Big TV

I finally got Big TV !! The installation process was a nightmare. You can find my very detailed review of the installation experience here.

Here is my review of the available features and the quality of audio and video.

The STB and the firmware:

I have been using it for about two days now and feel that the firmware requires quite a bit more work before it becomes stable. Here are some of the common issues I am seeing:

1. Slow respone times when using the remote. Changing channels is slow. Pressing 'Home'/'Select'/'Interactive' brings up the respective screens very very slowly.
2. It takes about 12-15 seconds for the video to appear when the STB is turned on. 
3. Pressing the 'Select' button takes you to the 'Home' screen with the 'Select' option selected. I felt this was pretty counter intuitive. I would expect it to take me to the 'Select' screen directly. The same is true for the 'Guide' button too.
4. The STB sometimes hangs. The only way out is to power off the STB and power it back on.
5. The 'Mini Guide' only displays the 'Current Event' and the 'Next Event'. To see the schedule for any program beyond the 'Next Event' you will have to use the  'Guide'. Not very convenient.
6. Program descriptions take time to load up.
7. The Logo. I hate the 'Big TV' logo on the screen. It big, bright and gaudy and it takes up way too much real estate. 

None of these are serious issues but I hope they fix them soon. 

Audio and Video Quality:

I am not an expert in discerning the audio and video quality. My comments are based on my experience as a viewer.

I have a 32" LCD TV which support resolutions of upto 720p and the video looks pretty decent on it. But I do see the compression artefacts during action or fast moving scenes. Some channels are much sharper and have more vibrant colors than others. 

Much like the video, the audio too depends on the channel you are watching. The music and the English movie channels sound good but same cannot be said for some of the regional channels. But I am sure this is not an issue with Big TV as much as it is with the broadcaster. The radio channels are crisp and clear. 

People have asked me how the audio and video in Big TV compare to those on Tata Sky and Dish. Honestly, I do not see any difference in quality. But with Big TV set to launch HD channels soon, the game could very well go in Big TV's favor.

Channel Lineup:

While tuning, the STB picked up 187 video and 10 radio channels.

The line up is categorized as follows:

• Cinema: 1 Preview channel and 29 Cinema Channels  (Hindi (10), English (9), Telugu (3), Kannada (2), Bengali (2), Marathi (1), Gujarati (1), Bhojpuri (1))
• Entertainment: DD National, Star Plus, Sony, Star One, Zee TV, Sab TV, Sahara One, Star Utsav, NDTV Imagine, Zoom TV, Bindass, DD Bharati, 9x, Firangi, AXN, Star World, Zee Cafe, FTV India, Zee Trendz.
• Movies: Set Max, Star Gold, Zee Cinema, UTV Movies, Bindass Movies, Zee Premier, Filmy, Star Movies,  HBO, Zee Studio, Pix, World Movies.
• News: DD News, Aaj Tak, Star News, Zee News, NDTV India, India TV, IBN7, Tez, DD Lok Sabha, DD Rajya Sabha, Samay, ETV UP, ETV Bihar, ETV Rajasthan, ETV MP, Times Now, NDTV 24x7, Headlines Today, CNN IBN, CNN, BBC World News, NDTV Metro Nation, News X, Zee Business, NDTV Profit, CNBC TV 18, CNBC Aawaaz, UTVi.
• Sports: DD Sports, ESPN, Star Sports, Ten Sports, Star Cricket, Neo Cricket, Neo Sports.
• Infotainment: Discovery, National Geographic, Discovery Travel and Living, Animal Planet, History Channel, NDTV Good Times, Gyan Darshan.
• Kids: Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, Hungama TV, Jetix, Animax, Nick, Pogo.
• Spiritual: Aastha TV, Sanskar, MH1 Shraddha, God TV.
• Music: MTV India, Channel V, VH1 India, Music India, 9xM.
• Regional: Sun TV, Star Vijay, Jaya TV, Kalaignar TV, Chutti TV, Raj TV, KTV, Sun News, Sun Music, Isai Aruvi, Gemini TV, Teja TV, ETV Telugu, Maa TV, Zee Telugu, TV 9, ETV 2, Gemini News, Gemini Music, Asianet, Surya TV, Kiran TV, Kairali, Asianet Plus, Amrita TV, Shalom TV, DD Malayalam, Asianet News, Manorama News, Udaya TV, ETV Kannada, Asianet Suvarna, Zee Kannada, Udaya Movies, Kasturi TV, Udaya Varthegalu, TV 9 Kannada, Udaya 2, Zee Marathi, ETV Marathi, Mi Marathi, Zee Talkies, DD Sahyadri, Star Majha, IBN Lokmat, ETV Bangla, Zee Bangla, Aakash, Star Anando, 24 ghanta, DD Bangla, Zee Gujarati, ETV Gujarati, DD Gujarati, DD Punjabi, ETC Punjabi, Zee Punjabi, PTC Punjabi, MH 1, DD Oriya, ETV Oriya, OTV, NE TV, DD Urdu, ETV Urdu
• Help: Customer Care.
• Radio: AIR Hindi, AIR Marathi, AIR Gujarati, AIR Bangla, Radio Kashmir, FM Rainbow Chennai, FM Rainbow Bangalore, FM Gold Mumbai, FM Gold Delhi.

I took the Smart South Rs. 2190/- pack. Which includes the 'South Popular Pack', 1 'Regional Pack'. For now, I am able to view all except the 9 English cinema channels. But I am guessing that will not be for too long and I will be asked to pay up for the sports channels and regional channels.

The 'Cinema' channels are free for the first 3 months after which the viewer will have to pay for the movie channels. Personally, I don't really care for the 'Cinema' channels. Most of the movies are old and are already available on DVDs.

Guide:

The 'Guide' has pretty accurate but incomplete program listings. The navigation could be better. On selecting a channel, it only displays the current day's listings. Although it took me a couple of seconds to figure out how to get the listings for the rest of the week they still could have done a better job.

The program listings for some channels were incomplete i.e. there were listings available for Wednesday and Thursday but not for the rest of the week. I hope they fix that soon.

Select:

The 'Select' screen is a 4x3 grid which shows what is playing in 12 channels simultaneously. There are 6  'Select' screens categorized by channel type (e.g. Entertainment, Movies, etc).  Although I like the feature a lot, the navigation is sometimes sluggish . This too is in my 'please fixit soon' list.

Favorites:

You can create multiple favorite channels list and give them any name. These favorite lists appear in the category list in the 'Mini Guide'.  This is a nice convenient way to filter out all the channels you don't watch. 

There are a bunch of other settings/features like 'Parental Control' and 'Reminders'. I haven't played around with these yet nor do I plan to anytime soon.

Conclusion:

Big TV has a long way to go before they can claim to be 'India's Best Digital TV Service'. They will have to first fix issues with their customer care and support before they start losing potential customers. As far as the STB user experience is concerned, they can learn a lesson or two from Tivo's UI. But in the short term, I really hope the fix the issues I mentioned earlier in this post.