Digifusion

Last updated March 24, 2019

Digifusion was the brand name of Fusion Digital Technology Limited, a British consumer electronics company that began trading in 2002, producing a range of digital terrestrial televisions and receivers. Fusion was part owned by Beko, the Turkish electronics giant, who were responsible for all product manufacture.

Consumer electronics Electronic equipment intended for everyday home use

Consumer electronics or home electronics are electronic equipments intended for everyday use, typically in private homes. Consumer electronics include devices used for entertainment, communications, and home-office activities. In British English, they are often called brown goods by producers and sellers, to distinguish them from "white goods" which are meant for housekeeping tasks, such as washing machines and refrigerators, although nowadays, these would be considered brown goods, some of these being connected to the Internet. In the 2010s, this distinction is not always present in large big box consumer electronics stores, such as Best Buy, which sell both entertainment, communication, and home office devices and kitchen appliances such as refrigerators.

Beko is a Turkish domestic appliance and consumer electronics brand of Arçelik A.Ş. controlled by Koç Holding.

Products

The most notable Digifusion product to date was the FVRT series of Freeview PVRs, beginning with the FVRT100 in 2004. In common with Digifusion's basic receiver product, the FRT100, the FVRT100 PVR was one of the first Freeview products to feature a full 7 day (later extended to 14 day) electronic programme guide, or EPG, some months before Freeview itself began to broadcast full EPG data. This was achieved through the use of a proprietary "Multiguide" EPG.

Freeview is the United Kingdom's digital terrestrial television platform. It is operated by DTV Services Ltd, a joint venture between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky and transmitter operator Arqiva. It was launched in 2002, taking over the licence from ITV Digital which collapsed that year. The service provides consumer access via an aerial to the six DTT multiplexes covering the United Kingdom. In April 2014 it had some 60 DVB-T TV channels, 26 digital radio channels, 10 HD channels, six text services, 11 streamed channels, and one interactive channel. A number of new HD channels launched in 2014, from a new group of multiplexes awarded to Arqiva. The new HD channels were launched in selected areas on 10 December 2013 with a further roll-out during 2014.

The FVRT100 was one of the first Freeview PVRs which allowed the user to record two channels simultaneously – a claim it shared with its contemporary rival, the Thomson DHD-4000. Both boxes also featured 40GB hard disk drives, and were in fact based on the same reference design by 4TV Ltd, who were later to merge with Thomson.

The FVRT series also included the FVRT150 (a clone of the FVRT100 with an altered faceplate and 80GB HDD, sold by Argos), the FVRT145 (similar to the FVRT150 but with the front panel indicator lights removed), and the FVRT200, which added repeat recording and a personalised folders feature in the recording library. An FVRT400 was also announced, based on the FVRT200 but with a 160GB HDD, but very limited numbers of these machines were produced or sold through smaller retail outlets.

A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk, is an electromechanical data storage device that uses magnetic storage to store and retrieve digital information using one or more rigid rapidly rotating disks (platters) coated with magnetic material. The platters are paired with magnetic heads, usually arranged on a moving actuator arm, which read and write data to the platter surfaces. Data is accessed in a random-access manner, meaning that individual blocks of data can be stored or retrieved in any order and not only sequentially. HDDs are a type of non-volatile storage, retaining stored data even when powered off.

Argos Ltd, trading as Argos, is a British catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a subsidiary of Sainsbury's. The company trades both through physical shops and online, with over 845 retail shops, 29 million yearly shop customers, and nearly a billion online visitors per annum, making it one of the largest high street retailers in the United Kingdom. It has also franchised overseas to countries such as China.

Later products such as the FVRT95 and FVRT90 are single tuner machines (able to record one channel only) and are badged versions of an Access Devices design. These boxes used the standard Freeview EPG data, and not the 14 day "Multiguide".

An Integrated Access Device is a customer premises device that provides access to wide area networks and the Internet. Specifically, it aggregates multiple channels of information including voice and data across a single shared access link to a carrier or service provider PoP. The access link may be a T1 line, a DSL connection, a cable (CATV) network, a broadband wireless link, or a metro-Ethernet connection.

"Multiguide" EPG

Most Digifusion PVRs were designed to access the proprietary "Multiguide" EPG, originally provided by 4TV Ltd. EPG data is broadcast in the form of an MHEG application on the "4TVInteractive" channel (currently Freeview channel 300) from 3 am, at which time the receiving boxes automatically tune to the channel and cache the EPG. Originally this provided the boxes with a full seven-day EPG at a time when Freeview itself only supported now and next information – but when Freeview later began broadcasting the now standard eight-day guide, the 4TV system was upgraded to support 14-day listings. However, unlike the standard Freeview EPG, this data is not "live" as it is only refreshed overnight, and any scheduling changes on the day are not reflected in the EPG. This also prevents the implementation of any Freeview+ features on Multiguide-based products.

4TVInteractive was an Electronic Programme Guide (EPG), launched in 2002, for television services in the United Kingdom. The service, which supplied up to 14 days worth of listings data, was available through compatible digital terrestrial television receivers. The service was created by 4TV Limited, before the launch of Freeview's DVB seven-day EPG in 2004, and had been operated by Inview Technology since November 2006.

The Multiguide EPG was used by most Digifusion PVRs, the Thomson DHD-4000, the Inverto IDL-7000, and a number of other receivers, but the last new product based on Multiguide was the Sony SVR-S500 launched in 2006. The EPG service is now maintained by Inview Interactive Limited, the company behind Radio Times Extra, but an increased number of failed EPG downloads during the latter half of 2009 caused some speculation over the Multiguide's future.

On 28 June 2010, after another series of failed EPG downloads, InView responded to customer enquiries with the following statement:^[1]

"Thank you for your email. Unfortunately we are discontinuing the service as we are no longer able to have access to the delivery method that has been available until now. I know that this is not good news for you so I can only deeply apologise for your loss of service in advance. Your box should otherwise operate normally and have the now and next option."

Unfortunately the transmission of "Multiguide" EPG has ceased permanently, so owners of PVRs that use this technology (including Digifusion) can either record programs manually, or upgrade to PVRs that use the Freeview eight-day EPG.

Recent products

Since Digifusion was bought out by Beko, the brand has not been seen on any new products.

Beko manufactured a PVR called the SVR-S500 on behalf of Sony, and its internal architecture was virtually identical to the Digifusion FVRT200. It also offered a nearly identical feature set and used the same EPG, although it only displayed 8 days of the 14 day listings downloaded.

Related Research Articles

The Digibox is a device marketed by Sky UK in the UK and Ireland to enable home users to receive digital satellite television broadcasts from the Astra satellites at 28.2° east. An Internet service is also available through the device, similar in some ways to the American MSN TV. The first Digiboxes shipped to consumers in mid-1998, and the hardware reference design is unchanged since. Compared to other satellite receivers, they are severely restricted.

Sky UK is a British telecommunications company which serves the United Kingdom. Sky provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is the UK's largest pay-TV broadcaster with 11 million customers as of 2015. It was the UK's most popular digital TV service until it was overtaken by Freeview in April 2007. Its corporate headquarters are in Isleworth.

Top Up TV was a pay TV service in the United Kingdom which launched in March 2004, operating on the digital terrestrial television platform. The aim of the service was to "top up" Freeview customers by providing additional content and services through encrypted TV channels unavailable to other viewers.

Electronic program guides (EPGs) and interactive program guides (IPGs) are menu-based systems that provide users of television, radio and other media applications with continuously updated menus that display scheduling information for current and upcoming broadcast programming. Some guides also feature backward scrolling to promote their catch up content. They are commonly known as guides or TV guides.

Digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom encompasses over 100 television, radio and interactive services broadcast via the United Kingdom's terrestrial television network and receivable with a standard television set. The majority of digital terrestrial television (DTT) services, including the five former analogue channels, are broadcast free-to-air, and a further selection of encrypted pay TV services are also available.

The TF5800PVR and similar TF5800PVRt is the UK Freeview version of Topfield's TF5000PVRt, which is a personal video recorder (PVR) with twin tuners; it is possible to record two programs and view a third so long as all programs do not use more than two multiplexes. Firmware upgrades were distributed over-the-air using the normal FreeView distribution method, and are also available for Internet download.

Sky+, or Sky Plus, is a personal video recorder (PVR) service for Sky in the UK. Launched in mid 2001, it allows the user to record, pause and instantly rewind live TV. The system performs these functions using an internal hard drive inside the Sky+ set top box. Its chief competitors in the UK market are the Freeview+, Freesat+, BT Vision, and Virgin Media's V+.

Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, provided by joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008. Freesat offers a satellite alternative to the Freeview service on digital terrestrial television, with a broadly similar selection of channels available without subscription for users purchasing a receiver.

Freesat from Sky is a British satellite television service from Sky UK. It offers over 240 free-to-air (FTA) channels in its EPG. This is a greater number than its competitors, Freesat, which has 200+, and Freeview, which has 70+. It also has up to six HD channels and Sky Active interactive data service. The service is less-promoted than the subscription-based Sky satellite service.

Freeview is New Zealand's digital terrestrial television platform. It is operated by a joint venture between the country's major free-to-air broadcasters – government-owned Television New Zealand and Radio New Zealand, government-subsidised Māori Television, and the Australian-owned MediaWorks New Zealand. It consists of a HD-capable digital terrestrial television service, to around 86% of the population in the major urban and provincial centres of New Zealand, and a standard-definition satellite television service, called Freeview Satellite, covering the whole of mainland New Zealand and the major offshore islands. Freeview uses the DVB-S and DVB-T standards on government-provided spectrum.

tvtv Services, trading as tvtv, is a consumer oriented pan-European Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) service provider, owned by the arvato AG subsidiary rtv media group GmbH since January 2013. It was formerly broadcast on Freeview channel 304 until 30 October 2008.

This is a comparison of digital video recorder (DVR), also known as personal video recorder (PVR), software packages. Note: this is may be considered a comparison of DVB software, not all listed packages have recording capabilities.

Sky Ireland Limited is a subsidiary of Comcast-owned Sky and supplies television, internet and telephony services in Ireland.

The Store is a generic name for a series of British shopping channels broadcasting on the Sky, Freesat and Freeview platforms, owned by JML Direct Limited. JML Direct TV originally launched on Sky channel 664, on 1 October 2002 as JML Direct. Due to various Sky EPG reshuffles, this original channel is located on channel 661 as of 2018.

Freeview is the brand name of the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia intended to bring all of free-to-air (FTA) broadcasters onto a consistent marketing platform, to compete against subscription television, in particular Foxtel. The strategy coincided with the expansion to 3 digital channels for each FTA network and the planned phasing out of analog television in Australia. Important services from Freeview include its free-to-air channels with an enhanced EPG across all channels. Freeview also certifies televisions, set-top boxes and personal video recorders (PVR) which meet its standards.

Freesat+ is a consumer brand introduced to raise consumer awareness and promote sales of Freesat-capable digital TV recorders, otherwise known as personal video recorders. Freesat+ affords users similar features that are available with competitor services such as Sky+ and Freeview+.

Inview Technology is a UK based digital TV software company. It specialises in advanced EPGs, interactive broadcast, IP services and solutions for Pay-TV and analogue switch off markets. Their OTT TV platform allows television broadcast and internet content to be simultaneously accessible to the viewer. The company is based in Northwich, Cheshire, UK and is privately owned.

VBox Home TV gateway is a network TV tuner Live TV and PVR HDTV set-top-box, produced by VBox Communications Ltd.

References

↑ Digifusion & Inverto EPG Updates Switched Off

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Digifusion & Inverto EPG Updates Switched Off