ATSC 3

[Deacon Crusher]

ATSC 3 is coming, as we all knew.

https://www.tvtechnology.com/atsc3/a...eid=07e7c7ffb0

And Silicon dust is getting ready.

https://mailchi.mp/4659a0c71775/hdho...4k-for-atsc-30

So, will new Sage support this device (do we think?) and will it be able to playback recordings captured via this device?

And more importantly (and less likely) will I be able to playback those recordings via a Sage Extender? If not I won't be going to ATSC 3 any time soon.

Thanks

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by Deacon Crusher

ATSC 3 is coming, as we all knew.

https://www.tvtechnology.com/atsc3/a...eid=07e7c7ffb0

And Silicon dust is getting ready.

https://mailchi.mp/4659a0c71775/hdho...4k-for-atsc-30

So, will new Sage support this device (do we think?) and will it be able to playback recordings captured via this device?

And more importantly (and less likely) will I be able to playback those recordings via a Sage Extender? If not I won't be going to ATSC 3 any time soon.

Thanks

Since it’s not out yet, it’s hard to know. But, my guess is that it probably won’t work with Sage out if the box, but eventually someone will figure out how to make it work. That being said, the extenders are not capable of playing back 4K tv (they have an older HDMI port) and they don’t support HEVC files, which is the format I expect will be broadcast. So, this will probably not work with an extender unless the Sage server transcodes it to a different format and lower resolution (which will require a lot of horsepower in the server). But, it probably could be made to work if playing back on the server, on a PC client, or on an Android mini-client.

[wayner]

People do have 4K HEVC files working on PC clients. I think I have also seen threads where they also work on Android clients. In fact, MPEG-2 playback is sometimes an issue on AndroidTV clients, so it is possible that ATSC 3.0 will work better than the original ATSC.

[emveepee]

The bigger issue is the SageTV is effectively just stable with not much hope of getting better. Not many new users, limited development and the same issues repeating over and over. If you want to buy new products users should be considering their alternatives for the future. It is a testament to how good it was that users are able to continue to enjoy it to this day.

HEVC is just one issue 4k files can be huge, bigger than OTA MPEG2 in my experience. It will be interesting to see what they are like in the real world.

Martin

[pjpjpjpj]

Sage has options for auto-conversion of recordings, does whatever software it uses have the ability to convert the new format to a "current" format that Sage can use? It wouldn't fix the inability to watch live, but it would at least make recordings usable.

[jpwegas]

Originally Posted by pjpjpjpj

Sage has options for auto-conversion of recordings, does whatever software it uses have the ability to convert the new format to a "current" format that Sage can use? It wouldn't fix the inability to watch live, but it would at least make recordings usable.

It could work live if you were using something like OpenDCT and converting it on the fly. You'd lose the original format in that case though.

--John

[wayner]

Originally Posted by pjpjpjpj

Sage has options for auto-conversion of recordings, does whatever software it uses have the ability to convert the new format to a "current" format that Sage can use? It wouldn't fix the inability to watch live, but it would at least make recordings usable.

How does that work? I used to use SJQ to kick off Handbrake tasks to re-encode files. I didn't know that you could do it automatically.

You would also lose resolution as you would be going from 2160p to 1080p, assuming that you were encoding to play on an HD200 or HD300 extender.

[pjpjpjpj]

Originally Posted by wayner

How does that work? I used to use SJQ to kick off Handbrake tasks to re-encode files. I didn't know that you could do it automatically.

You would also lose resolution as you would be going from 2160p to 1080p, assuming that you were encoding to play on an HD200 or HD300 extender.

Auto-conversion is an option in the favorites setup. It has many options for quality (though they are somewhat vague and you have to figure the results out through experimentation), and it has an option for "delete original after converting" (you might want to not check that option until you are comfortable with the quality of the result). I've actually seen it make files larger, if you convert a lower-quality recording to "HDTV high-quality AVI". I don't know how that works, but it can happen (and I've never paid attention to how well it does that)

Once any show is recorded, there is the same option to convert it manually in the play menu (assuming you have the "advanced" menu turned on) - on the right side near the top. There are options for trimming off the front and the end as well, so if you had padding on the front or back and wanted that chopped off for the final copy you keep, you can do that (though you need to do a little math because it's done in seconds and you have to list seconds to cut off the front and total length to keep, not seconds cut off the end).

With auto-convert, as soon as a show is done recording, it starts converting. If others are already converting, it just queues it. I've used it for years, especially on cartoons for my kids because they don't care if the shows are HD or not, so I convert the 1080i OTA stuff to like "Good Quality MKV" which creates a lower-bitrate 480p (or maybe i?) file. It is very reliable, and in the rare cases where something causes a failure, it won't delete the original so you still have it.

[wayner]

I do remember that now, but if I remember correctly these were not very modern codecs and were made for the days of the iPod. I don't think it even supports H.264, never mind newer stuff. Nor did it support hardware assisted stuff like QuickSync. That is why I used Handbrake.

[pjpjpjpj]

Originally Posted by wayner

I do remember that now, but if I remember correctly these were not very modern codecs and were made for the days of the iPod. I don't think it even supports H.264, never mind newer stuff. Nor did it support hardware assisted stuff like QuickSync. That is why I used Handbrake.

There are multiple options. "iPod" is one of them, but certainly one of the "worse" ones.

[Malfunction]

Originally Posted by pjpjpjpj

Sage has options for auto-conversion of recordings, does whatever software it uses have the ability to convert the new format to a "current" format that Sage can use? It wouldn't fix the inability to watch live, but it would at least make recordings usable.

Good luck getting it to convert 1080i/1080p, let alone 4K.

[pjpjpjpj]

Originally Posted by Malfunction

Good luck getting it to convert 1080i/1080p, let alone 4K.

Not sure what you mean, I have it set to auto-convert many of my OTA recordings (native 1080i MPEG2) to MKVs daily...

[Monedeath]

Originally Posted by Deacon Crusher

ATSC 3 is coming, as we all knew.

https://www.tvtechnology.com/atsc3/a...eid=07e7c7ffb0

And Silicon dust is getting ready.

https://mailchi.mp/4659a0c71775/hdho...4k-for-atsc-30

So, will new Sage support this device (do we think?) and will it be able to playback recordings captured via this device?

And more importantly (and less likely) will I be able to playback those recordings via a Sage Extender? If not I won't be going to ATSC 3 any time soon.

Thanks

I'm surprised EnterNoEscape didn't poke his head in on this one, someone might want to ping him on this.

It sounds like a use case for OpenDCT. SageTV itself may not be able to interface with the devices and make the recordings, but I'd be surprised if OpenDCT couldn't find a way to make it work.

[wayner]

There are likely two reasons that you wouldn’t be able to play ATSC recordings on extenders - they are 4K and they are H.265. Those reasons would both go away with P.C. clients and the right video card and codec.