version. While the receiver and were greet- this certainly has its benefits, ed by the familiar flash menu it also means that the firm- soon after. ware version you intend to This allowed us to install install must be compiled for the standard AZtrino v1.6 that particular kernel version firmware again. It remains since they all share it. a mystery to us why other What follows from this is manufacturers don’t make that we were unable to keep use of this brilliant safety the current AZtrino and the measure as well. Then again, RTI firmware in the flash this is one of the distinguish- memory at the same time, ing features of the AZBox since the two require differ- miniMe and you never need ent kernel versions. If you to despair after an unsuc- do start a firmware with the cessful flash attempt. wrong kernel your screen will We continued with the stay blank. However, the re- current v1.85 of RTI. While ceiver can still be addressed installation went smoothly, via Telnet. you should make a point of 30 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com www.TELE-satellite.com — 09-10/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志 31
  • 9. removing the USB memory image. As they say, you win and only place the picture in all other rooms with a TV. after flashing so that the re- some, you lose some… frame and IR receiver next to These need not have a HDD ceiver does not automatically Just like with the RTI image your flat screen TV. Use it as attached, since recordings start the flash menu. there is a pre-installed plugin you like, the sky’s the limit! and time-shift viewing can be Again, the receiver needs server which provides a wide As far as multimedia use is accomplished with the net- to be re-started after the range of plugins and there- concerned the AZBox miniMe worked AZBox ME in the liv- flash routine and it first fore can be used to expand will also become your best ing room. shows the RTI welcome the range of features of the mate: It plays back all cur- This way all multimedia screen, followed by an instal- receiver enormously. Among rent file formats either from content and recordings can lation wizard. other things, e-mail plugins e-SATA or USB hard disks or be distributed to all clients The first parameter that are available as is access to via your local network. and films downloaded from needs to be adjusted is various content libraries. the Internet can be played screen resolution, which we Once again, the AZBox Now the big question that back by simply connecting once again set at 1080i with manufacturer has come up begs answering is: Which the USB storage device to 50 Hz. Language selection is with a new product for a mar- receiver should you opt for? any of the AZBox receivers. next and just like with AZtri- ket segment that has been Is the AZBox ME the box for The really great thing with no the list of options is very neglected so far. you, or rather the AZBox such an environment is that long. The AZBox miniMe is a very miniMe? two different categories of Finally, we had to config- small Linux receiver with el- You really want an answer receivers can be used simul- ure our reception equipment. egant, yet low-key looks from us? Take both! There taneously with identical firm- To that end we selected the plus a range of functions and you go. Or better still: One ware and the same remote SIMPLE mode and entered features that are second to AZboxME and several AZBox control. the four satellite positions we none. For more information miniMe’s! Even the not so tech-savvy can receive. After that, we about general features of the members of your family will were able to initiate a chan- AZBox range please have a The average home these like that because they can nel search, which was com- read of our ‘AZBox Receiver days has more than one easily change from the ‘small’ pleted after 48 minutes with Software’ series which fo- TV: There’s one in the liv- to the ‘large’ receiver without a result of 4017 channels in cuses on a specific aspect in ing room, the master bed- worrying about different user total. each issue of TELE-satellite. room, the children’s rooms interfaces. We should like to mention and more often than not the at this point that the weather In spite of its small size kitchen as well. And that’s Make no mistake about it, had vastly improved since the the AZBox miniMe does not not even counting the study, the AZBox miniMe is a fully- previous search and when heat up even during heavy- basement, or any other area fledged satellite receiver all looking up we saw a blue sky duty use: lukewarm is all we in your house or apartment. by itself and offers almost instead of grey cloud. could feel. There is no built- TV has become a by-word for the same range of features We went on to test the in fan required, which means multimedia. as the AZBox ME, but at a media player of the RTI im- the unit does not create any Long gone are the days slightly lower price. age, only to find out that the noise whatsoever. when the whole family as- All we’re saying is that a firmware version we used No matter whether you sembled in front of the telly reduced price brings with it came with a bug of the media only want to watch satellite to watch one of only three the differences mentioned player which meant that films television or tinker with your available channels. With hun- above: A smaller flash mem- or music just would not play hardware and software: The dreds or thousands of satel- ory allowing only two firm- back. What a shame, even AZBox miniMe is the way to lite channels available, there ware versions at the same though we are convinced one go. Not only is it possible to is no way a family would ever time, no internal hard disk of the upcoming release ver- install different firmware ver- agree on a particular channel and no front display. sions will address that issue. sions, two images can even to watch. If you can easily do without be installed at the same time, What’s more, in this day those features we can hap- While we were at it, we provided they work with the and age you want to watch pily recommend the AZBox simply could not keep our fin- same kernel. the beginning of a movie miniMe, as it is on par with gers off the OpenPLI image If worse comes to worst, from the couch in your living the AZBox ME, our reference either. In terms of functions, you can always switch the room, and the end from your receiver. it is largely identical with the recovery button which will bed in the bedroom. Once again Opensat, the RTI image, even though the quickly get you out of trou- That’s why it does make manufacturer of AZBox re- pre-installed skins obviously bles with a working image. sense to own more than one ceivers, is to be congratu- look different. Trying out new plugins is receiver, and to hook them all lated. You need to dig a little fun, and creating network up to your local network. The AZBox miniMe is a deeper to discover the dif- shares with all associated This is where all the capa- great small Linux receiver ferences: The OpenPLI firm- possibilities will keep you en- bilities of the AZBox ME and with which Opensat adds fur- ware comes with a different tertained for days. Even the the AZBox miniMe come to ther proof that the AZBox se- media player which was able missing front display can be the fore. ries is here to stay. to access all of our films on retrofitted – find out how by For us (and you) this means an external USB HDD or via reading ‘Digital Picture Frame The ideal set-up would con- continued technical support the local network. The player for the AZBox ME’ in TELE- sist of an AZBox ME in the and a steady supply of new even displayed subtitles cor- satellite 06-07-08/2012. living room, equipped with a and improved firmware ver- rectly. Thanks to the IR jack it also large-capacity hard disk and sions, just like we have come On the other hand, blind possible to position the re- acting as server. AZBox min- to appreciate for the AZBox scan is not available with this ceiver completely out of sight iMe’s can then be installed ME. 32 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com www.TELE-satellite.com — 09-10/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志 33
  • 10. Expert Opinion Small size Loads of functionality + 2 totally different firmware versions available Blind scan 4:2:2 capability – No front-display Vitor Martins Augusto TELE-satellite Test Center Portugal TECHNICAL DATA Manufacturer OpenSAT Ltd, Lagoa, 4950-283 Mazedo, Portugal Website www.azbox.com E-Mail info@azbox.com Model AZBox mini ME Function / Miniature HDTV Linux Receiver with Multimedia Features Operating System Linux Processor (CPU) SIGMA processor SMP 8653 Working Memory DDR 128 MB Video Memory DDR 128 MB Tuner Single tuner ( or ) embedded. DiSEqC 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, USALS Flash Memory 256 MB HDD eSATA Video Output PAL / NTSC Video Containers MPEG1/2/4 (M1V, M2V, M4V); MPEG1/2 PS (M2P, MPG); MPEG2 Transport Stream (TS, TP, TRP, M2T, M2TS, MTS), VOB, AVI, ASF, WMV, IFO, ISO; Matroska (MKV), MOV (H.264), MP4, RMP4 Video Codec’s XVID SD/HD; MPEG-1; MPEG-2: MP@HL; MPEG-4.2: ASP@L5, 720p, 1-point GMC; WMV9: MP@HL; H.264: BP@L3; H.264: MP@L4.0; H.264: HP@L4.0; H.264: HP@L4.1; VC-1: MP@HL; VC-1: AP@L3 Audio Containers AAC, M4A, MPEG audio (MP1, MP2, MP3, MPA), WAV, WMA, FLAC, OGG Audio Codec’s AAC, AAC+, DTS, WMA, WMA Pro, MP1, MP2, MP3, LPCM, FLAC, Vorbis, DTS (Audio Pass-through) Picture Support JPEG, BMP, GIF Subtitle Supported SMI, SRT, TXT, SUB, SSA Resolution 576i (480i), 576p, (480p), 720p, 1080i, 1080p Ethernet 10/100 Base-T Ethernet (max.100Mbit/s) Front I/O Coloured Led’s; Power Button; 1x IR Jack; Rear I/O 1x HDMI; 1x JACK; 1x e-SATA; 1x RJ45; 1x Optical S/PDIF; Power Switch; 2x USB 2.0; 1x AV connector; ENERGY DIAGRAM Apparent Power Mode Apparent Active Factor Deep Standby 4.5 W 0.5 W 0.11 Active Power Standby 15 W 7.5 W 0.5 Active 19 W 11 W 0.57 34 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com www.TELE-satellite.com — 09-10/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志 35