TEST REPORT

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IPTV Operator Software System – Part 2

The TELE-satellite website as presented via the Amino IPTV set-top box

IPTV receiverThomas Haring

AmiNET130M

•Nowthatwe‘rethroughwiththefeaturesandpotentialoftheNetUPIPTVCombine4xserverit‘stimetohaveacloserlookatoneofthecompatibleIPTVboxes.WehaveselectedtheAmiNET130MfrommanufacturerAmino.Oneofthemoststrikingcharacteristicsisitssmallsize,whichmeasuresonly114x102x35mm,anditssolidbuildquality.Thechassisismadeofgenuinealuminium,whichsuggeststheboxisbuilttolast.

All you can see on the front panel is a status LED indicat-ing the current operating mode.

The back panel sports an HDMI output, optical audio output and network inter-face as well as USB connection.

The box comes complete with a sort of pedestal which you may use in case

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IPTV receiver OSD

1. Favourites list with EPG2. EPG overview of all available channels3. List with IPTV channels4. Additional channels can be purchased and added by simply using the remote control5. VOD content by genre6. Access to personal user account7. The current channel package can be changed directly on the set-top box using the remote control8. Customer account overview (credits / debits)9. A PIN code can be activated to avoid unauthorised access to the IPTV box10. IP status information11. Available OSD skins12. The OSD can be translated into additional languages by the operator, if required13. Marking an event in the EPG overview for automatic channel switching14. Listing and editing timer entries15. Keying in an address in the web browser16. Favourites list of the web browser17. Info bar with details about the current event18. Language selection

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you want or need to place the receiver in an upright position to save valuable space. Also included in the package are HDMI cable and remote control with a con-venient design and nicely laid out buttons that pro-vide just the feedback you require. At the time of our test the operating manual was available in Russian only, but even with addi-tional languages provided in future chances are you will never need to open it. This is because – contrary to a satellite receiver – an IPTV box receives its entire OSD and control interfaces from the IPTV server and requires no user input in this regard.

InstallationBefore we even begin

with the first step we have to discard conventional thinking stemming by and large from satellite receiv-ers. Terrestrial, cable or satellite receivers come complete with pre-set soft-ware and all we need to do is hook up all required cables and press the ON button. It‘s a totally differ-ent story with an IPTV box, which runs via middleware and therefore has no inte-grated default operating software. With the middle-ware structure an IPTV box connects to the IPTV server which then provides the user software. This is to make sure both IPTV server and IPTV box are perfectly compatible with each other, and it makes setting up a new box so much easier. After all, there‘s nothing you can do wrong if the

IPTV server takes over the task of setting up your box. All required settings and parameters are provided by the IPTV server, which means they will always be correct.

While in theory this almost sounds to good to be true, in actual use the DHCP server of the IPTV Combine 4x must be acti-vated so that each new IPTV box within the existing IPTV network is assigned an individual IP address immediately and automati-cally. This at the same time makes sure the box is able to receive IP data from the server and its DNS server. So we first have to acti-vate all required functions via the web interface of the IPTV Combine 4x and define a range of IP addresses to be assigned to IPTV boxes. Only then can we connect the AmiNET130M to our flat screen TV via HDMI and to the IPTV network with an RJ45 cable. Finally, we con-nect the supplied power unit to the mains. The box powers up, immediately detects the IPTV Combine 4x server and downloads all software elements. One minute later this process is finished and we are asked to key in a valid activation key.

Everyday useWith regard to the IPTV

Combine 4x we have men-tioned before that the acti-vation key is required to customise the IPTV box and to create a tailor-made channel list, channel avail-ability and billing system for

19. Each channel can be stored with a short station description and channel logo (seen here: Das Erste HD from Germany)20. Each channel can be stored with a short station description and channel logo (seen here: MBC 4 from Dubai)21. Changing the rate plan22. Radio stations can be transmitted as well via the IPTV network23. Selecting VOD content from the dedicated menu item using the IPTV set-top box software

DATATECHNICAL

Manufacturer Amino Technologies, Buckingway Business Park, Anderson Road, Swavesey, Cambridge CB24 4UQ, United Kingdom

Fax +44 (0) 1954 234 101

Email info@aminocom.com

Model AmiNET130M

Function IPTV Set-top-Box

HDMI connector yes (HDMI 1.2a with HDCP)

Scart connector no

Audio/Video output analogue no

YUV output no

S-Video output no

Digital audio output yes (optical)

Ehternet yes

WLAN no

USB connector yes

Codecs MPEG-2 MP@HL, MPEG-4 pt10 A, VC/H.264 HP@L4

Video resolutions up to 720p and 1080i

Input Voltage 5V DC

Dimensions 114x102x35mm

Weight 262g

DIAGRAMENERGY

Active Power

Apparent Power

Mode Apparent Active FactorReception 11.4 W 6 W 0.52

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each registered customer. As we have already created a specific customer account through the billing feature of the IPTV Combine 4x we can quickly key in the acti-vation code generated by the system. The code con-sists of a total of six blocks with five digits each.

We did not specifically define each and every option for our test environ-ment, so the AmiNET130M first wants to know our pre-ferred skin and presents us with all available OSD lan-guages.

As soon as these basic settings are determined the IPTV box switches to the first available channel and TV viewing please is about to begin. With a touch of the MENU button the main menu pops up on screen and is divided into six sec-tions with the skin we have chosen before: TV chan-nels, Video-on-demand, Radio, Personal account, Settings and Extras.

The ‘TV channels’ section shows a list of all TV con-tent available to the respec-tive customer. If required, individual entries can be added to a favourites list for quick access. EPG data is available either for a single channel or as an overview so that it is easy to check at a glance what is cur-rently shown on available channels. It is of course possible to call up EPG data for events on coming days, and timer entries can be created directly by mark-ing an event so that the box will automatically switch to the corresponding channel before that event starts. The system we tested, however, does not support a PVR feature for selecting events to be recorded.

The ‘Radio’ section is not shown right below the ‘TV channels’ section, which presumably is for commer-cial reasons. We should still like to mention it at this stage, as it is organised just like the TV section.

The second menu item deals with ‘Video-on-demand’ content, which is organised according to name, group or genre. Every available film is shown on the upper area of the screen complete with its title. The screen sec-tion dedicated to EPG infor-mation in TV mode shows extended information about each video-on-demand (text, cover image, price, etc.). If you decide to buy content you only need to press the OK button, with the price of the film being deducted from your credit. Purchased on-demand con-tent is shown in a dedicated sub-menu that lists all con-tent you have purchased with your available credit.

This is also the menu sec-tion you may use to select and activate near-VOD con-tent.

Thanks to the sheer size of the IPTV server hard disk it is possible to make available quite an impres-sive range of on-demand content, and a virtual key-board assists customers in looking for specific content. User-friendliness is the key to success, and with

the solutions provided by NetUP chances are custom-ers will use the on-demand feature more readily.

The ‘Personal account’ section provides access to user data, selected pack-ages and account credit. Here, customers can also upgrade to an extended package or look at all past transactions (credit top-up, used credit). With this feature in place customers can change packages, buy on-demand content and keep a check on purchases without requiring assis-tance from hotel staff (as in our test scenario). This gives customers full control while not wasting valuable staff resources. In the ‘Set-tings’ menu it is possible to change OSD language and appearance, and for service technicians to call up infor-mation on IP data and other relevant network param-eters.

The range of features of the AmiNET130M is com-pleted with the ‘Extras’ sec-tion of the main menu. All timer entries can be listed here, and a rather basic but nonetheless very functional web browser is available for surfing the web. To that end a virtual keyboard is shown on screen, and frequently visited sites can even saved o n t o

a favourites list for easy access at a later stage.

During our test we noticed that NetUP has also thought about implementing basic functions in TV, radio and on-demand modes. For example, the colour-coded function keys can be used to change the language of the current event (in case more than one is available), and a smartly designed info bar is inserted in the lower section of the screen every time a new channel is selected. Apart from chan-nel name this info bar also shows program informa-tion for the current chan-nel. We were impressed at how quickly a new channels shows up on screen – it only takes about one second, and together with very fast reaction to commands sent from the remote control zapping is real fun with the AmiNET130M.

During playback of on-demand content it is of course possible to rewind and fast-forward (at dif-ferent speeds) and pause. A PVR system at large, however, cannot be imple-mented with the IPTV set-up tested by us.

Active use with channel switching and watching live TV during the first 15 minutes, standby during the second 15 minutes.

As far as security and access control are con-cerned either the entire IPTV box or only the pur-chasing function can be blocked by way of an access code.

ConclusionThe AmiNET130M IPTV

box from Amino is a per-fectly capable and well-built IPTV box. Contrary to DVB-S, DVB-T and DVB-C reception IPTV boxes come

without default software, which means our conclu-sion covers the Amino box as the hardware component on the one hand, and NetUP as software provider on the other hand. To put it short, the Amino hardware leaves nothing to be desired. What‘s more, the build quality achieved by Amino surpasses that of many competitors and easily sets an example when it comes to workmanship. The same goes for the remote control

that comes with the IPTV box. Apart from its high-quality appearance it can also be used as a universal remote to control all cur-rently available TV panels – who could ask for more?

Thanks to the fact that server and receiver are in perfect harmony the IPTV box is in a brilliant posi-tion for exploiting all fea-tures provided by the IPTV Combine 4x. In particular, we appreciated the simple

and logical control of the box which should be self-explanatory even to the technologically challenged. If you add to that the com-plex control module of the IPTV server for business applications the two are a perfect match. With a whole range of customis-able settings the IPTV Com-bine 4x together with the AmiNET130M should to the trick for almost any scope of application.