Colossus / HD PVR / HDMI and Sage / Questions

[mike1961]

I have a few quick simple questions for you all of you out there:

1. HDMI Question: The Colossus allows you to record in HDMI. But, if it is on cable like HBO and not "copy freely" then what happens when you try and record the channel? Does it just not record or record a black or blue screen or does Sage give an error? It would be nice to use just one HDMI cable rather than run five large component cables.

2. I hooked up one HD PVR and I'm not sure if I should get a second or try the Colossus. One post said some have to reset their computers everyday with colossus but I'm not sure if Hauppauge got the bugs worked out. I'm wondering if it's okay to combine the two. One advantage is that I don't have a mess of equipment and plugs everywhere. Someone else said that the quality might be a little better on the colossus so I'm looking for pros and cons.

3. Last question is with the HD PVR when I first tune the station in Sage I see a NO SIGNAL for about a second and I'm not sure if there's a way to get arourid of that.

Thanks

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by mike1961

I have a few quick simple questions for you all of you out there:

1. HDMI Question: The Colossus allows you to record in HDMI. But, if it is on cable like HBO and not "copy freely" then what happens when you try and record the channel? Does it just not record or record a black or blue screen or does Sage give an error? It would be nice to use just one HDMI cable rather than run five large component cables.

2. I hooked up one HD PVR and I'm not sure if I should get a second or try the Colossus. One post said some have to reset their computers everyday with colossus but I'm not sure if Hauppauge got the bugs worked out. I'm wondering if it's okay to combine the two. One advantage is that I don't have a mess of equipment and plugs everywhere. Someone else said that the quality might be a little better on the colossus so I'm looking for pros and cons.

3. Last question is with the HD PVR when I first tune the station in Sage I see a NO SIGNAL for about a second and I'm not sure if there's a way to get arourid of that.

Thanks

Buy one of these if you want to record from HDMI from a STB. http://www.amazon.com/ViewHD-Port-Powered-Splitter-1080P/dp/B004F9LVXC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405946905&sr=8-1

I just restart the SageTV service every night on my Server with Colossus.

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by BobPhoenix

Buy one of these if you want to record from HDMI from a STB. http://www.amazon.com/ViewHD-Port-Powered-Splitter-1080P/dp/B004F9LVXC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405946905&sr=8-1

I just restart the SageTV service every night on my Server with Colossus.

Actually, these have become hit and miss. I tried one of these back in January 2014 and it did not work as an HDCP "stripper" (it worked fine as a splitter if I wanted to feed two TV's, but it would not allow me to record anything from my cable box to my Colossus). They have started "properly" enforcing HDCP on most of these devices now.

There are several manufacturers making similar devices. You may still be able to get an older one from this manufacturer or another one that works, but it's luck of the draw.

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by Tiki

Actually, these have become hit and miss. I tried one of these back in January 2014 and it did not work as an HDCP "stripper" (it worked fine as a splitter if I wanted to feed two TV's, but it would not allow me to record anything from my cable box to my Colossus). They have started "properly" enforcing HDCP on most of these devices now.

There are several manufacturers making similar devices. You may still be able to get an older one from this manufacturer or another one that works, but it's luck of the draw.

Thanks. I was about to purchase more of them. Now I think I will just try one more to start before I get a bunch.

[mike1961]

Interesting - I'm thinking about staying with the HD PVR. I set the recording to only GOOD at 2.8 GB/hour and the picture looks fantastic. I could do Great and 3.8 GB an hour or max at 5.6 GB/Hour but until I can teach everyone that we can actually delete shows around here I'm not going to bother. The quality is really good. I'm thinking I'm going to stay away from the Colossus because the last thing I want to be doing is restarting Sage everyday either manually or through a batch file. But, I'm not sure about those HD PVR 2 or something just another HD PVR.

I'm hoping they have fixed the heat issues that some complain about on the HD PVR. I'll see how it goes because I just got one.

Thanks,

[timg11]

I have the splitter linked above by BobPhoenix. It looks identical to the picture in the link.

I have not yet purchased an HD-PVR2. I have the original HD-PVR with component inputs.

Is there any way I can test the splitter to verify it has the necessary capabilities needed to work with the HD-PVR2 before buying?

[timg11]

This is what the inside of my splitter looks like.
The largest chip is Silicon Image (SiI9187)
The mid-size square chip is Pericom P13HDMI412AD
The smallest chip has all marking removed - it's surface is completely plain.

http://i.imgur.com/06lp768.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/qY5q8Ql.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/WxLaPHr.jpg?1

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by timg11

I have the splitter linked above by BobPhoenix. It looks identical to the picture in the link.

I have not yet purchased an HD-PVR2. I have the original HD-PVR with component inputs.

Is there any way I can test the splitter to verify it has the necessary capabilities needed to work with the HD-PVR2 before buying?

I don't need the splitter with my HR21 DirecTV box. But any later models do. I'm going to connect my BluRay player to my Colossus and record a half hour or so of a disk and see if the new one works. But I do not know of a way to test it without trying to record on a Colossus or HD-PVR2 - maybe someone else will.