How does the Aura handle channel/mux update. It’s not clear to me after reading the user guide.
On my current Panasonic PVR and also my LG and Panasonic TVs, I have auto-channel update (or its equivalent) disabled. The relevant facility, if enabled, must do some sort of auto-tune during the early hours of the morning. Generally, it doesn’t pose a problem, but if there’s any engineering works scheduled overnight, which results in a temporary loss of channels/muxes, when the device auto-tunes it then stores a reduced set of channels. My LG TV is the worst for this — I've lost count of the number of times I found that the TV only had details for a few channels/muxes. By disabling the facility, the issue goes away.
I looked at the Aura’s user guide and I couldn’t see any option to disable automatic channel updates, so I wanted to understand how the box would handle situations where say, for example, engineering works on my local transmitter temporarily took out several muxes which might otherwise be there normally, and the device then auto-tuned.
The Manhattan T3R has an elegant solution, and their support team sent me an MP4 showing how it’s handled. It’s too big at ~3MB to upload, but I can email it to anyone interested. In essence, the T3R prompts the user to re-tune, but that can be ignored. It will continue to prompt until a re-tune is completed, and puts a flag on the settings menu to signify that a re-tune, be it smart or full, is required. It’s an elegant solution to my mind. Most re-tunes are for ‘noise’ channels. As I only ever tend to record the HD channels, which seldom move, I’m unlikely to miss anything if I didn’t re-tune. My Panasonic kit nags with the auto-tune option enabled. Ideally, I don’t want to be nagged at all.
I have to say that at face value, the Manhattan box does look like a good foil for the Aura. Sure, it only has two tuners and a less extensive apps. selection, but the support offered seems to be first class compared to Humax. Take a look at the T3R’s support page to get an idea. I’m torn between the two. The support looks better from Manhattan, and with the latest firmware the box looks very stable. The Aura has the third tuner, of course, but the continued absence of the Netflix app. and non-resolution of the NowTV app. working are issues for me. I can get those services from elsewhere, I know, but the Aura’s [potential] appeal is a one-stop shop for both streaming and linear TV recording. But it’s not there yet, and it still seems a bit flaky, if the 50-odd pages of posts here are anything to go by.
| Sat 26 Dec 2020 13:18:13
#556 |