GiGablue Quad – First impressions

[Sicilian]

As there’s been quite a bit of speculation as to the present driver issues and lack of English info I’m going to post my first impressions and findings so far. For the purpose of this I’m using Openmips as thats the factory installed image and ViX is yet to be released.

Packaging – Found the Quad nicely packaged on receipt, protective plastic all over the case and front panel. Included are PSU, RCU + Batteries, HDD screws for 2.5” HDD (although may be slightly long for some 2.5” HDD) and combined SATA/Power lead for HDD. Remote the same as the HD800xx series, which personally I find very usable and feels nice to use.

Receiver build quality feels nice and well manufactured. Only criticism’s I do have are as follows: -

1. HDD Cradle could have done with being slightly lower to allow for thicker HDD, just above where the HDD fits there is a small fold that holds the front panel, thus causing a slight restriction. 9.5mm 2.5” HDD fit not problem, 12.5 maybe tight, 15mm you would need to install with one screw and an lay the HDD at an angle. Please note though that 2.5” HDD upto 1TB are easily obtainable in 9.5mm.
2. Rear panel slot for Tuner C. On top of the rear panel there is a fold, this fold should have been cut away slightly more to easily fit Tuner C, like Tuner D. It DOES fit, but to fit you need to tip under fold, apply slight outwards pressure to rear panel and fit tuner by applying slight pressure towards the rear of the receiver and slot in the tuner, you would need to use both hands to do this. Like I said does fit, just a little awkward. Remember once fitted I doubt you’ll be doing this again. Tuner D slots in easily.

See attached picture for explanation.

Ok here goes, time to flash with latest Openmips from here http://image.openmips.com/2.0/index.php?open=gbquad

To flash simply format USB stick FAT32, extract image and copy Gigablue folder to root of USB stick. Connect to USB port behind front panel > Power on > Follow front LCD instructions.

Image flashed and as expected from all other reports, this badboy boots mega fast.

First install wizard is straight forward as standard Enigma 2 images.

Transferred my settings/bouquets etc...

Menu speeds and Enigma 2 restart and reboots amazingly quick as expected. Definitely the fasted Enigma 2 receiver I’ve ever used. Zapping etc very fast.

Tested Crossepg from plugins all fine. Not tested another plugin, just added Crossepg.

Cardslot works with Viaccess card I tested.

Softcam’s tested – CCcam + Oscam working fine.

HD PiP is great, at last proper Picture in Picture stutter free

Web interace streaming working well.

Note that the Ethernet port is 10/100, some online specs shows 100/1000 which is wrong.

Standard Timeshift working fine on OpenMips. Tested Permenant timeshift on a ViX Beta image, to function I need to pause and release, so not 100%. Maybe driver or ViX related.

Ok, now onto the driver issues: -

1. Picture quality could be a bit sharp for some users, found best 1080i or 720p to suit my tastes best. 1080p too sharp for me. Changing A/V mode from occasionally results in blurry menu’s. A/V mode needs to be changed again to correct. i.e 1080p to 1080i. Switch to 720p then 1080i to correct menu’s.
2. Multi-transponder/satellite recording and PIP issue. For instance, you can only view or record one encrypted channel at present on different satellites/transponder. This driver issue is high on Gigablue priority list.
3. Only PCM Audio available through optical port. No digital yet.
4. Occasionally exiting movie list leave PIG on screen, need to switch channel to refresh.

The above are the main four driver related issues that I can find right now. I’ve not tested and USB wifi sticks and we already know that vtuner support is not implemented yet.

Gigablue have stated driver updates will come to fix outstanding issues, once fixed this receiver will be awesome and at the right price too. If you can live with the issues until fixed, then buy one, if not, then wait. Simple as that.

I’m actually using as a main receiver as more or less all my recordings are FTA.

[Rob van der Does]

Do I understand correctly that GB-devs have been rather active in the area of driver-development (for the other boxes I mean)?

[Sicilian]

Do I understand correctly that GB-devs have been rather active in the area of driver-development (for the other boxes I mean)?

Well I suppose a look at their archive says it all

http://archiv.openmips.com/

[rossi2000]

sic, can you comment on media playback?

1080p material, dts sound etc.

you mention only pcm through optical, i guess hdmi is ok?

[Sicilian]

sic, can you comment on media playback?

1080p material, dts sound etc.

you mention only pcm through optical, i guess hdmi is ok?

Cant confirm DTS through HDMI as my amp has only optical. I'll try to find out.

[Sicilian]

Just tried a a 1080p MKV with DTS audio only, played fine connected to TV with only HDMI and downmix off.

[75mak]

sounds good, but until they get the multi-transponder encrypted channels - recording/PIP issue sorted - box will be useless for those Buying for multi tuner functionality.

The good news is they are making that issue anpriority and will hopefully will release a fix for this issue as their previous track record suggests they will.

[doggie]

Great first impression, I will wait patiently thanks.

[partage]

Thank you for this first review Sicilian. I'm planning to get one in the next few days. At least I can get one here "in Morocco" maybe in two or three days. It seems to be promising receiver compared to the next generation of Vu+.

[mauri]

my Quad is on its way. Can't wait to put my hand on it!

[bokkie]

Just a question, might be ********.
I've always wanted to be able to stream remotely to my tablet when on holiday, but am constrained by slow upload speed.
So the only option is to stream via vlc on a pc at a lower bitrate, which means leaving your pc on and as far as I'm aware, you can't change channels.
Will the extra processor speed in the new generation of stb's. such as the gigablue quad, allow the receiver to do this on the fly, without the need for a pc.
I was led to believe it wasn't possible before as it was to processor hungry. But with 3 times faster processor now, is this achievable?

[Trial]

Hi,
simple answer no. The VU Duo has PIP in Software and is able to decode SD with around 4 fps and there is still encoding missing which takes even more time.

The next boxes of VU are supposed to have this transcoding function in hardware.

ciao

Gesendet von meinem GT-P1000 mit Tapatalk 2

[Rob van der Does]

Just a question, might be ********.
I've always wanted to be able to stream remotely to my tablet when on holiday, but am constrained by slow upload speed.
So the only option is to stream via vlc on a pc at a lower bitrate, which means leaving your pc on and as far as I'm aware, you can't change channels.
Will the extra processor speed in the new generation of stb's. such as the gigablue quad, allow the receiver to do this on the fly, without the need for a pc.
I was led to believe it wasn't possible before as it was to processor hungry. But with 3 times faster processor now, is this achievable?

Not seen any advertisement of GB so far, but VU has claimed this to be possible indeed on the Solo2/DUO2.

BTW: You ever tried a Slingbox to accomplish this? No experience myself, but I heard some good stories about that.

[bokkie]

Thanks. Don't want to hijack the thread or go off topic. But no, Never tried slingbox.
Maybe a good idea for my next project

[rossi2000]

got my quad today
can only really confirm sics findings. although some of issues stated im not too bothered about., the main ones for me are picture quality + recording 2 encrypted chans.

there is definately an issue with the drivers but its not as bad as you may think.

connecting/mounting via nfs to server, no problem, streaming 1080p blurays with DTS only all ok, it will not passthrough HD Audio at this time, not sure if this is something gigablue can work on.
cccam, mgcamd ok.
All audio ok through HDMI, i dont use optical.