HD-PVR 2

[phelme]

Originally Posted by Evil_Attorney

It looks like at least some of the persistent issues at DBStalk have to do with noise or local equipment. Since people are more-or-less getting the same signal from the same satellites (almost), I would think everyone would be experiencing the drop out issues if it was still coming from Directv's source.

Have you looked through your receiver's menu to see the individual signal strengths from each satellite transmitter signal? That could give you an idea if there is alignment or signal issues.

Unfortunately I have a neighbor's redwood tree right in the satellite path. But I still get high 80's and up. My signals are as good as they're going to get I've been told by various techs who've checked the dish alignment.

I never see any visual problems, it's always on the audio side and only with DD 5.1, not PCM. As I mentioned earlier 5.1 dropouts are mostly annoying because my Yamaha receiver doesn't deal with them well when they do happen; the receiver tries to resync the audio when the DD signal isn't present and it causes an audible "pop". It could be the DirecTV receiver at fault, but then I've had three that all coincidentally did the same thing.

Myself and the others that report the issue are definitely having something happen, but what combination of factors that causes it isn't entirely clear. It doesn't happen all the time either, but when it does occur, it usually drops 4 or 5 times in a recording.

The Comcast shows I record in 5.1 through a SiliconDust Prime have no such problem.

[bikesquid]

I just picked up a hdpvr2 (gaming edition as it was cheaper) to replace a 1212 that fried. got the unit up and running and recording, but it seems to want to record at 1gb/hr rather than the 6.9 of the older hdpvr. I've set the new unit up to use the HDPVR-MAX recording quality but the issue persists. I should say I have one of each at this point so I know the setup works on the older unit just fine. Any suggestions?

To date I've adjusted the start delay to 8000ms and done the reg patch I found posted elsewhere and that's it.

[Evil_Attorney]

Originally Posted by bikesquid

I just picked up a hdpvr2 (gaming edition as it was cheaper) to replace a 1212 that fried. got the unit up and running and recording, but it seems to want to record at 1gb/hr rather than the 6.9 of the older hdpvr. I've set the new unit up to use the HDPVR-MAX recording quality but the issue persists. I should say I have one of each at this point so I know the setup works on the older unit just fine. Any suggestions?

To date I've adjusted the start delay to 8000ms and done the reg patch I found posted elsewhere and that's it.

I think you also must go into the properties for each HDPVR2 and adjust the bitrate to max (turn off Sage service and open the software that Hauppauge included).

[bikesquid]

Originally Posted by Evil_Attorney

I think you also must go into the properties for each HDPVR2 and adjust the bitrate to max (turn off Sage service and open the software that Hauppauge included).

You mean from the Arcsoft software? I don't see anywhere else it could be done... can't find anything detailed in the forums.

[Evil_Attorney]

Originally Posted by bikesquid

You mean from the Arcsoft software? I don't see anywhere else it could be done... can't find anything detailed in the forums.

Yes. It's been a while since I've done it, so I don't exactly remember. You should see a setting or property button for each tuner. There are a bunch of settings in there, but setting the bitrate there apparently enables higher bitrates in other programs.

[KryptoNyte]

Pretty sure there is a bitrate setting that Sage controls, at least on the HDPVR1212 ...

[KryptoNyte]

Here we go ... worth a shot on the HDPVR2 I suppose.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33407

[bikesquid]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

Here we go ... worth a shot on the HDPVR2 I suppose.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33407

Yup, already set that. I think gong into arcsoft and fiddling knobs did something, I'm getting better results.

I'm still seeing file size differences between the v2 and v1 hdpvr. Shouldn't be as they're both CBR.

I'm using this from an associated discussion I now can't find on the bitrate:
mmc/python2_encoding/HDPVRMax=videobitrate\=14155776|vbr\=0|outputstreamtype\=1

for 30min shows I'm seeing 3,088,340kb on hdprv1 and on v2 I'm seeing 2,768,324kb, which seems like a lot given the short time frame.

Both videos have the same statistics other than the frame rate, video 1 is 60, video 2 is 59.940059 Not sure it matters but I'm anal enough I'd like them to be putting out the same thing so other processes done to the files are kept transparent to which dvr recorded. Any thoughts?

[KryptoNyte]

The thread that I linked to (Post#10) contains the bitrate that you mention 14155 ....

I typically use MediaInfo to check the video bitrate.

[bikesquid]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

The thread that I linked to (Post#10) contains the bitrate that you mention 14155 ....

I typically use MediaInfo to check the video bitrate.

damn these aging eyes!

ok used mediainfo and pulled the stats for both hdpvr1 and 2, first problem I'm noticing is they're using VBR even though my understanding was that VBR=0 set them to CBR.

here are the details:


hdprv1:

Format                                   : MPEG-TS
File size                                : 2.95 GiB
Duration                                 : 29mn 52s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 14.1 Mbps
Maximum Overall bit rate                 : 18.0 Mbps

Video
ID                                       : 4113 (0x1011)
Menu ID                                  : 1 (0x1)
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : Main@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 4 frames
Format settings, GOP                     : M=4, N=32
Codec ID                                 : 27
Duration                                 : 29mn 52s
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 13.0 Mbps
Maximum bit rate                         : 20.0 Mbps
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate                               : 30.000 fps
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Interlaced
Scan order                               : Top Field First
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.210
Stream size                              : 2.72 GiB (92%)
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709

Audio
ID                                       : 4352 (0x1100)
Menu ID                                  : 1 (0x1)
Format                                   : AC-3
Format/Info                              : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension                           : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness              : Big
Codec ID                                 : 129
Duration                                 : 29mn 52s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 384 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Delay relative to video                  : -100ms
Stream size                              : 82.1 MiB (3%)

and for HDPVR2:

Format                                   : MPEG-TS
File size                                : 2.67 GiB
Duration                                 : 29mn 44s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 12.8 Mbps

Video
ID                                       : 4113 (0x1011)
Menu ID                                  : 1 (0x1)
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 3 frames
Codec ID                                 : 27
Duration                                 : 29mn 43s
Bit rate                                 : 11.8 Mbps
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate                               : 29.970 fps
Standard                                 : Component
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Interlaced
Scan order                               : Top Field First
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.190
Stream size                              : 2.45 GiB (92%)
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709

Audio
ID                                       : 4352 (0x1100)
Menu ID                                  : 1 (0x1)
Format                                   : AC-3
Format/Info                              : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension                           : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness              : Big
Codec ID                                 : 129
Duration                                 : 29mn 42s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 384 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Delay relative to video                  : 22ms
Stream size                              : 81.6 MiB (3%)

[KryptoNyte]

Bike, regardless of what we're reading here and there, I have a feeling that Sage may attempt to push CBR to the HDPVR's, but due to the nature of Hauppauge's h.264 recording hardware, it is only capable of encoding our videos to VBR, at least with the latest drivers.

I notice the same as you, that I can have to different bitrates/file sizes on two identical length files.

Was there a specific problem that we were after?

[bikesquid]

I'm having a number of issues, out of sync audio/video, jerky playback, etc. Always on the new hdpvr2, the original is rock-solid. So what I'm trying to do is resolve that. Seems like getting the two boxes to output the same thing is the first step. but maybe not.

I've recently connected it via hdmi to the directv box in hopes that this will help reliabilty. I've also switched around a couple usb connections as I've read the devices can be a little finicky.

I've read that the new driver maybe doesn't like to cohabitate with the old model so wonder if something is crossing signals with the older hdpvr as well.

[KryptoNyte]

Ah, for a moment there I was thinking, "Why is he posting here in the straight up HD-PVR thread about his HD-PVR2?"

Ain't it fun gettin' old!

[bikesquid]

After much testing, I've determined some of the issue was a bad USB cable, it repeatably causes the drop in/out of audio and the video issues I was having. So I'm down to one problem I could use suggestions on -

AV out of sync often, usually accompanied by garbled/skipping audio for a few seconds here and there.

Any ideas greatly appreciated.

[sflamm]

did you fix the STB output (using the STB menus) to only 720p? if not give that a try...

[bikesquid]

Originally Posted by sflamm

did you fix the STB output (using the STB menus) to only 720p? if not give that a try...

Not yet, but it's worth a try I guess.... I'll give it a shot later this week.

I'd really like to understand what's not working as well as the older HDPVR, which has been rock solid and recording at great quality flawlessly. The new HDPVR2 still seems to be giving me fairly poor recordings, though file size is higher than it was, it's still low and once handbrake is done (with identical settings on it's compression) the PVR2's output is more like 300MB compared to 1.8-2.2GB per hour for the PVR1.

There's gotta be some configuration item I've overlooked or done incorrectly.

[bikesquid]

OK, I got it all working, but watching live tv via hd300's is a silent picture, so I've given up. Bought the old version and now I'm happy again.
Thanks for the help Gents.
B.

[IVB]

I just got a 1512 (non-gaming), installing it now. Quick question: For those of you using this, how do you have your STB channel changing set up? Do you use a USB-UIRT, or do you use the HDPVR2 to change stations? I have a USB-UIRT, but was hoping to not dedicate it for this purpose.

[wayner]

I have the original HD-PVR and I use FireWire for changing channels. Don't forget that a USB-UIRT can change channels for three zones if you use blasters in addition to the built in IR.

[SHS]

Originally Posted by IVB

I just got a 1512 (non-gaming), installing it now. Quick question: For those of you using this, how do you have your STB channel changing set up? Do you use a USB-UIRT, or do you use the HDPVR2 to change stations? I have a USB-UIRT, but was hoping to not dedicate it for this purpose.

I used have it set with USB-UIRT but with DirecTV STB it done via ethernet