Hauppauge WinTV HD PVR (H.264) screenshot and pre-order link

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by Sparhawk6

So if a powerful CPU is going to be needed to playback the files, can't we just assume that the HD Extender will not be able to accomplish the task?

You have to remember the HD Extender doesn't run a stich of software to decode. It's all done in the hardware. But we'll have to wait and see to confirm.

Gerry

[sleonard]

Originally Posted by Sparhawk6

So if a powerful CPU is going to be needed to playback the files, can't we just assume that the HD Extender will not be able to accomplish the task?

Actually, if I were to assume anything it would be that the HD extender will eat these files for lunch and then ask for dessert.

S

[camped69]

Thanks for the reply Sleonard,

With a P4 2.6C w/1G Ram the file ran through MPC standard @ 100% cpu usage. Same setup ran through both MPC and KM Player w/CoreAVC H.264 Codec and 54% cpu usage and ran great. Considering a likely 60% core usage, would it be safe to say that this machine spec should be able to record and play hd content supplied by the HD PVR, even simultaneously?

[Chriscic]

Remember this clip wasn't encoded at the full 13.5Mbps bitrate. In fact, I think it was less than half of that.

I can't imagine a single-core Intel CPU at 2.6ghz is going to play a clip at maximum quality. If you're happy with lower bitrates though it might work ok.

I should caveat by saying if you have a hardware assist video-card (e.g. the ATI 2k series), you might be ok even with the slower CPU. But, my understanding is the acceleration functions with only a limited set of codecs, and I would not expected it to be supported by Hauppauge's software.

Actually now I just looked back at he Hauppauge website and it says dual-core required.

[Jesse]

Hi,

I am pretty sure my primary client will have no trouble with playback, but I am also pretty sure my bedroom client will need to be replaced.

My biggest concern is whether the server (P4 3.0) will handle recording duties with this thing. I dont do any playback on the server, so I am hoping that it will work out. The server has been up for about three years now and I am hoping to get another year of service out of it. With the cost of these tuners, HD STB's from D*, Patterson devices and replacement of my bedroom client I dont want to spend the money on the server right now.

Jesse

[mikejaner]

Originally Posted by Jesse

Hi,

I am pretty sure my primary client will have no trouble with playback, but I am also pretty sure my bedroom client will need to be replaced.

My biggest concern is whether the server (P4 3.0) will handle recording duties with this thing. I dont do any playback on the server, so I am hoping that it will work out. The server has been up for about three years now and I am hoping to get another year of service out of it. With the cost of these tuners, HD STB's from D*, Patterson devices and replacement of my bedroom client I dont want to spend the money on the server right now.

Jesse

IMHO
There is no reason why your 3.0GHz box will not be able to record from this device. Like every other USB 2.0 hardware recording device (ex:WinTV-PVR-USB2), this device does everything on board before it sends a 1-13Mbps stream of data to your hard drive. This translates to between 128 Kilobytes and just under 2 Megabytes of data going over your USB Bus per second.
The only people who have to worry are those with video cards from more than a few years ago, and low end CPU's like a Celeron or Pentium 4, or a Dual core below 2.0GHZ.
All of those with HD Extenders, or those planning to have them, could have a Pentium III with a Usb 2.0 Card running, and probably be fine(according to the specs. of the HD Extender).
/IMHO

[autoboy]

My Core2 at 1.5 ghz plays the file just fine without acceleration at 60% CPU so...

[mikejaner]

Originally Posted by autoboy

My Core2 at 1.5 ghz plays the file just fine without acceleration at 60% CPU so...

Even better!! I bet Athlons will be less successful at that speed though.

[autoboy]

Maybe. My Core 2 is a gimped model with only 2MB of cache in a cheapo laptop with DDR2 400 memory. I ran it again and it looks like it is more like 70% with spikes to 80% so my 60% was on a small section. I misspoke. Sorry.

There aren't too many dual core computers slower than mine. Also, most of us have computers with some kind of acceleration for h.264 and with powerDVD you should be able to get your 7600GT, 7300GS, 6150, or whatever to help speed it up. The Athlon XP and really slow PIV people could have issues, but that is an excuse to get a HD extender if I have ever heard one! Also, a new motherboard, RAM, and CPU cost maybe $150 for a low end part. You should be able to scrape that together. Trust me, HD is worth the effort.

[dvd_maniac]

Commerical cutting update:

Looking at the Hauppauge site, it shows Arcsoft Total Media Extreme as the software package. I downloaded their latest version Fully functional 15 day trial and installed it. The only cutting support it featured is in the Authoring section which transcodes the video. So no loseless quality edits on H.264 or the AVCHD recorded by the PVR-HD.

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by mikejaner

All of those with HD Extenders, or those planning to have them, could have a Pentium III with a Usb 2.0 Card running, and probably be fine(according to the specs. of the HD Extender).

Now if we could just get someone from SageTv to confirm or deny that I'd be happy. I already have one of the new Hauppauge devices on pre-order, I just wish I knew if I should be putting up an order on NewEgg for parts to build a new server or not. My current P4 3.0ghz runs ok with 2 PVR-500's and an HDHR all recording and running at least one ShowAnalyzer while playing back an HD recording on one of my HD Extenders.
I want to add the Hauppauge HD capture device and probably another HDHR. For sure that would at least be borderline and may require me to upgrade the SageTv machine heavily.

[thorforyou]

Hi,
I have had no problem running the test clip with less than 10% of my CPU. My hardware is a 3.0ghz single processor with an ati 3470 video card.

Using graph edit or the cyberlink dvd player there is no load at all on the cpu and the film is as smooth as silk. I think that as long as one has a video card that can process the h.264 video then a dual core cpu should not be needed.

When I try to play the clip in sage it simply will not play. I have checked the box to use directshow in the detailed setup and I have also entered the videoframe/h264_video_decoder_filter=CyberLink H.264/AVC Decoder (PDVD8) in the sage properites file. I have set mplayer to false any other ideas how to play this video using sage?

[thorforyou]

I am answering my own post, but I did manage to use sagemc to use an external player namely the cyberlink dvdplayer and now I can play the video and there is no CPU problem at all. My CPU is running at about 5 percent. The ATI 3470 vid card seems to eat this clip for lunch.

I don't usually post but it seems to me that buying a $69 vid card is preferable to buying a new computer with dual core requirements.

[frontlinegeek]

OK, short of sounding like a know-it-all but...

People...

The external box is encoding the analog video into one of the tightest and highest quality formats ever. H.264 and AVCHD. These codecs require a huge amount of computational power to decompress.

These boxes are ONLY encoders. They do not do decoding work. Any dual core CPU will do OK but still have fairly high % util. Otherwise, you NEED an H.264 rated vid card like the HD2x00, HD3xxx or the NVidia 8600GT or 9600GT.

And if we all pay close attention to the Hauppauge site, they are already covering their a$$es by stating the minimum hardware at a dual core CPU AND a 256 MB graphics card.

[bastafidli]

But the question is, if you have HD extender, the CPU shouldn't be doing any decoding, it should just be sending the stream to the HD extender for decoding. So if that is the case, one can still keep the current CPU in their server.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by thorforyou

I am answering my own post, but I did manage to use sagemc to use an external player namely the cyberlink dvdplayer and now I can play the video and there is no CPU problem at all.

You should be able to change the decoder merits on your system to prefer to use the Cyberlink AVC decoder. Then you wouldn't have to use an external player. But, I've found that it doesn't work as well as software players, so I've switched to the CoreAVC software decoder. It seems to be far lighter than the CPU than other software decoders.

[camped69]

That's good news. The ATI HD 2400 and 2600PRO come in both PCIe and AGP flavors. Another option for those looking to upgrade on the cheap are the asrock mobo's which will take DDR or DDR2. Also, lower end c2d are very low in price. Happy Decoding

[ryttingm]

Originally Posted by thorforyou

Hi,
I have had no problem running the test clip with less than 10% of my CPU. My hardware is a 3.0ghz single processor with an ati 3470 video card.

Using graph edit or the cyberlink dvd player there is no load at all on the cpu and the film is as smooth as silk. I think that as long as one has a video card that can process the h.264 video then a dual core cpu should not be needed.

When I try to play the clip in sage it simply will not play. I have checked the box to use directshow in the detailed setup and I have also entered the videoframe/h264_video_decoder_filter=CyberLink H.264/AVC Decoder (PDVD8) in the sage properites file. I have set mplayer to false any other ideas how to play this video using sage?

Perhaps you are seeing a similar issue to what I'm seeing in this thread.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32266

Unfortunately I don't have any answers yet as to why sagetv is struggling creating the proper graph to play this test clip.

-Mike

[Djc208]

Originally Posted by camped69

That's good news. The ATI HD 2400 and 2600PRO come in both PCIe and AGP flavors. Another option for those looking to upgrade on the cheap are the asrock mobo's which will take DDR or DDR2. Also, lower end c2d are very low in price. Happy Decoding

I have one of their hybrid boards and it works very well. Takes DDR/DDR2 and AGP/PCIe cards. Best part is I could slowly upgrade each part as opposed to replacing everything. Eventually it will move into my Sage setup as I update my Gaming rig.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by Djc208

I have one of their hybrid boards and it works very well. Takes DDR/DDR2 and AGP/PCIe cards. Best part is I could slowly upgrade each part as opposed to replacing everything. Eventually it will move into my Sage setup as I update my Gaming rig.

Yea, I went that route with one of my upgrades when I should have just went all new. I ended up spending more money upgrading piecemeal than if I had just gone straight to the full upgrade. I should have just done the full upgrade. I would have ended up spending a LOT less money in the long run.