Freeview questions

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nih

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Topic # 30941 26-Feb-2009 13:07

Righto. That time of the year again. Time to see if Freeview is easy/cheap to adopt. I did some reading around the forums and answered a few of my questions so I've rewritten this post.

I'd like to watch DVB-T in HD on my PC. It's up to the task (Q6600, 8gb ram, 8800GT x2). I don't have any PCI slots left, so I really need an external tuner.

Can anyone recommend one?

After reading this article, I figured the tuner it recommended would be a good choice.

Asmodeus

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Reply # 198242 26-Feb-2009 17:02

Got any PCI-e x1 slots free or are your graphics cards covering them up?

If you do, get yourself an HVR-2200

Otherwise Im sure that tuner is fine but I would personally go mad with a single tuner

nih

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Geek

Reply # 198245 26-Feb-2009 17:16

Asmodeus: Got any PCI-e x1 slots free or are your graphics cards covering them up?

If you do, get yourself an HVR-2200

Otherwise Im sure that tuner is fine but I would personally go mad with a single tuner

This is the motherboard that I'm using. Pretty sparse on slots. Only one of the PCIe-16 slots are free.

I realised after ordering it that my Harmony Remote isn't going to work with a device that doesn't have an IR receiver. Can you recommend a standalone IR receiver for PC?

Nety

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Reply # 198327 27-Feb-2009 08:51

get the HVR-2200 then. You can use a PCIe 1X card in a 16X slot just not the other way around

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

Asmodeus

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Reply # 198362 27-Feb-2009 11:04

Agree with Nety, get an HVR2200 and chuck it in one of the pci-e16x slots

As far as a standalone remote goes, just get the Hauppauge remote kit. You can pick it up for under $50 and it works perfectly with windows (and Hamony remotes). Comes with remote, receiver and blaster.

Ive been using this with a Harmony 775 without issue

nih

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Geek

Reply # 199502 5-Mar-2009 21:30

Unfortunately I'd already ordered the USB device when you guys replied. Good to know I can use that video slot for somerthing other than a video card though.

I've plugged it in, installed Cyberlink PowerCinema and the HD channel just works. No hassles. It's not the greatest piece of viewing software ever but it seems OK. It also came with a remote.

The only problem is on the HD channel the audio is ahead of the video. None of my cores are being maxxed out. Any ideas what I can do to fix this?

I'm used to using FFDshow's levels and warpsharp plugin to add post-processing effects and keep it good on my screen. Are there any players that use FFDshow that will work in this situation?

I've tried the thread here: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=83&TopicId=22139 - but the changes recommended made performance significantly worse. TV3 is still pretty bad as well. Probably just a sign that I need to get DVBViewer.