What Output Resolution from STB for the HD PVR

[joe123]

Hi All.

A dumb question, but I really don't know.

I have TimeWarner Pionner HD box (STB) and I recently got the HD PVR to record HD channels.

What should I set the output resolution on the STB? My choices are 480p, 480i, 780p, 780i, 1080i (forget if it also has 1080p). I can select more than one.

Should I set the output on the STB to only be 1080i only?

Thanks,
Joe

[Chriscic]

I think the consensus would be 720p for best results, although not sure this is conclusive.

[joe123]

Originally Posted by Chriscic

I think the consensus would be 720p for best results, although not sure this is conclusive.

Ok thanks. I am new to the HD world, so I would have thought that 1080i (1080p?) would be best?

[Chriscic]

The HD-PVR won't record 1080P. 1080i will work, but some folks have had more problems with that. YMMV.

[paulbeers]

Last I knew (this could be old information), that the Sage Transcoder had some difficulties with 1080i and therefore 720P was recommended. Also, using a set resolution was preferred as the HDPVR takes some time to get a "lock" on resolution when it changes (i.e. from 480i to 720P). I have my STB set to 720P.

However, as long as you have the 4 second recording delay, and you aren't needing to transcode the video you can record in "native" resolutions (i.e. selecting every output and having the HDPVR just record the shows in whatever format they originally were in).

[stanger89]

I run 1080i because that's what most channels are, and haven't had any trouble.

[joe123]

Originally Posted by stanger89

I run 1080i because that's what most channels are, and haven't had any trouble.

Thanks.

I got a headache reading your Aspect Ratio 101. Good stuff but not easy to grasp the entire thing.

I read in other posts that the HD PVR can produce lower size files depending on the recording input ( 1080i, 720p, 480i, etc).

If a show is being broadcast in 480i, isn't it a waste to force the STB to output in 1080i always and thus the recording will be done in 1080i instead of the lower 480i format?

It sure seems like a waste to me to force the STB to 1080i always, but I am not the expert here so please let me know where I am wrong.

I would think, correct me if I am wrong, that I should set my Time Warner HD STB to output in all formats possible and let SageTV / HD PVR figure out which file format to save it in. Again, I may be missing something here...

[SWKerr]

Using a DirecTV H20. Ran 720p for a long time until I recently upgraded a TV and could see a difference with 720p and 1080i. I set the output now to force 1080i and the HD-PVR is just as stable and the file size appears to be the same.

[Rico66]

Originally Posted by joe123

Thanks.

I got a headache reading your Aspect Ratio 101. Good stuff but not easy to grasp the entire thing.

I read in other posts that the HD PVR can produce lower size files depending on the recording input ( 1080i, 720p, 480i, etc).

If a show is being broadcast in 480i, isn't it a waste to force the STB to output in 1080i always and thus the recording will be done in 1080i instead of the lower 480i format?

It sure seems like a waste to me to force the STB to 1080i always, but I am not the expert here so please let me know where I am wrong.

I would think, correct me if I am wrong, that I should set my Time Warner HD STB to output in all formats possible and let SageTV / HD PVR figure out which file format to save it in. Again, I may be missing something here...

That's absolutely right. Forcing SD resolutions to 1080i or 720p is a waste of (nowadays cheap) disk space. I would only do this in case of problems with the hd pvr related to switching the resolution, which some people have reported.
I use 1080i for HD and 480p for SD. I can't use 480i, since that looks completely washed out (different colour space) coming from the STB over component.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by joe123

Thanks.

I got a headache reading your Aspect Ratio 101. Good stuff but not easy to grasp the entire thing.

And it's getting a little long in the tooth, since there's nothing in there about extenders

I read in other posts that the HD PVR can produce lower size files depending on the recording input ( 1080i, 720p, 480i, etc).

The HD PVR records in whatever the format the box it's connected to is outputting. AFAIK the bitrate, and thus recording size, is determined solely by the recording quality you choose in Sage. There is one exception, Sage automatically switches to a lower bitrate for SD (480i).

If a show is being broadcast in 480i, isn't it a waste to force the STB to output in 1080i always and thus the recording will be done in 1080i instead of the lower 480i format?

It is, but there are two problems with that, for me the big one is that my STBs can't be set to dynamically change resolution, so I have to pick one. But also some people reported more stability problems with the HD PVR with resolution switching turned on on their STBs, but that may have been solved by driver updates and the tuning delay change in Sage.

It sure seems like a waste to me to force the STB to 1080i always, but I am not the expert here so please let me know where I am wrong.

Well it's not really for me because 99% of my channels are 1080i anyway, and I think the rest are 720p. I believe only one channel I record anything on is still SD. And that's only one show.

I would think, correct me if I am wrong, that I should set my Time Warner HD STB to output in all formats possible and let SageTV / HD PVR figure out which file format to save it in. Again, I may be missing something here...

Yeah, I'd try that if I had the option.

[joe123]

So this leads to the question of, what do I set the recording quality in SageTV to?

For my HD PVR, I have it set to the highest BEST.h264 which is what I like, but does this setting interfer if the origninal recording is being show in say 480p or 780p?

Or does it not matter?

[stanger89]

Sage automatically drops it if it's SD, and I don't think there's any good reason to drop it for 720p. Though you could always set the recording quality lower if you know the channel is 720p if you wanted to.