Compro Video Mate V200 TV Box review

[karhoe]

Kar Hoe's Blog - Compro VideoMate V200 review

Today I will be reviewing the Compro VideoMate V200 TV Box . I have received the sample from the local distributor, Ares Technology Sdn Bhd a couple of weeks ago but as I was busy with my exams, I never have the time to review it until yesterday. This would be my first hardware review so forgive me if the review is not up to the standard.



Introduction

With a TV Box, you can use your computer monitor (LCD/CRT/Projector) to watch TV, I know that there are hardly any nice shows on free to air TV by Media Prima (RTM1, RTM2, TV3, NTV7, 8TV, TV9) but apart from that, Compro V200 also have composite video input (RCA + S-video) so you can connect your VCD/DVD/Astro or even your gaming consoles such as PS2 and Xbox.

In Compro website, it is stated that you can use it to connect to PS3 and Xbox 360 but I believe no one would want to do that as you would definitely want to utilize the HDMI/Component output on the consoles (if you have a HDTV) which is not supported by this TV Box. Unfortunately only the higher end TV Box model supports component video input (V600) and even that only supports up to 480i.

It would be useful for those students living in hostels, as most of them would probably be having their own desktop, they could use this TV box to play gaming consoles and watch some local TV channels instead of having to buy their own TV just for the purpose of playing with the consoles.

Package contents

So let's open up the box to see the package contents.



Shown on the picture above are the package contents. From clockwise -

1) Compro V200,
2) 3.5mm audio male to male cable
3) Analog cable to be connected from computer VGA port to the TV Box
4) Compro pen
5) 30 buttons IR remote contro
6) 2 x AAA battery
7) Rubberized stand for vertical placement
8) Product manual
9) Universal AC-DC adapter (100V - 240V, Output 5V, 1.5A)

Specifications

These are the specifications of V200 taken from Compro website


* Standalone analog TV/FM tuner box with remote control
* Support PAL/SECAM or NTSC TV systems (Video-in supports universal systems, but TV Tuner is not)
* Built-in Philips 9-bit video/audio decoder

Supports resolution:
Aspect Ratio Support Resolutions
4:3 640 x 480, 800 x 600, 1024 x 768, 1400 x 1050, 1600 x 1200
5:4 1280 x 1024
16:9 1280 x 720
16:10 1440 x 900, 1680 x 1050

* TV Box dimensions: 160 x 112.5 x 26 mm
* 30-key IR remote control (Color: Black)
* Power: 5V DC, 1.5A


The connectors on the back panel


The connectors on the front panel (S-video, RCA) and the buttons on the top of the TV Box (Ch-, Ch+, Vol-, Vol+, Menu, Source)

The V200 does not have FM function, only the V200F has the FM function.

Review set up

To be able to test all the functions of the TV Box, I have borrowed a 15 inch LCD and used my very own 19 inch LCD.

I have tested the TV Box in 3 set ups to test the different functions of the TV Box

Setup 1 - Antenna connected to TV Box



Here I borrowed an old 15 inch LCD TFT from my friend to test the TV Box TV function. Setting it up for basic TV function was straight forward and very simple. I got everything set up in less than 5 minutes. Just connect the VGA cable from the TV box to the monitor, the antenna to the box, and lasly the power adapter.

First, I set the correct resolution to be output from the TV Box to the monitor wihich is 1024 x 768 , 60Hz (15inch native resolution) Then, I played around with the remote control and try to tune into the local free to air channels, even that was easy to be done. All I had to do is to get into the OSD (On screen display) menu and select auto scan and wait as the tv box scans the entire frequency for available channels.



After the TV Box scans all the channels, they would be automatically saved into preset channels. You can rearrange (channel swap) them, using the OSD menu, and even rename the channels.





As you can see from the picture above, I have rearranged the channels and even rename them. Renaming the channels was difficult as I had to use the up and down button to navigate from A-Z instead of being able to use the 9 number buttons like how it's done on a cellphone.

Compro V200 features a pause function where you can pause the Live TV by a push of the Exit button on the remote control. This feature is very useful especially if you need to write down a telephone number shown on the screen.

The manual states that the unit will become hot after being used for a long period which is quite true enough, hence it would be advisable to use the vertical stand.

Just like a normal TV, it has a sleep function which automatically switches off the TV Box after 30/60/90 mins of idling

[karhoe]

Setup 2- Mini HiFi set connected to TV Box

Next I tested it with my mini HiFi set in my room to test the RCA input quality.



The quality was acceptable to me since the source is a VCD, probably the Compro claimed "Enhanced 3D motion adaptive de-interlacing, progressive scan, and noise reduction for better video quality" feature has made the image looks slightly better.

The on screen display makes the monitor looks very similar to an actual TV.



Volume control from 1-50. Be aware though that the internal speaker quality is very bad, any volume level beyond 25 would be almost impossible to hear as there would be too much distortion. Shall you decide to get this TV box, I would strong recommend you to use the line out port on the TV box and attach it to any available speakers. After all, this shouldn't really be a problem if you are connecting it to your PC monitor, since there would definitely be a speaker there. Hence connect the PC line out cable to the TV box line in, and from the tv box line out to the speaker.

[karhoe]

Setup 3 - TV Box connected to Astro and computer



In this setup, I will be testing the astro quality as well as the PIP (Picture in Picture) function that allows simultanesous viewing of the PC and the TV/RCA input.



First of all, let me show you the Picture in picture feature, with a push of the PIP button on the remote, a square shows up in the top left box of the screen with either the TV or RCA input source, so it's a convenient function to do your work while watching the news, it is unfortunate that the PIP could not be moved as I would prefer it to be on the right lower corner.

There are 3 PIP modes, each showing a different sizes of the 'picture'. Even in the PIP mode, you can toggle between the sources (AV, RCA, S-video)





On the remote, there is also a PIP audio function which allows you to toggle between the sound from either one of the 'picture'. (Provided the line in and line out on the TV Box are utilized) This is yet another useful feature. The PIP audio mode only works in PIP mode.

There is a problem though, when using PIP mode, the smaller 'picture' seems a little shaky on the edges. Besides, when setting the output resolution of the TV box to my 19" LCD to 1280 x 1024, I seem to get a weird border on the top and bottom eventhough the native resolution is chosen. It's not an issue though as there is no difference in quality between both the resolution as the input itself is way lower than 1024 x 768.




Yet another great feature of the V200 is the Channel Surf feature.

[addedon]December 19, 2008, 11:20 am[/addedon]With this feature, it splits the screen into 9 sections showing a preview of each channel, and when you come across the desired channel, just hit the channel surf button again.



The first tab contains the following options - Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Sharpness, Hue - basic image settings as well as an OptiColor Mode. The OptiColor mode has few preset image settings to suit different viewing experience such as TV, Cineme or Game mode. A custom mode is available as well where all the custom image settings is saved into this mode.

The second tab contains some useful features such as channel rename (to rename a channel), Fine tune (-/+ the frequency of the detected tv signals until you get the sharpest image), Channel swap to reposition the channel numbers.

The feature that I would like to highlight in the third tab is the OptiRatio and Position Finetune. With OptiRatio, you get to ensure the video original aspect ratio as preserved. It also features a SmartZoom mode which is meant to zoom 16:9 movie broadcasted in 4:3 format with a letter box when viewing in a 16:9 screen. Without this option, you would have black borders all around the video. Position finetune allows you to ensure the image fits the screen perfectly, this combined with LCD auto adjust feature would ensure the image are positioned correctly.

The fourth tab and fifth tab shows straight forward options that should be available in any TV box

Next page - Conclusion

Overall, the device is superb, good enough for people who needs a TV or needs to hook up their gaming consoles to their computer monitor. There are some flaws in the device such as the quality of the speakers but these are negligible since almost everyone who got this would probably hook it to their speakers. The device is very simple and easy to be used. I did not even flip open the manual.

There are not details on the availability and pricing of this product yet but I believe it would provide value for money to those who decide to buy it.

Also the fact that it is powered by 5V DC with 1.5A means that it could be ppossible to powere it by dual USB after some modification to the device (USB provides 5V, 1A of power)

I have tested it, and I give it a rating of 8/10


Lastly, Compro VideoMate products come with a 3 years warranty which shows that Compro are confident with their product quality.





More pictures here
Kar Hoe's Blog - Compro VideoMate V200 review

[Lacus]

Looks not bad...wonder how much does it cost? and will it fair well on 22" inch lcds?

[karhoe]

Not sure, I will check it out for you and post the price here. It supports 22 inch resolution

[Lacus]

Cool. But does the resolution looks weird ar

[mikegas]

Cool .. what the retail price?

[karhoe]

I will check it out and inform you guys. My guess is around RM200

The resolution is just to ensure the OSD looks normal as well as the aspect ratio correction works perfectly

[lee_what2004]

can use it to record the channel?

[karhoe]

Nope, think of it this way

An LCD TV is an LCD panel with TV function + input

LCD monitor is only LCD panel without TV and input, so Compro V200 fills in the gap for those who has a LCD monitor and want to make it like an LCD TV (no HDMI and component though)