The End of PVRs

[johnbrennan]

Given that the ODMs that built DP-series, T-series and U-series have gone out of business, could this be the end of Beyonwiz PVRs?

Will we ever know the stock levels of the current Beyonwiz V2?

My situation is that at the moment I do NOT need to upgrade but I feel as though I should, sooner rather than later in case they discontinue the line.

Peteru has given me some very good information.

peteru wrote: ↑
Sun Jan 19, 2020 22:07
You might find that once the V2 sells out, it may become difficult to get a decent PVR.

I asked if Beyonwiz was going to discontinue the line?

Peteru replied: I don't know the stock levels of the V2 or whether there will be additional manufacturing runs of the V2 to keep it in stock or whether another PVR will replace the V2. I do know that in the past the ODMs that built DP-series, T-series and U-series have gone out of business as the global market for this type of device shrinks.

Based on that history and the current trend of broadcast TV being displaced by alternative services, I don't see a bright future for high end PVRs.

If your aim is to stick with free to air TV in the long run, I would suggest getting a decent PVR while you can. V2 is the currently available model and the hardware should handle both DVB-T2 and H.265 - making it reasonably future proof.

Thanks peteru for that insight.

Is there a way to find out if the V2 is the last one ever produced by Beyonwiz?

[MrQuade]

Is there a way to find out if the V2 is the last one ever produced by Beyonwiz?

Only Jai would know what his future intentions are for the Beyonwiz products, and I don't imagine that it is in his commercial best interests to make announcements about unreleased products lest the market of the current line gets completely cannibalized as a result.

The V2 is a different type of box than the T and U series. The others were built around a very PVR-centric line of chips, wheras the V2 chipset more resembles what you would find in a modern mobile phone or a media network streaming device.

This might mean that any future devices will simply resemble a more generic media box than what we think of as a PVR. The ODMs will be in the business of producing generic media streaming devices and the like, and they can also offer a PVR variant of that, so it may insulate them from the shrinking FTA market.

I think the writing has been on the wall for several years in terms of the relevance of broadcast television, and have said as much on the forum before. The younger generation wants to consume media they are interested in at a time they chose, and will simply turn away from any content that is delivered to them in a fixed manner.

Once the number of boomer generation viewers drops off, and advertising revenue starts to dwindle, the broadcasters will need to adapt or perish.

[raymondjpg]

I think the writing has been on the wall for several years in terms of the relevance of broadcast television, and have said as much on the forum before. The younger generation wants to consume media they are interested in at a time they chose, and will simply turn away from any content that is delivered to them in a fixed manner.

Once the number of boomer generation viewers drops off, and advertising revenue starts to dwindle, the broadcasters will need to adapt or perish.

I don't know if it's so much to do with what the "younger generation" wants as what the general TV viewer wants that will dictate the future of TV.

I've commented previously on the IceTV forum about how I see the Australian TV viewer as relatively badly served where advertising to program content ratio is concerned. It's not just the commercial channels, but also the relentless self-promotion and slapping themselves on the back by the national broadcaster that I find increasingly irritating. Unlike countries in the northern hemisphere where long winters make TV a more attractive. relatively cheap, form of entertainment, here there is more competition from other forms of entertainment. Perhaps that, as well as a lack of any other experience to judge by, leaves Australians more open to accepting what is being offered. Like politicians, we get the TV we deserve, and I think it's the viewer rather than the broadcaster that will need to adapt if we want to see any meaningful change. Broadcasters will just follow the money and in my view have little obligation to do anything else.

[IanSav]

Hi Johnbrennan,

If Beyonwiz exit the PVR market there are other sources of PVRs. There are many manufacturers out there and there are many brands and models that will work in Australia.

Regards,
Ian.

[dRdoS7]

Hi,

Is there PC (ie Intel/AMD) version of enigma?

I'm sure there's a few of use that have BW's USB tuners. I know I do, after several T2s have died over time. Plus a "bluey".

Buy an Intel NUC maybe? Maybe install a Win7 WMC version? Hope I still have the disc! And the MC Remote.

dRdoS7

[prl]

A Google search for "enigma2 pc" comes up with OpenPCTV as its first hit. Its page title says it's "enigma2 on pc". I didn't investigate further.

[IanSav]

Hi dRdoS7,

I only develop for PVR style hardware. I know there is an Android version of Enigma2 being developed but I am unfamiliar with any specific PC hardware based versions. I work with OpenATV, OpenPLi, OpenViX and OpenVision. I haven't investigated all the various hardware platforms they support. That said there are bits of Enigma2 that are very unlikely to work on basic PC hardware.

I will leave you to explore the PC hardware option for Enigma2. If it uses OpenATV, OpenPLi or OpenViX then I am sure it can work in Australia. If it uses OpenVision I suspect it will work in Australia (OpenVision is based on OpenPLi, like Beyonwiz is based on OpenViX).

Regards,
Ian.

[IanSav]

Hi dRdoS7,

I followed up on Prl's suggestion and there is some discussion within OpenPLi about this image. Apparently it is very hardware dependant so each machine needs to build the entire Enigma2 image specifically for the hardware upon which it is to run. There appears to be no such thing as a generic Enigma2 build for PCs. It needs to be tailored for all the various hardware options available on each specific PC. If the hardware is matched for a number of PCs then it is likely that a generic build for that PC could be shared.

Regards,
Ian.

[NoDeity]

A Google search for "enigma2 pc" comes up with OpenPCTV as its first hit. Its page title says it's "enigma2 on pc". I didn't investigate further.

Just looked at that site, and the last file for download is from 2016, it may well still be usable but it doesn't look like it's being kept up to date. Would like to hear from those more informed on this though.