PRODUCT REVIEW: MAY 9, 2008
RCA DTA800 and Channel Master CM7000 Digital TV Converters
Two of a kind? In some ways, yes, but in others, they’re vastly different.
At latest count, there are over 50 models of digital TV converter boxes listed as Coupon Eligible Converter Boxes (CECB) at the NTIA Web site (www.dtv2009.gov) and it’s become quickly apparent that reviewing even a small portion of them would be quite a difficult task.
That said, I’ve concentrated on major brands that have either had stand-along DTV set-top boxes available in the past (LG) or were first to market (GE and Digital Stream). The two boxes in this review come from RCA and Channel Master, and while the former company previously offered ATSC set-top receivers, the latter company has been manufacturing and selling TV antenna, amplifiers, and related products for 50+ years.
Today, RCA is part of Alco Electronics, while Channel Master was sold to PCT International a few years back by Andrew Corporation. But both companies are still very much in the TV game, and both have contenders for your NTIA coupons. Here’s a closer look at both models.
Figure 1. RCA’s DTA800 is a compact DTV converter with a generic appearance.
RCA DTA800
The DTA800 is scheduled for sale through Wal-Mart, although at this writing the Wal-Mart Web site showed it was not available on-line, only in stores. The scuttlebutt I got at NAB from an ex-RCA exec is that the DTA800 would be distributed west of the Mississippi, while the troublesome Magnavox TB100MW9 would be stocked in the eastern USA.
My model was shipped from the folks at Broadcom in California as part of a test with their new smart antenna (yes, the DTA800 has the CEA909 Smart Antenna interface). While the prototype antenna developed some bugs and had to go back home, I decided to take the box for a solo test drive anyway. (I’ll cover the smart antenna in a future review.)
Like many NTIA boxes, the DTA800 comes in a small plastic housing with a minimal connector complement, including RF input and output jacks and AV connections (composite video and stereo audio) for your older analog TV set. A switch lets you select channel 3 or channel 4 for RF-modulated signals.
The supplied remote control almost looks like a kid’s toy, as it has oversized buttons that are colored dark or light gray. The volume and channel up/down rocker switches are as big as the first two segments of my index finger! No reading glasses needed here. You’ll have direct and fast access to Menu, Info (program guide), and CC (closed caption) functions.
The user menus are quite easy to read and use very large text. The main menu has five sections — (1) Channel List, where you’ll see your channel map with basic program guide info, (2) AV Settings, where you’ll set your picture aspect ratio to widescreen or fullscreen, and toggle between stereo audio or secondary audio programs (SAP), (3) Ratings, where you set up the V-chip options, (4) Closed Captioning, where you’ll select the caption service and select the font and colors you prefer, and (5) Settings.
The Settings menu is where you scan for channels, pick the menu language, configure the automatic shut-down mode for power savings (4, 8, or 12 hours, or off altogether), check signal strength with a unique combination bar graph indicator and varying audio tone. As signal strength increases, the bar graph moves to the right and the frequency of the audible tone increases.
Figure 2a. Here’s the DTA800’s channel map screen,
which constantly updates program guide info.
Figure 2b. And here’s what a DTV station’s PSIP data looks like
after you push the INFO button twice.
I connected the DTA800 to my rooftop VHF/UHF combo suburban yagi and pushed the channel scan button. 90 seconds later, the DTA800 had picked up 35 different programs from a total of 14 ATSC channels, some of which were received off the side and rear of the antenna. Program guide information updates continuously on the DTA800 — if you go into the Channel List menu, you can see current program titles and information for every station you scanned, not just the one you’re watching at that moment.
The on-screen EPG display is easy to read and works in two steps. The first push of the Info button brings up basic PSIP data, including the station’s virtual channel data, date and time, program name, rating, caption information, program duration, and a “what’s up next” title that looks to the next entry in that station’s Event Interval Table (EIT).
A second push brings up Extended Text Table (ETT) information, which shows up as a detailed program description if the station is transmitting ETT data. There’s also a signal strength indicator that uses a smaller version of the green bar graph in the Antenna menu.
Figure 3. Channel Master’s CM-7000 is a much more substantial DTV converter —
and it offers S-video output, too.
CHANNEL MASTER CM-7000
Like the DTA800, Channel Master’s CM-7000 is an NTIA coupon-eligible converter box. But that’s about where the similarity ends! The CM-7000 is a more robust, slightly larger and heavier (2 pounds versus 14 ounces) DTV converter that seems like something we’d design and build in the United States, not in China. (It’s actually built in Bulgaria.)
The CM-7000 comes in an attractive two-tone gray metal housing (yep, metal, no plastic) that is about 33% larger than the DTA800. It has the same RF in and out connectors, plus composite video and RCA jacks for stereo audio. But what’s this? A S-video connector? That’s not in the NTIA specification, but it will make for better image quality on your analog TV set.
The supplied remote control is not as clean as the RCA version. It has too many buttons for my liking, and they’re all tiny, with the Menu, Info, Volume, and Channel up/down buttons all about the same size and tough to find quickly. The Subtitle menu is actually the closed captions menu, and there are two ways to get a quick snapshot of the station — Info, which provides basic table data, and Guide, which is where you’ll find EPG.
The User menus are similar in appearance to those found on the Digital Stream DTX9900 NTIA converter. The first selection is Channel Edit, where you’ll see the map of scanned channels and can select, block, or delete any channel you want. That’s followed by the Channel Scan menu where you can do a complete channel scan, or re-scan to pick up any new channels without removing any older ones you’ve saved. (That feature is great if you use an antenna rotator.)
Te next menu is Setup, where you can set the clock manually, or let each station’s system timetable (STT) data set it for you. You can also choose the menu language and transparency, and enable or disable the auto power-down feature found on all NTIA converters. In the Closed Caption menu, pick the caption service you want and customize your fonts and colors. The last menu, Parental Controls, is where you’ll configure V-chip functions.
A few other functions are only accessible from the remote. The Wide button toggles between four different aspect ratios (Letterbox, Full, Zoom 1, Zoom2), while the Audio button lets you select either a stereo output from the main program or any available second audio programs. There’s also an Option button on the remote, but it didn’t appear to do anything.
Figure 4a. Here’s the CM-7000 channel map screen.
Figure 4b. And here’s what the PSIP display looks like after a tap on the INFO button.
Once again, I connected the CM-7000 to my rooftop VHF/UHF combo suburban yagi and pushed the channel scan button. This time it took only 79 seconds to lock up 37 programs from 16 stations — two more stations than I was able to pick up with the DTA800. Both stations (WNJS-22 and WTVE-25) are pretty strong at my house, so I’m not sure why the RCA box wasn’t able to read their data correctly.
Program guide data updates as you change channels. A tap of the Guide button shows a complete guide overlay with Event Interval Table information and Extended Text Table data, if it’s been encoded. The Info button shows basic info about a digital channel, including virtual channel data, program format, captions, ratings, and time and date.
Channel Master has also included a signal strength meter, but it didn’t agree with the RCA box on several channels. A strong signal on the CM-7000 registered full scale on the bar graph, but only half scale on the DTA800. There is no separate antenna aiming function — you have to use the signal strength meter on the Info screen to peak up a given signal.
CONCLUSIONS
Both of these boxes have their strong and weak points. The DTA800 has an excellent user interface and I liked the minimal, large-button layout on its remote, plus the continuous program guide updating. But it missed a couple of stations that the CM-700 picked up easily. On the other hand, the Channel Master converter should have a separate antenna aiming function (they are an antenna company, after all!) and their remote control is not a very good design, as there are too many small, similarly sized buttons for different functions.
Score bonus points for CM’s S-video connector, which makes a noticeable difference in picture quality, particularly when viewing a down-converted 720p or 1080i HD program. And call me “old school,” but I preferred the solid, substantial feel of this converter — it feels like it’s worth the extra $20 over the DTA800.
