TechnoTrend: Common Interface (Budget)

Releasedate: 2006

In Germany available through Shop.TechnoTrend.de and Amazon.de

1. Introduction

In times of the upcoming encryption of important data there is also an undergoing aspect between tv-broadcasters to encrypt their contents, to prevent people from copying data or out of licence motivated reasons.
Officially this copy protection only protects contents of the filmindustry of undesired access to high definition material.
For customers this leads often to compatibility problems with several devices, especially if you want to use your devices with some open source software e.g. watch a Blu-Ray under openSuSe - this is not possible without taking illegal methods.
In fact it is the honest customer that has to pay for the faults the industry made years ago.
TechnoTrend offers a tv-card based solution for the upcoming dvb-s2 standard.
Shortly after the release of the dvb-card there has been released a CI-module, with whom you can watch encrypted PayTV Channels.
With a fitting smartcard and a cam-module you can watch nearly every pay-tv channel you want to.
Astra and several tv-broadcasters are thinking over a base encryption of their channels - called 'Entavio'.
Despite there are a lot of people against this base encryption, it is realistic to prepare yourself for such a situation.
A DVB-card without CI-Module wouldn't be able to decrypt such an encryption without a CI-module. This way it also offers a free choice of CAM - modules because you can use nearly every CAM-module with the TT-DVB-S2 CI that is currently available at the market.

Shipment of the CI
"PCI"-card TechnoTrend Common Interface
IDE ribbon cable

2. Installation / Initiation

Hardware:

The CI-Module comes shipped with a 40-pole IDE-cable that is connected to the DVB-S2 3200 dvb-card. You can mount the CI-Module in your case like another PCI device. In our case we used another IDE-cable to make an external CI-Module out of it.
The reason for this was that my case doesn't offer that much place, and I already had 4 PCI/PCIe cards inside of it.
That was the whole installation! You don't have to anything to get the CI-module to run. It is now possible to adress the CI-module out of the dvb-software (DVBViewer/BDA-APP). There's nothing easier like that.

3. Handling

3.1 Software

It is possible to access the CI-Module with the shipped BDA-APP and also with the closed-source program DVBViewerPro (GE) (15€). Every user has to decide which program fits most for his requirements. Advanced users will use the DVBViewer - it offers much better options to configure the program/dvb-card(s).
Basically both programs offer the same menu when you open your CAM-module. Thus it doesn't make any difference with whom you work - all payTV channels we tested were able to be decrypted within both applications.

3.1.1 BDA-APP

Here is the menu for controlling the CI-module situated on the left side of the main menu (it looks like a little smartcard).
It is now possible to apply the configuration to the CAM-module. The smartcard/cam menu looks different for each combination - another CAM-module, another CAM-menu. Therefore on our screenshots you only see a menu of an Alphacrypt CAM Module from Mascom in version 2.03 (older version - at the moment 3.11 is the latest one). A test of Premiere HD with the old firmware 2.11 resulted with no picture drawn. With the new firmware - update 3.11 - it is possible to view Premiere HD with the TT ci-module (with the abo-smartcard of course!).
This offers a very cheap solution for people who have a high-end pc, but who do not want to invest a lot of money into a standalone hd-receiver.
Premiere HD sends a HDCP signal within the video-datastream, in fact this signal-flag is currently not noticed by the components in the pc. An output on components without hdcp-ability is also possible with no problems. It might be possible, that in future times the hdcp signal-flag is that strenghtened that it is even not able to output a signal to a display with no hdcp functionality. At the moment that is only future - and hopefully that it will stay future in costumers sake.

3.1.2 DVB-Viewer PRO

In the DVBViewerPro you can access the CI-module with the CAM-module over "View-Settings-CI-Module". This menupoint is only available, when you have inserted a valid CAM-module in the CI-module. It doesn't matter whether you have inserted a smartcard at this time - only when you want to watch payTV it has to be inserted. The option dialog is very similar to that one in the BDA-APP. The configurations possibilities are almost the same than in the BDA-APP. The decryption of Premiere HD/SD is also possible (by using the Alphacrypt 3.11 Module), as it was already possiblr with BDA-APP.

4. Recording of PayTV-channels

The recording of encrypted PayTV channels is at the moment especially in HD-programs like Premiere HD in a grey area. Premiere writes only unsecure utterances to this topic: [Click!]
(Translation correspondingly - it might be not a very good translation)

14. I have heard, that it is not possible to record HDTV-signals via premiere - is that right?

Generally HDTV-broadcasts are transmitted with encryption. The HDCP-copyprotection offers the security that only authorized devices are able to receive,playback and handle the video- and audiostreams. That doesn't reveal whether it is possible to record a HDTV-broadcast or not.

Principially it is possible to record HDTV-broadcasts - this depends of the guidelines the rightbearer: In every HDTV-broadcast there is a attribute transmitted , in which form a signal can be outputted - without or with copyprotection.

The following possiblities are available at the rightbearer:
• The content can be outputted in high definition as well at the digital outputs and at the analogue interfaces.
• The content can be outputted at the analogue interface (YUV,Scart) only in PAL/NTSC-solution , high definition content can be outputted only via the digital interfaces.
• The content can be outputted only via the digital interfaces (DHMI or DVI) and with copyprotection (HDCP).

This identification is autonomous from whether you want to record a Premiere show or a show of a free-to-air HDTV-channel.

Therefore it is possible to record both the SD-channels and the HD-channels of Premiere with our hardware. This FAQ article of Premiere doesn't offer the 100% proven decision whether it is illegal or legal to record HDTV content via a DVB-S2 card.
Outputting the HDCP signal without limiting output to hdcp-capable monitors, the TT S2-3200 and other HD-DVB-S2 receiver cards are at the moment within a kind of "grey area". Every user has to decide on its own, whether he/she wants to record HD-channels - or not. It is not definitely clear whether it's illegal or not - so stay careful whatever you do.

Conclusion: All in all the CI-module leaves a stable impression. It does exactly that what you want it to do - an easy plug&play decryption with the help of a CAM. It is very pleasant that, also not having an official Premiere CAM for computer cards, it is possible with pther cams to watch and even record those channels if used with an abonnement card, although it is against their rules. Recommendation for all TT DVB-S2 3200 users or people who bought the identical Technisat Skystar HD: buy it, it's worth it's priceif you want to watch payTV! Your opinion on this tv-tuner card and our review is desired. Please feel free to discuss it in our forums at TechnoTrend CI-Module

I want it!

Editorial commentaries

Alexander Webbi Peltzer: Even private tv-broadcasters think over a base encryption of their currently not encrypted Free-TV channels, or whether they change to Astras' Entavio. Without a CI-Module and a capable TV-card it is possible that in some years you couldn't receive the so called "Standard-Free-TV-Channels". I personally think it's only a matter of time, when all Free-TV channels change to a base encryption to save licence coasts. It is cheaper for tv broadcasters, to pay licences for one land than for half-europe.
In this context the TT S2-3200 CI-module can be seens as a good investment in future although it is not quite clear when you really need it. With a price of less than € 30 it is probably a good investion.

Andreas -horn- Hornig: If this CAM can be additionally used with the external TechnoTrend connect 3600 or connect 3650 CI touse more than one CAM and Smartcard, then it willbe bought. I am going toaskthis and will publish it under 5.1.