Dreambox
From FTA Wiki
The Dreambox is a Linux-powered DVB satellite, terrestrial and cable digital television decoder (set-top box), produced by German multimedia vendor Dream Multimedia. Its firmware is officially user-upgradable, since it is a Linux-based computer, as opposed to third-party "patching" of alternate receivers. All units support Dream's own DreamCrypt conditional access (CA) system, with software-emulated CA Modules (CAMs) available for many alternate CA systems. The Dreambox is based on the DBox2 units that were distributed by Kirch Media for its pay-TV services before its bankruptcy; it uses the same Linux-based software originally developed for the DBox2. The built-in Ethernet interface allows networked computers to access the recordings on the internal hard disks on some Dreambox models. It also enables the receiver to store digital copies of DVB transport streams on networked filesystems or broadcast the streams as IPTV to VideoLAN clients. Unlike many PC based PVR systems that use free-to-air type of DVB receiver cards, the built-in conditional access allows receiving and storing encrypted content.
The combination of third-party developers and network connectivity which facilitates card sharing, makes Dreambox use particularly common among enthusiasts and those who intend to obtain services without payment. Third-party software for this purpose is neither officially endorsed nor supported by Dream Multimedia and voids the official warranty; however, unofficial web sites support a very large community of enthusiasts.
DM 7020
The DM7020 is essentially an updated DM 7000 with 96 MB of RAM, 32 MB of NAND flash (disk-like) and an RF modulator. Changes were also made on the software side, utilising Open Embedded [1] for the base Linux operating system.
Because the flash memory of this model is not directly executable, the primary boot loader resides in ROM and can recover corrupted secondary boot loader in flash by loading from the serial port.
DM500
The DM500 is the successor to the DM5620 and is the smallest and cheapest Dreambox. It is based around an IBM STBx25xx Digital Set-Top Box Integrated Controller, featuring notably a 252 MHz PowerPC processor subsystem, hardware MPEG 2 video and audio decoding and smart card interfaces. The DM500 features 32 MB of RAM and an unspecified amount of Flash memory, probably 8 MB, given that firmware images are about 5 MB. It has the standard features of a free-to-air (FTA) satellite receiver, plus extensive Fast Ethernet networking connectivity and a single smart card reader. It does not feature a 7-segment LED display, normally found in other FTA decoders.
Also has the ability to be used on Digital satellite, cable and terresteral broadcasts (also known as DVB-S, DVB-C, DVB-T).
Fake versions (known as "clones") of the DM500-S are wide spread and are often sold at a price close to 'the real thing'.[citation needed] (The manufacturer's warning: Plagiarisms of the Dreambox DM500-S are in the market). As a result, a Dream Multimedia introduced a DM500+ with changes to try to prevent further plagiarism.
DM7025
The DM7025 is similar a DM7020 but with the ability to add a second "snap-in" tuner that makes it possible to watch one programme while recording another. It is possible to change the tuner module, selecting between any two of Satellite, Terrestrial or Cable versions. It features a Xilleon 226 system-on-a-chip from ATI, integrating a 300 MHz MIPS CPU core instead of the traditional PowerPC found in other models, and has 128 MB of RAM. It uses enigma2, this is a complete rewrite of the original enigma gui, and is still going through growing pains as features that were present in enigma are added to enigma2. Enigma2 is python based instead of C based code. The dm7025 has the ability to decode mpeg2 HD as well, unfortunately it must down convert this to 480i to display though. 720p works great but 1080i can stutter during fast motion scenes.
DM600PVR
The DM600PVR is the same small size as the DM500 but includes an IDE interface allowing to add an internal 2.5" laptop-type hard disk drive. On the outside it adds an S-Video output connector and an analog modem port. It is built around the same IBM STBx25xx integrated controller, but features 32 MB of flash and 96 MB of RAM, of which 64 MB are user-accessible. It is possible to change the tuner module, selecting between Satellite, Terrestrial and Cable versions. There is still just one SCART connector and no 7-segment LED display, just 2 status LEDs. The provided remote control unit is the same one supplied with the 7000, 7020 and 7025 and allows one to control the TV set as well.
DM 8000 HD PVR
This is the long awaited high definition PVR, due to be released later this year. Like the DM-7025, it supports pluggable tuner modules. In addition to support for High Definition, it supports a DVD drive and USB 2.0.
DM 800 HD PVR
When released later this year, this will be essentially a high definition version of the DM 600 PVR: featuring one tuner and space for a 2.5" disc. It has been updated in line with the DM 8000, featuring USB 2.0 and SATA. It has a 300MHz MIPS processor. [http://www.dream-multimedia-tv.de/, Dreambox home page]
