The TF5800PVR and similar TF5800PVRt is the UK
Freeview Freeview may refer to:
*Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia
*Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand
*Freeview (UK), a ...
version of
Topfield
Established in South Korea in 1998, TOPFIELD Co., Ltd. is a consumer electronics manufacturer making broadcasting receivers, other video and audio related apparatus. Their main business is making products such as set top boxes (STBs) and persona ...
'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
multiplex
Multiplex may refer to:
* Multiplex (automobile), a former American car make
* Multiplex (comics), a DC comic book supervillain
* Multiplex (company), a global contracting and development company
* Multiplex (assay), a biological assay which measur ...
es. Firmware upgrades were distributed over-the-air using the normal FreeView distribution method, and are also available for
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
download.
Topfield devices are often referred to as “Toppys”.
The device has the features expected from a dual-tuner PVR, but also allows extensive software customisation by the use of TAPs (described below). Files (TV programmes,
MP3
MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
files, and operating files) can be transferred over
USB
Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad v ...
between the PVR and a
computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...
.
The TF5800PVR
was replaced by the TF5810PVRt with similar functionality, but which also supports
HDMI
High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant source device, such as a display controller, ...
output (from standard, but not HD, broadcasts—reception of Freeview HD channels requires a
DVB-T2
DVB-T2 is an abbreviation for "Digital Video Broadcasting – Second Generation Terrestrial"; it is the extension of the television standard DVB-T, issued by the consortium DVB, devised for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial telev ...
receiver, which the TF5810PVRt is not). The latest factory firmware versions for both models incorporate some features equivalent to
Freeview+
Freeview is the United Kingdom's sole digital terrestrial television platform. It is operated by Digital UK Ltd and DTV Services Ltd, a joint venture between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky. It was launched on 30 October 2002, taki ...
.
File transfer between PVR and computer
The
USB
Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad v ...
2.0 socket allows files to be transported both ways between the device and a computer running transfer software written for this purpose.
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
,
Mac OS X
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...
, and some versions of
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
/
Unix
Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and ot ...
are supported. Files of any kind can be moved in both directions but the feature is mainly used
* to move a recording to a computer for viewing with media-playing software or burning to a DVD
* to move
MP3
MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
audio
Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to:
Sound
*Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound
*Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum
*Digital audio, representation of sound ...
files to the PVR
* to move TAPs and new versions of firmware to the PVR
* to load extended 14-day
EPG
Electronic programming guides (EPGs) and interactive programming 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 ...
data to the PVR, in place of the standard broadcast 7-day Freeview EPG.
USB file transfer is rather slow. It can be accelerated to some extent by using the transfer software's Turbo mode and by using TAPs which eliminate unnecessary
handshaking
A handshake is a globally widespread, brief greeting or parting tradition in which two people grasp one of each other's like hands, in most cases accompanied by a brief up-and-down movement of the grasped hands. Customs surrounding handshakes a ...
signals.
Topfield Application Programs (TAPs) and firmware
The functionality of the TF5800PVR can be enhanced via the use of Topfield Application Programs (TAP). TAPs are
C programs, developed by users for users. They can be developed under
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
using a Topfield platform cross-compiler (GCC for TAP) or the
Cygwin
Cygwin ( ) is a POSIX-compatible programming and runtime environment that runs natively on Microsoft Windows. Under Cygwin, source code designed for Unix-like operating systems may be compiled with minimal modification and executed.
The Cygwin in ...
GCC compiler
The GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) is an optimizing compiler produced by the GNU Project supporting various programming languages, hardware architectures and operating systems. The Free Software Foundation (FSF) distributes GCC as free software ...
.
TAPs are applications written using an
API
An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software Interface (computing), interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standa ...
available free from the manufacturer. The API provides access to almost all features of the device: TAPs can access
EPG
Electronic programming guides (EPGs) and interactive programming 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 ...
information, change channels, start or stop a recording session, change pre-set recording timers, write text and draw graphics to the screen, and react to buttons pressed on the remote control. It is possible to write a useful program, adding useful functionality, in ten lines of C code.
TAPs have been written to provide many enhancements to the Toppy. Most are available as freeware. Although some technical users consider enhancement via TAPs to be the best thing about the device, the PVR works normally without any.
Firmware
In computing, firmware is a specific class of computer software that provides the low-level control for a device's specific hardware. Firmware, such as the BIOS of a personal computer, may contain basic functions of a device, and may provide h ...
can be downloaded to a computer and transferred via USB to the PVR. Unlike the majority of electronics devices, many users do not recommend always updating to the manufacturer's latest firmware, instead recommending versions of firmware that have been debugged and enhanced by users. the Toppy website recommended TF5800PVR/PVRt firmware 5.13.65T, a modified version of August 2007 factory firmware 5.13.65.
Toppy firmware updates
/ref> The last firmware released by the manufacturer was the July 2008 5.14.09Plus. Different releases apply to the TF5810PVRt.
Patches to the firmware can be downloaded to a computer and transferred to the PVR.
External links
{{Wikibooks, Topfield 5800
Turbosat, the UK importer and distributor
toppy.org.uk: a busy site for users of the TF58x0PVR
TAPWorld: another source of pre-compiled TAPs
References
Digital television