SageTV HD Extender Update

[onlydarksets]

Originally Posted by CollinR

It's obvious from the pictures that IR reception problems of the HD100 were heard and both a free bandaide fix was supplied and a real hardware fix was implemented.

What was the free band-aid fix?

[Brent]

Originally Posted by CollinR

It's obvious from the pictures that IR reception problems of the HD100 were heard and both a free bandaide fix was supplied and a real hardware fix was implemented.

Originally Posted by onlydarksets

What was the free band-aid fix?

That's not a band-aid fix. It's the all-seeing IR eye.

The Rest of the Story:
The first gen HD100s had issues with IR reception due to the black plastic covering the IR receiver on the front of the box. The fix was replacement front-plastic covers that exposed more of the IR receiver and it looks like these HD200s will have the same "fix" which really is good - it means we won't have to deal with IR issues...

[CollinR]

Originally Posted by onlydarksets

What was the free band-aid fix?

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30426

[voidpt]

Originally Posted by onlydarksets

What was the free band-aid fix?

STX-HD100 Front Panel Replacement Instructions

[CollinR]

Originally Posted by Brent

That's not a band-aid fix. It's the all-seeing IR eye.

No sh!t!

To the guys at SageTV on that issue.

[onlydarksets]

Originally Posted by Brent

That's not a band-aid fix. It's the all-seeing IR eye.

The Rest of the Story:
The first gen HD100s had issues with IR reception due to the black plastic covering the IR receiver on the front of the box. The fix was replacement front-plastic covers that exposed more of the IR receiver and it looks like these HD200s will have the same "fix" which really is good - it means we won't have to deal with IR issues...

lol, ok - thanks! My extender was built well after the permanent fix was in place. Probably why I hadn't heard anything about it!

[mayamaniac]

I work like 10 minutes from where they are shipping. I could pick it up right now if they allow will-call.

As for the HD-200's features, I just see it as a revision to the HD-100. Maybe they should call it an HD-150. But since they did added a few new features, I don't mind that they call it HD-200. Besides, it's just a name, call it the HD-5000 if they want. And notice it is not an HD Extender anymore, it is an HD Theater, obviously due to the standalone feature.

I'm kinda disappointed that they did not revise the remote though. I'm not a big fan of the current remote layout, particularly the Menu/Home button is way on top. It should be next to the arrow keys. My work around is mapping the Favorite button as Home/Menu.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by jmv

Sounds like everyone has the same question...can the HD200 pass through HD multi-channel audio to a receiver through HDMI. If so, what formats in what containers...if not why did you introduce HD200 w/o this one key feature that the HD100 seemed to lack...

I don't believe it does at the moment (unfortunately I don't have an HDMI AVR/SSP to test). I'm hopefull that the HD200 will see mulitchannel PCM though.

Before realizing everyone else had the same question...I e-mailed Sage service...maybe if we all did this, they'd realize this is THE feature the HDxxx needs...there are only 2 things I care about in a Sage enabled HD Extender...1) pass through HD audio 2) faster cover art/scroll.

I think there's dozens of "THE feature the HDxxx needs" if you ask around

[valnar]

Originally Posted by stanger89

I'm not saying lossless audio is overrated, I'm saying the idea that bitstream passthrough via HDMI 1.3 is somehow supperior to multichannel PCM via HDMI 1.1+ is without merit. There's no sonic (or mathematical) difference between the two. They're exactly the same.

But nobody wants to mux in uncompressed multichannel PCM into their MKV files. That's a waste of space. Having Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD support (or passthrough) is a very, very nice feature that is missing. FLAC is a nice format, which I use myself on CD's, but is not ubiquitous in home theater.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by valnar

But nobody wants to mux in uncompressed multichannel PCM into their MKV files. That's a waste of space.

I agree it's less than ideal.

Having Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD support (or passthrough) is a very, very nice feature that is missing.

Would have been handy yes, but far from necessary.

FLAC is a nice format, which I use myself on CD's, but is not ubiquitous in home theater.

Doesn't matter, since it would be decoded before the HT equipment ever sees it. Anyway, the horse is dead, HBR bitstream won't be happening on the HD200, and we can hope multichannel FLAC support will come later.

[mayamaniac]

Included with the SageTV HD THeater:

* SageTV HD Theater digital media receiver
* Remote control with batteries
* 1.5 meter A/V cable set
* S- video cable
* HDMI cable
* 1.5 meter Ethernet cable

I don't remember the old HD100 came with HDMI cable, so this is a plus if the one supplied is of good quality.

[drewg]

Will the HD200 support any form of comskip in "media tank" mode, when playing files from a NAS?

I switched from MythTV to SageTV for the HD100 a year ago, and I've never liked the SageTV server recording setup as compared to MythTV. If I could skip commercials without the SageTV server, then maybe I could go back to using MythTV for recording... Especially if the HD200 has a web browser I could use to manage recordings.

Thanks,

Drew

[Brent]

Originally Posted by drewg

Will the HD200 support any form of comskip in "media tank" mode, when playing files from a NAS?

I switched from MythTV to SageTV for the HD100 a year ago, and I've never liked the SageTV server recording setup as compared to MythTV. If I could skip commercials without the SageTV server, then maybe I could go back to using MythTV for recording... Especially if the HD200 has a web browser I could use to manage recordings.

Thanks,

Drew

OOTB I would say no. But I would imagine one could create their own hacked firmware to do this and even use the HD200 as an extender for other software programs. That being said, you could have done the same with the HD100 and the MythTV guys who started working on that never finished that project.

[valnar]

stanger89,
I humbly disagree with all your disagreements.

The lack of the advanced audio codecs is a sorely lacking feature, especially considering competing devices include that now. It may not be in the Sigma chip itself, but something out there supports it.

------------------------------------------------

On another note, and this is not extender specific, but if Sage can write in support for audio and subtitle selection into MKV files, that would be the last of my needs.
.

[logsvp]

What are the chances of the HD100 firmware being updated to the new version and the front USB ports being enabled?

[Brent]

Originally Posted by logsvp

What are the chances of the HD100 firmware being updated to the new version and the front USB ports being enabled?

Don't hold me to this, but I'm guessing that they would have done it if it could have been done. I think the HD200 (and any newer versions) will be the only ones with live USB2 ports. I'd love to be wrong on this since I have a HD100 in use, but can't figure out why they wouldn't have already done it if it was possible...

[james_k_p]

If Andy or anyone knows this, it will make or break it for me.
Currently the HD100 has problems with some 1080P MKV files with it simply not playing, or very bad pixelating.
With this new one work with all 1080P mkv's regardless of profiles and stuff. Someone asked the question in the engadget responses too, and to me, this is the most important thing.

I see it says "1080P" support, but wasn't the HD100 supposed to support 1080P too? Or am i incorrect. I will buy one right now if it will run all 1080P straight up on matter the bitrate, profile, etc.

[drewg]

Originally Posted by logsvp

What are the chances of the HD100 firmware being updated to the new version and the front USB ports being enabled?

The usb ports work on the HD100 if you load the right kernel module. See
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...02&postcount=5

I don't seem to have this module in later firmware versions, however.

Drew

[drewg]

Originally Posted by Brent

That being said, you could have done the same with the HD100 and the MythTV guys who started working on that never finished that project.

Yeah, that never went anywhere. I started using SageTV as a temporary solution until they finished their port. I'm not holding my breath. Especially with the new Nvidia VDPAU support, allowing people to build cheap, low-power front ends with Nvidia 8xxx cards for roughly the cost of an HD200, I think the interest in embedded front ends in the MythTV community will wane even further.

Drew

[Slipshod]

The question I'd like to see answered on the HD200 is whether or not anything changed with the de-interlacing and scaling. Is it still entirely flag-based for the deinterlacing, or do we finally get something real?

I delayed the WAF issue with this when I switched to Dish Network's HD-only option, but now that I'm back reworking old DV home movies I'm running into it again. <sigh>

I really don't want to, but it's probably going to end (badly) with me buying a Yamaha RX-Z7 receiver next year after the price drops.

-Slipshod