TV card to produce recordings for Apple TV

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Kolgrim

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#15944 17-Sep-2007 17:00

I have purchased an Apple TV. It is very pretty. However, as an AV device it needs content. Therefore, I am interested in a TV card for my PC that would record analog TV in a format the Apple TV would understand without re-encoding. ANy advice would be truely welcome. The formats the Apple TV uses are be h.264 or MPEG 4 but no way am I an expert. I bought it as it worked and I liked the idea.

If possible I would like a reliable TV card - I have had no end of bother with my current one (cheap from Dick Smith).

If it is important I am not interested in DVB-S and I understand the DVB-T is not available in a tv card format if this is of any use in any advice you might have.

mruane

420 posts

Ultimate Geek

#86909 17-Sep-2007 17:58

I am fairly sure you will need to transcode your recordings. FFMPEG will convert the standard MPG output from the TV Card to MP4 for the IPOD, so I guess that's the same as the Apple TV. I use the following FFMPEG command line to convert my TV recordings to the IPOD and it works just fine. It stores the file in my IPod video folder directly from wherever the TV Card recording software left it:

ffmpeg -vcodec xvid -b 1500 -qmin 3 -qmax 5 -bufsize 4096 -g 300 -acodec aac -ab 96 -ac 2 -i %1 -s 320×240 -aspect 16:9 "f:\media\ipodvideo\%~n1.mp4"

As for creating the recordings - there are a number of applications to try - GBPVR, Media Portal or even the software that comes with the card. You could look at the Hauppauge PVR150 card for Analogue or the PVR500 (dual tuner). Both of these have hardware MPG encoding on the card, which is a better option.

Cheers Mike

acsonline

181 posts

Master Geek

#86930 17-Sep-2007 21:42

Check out the forums at Awkward TV. There are a few options here.. http://awkwardtv.org/

old3eyes

9119 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#86965 18-Sep-2007 08:14

Just as a matter of interest. Why did you buy an Apple TV for when you consider the lack of cantent in this part of the world and with the exception of some HD movie trailers there is no HD as well. It sees to me that this thing is a $499 paper weight

Regards,

Old3eyes

BigFella

105 posts

Master Geek

#86982 18-Sep-2007 10:20

old3eyes: Just as a matter of interest. Why did you buy an Apple TV for when you consider the lack of cantent in this part of the world and with the exception of some HD movie trailers there is no HD as well. It sees to me that this thing is a $499 paper weight

Probably because it's not limited to purchased content - I have access to my h.264-encoded DVD library, any downloaded video content, and all of my music through the Apple TV box. And the kids love the photo screensaver, which is worth brownie points too....

richms

28168 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#86999 18-Sep-2007 11:53

There are hacks out there to get other codecs onto the apple tv. I know someone that bought one but returned it because even then it was still too hard to get content onto it

Richard rich.ms

Kolgrim

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#87013 18-Sep-2007 12:53

Hi

In response to why?

I bought it because I have h.264 encoded my kid's DVD library (and some of mine), it does music brilliantly, no more cd/dvds left around the place by my children for me to stand on. Plus it is so easy. I never have used an Apple product before. It really is quiet, simple and reliable. Further, it has no power off switch. My wife and I are in different positions on the power saving/convenience debate. Finally, it does act as another back up to my family photo album.

Cheers

acsonline

181 posts

Master Geek

#87024 18-Sep-2007 14:05

For me, it was an easy choice. Very easy to use and a great user interface (wife friendly:).
Also, dont forget the Apple TV has great photo and music playback! Its basically an ipod for your tv.. A bonus if youve got an ipod.

The codec patch was easy (its not a patch really, you're just enabling ssh remote access and installing Perian) - took me all of 15minutes from opening the box. Plays h.264, rmvb, divx, xvid, wmv, etc. without problems.

Uploading content is pretty easy. You can ftp on to it, or if youre not inclined you can do a windows/mac file share and remote mount that.

Of course, whenever i buy dvd's now I use Handbrake and convert them into H.264 which means it sync's/streams seamlessly using itunes.

now it has some limitations (720p max), but i can live with that for now.