Can my HTPC do HDTV?

[Underfunded]

I am about to purchase a Sharp 46d82u 1080p LCD TV

I am currently running Sage 6.1 w/ SageMC on a:
3.0ghz P4
1 gig DDR2
ATI Radeon 9800 pro 128MB AGP w/dvi
many HDD's including a SATA for video storage
Nvidia Dual TV for my sd tuner

I will be connecting the computer to the tv using a DVI>HDMI cable and running at a 1920x1080 resolution (native of the LCDTV).

I want to pick up a HDTV solution for the HTPC (so I can record shows....)

1. Will my current video card support the HDTV viewing? I know it can do the resolution, i'm just not sure if it will do the actual video. If not what AGP card would you recommend?

2. What HDTV tuner would you recommend? I would prefer a PCI solution but will use an external if necessisary. The HTPC connects to my network through a Wireless G card so i'm not sure if the HDHomeRun that everyone else uses will work. Will it? What would you recommend? I will want to use QAM through my cable lines as it is not practical for me to use an antenna in my condo and I don't want to pay for HD through the cable company.

3. How much RAM do you suggest? I'm currently at 1GIG and can do more if really needed. I am running fine with my SD recordings but will I need more for my HD recordings.

Thank you for your help.
Ian.

[flavius]

Did you check the HDTV hardware requirements as listed by Sage? Your box would be a decent client. Is this machine has to do the recording as well, I very much doubt that smooth playback can always be guaranteed.

I'd wait for the HD extender.

[Underfunded]

This machine is currently a server and client in one. It does meet the requirements for HD with Sage.

The HDHomeRun is a decent option, but how well will it work over a wireless network?

What is the HD Extender. I've seen very little about it.

[flavius]

Your at the low end for the HD requirements. We all know what that means. The HD extender is announced for Q2 is just like the Hauppauge MVP, only for HD. You'll find lots of speculation in this forum, and very little information

[GTwannabe]

It'll be fine for HD, but you'll want a better video card to handle 1080i. There is a 7600GT available in AGP that would do the job nicely.

[thatdude90210]

I don't think any Pci tuner card can get you QAM within Sage right now. Your choices are between the AutumnWave-OnAir HDTV USB Tuner, the HDhomerun, and this (3rd party software & hdtv tuner card & 2nd computer & network).

Since 2 of those are via network, wireless might be an issue.

I have the HDhomerun, and one of my Sageclients is on Wireless. It's connected to a buffalo wireless ethernet bridge which connects via wireless G to a Dlink dgl4300 router. For 720p HD video, the picture is perfectly smooth. But for 1080i, I either get video or audio stutters. I had tested by running a cat 5 cable and have no problem so the limiting factor in this case had to be the wireless.

That's my experience with wireless G and HD, maybe someone else had better luck.

[Underfunded]

Would I be able to connect my HDHomerun (if i bought one) directly to my HTPC from Ethernet-to-Ethernet? Probably with an Ethernet Crossover cable? That would work and make it so my wireless network wasn't an issue.....

[GTwannabe]

Originally Posted by Underfunded

Would I be able to connect my HDHomerun (if i bought one) directly to my HTPC from Ethernet-to-Ethernet? Probably with an Ethernet Crossover cable? That would work and make it so my wireless network wasn't an issue.....

Yep, that'll work.

[Underfunded]

Originally Posted by Underfunded

Would I be able to connect my HDHomerun (if i bought one) directly to my HTPC from Ethernet-to-Ethernet? Probably with an Ethernet Crossover cable? That would work and make it so my wireless network wasn't an issue.....

I'm getting ready to do this. I have the TV and am going to order the HDHomeRun soon. Is anybody actually doing this? How is your quality?

I have tested my HDTV and get a bunch of QAM stations in my area so that is nice. Now to get it all piped in through my HTPC.

[flavius]

The quality, well, it's digital. In my area the SD content comes in 528x480, with AC3 audio (not that I care too much). The files are a lot smaller (-65%) compared to what my analog tuner does for DVD standard (~3.2G per hr).

I'm quite happy with SD recording quality. HD is better, though

[Djc208]

I think it would probably work all right. My Sempron 64 2800+ did OK with my Radeon 9600 Pro, though my TV is only 720p. The fan recently died on the Radeon so I ended up going with a GeForce 6200 and that has no issues, don't know that there's lots of spare power when it's running but I can play back while recording with no issues, though I only have the one Hauppage HDR-1600 right now. But recording is more IO intensive than anything.
I'd try it, worst case you can get a GeForce 7600 or even the 7800 but there's only so much most current gen graphics cards help with video playback. The new GeForce 8600's will supposedly do full hardware H.264 decoding but they probably won't make one in AGP.

[Underfunded]

I'm probably going to have to upgrade the video card, especially to play some of my other games at higher resolutions, would I see much of a difference between the 7600 and the 7800 ?

EDIT: wow. I just looked at the price differences. It doesn't matter. I don't want to spend the money on the 7800 anyways! I guess in that case think I'll see much of a difference between my 9800 and a 7600?

[Fastrack]

Originally Posted by Underfunded

I'm probably going to have to upgrade the video card, especially to play some of my other games at higher resolutions, would I see much of a difference between the 7600 and the 7800 ?

EDIT: wow. I just looked at the price differences. It doesn't matter. I don't want to spend the money on the 7800 anyways! I guess in that case think I'll see much of a difference between my 9800 and a 7600?

I have a P4 3Ghz overclocked to 3.3, and it plays fine with a 7600GS (I still had some minor issues until I overclocked, but that might have been the old hard drive I was using). However without the Nvidia PureVideo codec, HD would not play AT all with VMR9 enabled.

Regarding RAM, I think you might be okay with 1GB, I have 2GB (but this was my previous gaming rig, not built for SageTV). I find SageTV hovers around 120MB of memory usuage, and the HDHomerun manager (I know you said you had wireless), hovers around 60MB or so.

Ben

[mikejaner]

I guess in that case think I'll see much of a difference between my 9800 and a 7600?

In the case of Sage with your current 9800, if you use overlay, your HD video should be smooth. I have a P4 3.0GHZ box with an ATI 9800 and that's how I run with Sage, to my CRT based TV putting out a 1080P signal to it. I didn't have very smooth playback when it came to VMR9 though, so just remember that. The 7600 Nvidia cards are perfect for what your trying to do, in that they have better 3d accelleration and can handle VMR9 more smoothly. These cards also will help your games significantly over the 9800, BUT, at 1080P, your gonna have a hard time getting some of the newer games to play smoothly, and older games don't support Widescreen resolutions as much, so that's something for you to think about.

As for HD Homerun, I recommend it. I got one about a month ago, and it is great!! First of all it gets a cleaner signal (less random pixelization) than my A180's, HDTV Wonder, and HVR 1600's do/did, so it has become my primary tuner. The other thing that is nice about he HD Homerun is that if one PC is not using it to record, another one on your network can use it, assuming your not doing crossover with it to only one PC.

[autoboy]

Just to let everyone know who is reading this, HD material from OTA or QAM is really easy to play. My 1.6Ghz sempron had zero problems with it and ran only 50% cpu max. The video card is what matters most and fast ones are only needed if you want to use VMR 9.