Watching Freeview PVR recordings via PC

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geekwendy

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#150811 4-Aug-2014 10:08

I need to be able to view Freeview PVR recordings via a PC. There have been a couple of similar threads on here, which I've read, but none of them seemed to reach a conclusion...

I have heard this could be possible via Windows Media Server, HDMI cable and a tuner card. Does anyone have any ideas on the best way to go about this? Layman's terms, please...

I have a DishTV Aerial Box T1050PVR hooked up to a TV, which is physically sitting right next to the PC I want to record to.

Thanks in advance.

Killerkiwi2005

374 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#1101504 4-Aug-2014 10:11

Just buy a cheap usb tuner for the PC then you can record directly to the PC in mpg format

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JimmyH

2820 posts

Uber Geek

#1101509 4-Aug-2014 10:23

Do you mean that you just want to watch them on a PC, or do really mean you want to transfer them to a PC?

If you just mean watch, then you probably have the wrong PVR. With something like a Panasonic recorder (terrestrial) or DTVS recorder (satellite), both of which have DLNA servers, then watching what is recorded on them on a PC is easy. Just network, fire up a DLNA server, and you are good. However, I don't think the Dish model you specify has that sort of connectivity (I'm not certain though, as I don't have one).

If you mean transfer, then Killerkiwi's advice is the best option - just go with a USB tuner.

Alternatively, you can transfer using DLNA or an HDMI/composite capture solution. But those can be fiddly or, depending on what you do and what you start with, cost quite a bit more.

geekwendy

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1101514 4-Aug-2014 10:28

Sorry, I wasn't totally clear. I want the programme to record to the PC, so I can watch it at the same time as it's recording. It's for a work thing.

I thought that would have to be done via PVR > HDMI > PC, but it sounds like I could do this via a tuner? I have a USB tuner somewhere, so I can give this a go...

Thanks for your help.

geekwendy

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1101516 4-Aug-2014 10:30

And yes, I don't think the Dish TV box has this capability. Trying to set up a cheap low-cost solution for this, so not keen to get a new PVR.

andrewNZ

2487 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1101519 4-Aug-2014 10:43

A USB tuner is the go. Use the software that comes with it or something like MediaPortal to do the recording.

If you need the guide too, you'll probably need EPGCollector too. NZ's guide data is broadcast in a format that most things can't currently decode.

Most software (not Windows Media Centre), will let you tune more than one channel using the one tuner. For example if you are recording TV3, you'd be able to also watch/record Four, EdgeTV, 3 plus 1, and Four plus 1.

Most software also records .TS files, which is a copy of the broadcast stream. .TS files can be up to 8GB/hr for HDTV, although I've never seen a recording that size, they typically average about 1GB/hr.

geekwendy

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1101643 4-Aug-2014 12:18

Thanks for your advice. I'll give a USB tuner a go and see if I can get it to work.