Best software to use with Digital Tuner device

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › Best software to use with Digital Tuner device

steve2222

498 posts

Ultimate Geek

#33139 30-Apr-2009 19:52

I want to receive and record both Analouge and DVB-T on my laptop. I tried a Hauppauge Win TV HVR Hybrid 900H USB stick and obtained perfect reception (returned product until I evaluate options further).

However the Power Cinema V5.1 software leaves a lot to be desired (as commented elsewhere on Geekzone). For instance there is no EPG (or at least I could not obtain any data), when you record DVB-T there is no sound on playback and you cannot fastforward (also commented on elsewhere on Geekzone). In addition I thought the CPU usage was a bit high (averaged around 20 - 25%).

I have a Dell Vostro laptop, Intel dup Processor T5870 2.0ghz 2MB cache. RAM is 4GB 667Mhz dual channel DDR2 SDRAM running W XP Prof SP3. Video card is NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS 256MB. I also have a Express Card Slot if that is a better option than USB.

What is the best software that allows me to solve the issues above and optimises DVB-T transmission in NZ? I have read about GB-PVR, DB Viewer etc, but what is the best one that works best 'out of the box' as I am not much up from a lay person with these issues.

Disrespective

1925 posts

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#211180 1-May-2009 11:59

There isn't really an out of the box solution to have both Analogue and DVB-T working from what i've found. Regardless of your choice you'll likely have to install codecs and tweak things till the cows come home until it works. I use MediaPortal, as do a few others here. It's great for me as i can get it to do everything i want and i can tinker till the cows come home with all of the plugins.

I have an analogue card doing Prime, and a DVB-T card for everything else. If you ever have questions about it though i'm sure we'll be able to point you in the right direction for an answer.

Oh and i have DVB Viewer running on a laptop which has a DVB-T card in it and it works fine, nothing pretty , but changes channel so that's all it needs to do.

steve2222

498 posts

Ultimate Geek

#211184 1-May-2009 12:17

Thanks Disrespective. With DVB Viewer on your laptop; when you record do you get sound and ability to FF on playback? Also do you get the full 8 day EPG when viewing live?

sbiddle

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Biddle Corp

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#211187 1-May-2009 12:40

The only way to get an 8 day EPG is to use an external source, either by using XMLTVNZ to grab scrape the data yourself or use the pvr.geek.nz EPG which is a daily update extracted from the DVB-S EIT EPG.

The only TV software that supports MHEG5 fully is MythTV, at present this still has poor DVB-T support.

As for an out of the box solution if you read a few of the posts on here you will realise that is nothing but a dream! :-) You will plenty of time tinkering!

steve2222

498 posts

Ultimate Geek

#211193 1-May-2009 13:06

Thanks sbiddle, yes I gathered there is no perfect solution (by reading past posts) but I noted alot of those were from last year and I thought things may have improved some what.

I have to say the product I did try worked fine (out of the box) other than the 3 issues in my OP. I see you use GBPVR - do you get sound on playback from DVB-T recordings and the ability to FF?

allstarnz

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#211445 1-May-2009 22:30

DVB Viewer is good, but I can't get it to well as seamless as a service (in the background) as something like GB-PVR. 50/50 either way between those two, depending on what you want to use it for.

kiwijunglist

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#211876 3-May-2009 14:36

GBPVR or Mediaportal.

I personally found mediaportal easier and faster to setup. Mediaportal has come a long way since it first stated and is now very stable. Your computer is fast enough to do HDTV with either program. Mediaportal will give you a 8 day+ epg via an internet connection. Mediaportal allows you to pause/rewind/fford live tv. You can shedule recordings eg. record the news everyday. It can work with analog tuner / freeviewhd terrestial dvb-t / dvb-s.

The "cranz mediaportal guide" (HINT- use google) is a bit out of date, but gives you a basic installation/setup guide. There is also an installation requirements wiki on the mediaprotal website. I use mentalinc's epg grabber (HINT - google mentalinc epg)

The codec that comes with powercinema cd can be used to do software decoding of FreeviewHD TV (H264 signal), however for best results you would want to try out PDVD8 H264 codec (Use build 2217aU). Be prepared to do a lot of fluffing about to get everything running nicely.

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

steve2222

498 posts

Ultimate Geek

#212137 4-May-2009 16:07

Thanks for all the replies.

One layman's question: why is it that none of the software (other than MythTV) supports MHEG5 EPG 'out of the box', yet I can go and buy a Freeview decoder box and it does. Is it a licencing issue, or simply that NZ is using a protocol no one else does and therefore consumer demand does not justify the development cost?

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openmedia

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#212139 4-May-2009 16:12

steve2222: Thanks for all the replies.

One layman's question: why is it that none of the software (other than MythTV) supports MHEG5 EPG 'out of the box', yet I can go and buy a Freeview decoder box and it does. Is it a licencing issue, or simply that NZ is using a protocol no one else does and therefore consumer demand does not justify the development cost?

The MHEG-5 stack in MythTV was developed against freeview in the UK to support all of their red-button features. I worked on the support for the NZ varations.

Most countries don't require MHEG-5 for an EPG so software like Windows MCE typically hasn't provides a full MHEG-5 stack.

In the STB market there are a lot of off the shelf proprietary solutions, again originally developed for the UK market.

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.

kiwijunglist

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#213634 9-May-2009 11:03

^ can someone kill the above spam post

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.