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[maliceme]

A lot of new features in MC lately appear to be focusing on the TV features. I'm not sure if I can take advantage of them. I currently have a cable provider and a Scientific Atlanta set top box. The box feeds into by AVR via HDMI, and then to my TV. My PC also runs via HDMI into my AVR. Thus the TV doubles as my MC monitor.

So here are the questions:
1. Can I use MC's TV features with a Cable Set Top Box? If so, can someone point me to a configuration guide (I've looked and failed to find one).
2. If I CAN use MC with a commercial cable service, is there any advantage to doing so, over using the cable company's PVR built into the set top box?

I expect the answer to both questions is No. For starters, I expect the signal out of the cable box would need to be routed to the PC instead of the AVR.

Thanks, experts!

[nwboater]

Partial answers here for you.

1. Yes you can use MC with a cable STB.

2. One advantage of using MC to store your recorded TV is that you can have a huge quantity of recordings saved on your HTPC. I believe cable boxes storage is somewhat limited. Your HTPC only needs to have additional hard drives added when you are getting full. I haven't used a cable box for recording but I'll bet some here on the forum could give you lots of reasons why using MC would be better.

One problem for you is that as you suspected the output of the cable box needs to be routed to a 'tuner' on the HTPC. HDMI has protected paths for digital rights management (DRM). This doesn't work well with a HTPC.

Here's what I do:

Cable Box video and audio outputs  go to a Hauppauge HDPVR not over HDMI. The HDPVR is connected to the HTPC via USB. DRM is not an issue, and it's amazing the quality of the video and audio. To the best of my knowledge the HDPVR and the Hauppauge Colossus internal card are the only ones widely supported that do this function.

The video out from the Video card goes to our large screen TV over DVI and to a local LCD PC monitor. Our audio goes straight to power amps.

We use the IR blaster that comes with the JRiver Remote to change channels on the STB. Actual remote control of the whole system is done by a Harmony One.

So there is a fair bit of stuff involved but we feel it's well worth it to have all our video and audio handled by an HTPC. And with MC at the hub it is a wonderful, flexible, and high quality system with almost unlimited future storage and no concern with DRM. Of course we also have all our DVDs and now BlueRays ripped to the HTPC. Lots of media available very easily.

Rod

[audunth]

I read that the Colossus has a HDMI input, but that it doesn't support encrypted HDMI signals from most Cable boxes. Isn't there a solution do decrypt on the fly, like you have to with a Blu-ray disc? Or is it blocked by hardware?

[audunth]

By the way, anyone know if the HDMI output from an Enigma/Linux set top box (like the Dreambox) is encrypted?

[CountryBumkin]

I read that the Colossus has a HDMI input, but that it doesn't support encrypted HDMI signals from most Cable boxes. Isn't there a solution do decrypt on the fly, like you have to with a Blu-ray disc? Or is it blocked by hardware?

The Colossus also has Component inputs - so if HDMI is an issue, component with SPDIF will surely work. JRiver is currently working out some issues with the Colossus, so it is not ready for "prime time" yet. Once it is, I can report back on the HDMI vs Component connections.

[maliceme]

@Rod: Thanks for the detailed reply. It looks like I may have to wait until my next HTPC upgrade and budget in a Hauppauge tuner.

[hulkss]

Convert HDMI to HD component then to the video capture card.

http://www.hdfury.com/