Freeview - DVB-T

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mattie47

79 posts

Master Geek

#17260 19-Nov-2007 12:31

Hi all,

I'm planning on buying the WINFAST DTV2000H but I just wanted to confirm that it would work on Freeview DVB-T when it is launched in Chch early next year. My question is, will it work on Freeview over here since NZ will be broadcasting in Mpeg4 unlike the rest of the world in Mpeg 2. I know that a lot of TVs with inbuilt dvb-t tuners wont work here but I thought that computer wise cards might. Also read on wikiepeda "DVB-T MPEG4 is also known in some countries as DVB-T HD." on the cards website it says "Enjoy digital terrestrial TV and digital radio* with HDTV/AC3 support in full screen or a scalable window for your high quality entertainment"

Thanks,

Matt

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#95912 19-Nov-2007 12:53

with a PC card, it's the software that does all the decoding, not the card, so you should be fine.

mattie47

79 posts

Master Geek

#95913 19-Nov-2007 13:11

hmm, ok thanks for that. If anyone else can confirm this is right it would be appreciated:-)

Thanks,

Matt

sbiddle

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#95933 19-Nov-2007 14:24

There is probably nobody on here who can comfirm with 100% certainly that it will work but it should. I've been decoding the Wgtn DVB-T test transmissions with my Hauppauge 3000 and this works fine. The decoding is done by the PC, not the tuner card so from what I've read during the UK DVB-T H.264 trials people seemed to have no issues with the bulk of the TV tuner cards on the market.

Just be aware that these transmissions, particularly in HD, are extremely CPU intensive. My X2 4800 gets up to about 75% CPU utililisation decoding the current 1080i streams. A video card such as an ATI with onboard H.264 decoding would be almost an essential requirement if you've got a slower CPU.

geekiegeek

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#95948 19-Nov-2007 15:46

What is on the test signal? I have a HVR3000 but I havent tried the DVB-T yet. I'm using mediaportal with the DVB-S at present which works really well. I am looking forward to HD though.

sbiddle

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#95962 19-Nov-2007 17:06

geekiegeek: What is on the test signal? I have a HVR3000 but I havent tried the DVB-T yet. I'm using mediaportal with the DVB-S at present which works really well. I am looking forward to HD though.

Some ~30 sec looped videos. CSI in 1080i and a netball game in SD.

mattie47

79 posts

Master Geek

#96022 19-Nov-2007 21:40

Thanks any way but I didn't end up buying it. Just missed out : http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=126673423

phatbloke

91 posts

Master Geek

#96043 20-Nov-2007 09:08

Hi
I have been listening to thses conversations about the decoding of the HD stream using a lot of CPU. Will there be or are there cards around that have dedicated MPEG4 decoders on the card? I am in the process of building a HTPC which I will use with DVB-T once it starts. CPU speed is not an issue as I will put something beefy in it but obviously decoding on the tuner card would be an advantage if it is possible.

Cheers

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sbiddle

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#96045 20-Nov-2007 09:12

phatbloke: Hi
I have been listening to thses conversations about the decoding of the HD stream using a lot of CPU. Will there be or are there cards around that have dedicated MPEG4 decoders on the card? I am in the process of building a HTPC which I will use with DVB-T once it starts. CPU speed is not an issue as I will put something beefy in it but obviously decoding on the tuner card would be an advantage if it is possible.

Cheers

Cards such as the ATI2600's have onboard H.264 decoding that seems to work very well. If you read this thread here sub (author of GB-PVR) talks about the CPU load dropping to 5% once an ATI2600 is installed.

phatbloke

91 posts

Master Geek

#96060 20-Nov-2007 12:14

Awesome thats what I wanted to hear.
I have generally been a nvidia fan but will look into this one since it is proved to be working.

sbiddle

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#96086 20-Nov-2007 15:14

phatbloke: Awesome thats what I wanted to hear.
I have generally been a nvidia fan but will look into this one since it is proved to be working.

There are NVidia cards that do H.264 but most people seem to be of the opinion that for HTPC use ATI beats NVidia hands down.

itey

476 posts

Ultimate Geek

#96105 20-Nov-2007 18:06

sbiddle:There are NVidia cards that do H.264 but most people seem to be of the opinion that for HTPC use ATI beats NVidia hands down.

yep +1 to that.

I have read all over the place to use ati for HTPCs, nvidia just can't get their drivers working well for media pc's

RustyGonad

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#96113 20-Nov-2007 18:53

With all due respect, saying "most people" in regard to NVidia for HTPC use is a very very subjective statement...

NVideo make some great cards for HTPC use, including some Motherboard chipset based cards such as the 6150/7150 series.

The reality is there have been driver issues on both sides of the fence. NVidia have had some issues around their drivers (mostly in relation to scaling over HDMI), but most of these in my own personal experience have been fixed in the last couple of driver releases. Exactly the same can be said for ATI at various points in time, arguably their drivers have a poorer history.

Personally I use a NVidia 8500GT which does h.264 just perfectly, it also has HDCP, HDMI out and cost $160 bucks NZ. Most of all its dead silent (ie passive cooling). The initial drivers didn't scale/overscan correctly, but thats long since been fixed. Current drivers are rock solid and output both 720p and 1080p perfectly. It also supports all of NVideo HD Pure Video feature set. Only down side is because its silent it takes up 2 slots.

Having said that I also have nothing against the ATI cards (have used both in the past), but when I looked I couldn't find a passively cooled ATI card which did h.264 (incl 1080p), w/HDMI for anywhere near the price...

Can't comment on how it performs on Freeview yet, happy to post more once they turn on the signal in AKL, but I am sure it will be just fine. CPU sits at around 25-30% on one core, on a dual core AMD 3600+, playing King Kong from HD-DVD.

So don't count NVidia out just yet.. :)

mattie47

79 posts

Master Geek

#96126 20-Nov-2007 20:01

Hey everyone,

Ok now im planning on buying the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR3000 but just suddenly wanted to check, does this do HD? off Terristrial DVB I mean. I know this may sound silly but its better to double check before buying something. I think some one above mentioned that they had one. How well does it work with other software eg progdvb, gp-pvr, myth etc. I quite like it due to the fact they it does dvb-t/s and anologe.

Thanks,

Matt

allstarnz

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#96128 20-Nov-2007 20:12

matt, i don't see why the HVR3000 wouldn't do HD. At the end of the day, the TV card just hauls the feed from the air and sends it to the software for all the decoding etc. It's the same as an SD (standard def) feed, except more detailed.

The real question as discussed above is whether you have a fast enough PC to decode the stream properly.

sbiddle

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#96144 20-Nov-2007 21:37

mattie47: Hey everyone,

Ok now im planning on buying the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR3000 but just suddenly wanted to check, does this do HD? off Terristrial DVB I mean. I know this may sound silly but its better to double check before buying something. I think some one above mentioned that they had one. How well does it work with other software eg progdvb, gp-pvr, myth etc. I quite like it due to the fact they it does dvb-t/s and anologe.

Thanks,

Matt

Yes it does do HD and works fine with GB-PVR.

The only issue with this card is that the analogue isn't really supported by some PVR software (incl GB-PVR) because it doesn't have onboard MPEG2 encoding. Don't buy this card if you want to use it for analogue, a MCE150 is a far better option.

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