HDHomeRun (HDHR) Prime + SageDCT

[waynedunham]

I have a couple questions for all you HDHR Prime veterans.

1) is there a way to find out what channels/programs I would be able to record on my system before I get a cable card? I can't see spending the $$ on a CC if I'm not going to get a significant # of channels/programs that I can record over just using the QAM of the HDHR Prime that gets all my locals (CBS, NBC, ABC, TBS) and their sub-channels.

2) HD-PVR/STB vs HDHR Prime and SageDCT..... FIGHT! Who is the winner for your day to day recordings?

Thanks

[nyplayer]

Comcast Cable....
1.I can record any channel that I am subscribed to... If I can View it on my cable box I can record it.
2. The Cable Card is free. The Cable box is rented.

[babgvant]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

1) is there a way to find out what channels/programs I would be able to record on my system before I get a cable card? I can't see spending the $$ on a CC if I'm not going to get a significant # of channels/programs that I can record over just using the QAM of the HDHR Prime that gets all my locals (CBS, NBC, ABC, TBS) and their sub-channels.

There is a way to see, but it varies b/w STB models.

Also, we started a list of MSOs and people's results here.

Originally Posted by waynedunham

2) HD-PVR/STB vs HDHR Prime and SageDCT..... FIGHT! Who is the winner for your day to day recordings?

No contest; the HD-PVR/STB is a crude, stoneage-esqe instrument in comparison.

[macsupergeek]

Originally Posted by babgvant

It's also worth noting that the placeshifter uses separate components (i.e. not DirectShow) to handle streaming/transcoding.

Placeshifter was fine. Sagetv client and both my HD300 and HD200 wouldn't touch the file, just did the spinning circle.

Keeping in line with the transcoding idea with Placeshifter -- both playon and Plx played the files just fine as well.

When you click on the file and go to properties it says the data rate is 38810kbps and the total bitrate is 39194kbps. The extenders should be able to handle that. So I ran the Hawking file through VideoRedo and all I did was save as .mpg. It then played fine in all extenders and clients. But videoredo did not really do anything to the file so it must be the wrapper.

Its too bad there is no simple way to put the HD300 into placeshifter mode. I would be curious to know if it would play the files and live tv correctly. Only thing I can think of would be to put a router inside the network in between the HD300 and your server and then do the 31099 port forward and fake the HD300 into placeshifter mode.

[macsupergeek]

Originally Posted by babgvant

There is a way to see, but it varies b/w STB models.

Also, we started a list of MSOs and people's results here.



No contest; the HD-PVR/STB is a crude, stoneage-esqe instrument in comparison.

Ceton is the winner -- 1 card -- 4 channels to record.

[mgpaulus]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

Comcast Cable....
1.I can record any channel that I am subscribed to... If I can View it on my cable box I can record it.
2. The Cable Card is free. The Cable box is rented.

\

Comcast Colorado Springs:
I can record all channels I can see EXCEPT: For some reason comcast has "blocked" Encore/EncoreHD channels from my HDHR-Prime/DCT-2650. For that, I plan on keeping one HD-PVR attached to my system.

[mgpaulus]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

I have a couple questions for all you HDHR Prime veterans.

2) HD-PVR/STB vs HDHR Prime and SageDCT..... FIGHT! Who is the winner for your day to day recordings?

Thanks

On my system I have/had (3) HD-PVR/STB, which means renting (3) STB. It also means that I needed to use Firewire to more easily control the channel changing on the STB, which means I needed to use Win7 32bit, because the Firewire drivers weren't available for Win7 64bit, and I was having problems getting the USB-UIRT working like I needed. it also means I have 6 pieces of equipment I have to shelve and work around, and 6 wall warts to plug in, and a WHOLE lot of cables to deal with.
The HDHR-Prime is one nice, small piece of equipment, with one wall wart and one network cable and one comcast cable. MUCH tidier.

However, in all fairness, with my HD-PVR/STB setup, I don't have to worry about copy protection at all. If I can see it on my cable box, I can record it. Which is why I will keep one HD-PVR/STB attached to my sage system, so I can capture any Copy protected shows in my area, such as EncoreHD.

[babgvant]

Originally Posted by macsupergeek

Ceton is the winner -- 1 card -- 4 channels to record.

I prefer the HDHR because it's network connected so it can be anywhere (e.g. structured wiring panel) and isn't putting heat in the HTPC case.

[macsupergeek]

Originally Posted by mgpaulus

\

Comcast Colorado Springs:
I can record all channels I can see EXCEPT: For some reason comcast has "blocked" Encore/EncoreHD channels from my HDHR-Prime/DCT-2650. For that, I plan on keeping one HD-PVR attached to my system.

That happens to me on FIOS when they run a free promo.

[macsupergeek]

Originally Posted by babgvant

I prefer the HDHR because it's network connected so it can be anywhere (e.g. structured wiring panel) and isn't putting heat in the HTPC case.

Technically the CETON is a network encoder too, so I would guess it could be anywhere too, but then you would have a box for the encoders and a box for sagetv. Its bad enough that I have my sagetv and unraid in 2 separate boxes. As for heat its not so bad -- the cards stay under 52 deg cel even under full load with both cards and all 8 tuners recording.

[babgvant]

Originally Posted by macsupergeek

Technically the CETON is a network encoder too, so I would guess it could be anywhere too, but then you would have a box for the encoders and a box for sagetv. Its bad enough that I have my sagetv and unraid in 2 separate boxes. As for heat its not so bad -- the cards stay under 52 deg cel even under full load with both cards and all 8 tuners recording.

Technically the InfiniTV4 can be a network encoder, if you don't provide a PC host it's not terribly useful as a network attached device. While this can work, it introduces more points of failure into the mix than the HDHR, as well as requiring a lot more electricity to operate.

I use a LP mATX HTPC case inside a A/V cabinet, so heat build up is probably more a concern in my use case.

TBC, I don't mean to imply that the HDHR is always superior. Just that in my scenario, I use it instead of the InfiniTV (I have both) because it offers more flexibility.

[macsupergeek]

Originally Posted by babgvant

Technically the InfiniTV4 can be a network encoder, if you don't provide a PC host it's not terribly useful as a network attached device. While this can work, it introduces more points of failure into the mix than the HDHR, as well as requiring a lot more electricity to operate.

I use a LP mATX HTPC case inside a A/V cabinet, so heat build up is probably a concern in my use case.

TBC, I don't mean to imply that the HDHR is always superior. Just that in my scenario, I use it instead of the InfiniTV (I have both) because it offers more flexibility.

Agreed, heat is always an issue, I am actually looking to put another cooler inside my HTPC, just to be safe. As for my choosing the CETON over the HDHR, I was just worried that with the delays on the units, that maybe there would be some compatibility issues and when I weighed the possibility of a future with no SageTV, I was trying to future proof my setup. I was hoping to maybe create a new PVR based in windows media center and ceton with the echos as my extenders, since there is no hardware extender option from silicondust it just made the choice easier for me.

[Sparhawk6]

Originally Posted by mgpaulus

\

Comcast Colorado Springs:
I can record all channels I can see EXCEPT: For some reason comcast has "blocked" Encore/EncoreHD channels from my HDHR-Prime/DCT-2650. For that, I plan on keeping one HD-PVR attached to my system.

Encore is not a "copy freely" channel. Comcast is considering it a "premium" channel, like HBO, Cinemax, etc.

[macsupergeek]

Originally Posted by Sparhawk6

Encore is not a "copy freely" channel. Comcast is considering it a "premium" channel, like HBO, Cinemax, etc.

maybe so -- but in the FIOS world -- because I subscribe to cinemax, HBO, starz and encore, it is flagged copy freely for me and I can record all my premiums without issue. The only thing I can't do is VOD, which I then use the HD-PVR and a cable box when necessary.

[wayner]

An HD-PVR setup will not add heat inside your HTPC case, but it will add lots of heat in the adjacent area given all of the extra equipment needed - like a STB and an HD-PVR.

But for many people a CableCard device is not an option - here in Canada cable companies will not give CableCards to their customers and then there are the folks that don't get their TV from a cable company. The HD-PVR solution does have some drawbacks but it is safer from a DRM perspective, at least until component outputs are shut off.

[babgvant]

Originally Posted by wayner

But for many people a CableCard device is not an option - here in Canada cable companies will not give CableCards to their customers and then there are the folks that don't get their TV from a cable company.

That kind of goes without saying... CableCARD isn't a good option if you can't get CableCARD.

Originally Posted by wayner

The HD-PVR solution does have some drawbacks but it is safer from a DRM perspective, at least until component outputs are shut off.

Nothing is w/o compromise. While it's true that in a limited context the YPbPr capture is "safer" it's also much more expensive to scale and isn't as reliable (at least for me). Personally, I would find it very difficult to go back to the HD-PVR.

[phelme]

Originally Posted by Sparhawk6

I submitted a Sage support request.

Another suggestion, look for "mpeg2repair." It can be found on the videohelp.com site and you can read more about it on avsforum.com. I ran it on your FoodNetwork recording and i'm not sure what it did exactly, but it made it playable with Sage (it says it found "14 corrupted video bytes" but nothing specific). It at least fixed it up enough that the DirectShow decoding chain pin problems Sage was having with the original are gone. One thing I noticed is that while Media Player Classic-HC could not decipher the media info on the original, it could after mpeg2repair did its thing.

Unfortunately the author has abandoned any more work on the tool and there isn't any command line interface built-in to make it part of your recording process. But according to the avsforum thread, someone hacked together a command line interface for it to go on top. Might work as a temporary fix.

[Sparhawk6]

Originally Posted by phelme

Another suggestion, look for "mpeg2repair." It can be found on the videohelp.com site and you can read more about it on avsforum.com. I ran it on your FoodNetwork recording and i'm not sure what it did exactly, but it made it playable with Sage (it says it found "14 corrupted video bytes" but nothing specific). It at least fixed it up enough that the DirectShow decoding chain pin problems Sage was having with the original are gone. One thing I noticed is that while Media Player Classic-HC could not decipher the media info on the original, it could after mpeg2repair did its thing.

Unfortunately the author has abandoned any more work on the tool and there isn't any command line interface built-in to make it part of your recording process. But according to the avsforum thread, someone hacked together a command line interface for it to go on top. Might work as a temporary fix.

Thanks Phelme. It indeed would be a temporary fix for recorded shows, but the biggest need I have is to fix this for live TV. But thanks, this would work good for recorded shows.

[voorhees]

Originally Posted by Sparhawk6

Thanks Phelme. It indeed would be a temporary fix for recorded shows, but the biggest need I have is to fix this for live TV. But thanks, this would work good for recorded shows.

Agreed. I converted several files with the SageTV built in converter to convert them to the DVD Standard format. After conversion, SageTV would play the resulting files fine (and I have used this method to watch files that are not being replayed in the upcoming schedule to rerecord), however this still does not allow for Live TV or playback of the original recording with SageTV. So, it looks like everything so far will play the recorded files except SageTV extenders and Client. It is really strange that everything can play them except SageTV. Just interesting that no other media player has any issues with the files.

[KJake]

Originally Posted by Sparhawk6

Thanks Phelme. It indeed would be a temporary fix for recorded shows, but the biggest need I have is to fix this for live TV. But thanks, this would work good for recorded shows.

I found that Sage's built-in Convert feature works really well I have it convert to AppleTV High Quality [Widescreen]. Just select a show and find the Convert option in Advanced. The show lands right next to the original, but the icons in the interface are slightly different and the channel name will be missing from the details.