1. FEATURE Spark Receiver Software
The
Wonderful
World of
Spark
• seamless integration of IPTV in
satellite receiver
• compatible with HDTV and 3D TV
• automatic PVR integration for
IPTV
Part 2:
KartinaTV
• user-friendly on-screen menus
• perfectly matched to content
provider
92 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 04-05/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com www.TELE-satellite.com — 04-05/2012 — TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine 93

2. FEATURE Spark Receiver Software
IPTV the way it should be!
For a perfect online match
to the Spark software you
don’t have to look further
than KartinaTV, an IPTV
Thomas Haring provider that is seamlessly
integrated in the receiver’s
software. Offering in ex-
State-of-the art satellite receiver range offered by ity to satellite reception and cess of 120 different chan-
receivers are much more manufacturer Fulan: Their allows to watch IPTV content nels KartinaTV has in store
versatile than their name Spark operating system in SD and HD quality. a truly extensive line-up of
implies. One example is the adds full Internet connectiv- primarily Russian-language
TV stations and is available
1 worldwide over the Inter-
net. In addition to virtually
all public and commercial TV
channels from Russia, there
are a number of internation-
al channels available in SD
quality plus 18 HD channels,
one Full HD channel and
two 3D channels. Various
themed channels and a total
of four adult entertainment
channels cater for different
target groups and round off
the provider’s IPTV offering.
Access to KartinaTV is fully
integrated in Fulan’s Spark
operating software with a
dedicated menu item which
can be found in the ‘Net-
working’ section. After all,
2 we’re talking about content
1. You can find KartinaTV in
the ‘Networking’ menu of the distributed via the Internet.
Spark software Completely independent
2. Before you can start from all satellite features
enjoying KartinaTV you have of the receiver KartinaTV
to key in your username and
has its own user interface
password
and operating structure.
3. The channel list of the
KartinaTV application is Both the on-screen menus
very pleasing to the eye. It and the available additional
goes without saying that features and functions are
Cyrillic characters are used if tailor-made for the Kartina
required
IPTV package and create a
unique user experience.
3 Basically, KartinaTV is pay
TV and this means only sub-
scribers with a valid user
name and password are able
to access content. That’s the
reason why the Spark soft-
ware will first make sure you
are authorised to watch Kar-
tinaTV content before mak-
ing any channel available,
and you need a subscrip-
tion with KartinaTV to obtain
your login data.
Right after we had com-
pleted the login process we
were greeted by the channel
list on the right half of the
screen and a window show-
ing the first channel of the
94 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 04-05/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com

3. 4
list on the top left section. cess, though, and with all
Right below that window subsequent channel chang-
the EPG data of the cur- es EPG information will be
rent channel starts to build displayed right away.
up after a few seconds. The
reason there is a slight de- The channel list layout is
lay is the fact that KartinaTV of remarkable clarity and
has to load all EPG data and very appealing, it even
channel logos from the In- shows the channel logo next
ternet when it is first start- to its name and looks more
ed. This is a one-time pro- like a web interface than a
set-top box OSD. Whenever
5 the channel list is called up
a small window in the up-
per left corner of the screen
shows the currently selected
channel. This way you can
stay glued to the current
broadcast while scrolling
up and down the list. If you
want to switch to a channel
on the list all you need to
do is press the ‘OK’ button
twice to make the list disap-
pear and to watch the chan-
nel in full-screen mode. Just
like with satellite television,
a touch of the ‘Info’ button
reveals the title of the cur-
rent and next events.
In theory, zapping could
be awesome with such a
6 4. More than 120 SD, HD, great-looking and easy-to-
3D and FullHD channels are use interface, but it is here
available that an inherent weakness
5. EPG information of the of IPTV comes to the fore:
current channel is shown
You’re forced to wait ap-
in the lower left area of the
screen proximately three seconds
6. The channel line-up from the time you select a
includes three adult channels channel until it actually ap-
as well pears on screen, as this is
7. Here the comprehensive the time it takes for the re-
KartinaTV EPG lists events ceiver to request, receive,
that were already broadcast process and finally display
but can be still viewed on
demand the online data stream.
7 One of the most useful
features of the channel list
is the category option, which
means you can restrict the
channels on the list to gen-
res such as music, news,
entertainment, sports or
nature, to name just a few.
For many of our read-
ers IPTV probably equates
to low-quality video full of
pixelisations and artefacts,
matched to awful audio.
In this day and age of hi-
def satellite television, who
would take up with some-
thing like that? If you, too,
think along those lines, you
better think again! We per-
96 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 04-05/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com

4. 8 9 13 14
10 15
8. A dedicated button in EPG 13. VOD movie selection
mode can be used to quickly 14. Each movie comes
switch to another channel with a detailed summary
9. Current and next events as 15. It is possible to
shown in the info bar search for a specific title.
10. EPG data for MTV HD 16. The channel line-up
11. Time shift viewing is is rounded off by a
integrated in the Spark FullHD channel with
operating software. It allows outstanding video
to pause and continue quality
viewing at any time 17. KartinaTV is already
12. The vast VOD library offering 3D content from
is grouped into various time to time, using side-
categories, which makes it by-side transmission
easy to navigate technology
11 12 16 17
formed a small-scale field cry from early IPTV trials. tatoes every once in a while program stays on screen in all technical possibilities by (VOD). KartinaTV runs an course be paused and con- receiver. KartinaTV worked
test with colleagues and vis- and don’t want to leave our a small window while the providing shift viewing, for extensive library, offering tinued at any given time and flawlessly and reacted swift-
itors to our editorial office One of the great aspects place in front of the telly no EPG is active, which means example, without the need its subscribers individual the integrated search func- ly in a variety of different
and showed them satellite of KartinaTV is that SD matter what. For an evening commercial breaks can be for a physical storage me- content from a total of 27 tion of the KartinaTV appli- test scenarios. Thanks to its
TV channels alongside IPTV channels don’t require more like that it is paramount to used conveniently to browse dium. IPTV reception allows different categories. Every cation will guide you through excellent video quality and
channels from KartinaTV: than a 1 Mb/s Internet con- know what’s on TV – and the the electronic TV guide and to pause the live program at VOD movie comes with a the vast content library so generous default features
The result of our experiment nection for reliable recep- KartinaTV EPG delivers bril- there’s no risk of missing a any given time and to con- comprehensive summary, that you can really find the IPTV has the potential to be-
was that none of these per- tion (with KartinaTV recom- liantly. Not only is it a vir- single second of the broad- tinue again from that very IMDB rating, number of re- movie that’s right for you. come a worthwhile alterna-
sons was able to tell which mending 1.8 Mb/s). If you’re tually endless well of infor- cast you’re watching. point at a later stage. quests within the KartinaTV tive or addition to satellite
was satellite TV and which going for HD or even FullHD mation, it also presents all network and cover view. The On our voyage of discov- reception.
was IPTV. What’s more, resolution we found the min- information quickly and in a Most receivers running the KartinaTV even offers VOD database has some- ery through the Spark soft-
the KartinaTV FullHD chan- imum to be 2 Mb/s and Kar- very user-friendly way. Spark operating software do content that was broadcast thing in store for everyone ware’s KartinaTV application As far as KartinaTV is con-
nel even prompted some to tinaTV recommends 8 Mb/s. not come with an integrated within the four preceding and will please the kids with we discovered many great cerned, it primarily targets
believe they were watching Even though, most Internet In our test we were able to hard disk and can only be days on any channel of the the latest animated block- features and quite some Russian speakers all over the
a Blu-ray movie. While this connections these days will call up EPG data for a total turned into a fully-fledged line-up. This is a major ad- buster just as well as their pleasant surprises. It was world who don’t have access
is a tad far-fetched and will easily be capable enough of 14 days for all channels PVR for DVB-S/S2 or DVB- vantage of streaming con- parents with a suspense simply great to find out how to satellites that transmit
not hold its own under pro- for stable reception of Karti- on the list, with information T channels with an external tent over the Internet. An- movie or romantic comedy. perfect implementation of channels from Russia. For
fessional examination, it still naTV and its IPTV channels. being available four days storage medium. It’s a dif- other major benefit of IPTV Never again will you say all KartinaTV features can them, Fulan’s Spark operat-
goes to show that the Kar- into the past and ten days ferent story with IPTV and when compared to DVB-T or “there’s nothing on TV to- turn a DVB-S/S2 receiver ing software is a reliable and
tinaTV video quality is a far We all turn into couch po- into the future. The current KartinaTV makes full use of DVB-S is video-on-demand night!” VOD content can of into a fully-functional IPTV technically sound option.
98 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 04-05/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com www.TELE-satellite.com — 04-05/2012 — TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine 99