Hauppauge Colossus HD-PVR

[TechBill]

Originally Posted by TechBill

I checked for latest driver and it happen that they release a new driver for ATI card today 2/24, downloaded it and install.

I checked the settings and tried changing them, no difference.

I think my computer is just not able to play HD recordings or LiveTV from Colossus because I play back some of the older recording recorded by PVR-500 before I switch to Coloossus and it playback those older recording fine.



Bill

I copied over the .ts files recorded by Colossus over to my office computer and play it back.

It playback fine

Don't know why it won't play over placeshifter, maybe placeshifter need to be updated to be able to play colossus files?


Bill

[tvmaster2]

received mine today - shipped last friday night - will post results later

[cat6man]

Originally Posted by cat6man

no joy here...............i can't get any picture with 'component + spdif' selected, using the hdpvr as a feedthrough

well, since i was running component signals into the output jack, i think i have a clue why i got no video.................cockpit error of the first magnitude over here

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by TechBill

Don't know why it won't play over placeshifter, maybe placeshifter need to be updated to be able to play colossus files?

Placeshifter is no where near as advanced as far as playback system as sagetv, client, or the extenders. It is designed to 'just work' on pretty much any system, portability over quality. It doesn't utilize most hardware acceleration as well as client does. Is there a reason you are using placeshifter instead of client? It might be worth the $30 client license for that system, as it is far superior to placeshifter for local LAN playback.

[patja]

Here is a comparison of HD-PVR vs. Colossus. The text is from the 1080i HDNet test pattern. Same cables, source, etc. Colossus looks better to me.

[AlphaCrew]

Originally Posted by patja

Here is a comparison of HD-PVR vs. Colossus. The text is from the 1080i HDNet test pattern. Same cables, source, etc. Colossus looks better to me.

The Colossus does indeed look better, significantly IMO

[TechBill]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Placeshifter is no where near as advanced as far as playback system as sagetv, client, or the extenders. It is designed to 'just work' on pretty much any system, portability over quality. It doesn't utilize most hardware acceleration as well as client does. Is there a reason you are using placeshifter instead of client? It might be worth the $30 client license for that system, as it is far superior to placeshifter for local LAN playback.

Because one of my office computer is a laptop which I take on the road with me.

I don't think client version would work outside of LAN thou


Bill

[heffneil]

Anyone running two Colossus's in their system?

Neil

[TechBill]

Originally Posted by heffneil

Anyone running two Colossus's in their system?

Neil

I have two installed and detected in my system but only recording on one right now.


I need to move my second DirectTV box to where the SageTV server is at and hook it up but I have to order one more HD300 anyway before I can move it.


Bill

[heffneil]

That is good to know. I would like to see if anyone is using two simultaneously and having success. I think it is time for a new sagetv server!

[barney B.A.]

Originally Posted by TechBill

I copied over the .ts files recorded by Colossus over to my office computer and play it back.

It playback fine

Don't know why it won't play over placeshifter, maybe placeshifter need to be updated to be able to play colossus files?


Bill

Perhaps you could try connecting your laptop up directly to your Sage server using a crossover cable to rule out network issues.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by TechBill

Because one of my office computer is a laptop which I take on the road with me.

I don't think client version would work outside of LAN thou


Bill

The two software's install very nicely next to each other. If you are using it from home MOST of the time, client would be advantageous. You can still use placeshifter when roaming.

[Rico66]

I received my Colossus today as well, and so far it looks very good. Installation was straight forward, I simply used the existing cabling from the hd pvr, and it worked right away after installing the driver from SHS site.

Channel changing looks faster to me. I set the delay after tuning to 3000, but it seems you can set this even lower.

And regarding the quality, it seems that you can set the recording quality to 20Mbps. This might not matter unless you really have a high quality source, but it's an improvement regardless.

So far I haven't had any lockups, but I will need to watch the temparatures as my PC always tends to be a bit on the high side.

[TechBill]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

The two software's install very nicely next to each other. If you are using it from home MOST of the time, client would be advantageous. You can still use placeshifter when roaming.

Yes but still if placeshifter is not working for me on LAN, then I cannot use it when roaming.

That is what concerns me right now ...


Bill

[barney B.A.]

TechBill, Fuzzy is right. Check out this thread
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54169

It looks like Client handles TS files better than placeshifter does.
I didn't realize that.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by TechBill

Yes but still if placeshifter is not working for me on LAN, then I cannot use it when roaming.

That is what concerns me right now ...


Bill

Not true. Roaming, placeshifter will be paying back a much simpler MPEG-2 stream, created by the sagetvtranscoder on the server. As long as the server has enough power to do the transcoding, it will work fine.

[Chriscic]

Originally Posted by patja

Here is a comparison of HD-PVR vs. Colossus. The text is from the 1080i HDNet test pattern. Same cables, source, etc. Colossus looks better to me.

Thanks for the post. Collossus does indeed look way better there. Any subjective analysis of normal video playback differences? You'd need a big screen and/or sitting close to see differences probably.

[TechBill]

Today this morning SageTV crashed on me after 3 days of running when I tried to tune in a channel for my kid.

Had to restart the server to get SageTV back

No idea why it crashed


Bill

[dadof4]

Originally Posted by TechBill

I copied over the .ts files recorded by Colossus over to my office computer and play it back.

It playback fine

Don't know why it won't play over placeshifter, maybe placeshifter need to be updated to be able to play colossus files?


Bill

Your SagetV server has to transcode the Colossus (H.264) file real time when it sends it to Placeshifter on your remote laptop or PC. That takes a lot of horsepower on the server's side. I have been in Florida for the last two months with my server in New York. In order to play H.264 files generated by my HDPVR I have to convert them to MPEG2 (DVD) format first. This is not a Colussus issue. It an H.264 issue. On your laptop or remote PC, changing settings, your video card, or updating Placeshifer will not solve the problem. This has been an issue since the HDPVR was introduced. It is not unique to Colussus. Bottom line....real time TV via Placeshifter (remote) with Colussus or the HDPVR is difficult to say the least.

[jalyst]

I'm interested in this mainly for capturing DD/DTS 5.1 from my Xbox/PS3 Games.
So that I can run it through a HRTF filter & change it to stereo simulated surround, and then pass it to my Essence ST.
Would it be possible to bypass the encoding process, and just grab the captured audio?

I'd love to use it's HDMI-in to capture 8-ch LPCM that uses the latest DD/DTS formats, namely; TrueHD, DTS-MA.
But I doubt that there'll be a "HDCP hole" like there is in the Avermedia card...
And even if there is, like the Avermedia it'll prolly be limited to grabbing only 48kHz/2ch PCM/16-bit, right?

Any advice greatly appreciated, thank-you.