Opportunity for Frey Technologies?

[TwistedMelon]

I hope I can translate the OP into language everyone (else) understands.

Sage should enter into an OEM contract with Hauppauge to make a device similar to the HDPVR specific to the SageTV software. That way Sage would be involved form the beginning and the two companies would work on their respective strengths to bring out a better product. In a similar way to how Sage worked with the OEM that built the HD200 boxes (which are based on a reference platform).

Diego, is that closer to what you intended?

Yes, problems can be opportunities, but you also have to figure in opportunity cost. There may not be a significant enough market for a Sage-only co-developed HD capture box for Hauppauge to entertain the prospect. But, I will say one thing for Sage, they manage to do what a lot of other companies, often orders of magnitude bigger than they, can simply not accomplish. ATI for instance missed the boat on PVR technology numerous times. They couldn't commit or even make a contract for EPG data work. I know first-hand because I was there trying to make the deal.

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by sandor

http://www.elgato.com/elgato/na/main...oduct3.en.html

so does anyone have any insight into what innards are in ElGato's HD recorder?

You mean other than it looks like it is using a hardware h.264 encoder and will only record in stereo and uses 3rd party IR solutions for blasting? No-I don't have any.

Gerry

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by TwistedMelon

I hope I can translate the OP into language everyone (else) understands.

Sage should enter into an OEM contract with Hauppauge to make a device similar to the HDPVR specific to the SageTV software. That way Sage would be involved form the beginning and the two companies would work on their respective strengths to bring out a better product. In a similar way to how Sage worked with the OEM that built the HD200 boxes (which are based on a reference platform).

Diego, is that closer to what you intended?

Yes, problems can be opportunities, but you also have to figure in opportunity cost. There may not be a significant enough market for a Sage-only co-developed HD capture box for Hauppauge to entertain the prospect. But, I will say one thing for Sage, they manage to do what a lot of other companies, often orders of magnitude bigger than they, can simply not accomplish. ATI for instance missed the boat on PVR technology numerous times. They couldn't commit or even make a contract for EPG data work. I know first-hand because I was there trying to make the deal.

Whether Sage was involved with them or not, don't you think if they could have built a better product they would have done so in the first place? The problems with the HD-PVR aren't unique to Sage. The same issues have been seen with various "media center products". It's not like Hauppague is designing and manufacturing the chips that go into the device. The product can only be as good as the parts that are supplied to them and the design that can be implemented with those chips. Maybe if a next generation device comes out it will be better all around. (and not just for Sage) I think some of these issues were because it was the first consumer level product like this produced. If issues are at the chip level like it has been alluded to then fixing it by driver software alone becomes more difficult.

Gerry

[TwistedMelon]

First, don't shoot the messenger. I'm only providing an interpretation of what was written in the OP, which by the looks of the replies, and the OP having to re-explain himself, most people didn't get.

Originally Posted by gplasky

Whether Sage was involved with them or not, don't you think if they could have built a better product they would have done so in the first place?

No, I don't. Having worked for a manufacturing company on the software side, I have some insight to base this opinion on. As well as some insight from having worked with OEMs in design and product procurement.

Besides, even if that weren't the case, what can be built today is not the same as what was built yesterday.

Anyway, I just found the topic interesting. I have an HD-PVR that's been sitting in a box for about 8 months that I haven't so much as tried using yet. Hopefully when I decide to try it out it won't explode in a puff of smoke.

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by TwistedMelon

Sage should enter into an OEM contract with Hauppauge to make a device similar to the HDPVR specific to the SageTV software. That way Sage would be involved form the beginning and the two companies would work on their respective strengths to bring out a better product.

I'm pretty sure Sage was involved from the beginning, or at least very early.

And this still doesn't answer the question of how this hypothetical Sage-specific product would differ from the actual product. What features do you (or the OP) imagine Sage would add or leave out to make the product more capable or reliable? And why wouldn't any other PVR software want those same changes, if they make the product better?

The analogy with the HD200 doesn't really hold because the HD200 clearly does a number of things that are specific to Sage: it has to display the SageTV UI efficiently, with animations; it must understand the SageTV client/server division of labor; it must speak Placeshifter protocol; its remote should offer easy access to specific Sage menus and options; etc.

But the HD-PVR is just a generic capture device. All it has to do is accept some configuration parameters, deliver a data stream in a standard format, and pass through IR commands to its blaster. There just doesn't seem to be much room there to tailor those functions specifically for Sage.

[sleonard]

I don't see anything that could be done differently from the existing HD-PVR in order to tailor it for Sage. Sage simply does not need anything different at all.

I think this results from a misunderstanding of what is wrong with the current design. What is wrong is not a missing feature that Sage could theoretically design into a customized version but that the current one simply has bugs and does not work as intended. Fix the bugs and the current one would work like a charm with Sage and any other SW DVRs.

S