DTT Tests active on Waiatarua Auckland

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#106080 22-Jan-2008 10:54

AAC is just the format for regular stereo transmissions, 5.1 sound can still be transmitted for shows that are encoded in it.

The issue I'm having with GB-PVR at present is what I would describe as a shudder in the bottom 1/2 of the picture when using the EVR under Vista, the picture just seems to jump up and down slightly and is very noticeable on the Sports Extra page. If I switch to VMR9 it displays perfecetly.

openmedia

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#106085 22-Jan-2008 11:21

Switching from MP2 Audio to HE-AAC audio saves them a reasonable bit of bandwidth.

What i'm wondering is if we will only see Ad-Hoc use of AC3 for specific shows/movies, or if the bigger HD channels with use AC3 as their primary audio.

Steve

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

Satch

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#106278 23-Jan-2008 13:39

Hi all,

I've read through this thread and the people here seem to know what they are talking about. So I decided to register and ask you good people a couple of questions.

I'm looking to build a HTPC running Vista Home Premium. On it I want to feed my Sky decoder into the HTPC, and also a Freeview HD signal when it comes available.

From what I understand (not much), I need an analogue tuner to accept the signal out of the Sky decoder, and digital DVB-T dual tuners to watch Freeview HD (and be able to record a second channel - hence the dual tuners). I'll also require an H.264 compliant video card to take the load off my processor.

1. Is this correct?
2. Would I look to achieve this by getting two separate TV Tuner cards for my HTPC (One single analogue tuner card and one dual DVB-T tuner card?
3. Would I also need to hack the registry settings to make Vista recognise both the analogue and digital tuner cards?
4. Anything else I need to consider?

Any help would greatly be appreciated. I'm really finding it hard to find the right answers!

openmedia

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#106285 23-Jan-2008 14:14

Satch:
Hi all,

I've read through this thread and the people here seem to know what they are talking about. So I decided to register and ask you good people a couple of questions.

I'm looking to build a HTPC running Vista Home Premium. On it I want to feed my Sky decoder into the HTPC, and also a Freeview HD signal when it comes available.

From what I understand (not much), I need an analogue tuner to accept the signal out of the Sky decoder, and digital DVB-T dual tuners to watch Freeview HD (and be able to record a second channel - hence the dual tuners). I'll also require an H.264 compliant video card to take the load off my processor.

1. Is this correct?
2. Would I look to achieve this by getting two separate TV Tuner cards for my HTPC (One single analogue tuner card and one dual DVB-T tuner card?
3. Would I also need to hack the registry settings to make Vista recognise both the analogue and digital tuner cards?
4. Anything else I need to consider?

Any help would greatly be appreciated. I'm really finding it hard to find the right answers!

1. Mostly correct, although I can't comment on some of the Vista specific details
2. You could use a a hybrid card such as the HVR 3000/4000 so you could have dual DVB-T, one of which was shared with Sky analogue
3. Depends on the PVR software you want to use
4. Waiting for official support for freeview NZ from the PVR software vendors. Right now there is a lot of pain to get things working.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

Fossie

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#106288 23-Jan-2008 14:22

Dual Dvb-t tuners gives you the ability to watch a huge amount of channels at once. Much more than 2.

allstarnz

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#106289 23-Jan-2008 14:23

In regards to hacking the registry with two cards, you shouldn't need to..

I run a Hauppauge HVR3000 (analogue, DVB-S, and DVB-T) and HVR1300 (DVB-T and analgoue) on the same PC no problems. I use GB-PVR and WinTV (the default Hauppauge app)

Dyson

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Satch

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#106292 23-Jan-2008 14:32

2. You could use a a hybrid card such as the HVR 3000/4000 so you could have dual DVB-T, one of which was shared with Sky analogue

So you mean I could use the one card to cover all my needs? I've looked at the HVR4000 already, and it has quad tuners on it (isn't this different to hybrid? As in it has for separate tuners?). But this card has one analogue, one DVB-T, one DVB-S, and one DVB-S2. How can DVB-T be used for analogue (I'm very green in this area, sorry!)?

3. Depends on the PVR software you want to use

I intend on using Vista Media Centre for controlling everything.

4. Waiting for official support for freeview NZ from the PVR software vendors. Right now there is a lot of pain to get things working.

From what I've read, Freeview's official statement is that they don't support HTPCs. Is this likely to change?

I'm starting to think that I might just want to cater for my Sky feed (not mySky, but Sky digital), and DVB-S Freeview so I can record one channel and view another at the same time. Then worry about Freeview HD when it is launched. But at the same time it would be good to get all the right hardware first time if possible.

Thanks for your help so far!

Satch

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#106293 23-Jan-2008 14:36

allstarnz: In regards to hacking the registry with two cards, you shouldn't need to..

I run a Hauppauge HVR3000 (analogue, DVB-S, and DVB-T) and HVR1300 (DVB-T and analgoue) on the same PC no problems. I use GB-PVR and WinTV (the default Hauppauge app)

I'm intending on using Vista Media Centre, so would that work with a configuration like the one you mention?

The above config allows you to feed free to air, Sky, Freeview satellite, and Freeview HD Terrestrial into your HTPC right?

allstarnz

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#106305 23-Jan-2008 15:28

i've never used MCE, so can't comment on that.

I use that setup for Sky (via analogue) and freeview (via DVB-S). As Palmerston North isn't testing DVB-T yet, I can't be certain on that, but I can't see why it won't work

sbiddle

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#106310 23-Jan-2008 15:57

Satch:
allstarnz: In regards to hacking the registry with two cards, you shouldn't need to..

I run a Hauppauge HVR3000 (analogue, DVB-S, and DVB-T) and HVR1300 (DVB-T and analgoue) on the same PC no problems. I use GB-PVR and WinTV (the default Hauppauge app)

I'm intending on using Vista Media Centre, so would that work with a configuration like the one you mention?

The above config allows you to feed free to air, Sky, Freeview satellite, and Freeview HD Terrestrial into your HTPC right?

You't use Vista MCE to view DVB-T broadcasts in New Zealand. Hopefully Microsoft should have released their Media Center update by the end of this year which will support H.264

If you want to use DVB-T you're going to have to look at alternate software.

Satch

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#106314 23-Jan-2008 16:22

sbiddle:
You't use Vista MCE to view DVB-T broadcasts in New Zealand. Hopefully Microsoft should have released their Media Center update by the end of this year which will support H.264

If you want to use DVB-T you're going to have to look at alternate software.

You't - that's a new compound word I haven't heard before :)

So everyone else who is viewing the test patterns currently being broadcast is doing so using other software?

If I have to wait until MS sort their stuff out, then I think my decision is made. I get a card which accepts both my Sky decoder and Freeview DVB-S, and worry about DVB-T when the time comes.

So should I look to get the one tuner card with dual analogue and DVB-S on it, or get one tuner card for each (i.e. two cards)?
Which cards out there would best suit my needs?

New World

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#106315 23-Jan-2008 16:23

notes on using mce with multi tuners.
1 teh hvr 4000 does 4 types of tuning - it is not 4 concurent tuners.
2 if you want to use multi cards make sure they have the same capibilities as mce does not support seperate guides per device and will just try and grab the first avaliable device ( which might not support that service ).

Sky from the setbox is just an analogue tv signal, any mce certified card will capture it. Please note the hvr 4000 is a software capture for analog signals and looks alot worse than the mce 150 hardware series of card for this purpose.

After several weeks we have yet to get free view working with mce a 10.5k lnb and a hvr 4000. very annoying to setup.
take this into account while designing your system. If you have the old single lnb dish you are fine, if like me you have a new fangled one, its alot harder.

Satch

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#106346 23-Jan-2008 18:19

Dixm:
2 if you want to use multi cards make sure they have the same capibilities as mce does not support seperate guides per device and will just try and grab the first avaliable device ( which might not support that service ).

Hi Dixm. What do you mean by the same capabilities?

After several weeks we have yet to get free view working with mce a 10.5k lnb and a hvr 4000. very annoying to setup.
take this into account while designing your system.

If the HVR is not the way to go, then which card(s) do you recommend to cover analogue and DVB-S?

If you have the old single lnb dish you are fine, if like me you have a new fangled one, its alot harder.

How can one tell which dish they have?

walt12

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#106349 23-Jan-2008 19:01

If SKY capture is a must then one of the MPEG2 hardware encoding cards in the Hauppage PVR series are the way to go. e.g. PVR150mce.

At the same time you can use the SKY dish on the roof to pull down Freeview satellite. If your regular UHF reception is reasonable AND you are in an area where DTT will be broadcast, then it would seem best to buy a card which at some future point will also be capable of DVB-T. i.e. a hybrid card like the Hauppage HVR 3000. But note the hybrid cards can only tune to one service at any time.

Don't worry about the type of LNB on the dish, it's just a matter of software configuration which the folks here can assist with.

One final caveat - I don't use MCE in either it's XP or Vista flavours so I can't comment on any quirky behaviour and/or work-around required to get this going. My PVR software of choice is GB PVR.

Satch

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#106354 23-Jan-2008 19:28

Really, to be honest, my only question mark left over this HTPC build is in the tuner card area.

My end goal is to be able to pump Sky through my HTPC and Freeview HD. In the interim I'd like to pump Freeview Satellite so I can watch the network channels while recording.

I really don't know whether I should get one analogue card and one dual tuner DVB-T card, or another configuration. Dixm below told me that I could use two separate tuner cards, but for them to work under Vista MCE, the'd need to have the same capabilities. I have no idea what this means.

Why can't this be a little more straight forward? It is frustrating at best!!

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