42 What Satellite & Digital TV September 2011
MANHATTAN Plaza HD-S
TEST Satellite
TEST AND MEASUREMENT
Manhattan
Plaza hd-S
ALTHOUGH a few
satellite receivers offer
extensive access to other
channels (even other satellites
with the right antenna), swapping
between viewing Freesat and
non-Freesat channels – even on
the same 28°E satellite – is a
tedious business.
This machine is not only a very
competent Freesat HD receiver but
also great for watching both Freesat
and non-Freesat channels on 28°E
– and it’s cheap to boot.
Build and connectivity
It has to be said that the HD-S looks
not unlike the cheapest of Freesat
machines. It’s small (the size of a
book) and with no front panel
display to suggest it is anything but
a budget box. But don’t be fooled.
The size is partly down to the
separate power supply. We don’t like
this approach because, though it
reduces the size (and temperature)
of the set-top box, it clutters the
mains sockets behind your TV.
Finished in black plastic, the HD-S
looks plain. The front panel folds
down to reveal the standard power,
channel up/down and volume up/
down buttons, with no other
controls to speak of.
The remote is a bit small but
nicely laid out (although the Back
and Exit keys are too easy to press
accidentally) with decent-sized and
well-spaced keys. There are several
dedicated keys, for display mode,
favourites, swap channels, and so on,
as well as the usual Freesat Guide,
List, and coloured buttons.
The back panel is fairly crowded
– if only because it’s so small. There is
one LNB input without loopthrough
and with no DiSEqC support. This is a
great shame – DiSEqC from this
machine could elevate it to an
enthusiast receiver too.
An HDMI is supplemented with
TV and VCR Scarts and there’s an
optical digital audio output too.
An Ethernet socket is provided for
Manhattan takes on the premium cost of Freesat
HD receivers without compromising on quality
No LNB inputs: 1
LNB loopthrough: Ye s
DiSEqC: No
No. channels:
Selectable FEC: No
Symbol rate range:
2000-45000
Blind search: No
Linux: No
CAM: None
Common interface: None
Teletext: DVB decoded
EPG support: DVB
now-and-next, 8-day
Timer: Unlimited events,
8-day
Hard drive: None
UHF modulator tuning:
N/A
Software upgrade: OTA
or USB download
Data ports: USB, Ethernet
AV outputs
SD out: TV Scart (composite)
RGB, VCR Scart (composite)
HD out: HDMI
Audio out: Stereo analogue
audio, co-ax digital audio
Features
Bush BFSAT01HD
n About the same price but
without the picture quality
nor non-Freesat convenience,
and much slower to search
n http://bit.ly/kOvtrl
Technisat HDFS
n With media streaming,
DiSEqC and other satellites
searching for enthusiasts, but
less convenient non-Freesat
navigation and around twice
the price
n http://bit.ly/qnPebu
the opposition
Recording
In use
-
9W
Idling
1W
Standby
(power saving on)
-
POWER USAGE
In standby the HD-S
checks for updates
then switches to 1W
power consumption
after around 2 mins
Freesat Scan
1m 5sec
0 1 2 3 5 min4
FTA scan
2m 53sec
5 min
SEARCH 28°E
You can scan 28°E for
Freesat only or all FTA
channels. The HD-S
proves reasonably fast
at doing both
SEARCH 19°E
The HD-S can only
scan one transponder
at a time for positions
other than 28°E
SEARCH 13°E
Again, while you can
add channels from
other satellites, general
searches of sats other
than 28°E can’t be made
0 1 2 3 4
Full scan
n/a
5 min
0 1 2 3 4
Blind Search
n/a
5 min
0 1 2 3 4
Full scan
n/a
5 min
0 1 2 3 4
Blind Search
n/a
5 min
0 1 2 3 4
FTA Scan
n/a
0 1 2 3 5 min4
Full scan
n/a
5 min
0 1 2 3 4
Blind Search
n/a
5 min
0 1 2 3 4
FTA Scan
n/a
0 1 2 3 5 min4
VIDEO FORMATS
MPEG-2 TS
●
AVI
●
DivX
●
XviD
●
MkV
●
MP4
●
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