PRODUCT REVIEW

Samsung DTB-H260F Terrestrial DTV Set-Top Receiver

PETER PUTMAN, CTS

Samsung’s DTB-H260F is the first DTV set-top box to include the latest 5^th-gen 8VSB chipsets — and they make a big difference.

With the widespread availability of integrated HDTV sets, it’s hard to find any manufacturers willing to continue selling discrete DTV set-top receivers. Yet, there are still plenty of legacy HDTV monitors out there that require such a box for terrestrial DTV reception.

To their credit, Samsung — alone among the major CE manufacturers - continues to support this product. The DTB-H260F is their latest design, and it is worlds apart from the previous SIR-T451 in appearance, features, and 8VSB reception performance. As a bonus, the receiver can also demodulate unscrambled QAM (digital cable) signals.

OUT OF THE BOX

The first thing you’ll notice about the DTV-H260F is how small it is! Measuring just 10.5” wide by 8” deep and 1.5” tall, it’s about 1/3 the size of Samsung’s vintage-2000 SIR-T150 receiver. The case design is much sleeker, with a combination matte black/silver finish.

Figure 1. Samsung’s DTB-H260F is the first terrestrial set-top receiver
to use 5^th generation 8VSB chipsets.

Figure 2. The rear panel of the DTB-H260F, showing all connections and mode switches.

The rear panel has just about every connector you’ll need for your AV system, including component YPbPr jacks, a pair of stereo RCA audio jacks, two composite video hookups (they are always live), and an S-video jack. For a direct digital feed, there’s an HDMI port, while digital audio is available through a Toslink optical connection.

As is usual with all Samsung STBs, you’ll have to set the video connection and output resolution with rear-panel switches before using the receiver. One switch toggles between analog component output and the HDMI jack, while the other switch lets you choose 480i, 480p, 720p, or 1080i output modes. (Choose the resolution closest to that of your display or HDTV.)

MENUS AND OPERATION 

The supplied remote is similar in shape and appearance to that used with Samsung’s BD-P1000 blue laser DVD player. It’s a tapered black/gray baton design with numeric keypad and volume/channel buttons that will also work with Samsung HDTVs.

Direct access to many of the set-top boxes’ program guide functions is available through twelve tiny (and I mean tiny) buttons on the bottom of the remote. These functions include electronic program guide, channel list, freeze frame, and closed captioning, among others.

The DTB-H260F has a new look for its menu, with menu choices scrolling along the bottom of the image. You can choose to show full or mini electronic program guide information (if the DTV station is sending it out), or a full EPG with all received DTV stations listed. Changing channels is as easy as scrolling through the guide.

The preferences menu lets you turn on/off closed caption services, which can be detected automatically or specified. Caption text color, size, and fonts can all be customized. This menu also has parental control options and menu transparency settings. The Channel menu is where you’ll scan for terrestrial or cable DTV stations, edit your channels, and check signal strength.

The Setup menu defines screen sizes and picture overscan, as well as sets your local time zone and turns on/off daylight Savings Time. In theory, if your DTV station has its clock set correctly, the DTB-H260F will automatically pick up System Timetable (STT) data from each station’s broadcast.

PERFORMANCE

So – just how well does the DTB-H260F really work? For starters, I’m watching KYW-DT (UHF channel 26, Philadelphia) in my basement (below ground) as I write this, with a Radio Shack 15-1880 amplified VHF/UHF antenna pulling in the 8VSB signals. I can also watch WFMZ-DT out of Allentown by turning the antenna 90 degrees to the north.  Both stations are 20+ miles from here, and both are rock solid. (Try that with an older DTV receiver!)

Figure 3a. Basement DTV reception via Radio Shack’s 15-1880 amplified antenna (left) and Samsung’s DTB-H260F, atop Sanyo’s new PLV-Z5 front LCD projector. 

Figure 3b. The proof is in the pudding! Here’s The Young and The Restless
in 1080i HD as received in my basement from KYW-DT.

For more scientific tests, I connected the STB-H260F to my rotating roof antenna, looping the signal from the receiver’s ANT OUT terminal to a 4^th-generation LG LST-4200A DTV set-top, then on again to my lab spectrum analyzer. 

I peaked the antenna for maximum signal strength and best waveforms with a heading of 200 degrees to establish a baseline, and then performed a channel scan on both receivers. Figure 4 shows all of the channels received by each DTV tuner in this position.

Next, I began rotating the roof antenna north in small increments until I started to see signal dropout on the older LG receiver. Once that position was noted (about 245 degrees), I executed another channel scan on both receivers and logged the results.

After that, I rotated the antenna to a heading of 295 degrees, or 90 degrees from the original position. This meant I’d be receiving all of the Philadelphia DTV stations off the side of the antenna, where signal levels are quite low and plenty of multipath is present. Once again, a channel scan was initiated and all received DTV channels logged. (Note that this heading is optimal for reception of Lehigh Valley DTV stations WLVT and WFMZ.)

Finally, I swung the antenna to a 90-degree heading, in the direction of New York City, ran yet another channel scan, and logged all received channels. WNJT-43 in Trenton is quite strong in this direction, so it came in fine, as did several NYC stations including WCBS-56, WABC-45, WNYW-44, WWOR-38, WPIX-33, and WXTU-40.

Figure 4. The results of my 4^th-gen and 5^th-gen reception tests.

Figure 4 shows the results of my tests. It’s evident that the DTB-H260F is capable of handling DTV signal multipath and echoes significantly better than the 4^th-generation LG receiver was able to do. With the antenna off-axis by only 45 degrees, the LG receiver dropped six stations altogether, while the Samsung STB didn’t lose any.

At the 295-degree heading, the LG tuner could only pull in five total stations, but the Samsung tuner received eight stations just fine. Even with a 90-degree heading and lots of multipath, the DTB-H260F locked up eight DTV stations to the LG’s one.

Figures 5a and 5b. The 8VSB waveforms of WUVP (left) and WCAU (right) are shown with an optimal antenna heading (200 degrees) and a heading of 90 degrees.

Figures 6a and 6b. The 8VSB waveforms of WTXF (left) and WNJT (right) are shown with an antenna heading of 200 degrees and a heading of 245 degrees.

Figure 5a and 5b show the 8VSB waveforms of WUVP (left) and WCAU (right) with antenna headings of 205 and 90 degrees, respectively. While WUVP was not receivable, WCAU was solid on the Samsung receiver with no dropouts at this heading. Note the deep notch (>16 dB) in the WCAU waveform. Neither station was receivable on the LG tuner.

Figures 6a and 6b show the 8VSB waveforms of WTXF (left) and WNJT (right) with antenna headings of 200 and 245 degrees, respectively. Both stations were receivable at the 245-degree heading with the DTB-H260F with no dropout. There is an 18-db notch in WTXF’s signal and multiple ripples on both of WNJT’s waveforms. The LG tuner could not receive either of these stations.

CONCLUSION

With a SRP of $219, the DTB-H260F is an inexpensive way to finally get off the fence and dive into reception of free, over-the-air DTV and HDTV programming. Most new integrated HDTV sets have 5^th-gen front ends — now, your legacy HDTV monitor can benefit from it, too.

There really is magic in the 5^th generation 8VSB receiver chips, enough so that consumers who live in areas with moderate to high signal levels, but lots of multipath, should now have a good chance of reliable 8VSB off-air reception. (If I can pick up a DTV signal nearly 25 miles away and over a hill in my basement, your chances are looking pretty good!)

However, no matter how good a receiver design is, you still need a minimum carrier-to-noise level of about 20 — 25 dBm for that receiver to work – even those using 5^th gen chipsets. So, using an amplified antenna for indoor reception is a good idea. The trick is to position that antenna for the best analog VHF or UHF reception you can get, and then scan for your DTV channels.