I have a Telstra Clear T-Box with HD card connected via HDMI to full HD tv.  Works brilliantly.  I want to transfer HD content from the T-Box to the HTPC.  I purchased the Hauppauge HD PVR because that's what it was advertised to do.  From any set top box via component video (YPbPr) to HTPC via USB.  Record up to 720p or 1080i.  However, as I have now discovered, the component video out from the T-Box is only576i.  Not only is this inadequate quality, there is the added insult of widescreen content (16:9) being "squished" into 4:3 when recorded to the HTPC using the bundled software (ArcSoft Total Media Extreme).  It occurs to me that a potential solution is to use the HDMI output from the T-Box and convert to component through either a cable or converter hardware.  This looks like it might do the trick:
http://www.rapalloav.co.nz/product/2092/HDMI---DVI---VGA---YPbPr-Convert/HDMI---DVI---VGA---YPbPr-Convert/

Of course, I wouldn't want to muck around swapping HDMI cables, so I would also want an HDMI splitter between the T-Box and the converter, sending one signal to the TV.  So the setup would be:
T-Box - HDMI Splitter - Converter - HDPVR - HTPC.  Seems like an awful number of links, each with the potential to go wrong or downgrade the signal quality.  Would this work?  Is there a better solution?