H.264 support in Windows 7: native and out-of-the-box

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495 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#180150 25-Nov-2008 09:47

A few other tips:

1. Get hold of the beta NVidia drivers (x86 ones) that were used with the Fiji beta. They certainly aid in stability. Still won't let you change between SD & HD, but they help alot.

2. If you get a decoder error crash, close MC, start up Task Manager, goto services, look for ehrecsv. Stop this service, then restart Media Center - saves having to reboot every time.

3. Don't try and mix SD and HD ie DVB-S and DVB-T on the fly, the decoder will crash everytime.

4. You can easily merge the DVB-S and DVB-T guides, just like in the TV Pack - this will give you a 7 day useable guide. Plenty of guides around on how to do this. Although if you only have a DVB-T card, then bad luck to you...

I'm using it with DVB-S Bridge/Sky, with a 7 day guide. Its every bit as stable as the TV Pack (gulp - not saying too much here!).

You get used to using step 2, for the 3 times a week there's something watchable on 1,2, or 3 in HD.

I've set it up with SD (Freeview + Sky Digital) on channels 1-99 ish, with Freeview HD on 101, 102, and 103.

nudge

86 posts

Master Geek

#180264 25-Nov-2008 18:35

Thanks Rusty,
Hey you comments imply that you have got dvd-t and dvb-s working at the same time. I (and others) haven't been able to do this, as soon as I setup more than one type of turning it hangs on the "saving settings" screen... any advice?

cheers

RustyGonad

495 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#180278 25-Nov-2008 19:17

I use DVBSBridge for Sky - which uses DVB-S in the background including passing the EIT stream. It appears under Media Center as a DVB-T tuner - which bypasses the current bug which won't let you tune both at once.

So in effect I'm using the DVBSBridge DVB-T tuner, and another HVR-3000 as the 'native' DVB-T tuner.

You can use exactly the same approach for Freeview DVB-S, including the guide.

Its a bit messy to setup, but then again if your playing around with Windows 7 "pre" beta, then you can expect a bit of that.

Once its setup it goes real well...

nudge

86 posts

Master Geek

#180406 26-Nov-2008 11:40

Cheers Rusty,
That sounds like just what I need. Despite what others have said I found DVB-T to be reasonably stable and the HD picture was certainly worth the occusional crash. Bigest probelm was not having the EPG. If I can get this via the DVB-S card then all is good.
I'll do a google in just a mo, but any pointers or guides you know of to make the DVBSBridge work?

PS. Just got a copy of the latest PC World mag, which has a write up on Widows 7. Quote "What if MS waved a magic wand and everything people hate about Vista went away?" They also say it's not due out till early 2010 :-(

Nety

2584 posts

Uber Geek
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#180423 26-Nov-2008 13:32

RustyGonad: I use DVBSBridge for Sky - which uses DVB-S in the background including passing the EIT stream. It appears under Media Center as a DVB-T tuner - which bypasses the current bug which won't let you tune both at once.

So in effect I'm using the DVBSBridge DVB-T tuner, and another HVR-3000 as the 'native' DVB-T tuner.

You can use exactly the same approach for Freeview DVB-S, including the guide.

Its a bit messy to setup, but then again if your playing around with Windows 7 "pre" beta, then you can expect a bit of that.

Once its setup it goes real well...

Sorry to hijack the thread...

Rusty, I seem to recall that you have been using DVBSBridge for awhile now. What advantages does it give over using the reg hack for pre TV pack Vista? I never have got the feed from our Telstra STB working in VMC. Would I be likely to have more luck with that if I used VMC + TV pack + DVBSBridge? I will wait for the full release of Windows 7 before I worry about FreeviewHD. Just be nice to get Freeview + Telstra on the media centre.

Also I see there are several flavours. What one do you use/suggest...

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

Satch

1985 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 259

#180660 27-Nov-2008 12:45

RustyGonad: Once its setup it goes real well...

Would you like a couple dozen beers Rusty? Well they are sitting here at my pad waiting for you mate if you want to come around and sort out my woeful DVBSBridge setup!!!

Lenovo

Shop now for Lenovo laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

paulobrien999

12 posts

Geek

#181088 29-Nov-2008 12:24

Hey Rusty,

thanks for your tips here. just a couple of questions if you could help out.

these nvidia beta drivers for TV pack, do you know their version number or what to search for, im not having much luck...

this option to disable MHEGAddin (as I am getting the black screen issue).

Settings
General
Program Library Options
Edit Program Library
Untick MhegAddIn

I presume this is settings within Media Centre? I cant see a program library options under general.. is this somewhere else?

i have a nova t 500 dvb-t card and a pvr500 dual analogue card.. is there a way to get the giude going or is the only known way at the mo to get the epg from a dvb-s source?

any help much appreciated.

cheers

waldoverkill

69 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#183557 11-Dec-2008 16:02

Hi All

V6956 allows Satellite and DVBT and Analogue. I have TV One with a guide (from sky) and I can watch/record it on Analogue/DVBT or SAT.

Interestingly Sky's feed of TVone Does not appear to be scrambled.

This version is also a lot more stable that 6801. i have been flicking between sat/dvbt/analogue with no crashes so far.

Wal

madad

75 posts

Master Geek

#183652 11-Dec-2008 23:15

Hey there, I'm trying out the new build, but I can't seem to get any satellite channels working.. what settings did u use? Single oscillator, 10750? appreciate any tips from anyone thats got it working.. will try DVB-T tomorrow..

Looks promising tho.. anyone streaming to an xbox360?

Cheers!

waldoverkill

69 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#183664 12-Dec-2008 06:47

I use single oscillator at 11300

transponders
12483 (TVNZ)
12456 (CANWEST)
12644 (SKY TV3,C4)
12671 (SKY TV1 & 2)

madad

75 posts

Master Geek

#183669 12-Dec-2008 07:41

Cool, I can see how to configure the oscillator, but where do I specify the transponders? Also, no matter what I specify I can't seem to get it to display anything in Signal Quality.. I would assume if I had it right it would be displaying something? I get a number of dark boxes..

I'm using 10750, and trying these settings from the Freeview site:

Symbol Rate : 22500

Transponder Frequency :

TV1, TV2 & Maori TV - 12483 MHz
TV3, C4 & National Radio - 12456 MHz

Polarity Horizontal.

Thanks for the help!

-Adam.

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Nety

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#183674 12-Dec-2008 08:09

Dont worry about the signal level. Seems it hardly ever works.

I used single oscillator 11300. After you have setup the oscillator reboot as the scan seems to not work sometime before a reboot.

Once you have rebooted go back into TV setup and there will be an option to scan Transponder.

madad

75 posts

Master Geek

#183676 12-Dec-2008 08:32

Yeah that looks like its getting a bit further now, except now it crashes whenever I select single transponder scan :(

Will reboot and try again. What card are you using? I have an HVR2200 with these drivers: HVR-22x0_7_3_0_26198_WHQL

Cheers

Mattv

242 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#183697 12-Dec-2008 10:03

madad: Yeah that looks like its getting a bit further now, except now it crashes whenever I select single transponder scan :(

Will reboot and try again. What card are you using? I have an HVR2200 with these drivers: HVR-22x0_7_3_0_26198_WHQL

Cheers

I thought the 2200 was DVB-T ie you should be setting up antenna, not satelite.

RustyGonad

495 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#183701 12-Dec-2008 10:24

Forget 6801 = Get the new build (6956), its much much more stable.

The interface is great - You'll understand now why they made the changes, where it was a bit clunky under 6801, it now looks great.

Best thing is, that the decoder is now stable ie h.264 flicking channels all you like...

Still got some guide issues with DVB-T, but if you can get around those using the DVB-S EIT guide or DVBSBridge. Everything else is fantastic.

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