High Def / Digital TV

[wolfpackmars2]

So... I plugged my old MCE-500 tuner into the RF wall outlet for cable and noticed that it didn't tune any channels - I guess this is the blessing of the digital revolution.

It seems to me that there is still only limited hardware support for HD on PC. I take it that everyone who is recording HD is recording either OTA or ClearQAM? As far as I can tell, my recording options are:

1) Use an STB to record SD using either RCA jacks or RF from the STB using either analog tuners (MCE-500) or Digital/Analog combo tuners
2) Record OTA or ClearQAM digital using a digital tuner
3) Use a HD STB to record all digital channels (No PC hardware currently supports this??)

The problem with #1 is that you get the least quality of video - for anyone who has invested in a HDTV, this seems like a waste?

The problem with #2 is that the number of ClearQAM channels is limited, and ComCrap promises to scramble their ClearQAM transmissions in the future.

Which brings us to 3... No hardware currently supports HD Digital from an STB?

So, my question is, what is your setup? Is there an option that I don't know about?

The setup I have is:
1 SD STB with RF and RCA outputs ONLY
1 HD PVR STB with RF, RCA, S-Video, Component, and HDMI outputs

The HD STB only has component and HDMI outputs that support true HD - are there any hardware encoders that support these inputs on PC?

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by wolfpackmars2

Which brings us to 3... No hardware currently supports HD Digital from an STB?

Have you missed all the threads on the Hauppauge HD PVR?

[waynedunham]

You should be able to get all the "locals" (Abc, nbc, cbs, fox, cw, pbs, etc) via clear QAM using a digital tuner and your cable straight out of the wall. You may get even more depending on your cable provider. As of this time my Comcast cable has the entire "analog" tier being moved over to digital and they are in the clear, so I get the digital broadcasts of all the channels from 2 up through 70 in clear QAM as well as the HD versions of my locals also in clear QAM.

There are a lot of options for this, my tuner of choice is the HD HomeRun from Silicon Dust. 2 tuners capable of tuning OTA, clear QAM, or one of each.

As far as getting content off your HD STB for those channels not available over clear QAM there's the Hauppauge HD-PVR which hooks up to your STB through its component output and records in full HD loveliness. Tuning your STB can be done with the included IR blaster (as long as you have only one HD-PVR and no other Hauppauge devices), a USB-UIRT which is a USB IR blaster that can handle up to 3 devices, or if your STB has a firewire port you can tune channels via a firewire cable.

As of right now my old PVR-500's are still getting the analog channels over my cable but I think that when Comcast in my area makes the move over from analog to digital that may not be the case. They are moving anything over like 14 I think up to digital so after mid-August I'll probably only get 2-13 on the old PVR-500s.

[Paul H]

Another solution is to 'rent' two 'digital' cable boxes from Comcast, NOT the digital converters. Which from what I understand are Clear QAM with propriety IR control. And connect them to your old MCE-500 using the component inputs. You'll need a USB-UIRT to control the converters. This has the advanage of getting all of your subscribed cable channels and the OnDemand channels. The converters cost about $9.00 a month each.

[toricred]

The MCE-500 doesn't have any component inputs. It has S-Video, Composite, and the coax input.

[Paul H]

Oops! sorry! I should have said composite! You'll need a second input bracket (mine came with the card) for 2 composite inputs.

[wolfpackmars2]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Have you missed all the threads on the Hauppauge HD PVR?

I've been reading through these forums for the past 3 weeks straight - there is so much information floating around up there I can't keep it all straight