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DVB-T STB/MPEG2 Player That Can Access SMB Shares
feanor writes "Siemens is realeasing beginning of November the Gigaset M740 AV (German text). This is a DVB-T set-top-box that can access SMB shares either via ethernet or WLAN and store its MPEG2 compliant streams. Alternatively it can be used as an MPEG2 streaming client. Other cool features include the ability to hook-up standard USB hard-drives as storage, a dual tuner architecture and a very cool design."
Here's a simple summary. DVB is the digital broadcasting standard used in Europe (and some other places, like Australia). DVB-T is the variant used for "T"errestrial broadcasts; DVB is also used for digital satellite (DVB-S) and cable (DVB-C). Many European countries have started doing DVB-T broadcasts, with the intention of eventually eliminating analogue transmission. There are many DVB-T set-top boxes on the market, as well as televisions with built-in DVB-T tuners. DVB-T PVRs have also started to appear. This box is sort of half-of-a-PVR. Instead of using its own internal storage, it uses an SMB share or a USB hard drive. Clever - this should reduce the price. The point of using MPEG-2 is that this is DVB's native video format. This box is not doing any encoding whatever; it's just saving a copy of the stream as it comes in from the aerial. The box only needs to be able to decode - this, too, should keep the price down.
DVB = Digital Video Broadcast
ATSC = Advanced Television Systems Committee