Using one STB with multiple sources

[wayner]

I have a SA3250HD hooked up to a Hauppauge HD-PVR. My PC also has a PVR-150 card and I can get a few HD channels and a few dozen SD channels by firewire - there is no rhyme or reason to 5C blocking here in Canada.

My experience with files from the HD-PVR, albeit limited, leads me to use this as a tuner of last resort as the H.264 files are kind of still on the "bleeding edge" and can cause playback and compatibility problems, even on the PC that recorded them, never mind other PCs using Placeshifter, Sage Client, etc. The H.264 files are also harder to use with commercial skipping software, to convert to other formats, edit, view on an Xbox, use on MCE, etc.

Therefore I am thinking of hooking the S-video of my cable box to the PVR-150 and using it for all SD channels. I would disable the SD channels from the HD-PVR source and disable all HD channels on the PVR-150 source. I am thinking of also setting up a firewire source and only enabling the channels that work via firewire for this source. I record a lot of childrens content for my daughter and it is still all SD. (Note all channel changing would be done via firewire although I could use IR blasters but I figured firewire is more reliable)

Obviously since these three sources use the same STB they would create a conflict if you tried to record multiple shows at the same time. Is there any way you could prevent this in Sage?

Or is this just a stupid idea altogether and I should just stop worrying learn to love H.264 files?

p.s. Other variations on this idea are to get a second SD cable box to use with the PVR-150 or to use analog cable into the PVR-150 but then I would have to use the HD-PVR for the digital-only SD channels.

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by wayner

I have a SA3250HD hooked up to a Hauppauge HD-PVR. My PC also has a PVR-150 card and I can get a few HD channels and a few dozen SD channels by firewire - there is no rhyme or reason to 5C blocking here in Canada.

My experience with files from the HD-PVR, albeit limited, leads me to use this as a tuner of last resort as the H.264 files are kind of still on the "bleeding edge" and can cause playback and compatibility problems, even on the PC that recorded them, never mind other PCs using Placeshifter, Sage Client, etc. The H.264 files are also harder to use with commercial skipping software, to convert to other formats, edit, view on an Xbox, use on MCE, etc.

Therefore I am thinking of hooking the S-video of my cable box to the PVR-150 and using it for all SD channels. I would disable the SD channels from the HD-PVR source and disable all HD channels on the PVR-150 source. I am thinking of also setting up a firewire source and only enabling the channels that work via firewire for this source. I record a lot of childrens content for my daughter and it is still all SD. (Note all channel changing would be done via firewire although I could use IR blasters but I figured firewire is more reliable)

Obviously since these three sources use the same STB they would create a conflict if you tried to record multiple shows at the same time. Is there any way you could prevent this in Sage?

Or is this just a stupid idea altogether and I should just stop worrying learn to love H.264 files?

p.s. Other variations on this idea are to get a second SD cable box to use with the PVR-150 or to use analog cable into the PVR-150 but then I would have to use the HD-PVR for the non-digital SD channels.

What you want to do would not work as far as I am aware of. There isn't a magical way to tell Sage that all three video sources use the same box and therefore to only use one type at a time (someone else tell me if I am missing something, but I certainly haven't found this option). You would be better off using multiple cable boxes and multiple tuners. I would recommend having an HD only Cable box (one that is dedicated to the HDPVR for recording in HD always), an SD cable box for any that you can't get via analog and then an analog tuner.

But this is just my opinion....

[loomdog32]

I agree with getting a second STB. Using 1 for HD via the HDPVR using Componet and 1 for SD via the PVR150 using SVideo.. You should be able to control both via firewire....

[wayner]

Do you guys agree with my assertion that it doesn't make sense to use your HD-PVR to record SD content?

[Fuzzy]

If you are using clients that have no problem playing back the H.264 files of the HD-PVR, I see no reason why the HD-PVR would be any worse for recording SD. The playback issues are the only current issue, so it really depends on what you are using it for. At least I'd keep it as the lowest merit tuner, with the SD channels enabled, as this would allow it to use it if all other tuners are tied up. HD programs should still use the HD-PVR, even with it having the lowerst merit, as HD trumps merit.

[wayner]

Playback on clients really is the problem, even for SD files. The other issue is conversion to other formats - it is easy to convert MPEG-2 files for iPhone, etc. but that is not as true with H.264 files. It appears that you have to install Arcsoft TME on clients to get playback of H.264, even for Placeshifter clients.