The DreamBox is a
Linux-powered DVB digital satellite and cable
decoder set-top box, produced by German
multimedia vendor Dream Multimedia. Its firmware
is officially user-upgradable, due to its Linux
base, as compared to third-party patching of
alternate receivers. All units support Dream's
own DreamCrypt conditional access system, with
software-emulated CAMs available for many
alternate CA systems. Dreamboxes are relatively
expensive compared to other STB's, and are more
common among enthusiasts and those who intend to
obtain services without payment.
Models
As of 2005, there are 4 models of DreamBox
available:
DM 500
The DM 500 is the smallest and cheapest
DreamBox, with a 250Mhz PowerPC processor and
ethernet connectivity, as well as the standard
features of a free-to-air satellite receiver
including hardware MPEG 1 & 2 decoding.
DM 7000
The DM 7000 has all the features of a DM 500,
but with 64MB of RAM, a Common Interface slot, a
Compact Flash card reader and an IDE interface
for attaching a hard drive to convert the unit
to a digital video recorder.
DM 7020
The DM 7020 is essentially a DM 7000 with 96MB
of RAM.
DM 7025
The DM 7025 is essentially a DM 7020 with twin
tuners, a 300Mhz processor and 128MB of RAM. The
CPU is switched from PowerPC architecture to
MIPS architecture.
Software
The DreamBoxes default Linux distribution is
mostly available under the GPL and uses standard
Linux API's including LIRC to allow users to
modify its functions.
