Page 82 - TELE-audiovision - The World’s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine

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82 TELE-audiovision International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 01-02/2013 — TELE-audiovision.com
TEST REPORT Professional Integrated Receiver and Decoder
Dexing NDS3975
Most powerful and versatile
IRD ever - its built-in monitor
is a unique plus.
IRD with
three different inputs
The NDS3975 is shipped
in a rather plain-looking
cardboard box, yet as soon
as you open the packaging
you learn that looks can be
deceiving: Out comes a top-
notch product that is pro-
tected by foamed material
on all sides, plus all cables
that are required to get go-
ing in a flash. You’ll find
the power cable as well as
cables for ASI, YbPbR and
composite video.
The IRD (integrated re-
ceiver decoder) NDS3975 is
designed with the standard
19-inch rack width in mind
and sports spotless build
quality that seems to sug-
gest ‘I’m made to last!’. In
addition, a look at the rear
panel puts us in for another
surprise, as there are more
connection options available
than most of us would think
possible:
- power input
- 3 x RJ-45 (IPTV input –
„FE“, IPTV output – „GE“,
as an option and not avail-
able on our test unit, NMS –
maintenance)
- 1 ASI input
- 4 ASI outputs
- 1 tuner input (DVB-S2/
C/T as selected, our test
unit was equipped with a
DVB-S2 tuner)
- 1 HDMI port
- 1 composite video output
- 1 audio output (L+R)
- 1 YbPbR component out-
put
What truly set our hearts
ablaze, however, was a sec-
ond look at the front panel:
Apart from the two-line LCD
display, which is extremely
easy to reads thanks to its
blue backlighting, two arrow
keys and three additional
buttons for Enter, Menu and
Lock we discovered a small
screen. Could it be true?
Does this new IRD come
with a small monitor right on
the front that can show live
TV with its 38mm diagonal?
There was only one way
to find out – quickly connect
and set up the device! Yes,
this small monitor has a sur-
prisingly high resolution and
can easily replace an exter-
nal monitor for most pur-
poses. There’s even a small
switch to turn it on or off, so
that it stays dark whenever
it isn’t required.
In addition, the front panel
is characterised by six sta-
tus LEDs (Power, Tuner Lock,
ASI Lock, IP Lock, Decoder
OK and Alarm), plus two CI
slots on the right side, which
turned out to be compat-
ible with all our CAMs except
those working with the CI+
standard.
When we think of integrat-
ed receiver decoders (IRD),
we usually have in mind pro-
fessional reception devices
for head-ends. Contrary to
conventional consumer re-
ceivers, IRDs are designed
for permanent use. This
means, the ultimate bench-
mark is not convenience and
fast zapping, but receiving a
channel or transponder for
any length of time up to sev-
eral years and making that
signal available for further
processing and distribution.
The major specifications
for IRDs are:
- high reliability
- 19-inch rack format
- high usability
- excellent reception quality
- signal output with very
good quality
- low maintenance costs
The NDS3975 receives
high scores for each of these
demands, and yet it offers
so much more. It’s best to
have a look at illustration 1
to get an impression of its
versatility.
The main difference be-
tween the NDS3975 and
standard IRDs can be found
right at the beginning of this
report: It features three
usable inputs, instead of
one tuner only. While the
tuner itself is exchangeable
– which means you can ei-
ther choose DVB-S2, DVB-C
or DVB-T – there is an ASI
input as well as an option
to receive a transponder
stream via a dedicated net-
work interface.
This means that it is pos-
sible to receive a satellite
transponder through the
built-in DVB-S2 tuner and
at the same time feed in a
second transponder from
another IRD via ASI.
Still looking for some ic-
ing on your cake? There you
are: A third transponder can
be integrated via IP at the
very same time.