With the rapid development of the network, network TV and network set-top boxes are becoming more and more popular. Many families have directly abandoned ordinary TV set-top boxes and used more free and cheaper network boxes. However, whether TV boxes are critical depends on their app level. Today, I would like to introduce the latest TV video app - TV Cat 3.0, developed by TV Cat MoreTV, a start-up company that only focuses on TV Cat video.

TV Cat Video is a professional video application for smart TV and Internet set-top boxes. The specific points of the official publicity are as follows:

The main interface of TV Cat 3.0 is a new revolution from space to sight distance! The interface is simple and generous, and the page switching is flexible.

A new [My TV] section is added, which supports customized shortcut entrance, personalized editing and customization, and puts favorite columns in a prominent position. The home page of your DIY TV cat is directly accessible by one button.

Based on users' viewing behavior preferences, new live programs such as sports&games, news and finance, and children's channels are added to make them more intuitive and clear; It also greatly improves the clarity and smoothness of live broadcast. High definition live broadcast can be switched freely, and new live broadcast reservation functions can be added, and the arrival reminder can't be missed!

In order to better test the use effect of the app, the official also gave the Mango Hi Q network set-top box with the TV cat video app pre installed, and also gave a game card worth 128 yuan. To highlight the key points, the set-top box installation process is omitted here. Of course, you can also directly install the app to the TV with networking function to try it out.

After starting up, you can enter the main page by simply setting the set-top box according to the prompts. The set-top box has been pre installed with the TV Cat video application.

Operational use

After you open the TV and enter the set-top box, select TV Cat to enter the main page. On the left side of the main page is the main menu with a vertical layout pattern+text logo, followed by: Search, My TV, Hot Recommendations, and Classification. Live channel and setting five options. On the right is the corresponding sub menu after entering each main menu option. The sub menu is displayed in the form of text+color blocks. The whole interface is simple, clear, and easy to understand.

Search: It is relatively simple to use the conventional program name first letter search method. I prefer to search directly by using the voice command key on the remote control, which is faster and more convenient.

There are some problems in the search during the use: it is impossible to search comprehensively, for example, when searching for the old people's favorite Qin Opera programs, only one program of the TV play "Great Qin Opera" was found. At first, it was thought that there was no Qin Opera repertoire, but after entering the opera column, there were many Qin Opera repertoire; It seems that the content of the program is not comprehensive enough. My mother's favorite CCTV program "Far Home" and Qiqihar's "Crane Dance Flying" square dance can not be found; The search response is very slow, sometimes it takes more than half a minute to still not respond, or it is like a crash, you need to press the key to exit, and you have returned to the set-top box home page instead of the TV cat home page.

My TV: You can view your viewing history, relevant programs searched, your information notice and frequently watched four columns (replaceable, see the introduction of DIY interface later). There are only four options on the back of my TV. You can change and sort it according to your own preferences. Although 4 of the 12 options can be changed at will, I think it is more convenient to list all the 12 options. Use the arrow key to move right to call out the other eight remaining columns, instead of going to the category to select other options such as opera.

Here we will focus on the "I" message notification, where you can see the update notification of your favorite and scheduled programs, reminding you not to miss it.  

Popular recommendation: based on users' viewing behavior preferences, intelligent recommendation of the columns and programs you may like.

Classification: This should be the gathering place of all the columns. All the columns of TV Cat Video can be accessed and watched here.

Live broadcast: Here you can access various live TV channels and popular TV dramas to watch live broadcast. You can put several TV channels you often watch on the top right corner of the home page for easy selection.

After entering the live broadcast, a channel list will pop up on the left side of the screen. There are hundreds of TV channels and a special cat channel. You can select the channel. If you don't operate it for two or three seconds, you can retrieve it by yourself. If you want to call out the channel list again, you can only access it after exiting. It is not convenient, A TV program list option should be set on the main page for easy selection.

Settings: divided into system, usage settings and others. System settings include software updates and feedback; Use settings include: video playback, system general, weather settings, mobile assistant, optimization settings, account settings; Others include: user manual, contact us and more information.

The setting process is relatively simple, but there are several small problems: the default aspect ratio is invalid in actual playback, and you need to press the information key to adjust it separately each time; After entering the user manual, you cannot exit with the return key. You can only use the home key to return to the home page of the set-top box.

Interface DIY

If you are not satisfied with the TV Cat interface, you can DIY customize your own TV Cat main interface (see //www.moretv.com.cn/article/show_usage/283?atype=1 ）You can switch your favorite columns (a total of 12 content sections: TV series, movies, sports, live broadcast, music, variety show, information short, documentary, animation, children, drama, and application recommendation) to the front for easy selection.

Make an appointment to follow the show

In "Search", "My TV" or the program being played, you can choose to collect the program. After the program is updated, there will be a prompt message (the top right corner of my icon in the figure above is marked with the number of unread messages) to ensure that you can watch it in a timely manner, especially suitable for drama chasers.

Various control methods: You can download the latest app by logging on the official website of TvCat, including the TV version, mobile app - Maoxian, etc. You can also control it through WeChat after following their WeChat public account, which can be said that there are many control methods for TvCat video.

I also deliberately experienced the remote control functions of WeChat (left in the figure below) and Maoxian app (right in the figure below). I thought that this kind of virtual remote control could be better than the physical remote control in terms of interface color, layout and function richness, but I was disappointed. The two virtual remote controllers have a single interface color and layout, and are not rich in functions. It can only be said that they have achieved basic control. The control mode is not clear and convenient enough, not very user-friendly, and there is no voice control or search function. There is not little room for improvement.

after-sale service

The official website is equipped with detailed installation methods and tutorials. If you still don't understand something, you can also go to the TV Cat Forum to post a post for help or make suggestions. After reviewing it, the reply is still very timely, and every question is guaranteed to be answered. In addition, a special qq group has been set up to communicate. In general, the official after-sales service is very timely and considerate.

Use Summary

The TV Cat video app is a professional video application specially built for smart TV and Internet set-top boxes. The main menu on the left side of the main interface adopts a vertical layout, and the sub menu content is displayed on the right side. The page layout is clear and simple, and the switch is flexible, which meets our daily viewing and use requirements.

It is worth mentioning that its humanized personality setting function has greatly improved our use convenience. If you can own the home page of DIY TV cat, you can reach it directly with one button and do whatever you want; "My TV" is specially set, which supports customized shortcut entrance, and can also be customized to put your favorite columns in a prominent position; Intelligent recommendation of programs based on user viewing behavior preferences; New live broadcast reservation function, arrival reminder, etc.

The overall feeling is that the functions of the set-top box are much the same as those of ordinary set-top boxes. The main highlight is that the interface can be customized and automatic reminders of updates to favorite programs can be made. The problem is that the resources are not rich enough, and many programs cannot be found. In addition, the voice command function, which was originally promising, can only perform simple resource search and volume adjustment, and the functions of channel change and intelligent interaction are not perfect.

Suggestions for improvement

In addition to some problems mentioned in the above experience process, they need to be improved. In addition, there are still some aspects that need to be optimized: for example, the correlation between the language control of the TV cat and the remote controller is not good enough, and only basic voice search can be carried out, and commands such as changing channels cannot be executed; A mobile display window is set at the top of the TV Cat homepage to display prompt information and other messages, without having to enter "I" to view; It seems that the default search is QQ video source, but the same video PPT V and Sohu can play normally, showing download speed between 300~600M, while Tencent video is not, only about 20~30M, unable to watch or delete qq video source. It is strongly recommended to add the deletion function of video source.