Migrating to HD

[cumak]

I've been using SageTV for years, and just yesterday I finally purchased an LCD TV . (I know... welcome to the 21st century.) Up until now, I've had a pretty simple system consisting of just a server and two extenders (MediaMVPs). Anyway, I set up the new TV and plugged in my Comcast line to see what ClearQAM channels I could get. As I was tinkering, the TV came to life with Dancing with the Stars in high def, and before I could change the channel my wife caught a glimpse and she was instantly hooked. I was bummed when I realized what the next 45 min would have in store for me, but then my despair turned to opportunity. My wife said "can you pause that for a minute", and I said "no, actually, I can't". And just like that, I had the green light to upgrade my SageTV setup to HD.

I've been reading up on it for a while, and I have most of it figured out. I do have a few questions, though:

1) I want a dual ATSC/ClearQAM encoder. I already have a PVR-500, so I don't need any analog tuners. It sounds like the HDHR or HVR-2250 are the two best options. I'm leaning towards the HDHR, so that if Comcast ever does away with ClearQAM I can throw it in the attic and record OTA. I'm wondering, aside from saving $30 or so, is there any reason to choose the HVR-2250 over the HDHR?

2) I'm going to continue using my SD extenders (MediaMVP) for the foreseeable future. Can Sage playback an HD recording to an SD extender? Or, would I have to record shows in both HD and SD to continue using these extenders?

Thanks.

[davephan]

Welcome to HD Cumak! The HVR-2250 will allow you to record analog cable or clear QAM. The HDHomerun will allow to record clear QAM or OTA HD. To record HD, you'll need Comcast to continue it clear QAM service.

The HDHomerun might be the better choice, since Comcast seems to be intent on eliminating clear QAM. The last time I checked, there was very little clear QAM on my Comcast cable provider. The HDHomerun will give you the option, as you mentioned to receive OTA HD channels. I use my HDHomerun to receive OTA HD channels. My HVR-2250 records the analog only channels, and the HD-PVR records the digital non-HD and digital HD channels.

If Comcast quits providing clear QAM in your area, or if you want to receive expanded basic or premium channels, then you'll need a HD-PVR to record the HD channels.

You should think about upgrading your MVP units to HD-200s. HD-200s are far superior, both video and audio. The HD-200 is much more reliable too. The HD-200 can connect to your HD TV with HDMI and it also has component video and digital audio.

Dave

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by cumak

Can Sage playback an HD recording to an SD extender?

Yes, provided your server has the CPU horsepower to transcode on the fly. (But obviously the result will not be HD.)

[cumak]

Dave - thanks for the advice. I'll definitely get a an HD-200 for the new TV, but I've never really had any problems with the MVPs so I'd like to continue to use them. (Except for when I tried to go wireless, but that's another story). As long as I'm still using SD TVs around the house, I don't think I can justify upgrading them.

Greg - does the transcoding happen automatically? My server is a Pentium dual-core @ 2.5 GHz. Do you think that can handle it?

[GKusnick]

Yes, transcoding for the MVP happens automatically (just like for Placeshifter).

I don't have much hands-on experience with Intel CPUs lately, so I wouldn't want to guess whether yours has the necessary oomph. One way to find out might be to download some HD movie trailers at various bitrates, import them into Sage, and try playing them on your MVP with an eye on the CPU meter to see how it handles them. Your goal is to keep CPU usage below 50% for a single transcode job, so you can run two at once if both MVPs are active.

[davephan]

You could also try compressing a video from Mpeg2, and try playing it back on the MVP. The computer will have to transcode the file on the fly too. I found that my old Althlon XP 2100 did not have enough processing power to avoid video stuttering. Your CPU is faster, so you might not have the video stuttering problem.

Dave

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by cumak

Greg - does the transcoding happen automatically? My server is a Pentium dual-core @ 2.5 GHz. Do you think that can handle it?

I assume this is one of the new Pentium Dual-cores and not the old ones, and so 2.5GHZ should be fine. There are two settings for transcoding. You should definitely be able to do the low one and most likely the high level. I was able to do with with a Core2duo @ 2.4ghz with no problems (using the high level). The new Pentiums aren't much behind the core2duo's in speed so it should be able to transcode to high. My AMD 4850e can't do high, but handles low no problem.

[cumak]

I thought I'd post the results of my transcoding test in case it might be useful to anyone else.

Just to recap, my server is a Pentium Dual-Core 2.5 GHz (E5200). I downloaded two HD movie trailers (720p and 1080p), and played them back through my MediaMVP extender.

For the 720p video, the CPU load averaged 25-30%, and occasionally spiked at 50%.

For the 1808p video, the CPU load was steady at about 55%.

In both cases, memory usage was minimal.

-Mark