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[jgreen]

Okay, it's been years since I've used MC for TV, and I'm just going to start fresh with new stuff.  What I'm hoping to get here is a list of which bits I need under which circumstances.  In all cases, I'm going to want to record (fair use) the TV signal, using USB equipment.  Here are the scenarios:

1.  Satellite TV signal.

2.  Digital cable TV signal.

3.  Analog cable TV signal.

4.  OTA antenna.

I can figure out most of this, but I'm hoping to get destupidified all in one fell swoop.  Thanks!!

[JimH]

The HD Homerun from Silicondust.com is a nice solution for OTA.  You can put it anywhere on the network and it looks like a local TV device on your PC's, so you can record anywhere on the network.

Are you saying you want all four?

[jgreen]

Well, working backwards here:

4.  Here I would need both a tuner and a capture box, right?  For example the Hauppauge 950 tuner and the Hauppage 1212 capture box.  As I understand it, the 950 caputres, but not to the quality of the 1212.

3.  Ditto for this--two boxes.

2.  Here I start to head-scratchin.  I BELIEVE this would require either the standard cable co digital converter box (got one of those) OR a cablecard, for example Silicon Dust or Ceton.  Right?  And I would still want my H1212.

1.  Okay, somebody rescue me here.  What kind of signal does Direct TV or Dish output?  And would I need anything other than the H1212 to capture video?


 

[eapool]

Here is my setup - maybe this will help:

1 - I use the Hauppauge Colossus capture card to capture DirectTV.  The DTV box outputs throught component outputs and the Colossus recieves that through component inputs.  The Colossus can do HDMI, but since DTV encrypts the HDMI out, the Colossus can't decode the signal.  This works fine.  You will need an IR blaster to change the channel on the DTV box, if you want to do unattended recordings or change the channel from within MC.

2 - I don't have a digital cable box, but I expect it is very similar to the DTV solution above. - I am not sure what cablecard boxes/ cards are supported by JRiver.  Last I heard, they didn't have cablecard support, but that may have changed.

3 - Same as 2 above.

4 - OTA - I use a SiliconDust HDHomerun and two additional tuners into my server.  The HDHomerun has two tuners, which are available to any computer on my network.  The two tuners in my server are used specifically for recording on the server.  I use the tuner sold my JRiver and additional Hauppauge tuner card in my server.  The HDHomerun tuners are also available to the server to use if neccessary.

Hope this helps,

Alex

[Yaobing]

Well, working backwards here:

4.  Here I would need both a tuner and a capture box, right?  For example the Hauppauge 950 tuner and the Hauppage 1212 capture box.  As I understand it, the 950 caputres, but not to the quality of the 1212.

No, you do not need a separate capture box.  A separate capture box is not easily used in this situation even if you want to.

Devices for OTA (ATSC, or DVB-T) do both tuning and capturing.  The OTA digital signals are MPEG-2 or H264.  MC captures the video in its original format.  No quality issues.

HDHomerun seems to be a favorite device among our users.

3.  Ditto for this--two boxes.

My cable company has converted all (if not all, most) channels to digital.  I can no longer receive any analog cable channels.  It may be different where you live.

For analog cable channels that does not require a set-top-box, if they still available, you need to use an analog tuner/capture device.  Many devices are capable of receiving both analog and digital channels (HDHomerun is digital only, I believe).  Again you do not need a separate capture device.

Capture devices such as Hauppauge HD PVR or Colossus are useful for viewing and recording signals from a cable company set-top-box.

2.  Here I start to head-scratchin.  I BELIEVE this would require either the standard cable co digital converter box (got one of those) OR a cablecard, for example Silicon Dust or Ceton.  Right?  And I would still want my H1212.

1.  Okay, somebody rescue me here.  What kind of signal does Direct TV or Dish output?  And would I need anything other than the H1212 to capture video?

Here if you need to receive encrypted channels, MC currently can not do them.  You will perhaps need a set-top-box together with a capture device (Hauppauge HD PVR, Colossus).  CableCARD and other conditional access devices are not yet supported.

If you are only interested in clear/unencrypted channels, the situation is similar to OTA channels.  You just need tuner devices capable of tuning to DVB-C or DVB-S.  Some devices allow you to do both DVB-T and DVB-C, or both DVB-T and DVB-S, or even all three of them.

[jgreen]

This is helping to clear the fog, thank you all.

My local cable co pushes analog signal up to channel 100, then digital above 100.  Below 100 is SD, above 100 is HD, kind of.  The locals and many other channels are repeated in HD, while premium channels are all hiding above 100.

As I talk to the cable co about some upgrades, I'm wondering at the same time what satellite can do for me as an alternative.  Hence all the options.

Ultimately I'd like to try this stuff out as unobtrusively as I can, without buying a lot of one-off equipment.  OTA doesn't do a lot for me, apart from the local news, which I'd really like to get at my computer.  I can get it now via the local news website but its a teensy window and a fairly heavy drain on my avaiable bandwidth.

Thanks! 

[CountryBumkin]

1 - I use the Hauppauge Colossus capture card to capture DirectTV.  The DTV box outputs throught component outputs and the Colossus recieves that through component inputs.  The Colossus can do HDMI, but since DTV encrypts the HDMI out, the Colossus can't decode the signal.  This works fine.  You will need an IR blaster to change the channel on the DTV box, if you want to do unattended recordings or change the channel from within MC.
Alex

I use the Colossus with the HDMI input directly from my Directv receiver (no component cables used anywhere).

And, as you probably know, due to industry restrictions placed on recording HD, the Colossus can only record at a max of 1080i (unencrypted source).
I use the IR blaster as you mention to change channels for unattended recording.

[jgreen]

Quoting CountryBumkin:

"And, as you probably know . . ."

Well, I certainly hope you were directing that bit towards "eapool", because I probably don't know anything.  And here comes another know-nuttin question:

--Exactly what kind of signal comes OTA these days?  (By this I mean is it "digital"?)  I remember hearing about a move to digital OTA TV, but did that actually happen?  As an explanation:  Cable TV just "works" and I don't spend much time in front of it worrying about the local OTA channels.  And, yes, I've been told I tend to "tune out" a lot of things--including curent events-- that some other people think are important.  But I'm working on it!

[eapool]

I use the Colossus with the HDMI input directly from my Directv receiver (no component cables used anywhere).

And, as you probably know, due to industry restrictions placed on recording HD, the Colossus can only record at a max of 1080i (unencrypted source).
I use the IR blaster as you mention to change channels for unattended recording.

I did not know that.  I have only tried the component out based on a note in the colossus manual.  I will have to try the HDMI.  Thanks.

Alex

[Scolex]

Exactly what kind of signal comes OTA these days?  (By this I mean is it "digital"?)  I remember hearing about a move to digital OTA TV, but did that actually happen?  As an explanation:  Cable TV just "works" and I don't spend much time in front of it worrying about the local OTA channels.  And, yes, I've been told I tend to "tune out" a lot of things--including curent events-- that some other people think are important.  But I'm working on it!

OTA is digital using MPEG-2 compression there is talk of MPEG-4 in the future as it has been approved but nothing is broadcast in it at this time.

[jgreen]

In practical terms this means that I can't nab OTA and analog cable using the same cheap device, right? 

Analog cable (along with locals) comes with the digital cable co box, so I might as well just get a second one of those, and get everything all at once.  The only benefit here of the cablecard devices is that--if my cable co will shake hands with it--I can use a cablecard device instead of a second digital cable company converter.  I guess the benefit is a broader feature set.

Silicondust, now, seems like an alternative to the Hauppauge 950, but neither is going to be useful for anything other than OTA, right? 

[Scolex]

jgreen the options can't really be nailed down without knowing what all equipment you have and their input/output types.

I have enough options to make me dizzy and it is a fairly simple setup.
Colossus, HVR-1600, AV receiver, Dish Network 722K (dual STB), OTA antenna.
I have several ways to route the TV signals to the colossus and 1600 if I never had the need to record more than 1 thing at a time I could eliminate the 1600.

[JimH]

Or start with OTA and see where that leads.  The picture is great and you should get a lot of channels.

Enter your zip code here:
http://www.antennaweb.org/

[jgreen]

Yeah, it looks like OTA is a separate animal, and that the same robust digital card will get digital cable and/or satellite.  I can start with either card, but eventually I will need/want both.  Thanks to all!

[Yaobing]

Devices are made with different capabilities.

Your Hauppauge 950 probably is close to Hauppauge 950Q.  950Q is a hybrid.  It can be used either for OTA digital or analog cable, or clear QAM.