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TELE-audiovision International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine
— 03-04/2013
—
and colour space of on-screen
messages.
It was more than once in
the past that OSD pop-ups ap-
peared way too bright and we
would have loved a similar op-
tion to create an experience
that is more pleasing to the
eye.
Kudos to Panodic for not leav-
ing out in the dark people with
special needs: Its HDT-275C
supports playback of a descrip-
tive audio track, if provided
by the channel. The volume of
the descriptive audio track can
even be adjusted in relation to
the regular soundtrack. Fami-
lies with children will appreci-
ate the fact that they cannot
only PIN-lock certain channels
but also the entire main menu.
In addition, the receiver uses
age restrictions transmitted via
the EPG to block certain broad-
casts from your children’s eyes,
if required.
Hidden away in the ‘Other’
section of the main menu – and
therefore not too easy to find
for the average user – is the
activation of a supply voltage
that is transmitted via the coax
cable to the antenna amplifier.
So finally we were able to re-
solve that issue as well.
Now that we have chewed
over all technical specs and
features of the new Panodic
HDT-275C, how about putting
it to actual use for a change
and watch HDTV on our TV
panel? So off we go: Every
time a new channel is selected
an info bar presents informa-
tion on the current and next
events, and pressing the INFO
button twice calls up extended
EPG information on the current
event, if provided by the chan-
nel. A touch of the OK button
activates the channel list which
might look a little plain at first
sight, but provides wonderful
ease of use.
Once you have found a chan-
nel you would like to watch
you need to press OK twice
to make sure the channel ap-
6. Previous recordings are
listed in a user-friendly way
complete with a small preview
window
7. TV and radio channels are
managed in different sections
8. Channels can be added to
one of the eight favourites list
with a single touch a button
9. Manual channel search
10. The search can be
restricted to free-to-air
channels only
pears on screen and the in-
serted channel list disappears.
The LEFT/RIGHT buttons take
you through all of the eight fa-
vourites lists, which can also be
called up directly with a dedi-
cated button on the remote
control.
We were truly impressed by
the lightning speed with which
this receiver switches from
one channel to the next, which
takes way less than one second
if both channels are transmit-
ted on the same frequency and
thus is comparable to the old
analog times.
We hooked up the HDT-275C
to a 42-inch LCD panel and us-
ing 1080p Full HD the final re-
sult was excellent, giving us no
reason for complaint as long as
the original broadcast material
was in native high-definition.
What’s more, the wonderful
feast for the eyes was comple-
mented by flawless audio when
we fed the digital audio to our
amplifier with a coax cable.
These days an electronic
program guide is a conditio
sine qua non, and it goes with-
out saying that the new Pan-
odic HDT-275C is no exception
to that rule. A touch of the EPG
button on the remote calls up
an overview which – we are
afraid to say – is one thing that
failed to impress us. This was
due to the miniature size of the
EPG on the screen, which in
turn means there is hardly any
space for content information.
Obviously, Panodic tried to
strike a balance between the
EPG window on the screen
and the current channel that
is shown in the background.
While we acknowledge the ef-
fort we still cannot talk away
the fact that the small EPG has
to provide information for five
channels at a time and there
is no option to reduce that to
one channel only – which would
have vastly enhanced our user
experience. The way the EPG
is currently implemented is a
somewhat cumbersome af-
fair and navigation across five
channels and a multitude of
events borders on the tiresome
at times. But maybe it’s just
us – we therefore suggest you
have a look at the screenshots
and decide for yourself.
On a brighter note, we liked
that timer entries can be creat-
ed right out of the EPG, with a
total of eight entries available.
Another aspect we discov-
