Nova-T 500 HD -> timeshift ?!!

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aucklander

478 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 11

#22992 14-Jun-2008 18:34

Hi all!

I run into something rather strange than annoyng, please help me understnad what is going on...
Please see my signature for hardware, I am using Powercinema 5.1 supplied with the Nova-T 500 HD card, under XP Pro SP2.

Imagine this situation:
- you turn the pc on, I set powercinema to run at startup.
- Watch any channel (DVB-T), powercinema runs in non-fullscreen mode.
- right-click on the screen and anvigate to the video settings, in the Catalyst Control Centre.
- do anymodification you wish and press "Apply".
- now, the strangest thing happens: the image runnung in Powercinema window goes black for a split of a second and... start to play from the beginning, when you accessed that channel.

It is like there is a recording running in the background from the moment I start powercinema, like a buffer or something like this. I do not recall setting any buffer size during PowerCinema installation... If I just watch tv and press "record", the recording starts (no screen indication that there is a recording in progress, though... and the recorded scene has no image when plyed back, only sound, but this is to be discussed in a different topic I suppose).

When I try to change channel, I get a message that the recording had to be stopped, options are yes/no. I found this hard to explain, as the specification says you can record one channel and continue to surf and watch another channel while the recording goes on.

Maybe this is why I cannot change channel during recording: because one tuner is already recording, right from the moment when Powercinema is launched. Of course then I cannot change channel without stopping the recording I WANT, because my recording is in fact on the second tuner. I have no idea how to stop the other one (which I do not want)...

I would expect the memory to get full and crash, but it never happens, even if you watch tv for hours in a row (without changing channels, or changing channels as well).

Does it make any sense? Did I explain clear enough what is happening and my theory about why is happening?

mobo Intel DH55PJ, RAM: 4GB RAM, Nova-T 500 HD + Avermedia Trinity tuner card, Geforce 520 video, 120GB SSD Sandisk + 640 WD + 1000SG, Win7 Home Prem 64-bit, Media Portal 1.15.0; BTC 9019URF Cordless Keyboard, Panasonic 55" (HDMI cable), HTPC Case Silverstone Grandia GD05B.

juliant

104 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 4

#138092 15-Jun-2008 05:16

I'm pretty new to this too, so can only offer a basic suggestion. by default, PowerCinema ticks the time shifting option in the settings (sorry not on my HTPC so not quite sure if it is in General settings or TV settings. But what this means is every time you watch TV in Powercinema it is recording to a file - this is so you can rewind and then ffwd through adds ie you are catching up to the real time transmission.
So if you switch channels its just reminding you that you're going to no longer be time shifitng on the original channel - it will start doing it for the current channel.
You have the option to turn the time shifiting off.
It confused me the other night because I manually set to record channel 2 from 8.30pm to 10.30pm and then the next day noticed the recorded file was from 6.30pm to 10.30pm. I then realised it was because I started watching TV at 6.30pm on channel one and it had been automatically recording/time shifting. (I had previously turned this off but after installing a patch, it reset everyting to default). The good news was it did automatically switch to TV2 at 8.30pm so I got to see the channel I recorded.
As for the two tuners - I dont have two so can't comment as to how that side works - although I assume you tuned in both tuners separately? Not sure but maybe you have to go through the scan channel process for both -but I may be wrong

aucklander

478 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 11

#138099 15-Jun-2008 08:27

how is the playback of the recorded shows? For me, It worked innitially but it suddently went wrong, I have sound but no picture. Same thing happens if I try to play the recorded files in VLC. I re-installed PowerCinema, no effect (I did not un-install the previous installation ... just installed over it).

I will try uninstall - install with reboot in between and see what happens.

juliant

104 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 4

#138129 15-Jun-2008 10:34

Actually playback is fine for me - I did put a 8600GT card in the PC (seemed a shame to take out my faster 7900GT but oh well) and mine is a Vista machine. So you get a picture in live tv but not recorded?
Did you upgrade the Powercinema 5.1 to the second from last version/patch 4410 - not the last patch (forget off-hand which it was) but it is described in this thread.

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=83&TopicId=22139

However its really relevant to running Powercinema in Vista so not much help I guess. I take it from that thread that you would need to use VMR9 rather than EVR for XP - is it worth checking thats what you have in the MovieSetting.ini

aucklander

478 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 11

#138193 15-Jun-2008 16:30

That's right, live tv working fine but recordings have only sound, not picture. The size of the saved files is consistent with a proper recording (approx 60MB/min or more). I do not think I need any patches. The cd supplied with the tv card is labelled "CD-PCM-5.1-HD-AAC-V1.1"", which I understand is the latest version and includes all the required patches for NZ, as stated in that post as well.

And secondly, if I start recording I cannot change channel (without stopping recording). This I believe is a fault on the tv tuner. Did anyone came across with such fault?

Powercinema installation disc has a label with a s/n and a CD key. However, I was not prompted for the key at any stage of the installation. And I installed it maybe 5 times during the last two weeks, trying to get it working properly. But it still acts like a piece of crap, only changing channels, not doing ANYTHING else. The only reason to use it is because it came with a remote control, so at least I get something from my new $$$ pc. Same functionality with a $450 STB.

I will get a 8600GT card soon and I will also upgrade to Vista, so hopefully my $$$ pc will do something more than a standard STB. At least I would like to be able to do what I can do with my $500 HDD dvd recorder : record scheduled shows without any hassle, removing ads, adding chapter points for future reference, editing recording names... everything from the comfort of the sofa.

so far, very frustating...

juliant

104 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 4

#138435 16-Jun-2008 16:47

Dang I can't remember if I needed to enter the CD key or not from the CD.

Are you sure you dont need to apply that 4410 patch - I only recently purchased my tuner card and I still applied the patch so could be worth a go?

THere is also a freeware program called GraphEdit which helps identify what codecs might be missing - also worth a try?

http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/downloads/showsoftware_graphedit_141.html