FEATURE

Spark Receiver Software

The Wonderful World of Spark

Large selection of freely receivable channels Web-TV offers SD, HD and 3D channels Simple manual editing of the channel list in Spark Spark software shows all of the technical parameters of the Web-TV channel

Web-TV

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FEATURE

Spark Receiver Software

just software updates or the transfer of recordings. Fulan takes it quite a few steps further and opens for the user not only the tuner input as a signal source but also the Internet as a way to view hundreds of TV channels. This function can be found on any Spark software equipped receiver under the Web-TV menu in the Networking section of the Main menu. Before we go deeper into the specialties of this feature, we want to quickly get a handle on some of the terms that you might come across. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) defines IPTV as TV, video, audio, picture, multimedia and data services that are transmitted via IP based networks with the required amount of quality, security, interactivity and reliability. Clearly, though, the Internet does not satisfy all of the requirements of quality, security and reliability so that its relatively easy to tell the difference between WebTV and IPTV. If an end-user uses his receiver, whether its a mobile or stationary device, to make a direct connection with the IPTV network of his provider without the need of an Internet connection, then were talking about IPTV. If the Internet is required as a transmission medium, then its WebTV. While the IPTV end-user, in a provider controlled en1. The WebTV player can be found in the Networking section of the Spark software 2. While the channel list appears on the right side of the display, the currently selected channel can be seen in a smaller window on the left side 3. Even HD content can be received via WebTV

Unlimited TV via the Internet

Thomas Haring
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Fulan, with their Spark software platform, has given themselves an ambitious goal: and that is to provide the end user a software package for their digital receiver with the largest possible array of functions. Obviously, with requirements like these, the network/ Internet connection of the receiver wont be limited to

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essary reception hardware to the end-user. The absolute best part about WebTV is that so much content is available free of charge while IPTV is not free because of the costs incurred by the providers for infrastructure maintenance. Lets get back to the digital receiver with the Spark software: when you turn on the WebTV function for the first time, youll be greeted with a blank screen without any programming entries. Fulan is planning to offer a standard channel list with a number of interesting entries, but, unfortunately, this feature was not yet available on our test sample. While it is relatively easy with satellite or cable reception to set up a fre4. Depending on the WebTV broadcaster, the picture quality is average to very good; theres nothing to object to here 5. The individual WebTV stations can be edited directly from the receiver 6. New WebTV stations can be added with the push of just one button 7. Regardless of whether its music, movies, sports or adultoriented content, Web-TV has something for everyone 8. Currently, theres no standard channel list for WebTV available from Fulan, this will change in the future 9. Technical details of an HD stream via WebTV. The resolution is 720p while the signal is transmitted in MPEG4/H.264 10. An XML file with about two dozen WebTV channels

vironment, can expect and demand the proper content quality, WebTV providers are not at risk in this regard. Instead of setting up and using their own IP broadcasting networks, they opt to utilize the freely available Internet and pass on the problems of transmission speed, service availability and in most cases the nec-

quency/channel list based on the planned marketing area, this task would be more difficult with WebTV. The available content is far too extensive and the wishes of the end-users are also far to individualized. For our tests the first task was to start an Internet search. In just a few mouse clicks we found a multitude of complete lists with interesting channels. It included news reports, sporting events and music channels as well as sub-channels, HD and 3D movie broadcasters and even adult-oriented content. The URLs from all of these broadcasters are in an XML file; its a familiar file format from the Inter-

net that allows the representation of hierarchically structured data in a crossplatform text file. Such an XML file can be displayed and edited with most text editors without any problems (Note: text editor programs can only be used if the text itself is not formatted). The pictures in this test report show an example of one of these XML files that contain several dozen interesting WebTV entries. To feed your Spark receiver with this XML file you simply need to save the file to a USB storage device, connect it to your Spark receiver and then press the Load button on the remote control. You can also load the XML file directly from

the Internet using the FTP function in the Spark software. Of course, you can also edit the channel list directly from the receiver; the green function button will help you get started here or you can add a new WebTV channel using the red function button. The Spark software always blends in the channel list on the right side of the OSD while the desired WebTV channel is shown in a smaller window on the left side. This gives the user a quick overview of what channel or program is of interest at the moment. Once youve found the desired channel, a simple push of the yellow function button

brings the selected WebTV channel to full-screen display. The picture quality from one channel to another varies greatly, ranging from perfect HDTV to pixilated SDTV. Once again the difference between IPTV and WebTV can clearly be seen. With IPTV, the programming provider makes sure that every channel in the package reaches the enduser in the same quality. With WebTV, factors such as the bandwidth of the Internet connection, the number of viewers and even the budget of the WebTV broadcaster can affect the endusers picture quality. All in all though, we were able to

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determine that the picture and audio quality of the individual channels ranged from very good to acceptable. To play back SD content, your Internet download connection should be at least 1.0 Mb/sec while for HD content it should be at least 3.0 Mb/ sec.

The Spark softwares WebTV function supports the Flash format and MPEG4/H.264 in SD and HD. Keep in mind though, that you will need to know the URL of the WebTV stream. Content from the media sites of TV channels or clips from video platforms, even

when they happen to be in Flash format, can only be played back if you know the exact address of the desired stream. Unfortunately, many providers go to great lengths to hide these addresses from the end-users mostly because they dont want to jeopardize any ad

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income that they would receive from their own web site. So, is WebTV an alternative to TV reception via satellite, cable or antenna? At the end of a test report like this, youd undoubtedly be asking yourself that very question. Our simple answer to that is No. If youre

looking for an alternative to TV reception via the three classic methods of satellite, cable or antenna, youd have to go the IPTV route. WebTV is a practical and, above all, mostly free way to watch TV channels via the Internet but theres no guarantee that the same channel you were watching today will be there tomorrow, and if it is still there, its quality is not guaranteed. Another thing to watch out for is that the channels in some of the WebTV lists are possibly being redistributed illegally. In the course of our testing we discovered one WebTV list with dozens of Russian-language TV channels - all being redistributed over one server that we managed to localize to the Ukraine. Included in the list of channels, in addition to Russian legal/public and private broadcasters, were other familiar channels such as MTV. Its fairly safe to assume that these streams were being redistributed without the owners permission. And sure enough, when we tried to access the server just before our deadline, it could no longer be reached. In the end though, it was for us a lot of fun to dive into the world of WebTV but it still remains just an expansion of all the other reception methods. We also liked that the picture quality of the individual channels was on average quite appealing and thanks to the logical and easy use of the Spark software, WebTV is definitely interesting for professionals and beginners alike.
11. 3D channels are also available via WebTV for free 12. Music channels of all different styles are also available 13. With X-Music, the name says it all

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The Wonderful World of Spark

Part 1: YouTube
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SPARK OVERVIEW

Spark Receiver Software

Part 2: KartinaTV
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www.TELE-satellite.com /12/05/spark

Part 3: Spark Apps

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www.TELE-satellite.com /12/07/spark

Part 4: Web-TV
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www.TELE-satellite.com /12/03/spark
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