Octagon SF918 HD Review

[Yazz]

Well-featured high-definition and digital satellite PVR ready receiver, with 10,000 channel capacity. Features 2 Common Interface slots and embedded Conax smartcard reader. PVR recording can be made onto an E-SATA or USB device.

The specification includes an Ethernet connection, 'last 20 channel recall' option, 254 satellite memory and USALS motor control.

For those interested, here is a brief summary of what my wonderful SF 918 mean machine holds:

• It’s got an LG Tuner with 400Mb memory.
• Less than 1 second switching between channels.
• The back panel bears Ethernet LAN 10/100 Mbps which can be set up so easily, USB 2.0, eSATA port and HDMI connections fully equipped for software, emulator and any future upgrades .
• Brilliant picture quality with colour adjustments for brightness, contrast and colour.
• An imbedded blind search which gives fast and thorough search and indeed picks up all the weak channels.
• 2 Cam slots and 1 CONAX Card reader.
• I find the menu user-friendly and quite simple to navigate.
• 254 satellite programmable with simultaneous Multi Search
• DiSEqC 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 (USALS).
• It has Video format in 4:3, 16:9 and letterbox, Zoom & Pause and Recall function which stores an incredible last 20 selected channels or radio stations.
• You can search for channels alphabetically using the Find function with a very fast channel search.
• Program timer, Sleep timer function and Parental Controls easily programmed
• 8 favourite lists for channels and radio stations: film, news, sports, music, children, drama, family with the usual Delete, Rename, Edit and Move.
• Factory settings, Backup & Restore available and the ability to update the software via USB or RS-232 (PC to STB, STB to STB)
• Menu has amongst many other options, has a selectable menu animation: Stripe, spray, Slide or Fade, no less than 24 languages, 6 Games, Calendar, Calculator, Automatic NTSC / PAL detection to name but a few.
• Volume can be adjusted for each individual channel .
• Power switch on / off at the rear, 2 Scart (TV / VCR) sockets, 2 RCA audio output (R / L), 1 RCA video output, Component output (YUV - YPbPr), eSATA port and HDMI connections.
  
• I could go on forever describing this beauty but suffice to say that I am well and truly impressed with the look, the features and the functionalities of this receiver. I am told by a very reliable source that very soon there will be a software ready which will enable many other feature such as the Sata drive, the Conax CI slot and many other things which are left as a surprise.
• And the support will continue to be available for as long as there is a demand for it.

Specifications
- 1000 MHz – 32-Bit processor
- 400 MB memory
- 10,000 channel capacity (TV & radio)
- Ethernet LAN - 10/100 MBit
- E-SATA port (inc PVR recording)
- USB 2.0 (inc PVR recording)
- HDMI connection
- VFD-Display (Dot Matrix Vacuum Fluorescent Display)
- 2 x CI slots for modules
- SmartCard reader for CONAX coding
- MPEG 4/H.264 & DVB-S2 (DVB-S)
- Resolutions: 576p/720p/1080i
- User-friendly 3D OSD menu
- Color adjustment: Color mode, brightness, contrast and colour saturation
- User-friendly EPG (Electronic Program Guide)
- 254 satellites programmable
- DiSEqC control level 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 (USALS)
- LNB tension 13/18V & 14/19V adjustable in case of long lines
- Video format in 4:3, 16:9 and letterbox
- Zoom shot & Tracing function
- Recall function: Storage of the last 20 selected channels
- Find function: Transmitters can be found alphabetical
- Program timer function
- Sleep timer function
- 8 favorite lists for the organization of the TV channels
- 8 favorite lists for organization the radio channels
- Child safety lock for menu and programs
- Several clear channel assortment functions as delete, rename, shift and close
- Back-up & restoring of the settings (Back-up/Restore)
- 8 keys at the front pannel
- Front keys are switchable (on/off)
- Support of videotext and sub-titles
- Software-update function over USB/RS-232 (PC-STB/STB-STB)
- Data transfer: Receiver to receiver
- Menu in 24 languages
- Games: Sokoban, Snake, Tetris, Mines, Slot Machine, Othello
- Calendar and calculator function
- Automatic NTSC/PAL recognition
- Very fast channel browsing/scan
- Multi search: several satellites can be marked and scanned
- Manual PID input (audio, video and PCR)
- Volume difference for each channel separately adjustable
- Main, background and radio background pictures changeable
- Certain menu animations are selectable: Stripe, spray, slide, fading-in
- Power switch on/off
- UHF modulator
- Dolby Digital 5.1 output SPDIF (optical)
- 2 x Scart (TV / VCR)
- 2 x Cinch output Audio (R/L)
- 1 x Cinch output Video
- Component connection (YUV - YPbPr)