Is WinTV-PVR 350 MPEG decoder supported?

[lovingHDTV]

I know the WinTV-PVR 350 mpeg encoder is used by SageTV/Recorder, but is the decoder also used or is the decode done by software?

If I am going to buy the 350 it would be nice to have the software actually use the decoder as well. Otherwise I might as well buy the 250.

thanks,

[ben_gb]

Hi,

It is supported (though I THINK it was only added in the current 1.4 beta) if you plug your TV into the TV-out port on the card.

However, at the moment, you cannot get any on-screen display, so for checking the guide and selecting recordings etc, you have to have a normal PC monitor attached.

This is not a particularly ideal arrangement, as while you have the SageTV window open on the PC, whatever SageTV is playing is displayed in the window, using software decoding, which kind of defeats the point of using the hardware decoding on the PVR-350 in the first place!

Apparently support will be introduced for on-screen display on the PVR-350 in the future, but they haven't given us any date.

Ben

[lovingHDTV]

Thanks for the info.

[Watter]

Support for the 350's output is in the current production build, so no need to use the beta unless you'd like to.

-Watter

[justme]

There is a properties file option in the most recent beta that allows you to turn off local(PC monitor) playback.

[lovingHDTV]

Does this mean the only way I can use the decoder is to play back through the tvout on the 350? Or can I use the decoder and still display out my vga card?

thanks,

[dkardatzke]

You can only use the TV out on the 350 card to go to a TV.

[lovingHDTV]

I guess I should have been more specific. I hook my HTPC up to my projector via the DVI or VGA inputs. Therefore I need to have all displays go through my graphics card, otherwise I would have to change my projector inputs depending on what material I was watching. Also it would not work well with myHPTC the frontend I am using.

So this means I cannot use the 350 in this manner and utilize the hardware decoders? That is a bummer.

thanks,

[JasonJoel]

Correct, you can NOT use the 350 like that... Not with SageTV, nor with any other software either.

The hardware acceleration of the 350 is only applicable when outputting via the 350's output, not the video cards.

Jason


Originally posted by lovingHDTV
I guess I should have been more specific. I hook my HTPC up to my projector via the DVI or VGA inputs. Therefore I need to have all displays go through my graphics card, otherwise I would have to change my projector inputs depending on what material I was watching. Also it would not work well with myHPTC the frontend I am using.

So this means I cannot use the 350 in this manner and utilize the hardware decoders? That is a bummer.

thanks,

[lovingHDTV]

Everyone,
Thanks, I just wanted to make sure I fully understood the issue. Didn't want to be annoying :)

Looks like for me the 250 is the card of choice as I want to use my graphics card for display.

thanks again,