SageTV HD Media Extender

[Narflex]

Since there's been quite a few posts speculating we're not actually working on this anymore, I wanted to set things straight.

Q: Is SageTV still doing an HD Media Extender?

Yes!!! Yes!!! Yes!!!

Q: When will it be available?

The target for release is mid-November, in plenty of time for holiday purchasing and gift giving.

Q: Is it the same box from CES?

The box will not be the same as the one we demoed at CES; it's better.

Q: What makes it better than the one from CES? (I'm predicting this will be asked)

-HDMI output instead of DVI
-1080p upscaled output
-H.264 decoding (bitstream requirements will be announced later)
-Animations...just like the ones mentioned here: http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27516


We're very sorry for the delays on this but we hope you'll like it even better than what we demoed at CES.

[davefred99]

Well that s great news and music to my ears. Now i know what will be on my Holiday wish list.
Thanks again for the update.
Dave

[mediahome]

Thanks for the update and I really appreciate your candidness. I will be waiting anxiously for that Christmas present.

[malbec]

Narflex, all I have to say is thanks!!! Thanks for listening!!! Thanks for risking this!!! Just flat out, thanks! You have renewed my faith.

[bialio]

Merry Christmas indeed!

Harry Potter Box set in HD-DVD and an HD Media Extender. Gonna be a good winter!

Sign me up for advance beta testing! I'll pay!

btl.

[Slugger]

Do we know the price point for these devices? Can they be used for strictly SD content? Will they decode Divx and other formats thus alleviating the server from having to transcode content to the client?

[stanger89]

Suppose I'll get the questions out of the way:

• What video codecs are supported? (VC1, H264, MPEG2, MPEG4, WMV)?
• What audio codecs are supported? (DD, DTS, MP2, MP3, AAC, WMA, WMA Lossless, DD+/EAC3, etc?)
• What containers are supported? (MPG, TS, TP, WMV, DVD/VOB, EVO, M2TS?)
• What resolutions are supported? (480i/p, 720p, 1080i/p, PC resolutions, custom resolutions?)
• How about a "native" output that will output the video in whatever format (480i/p,720p,1080i,1080p) it is without processing (for processing by an external scaler)?
• Is the full compliment of AR controls available?
• What sort of audio output is available? (HDMI, S/PDIF, Analog)
• If HDMI audio, what sorts of HDMI audio?

[carlgar]

Will it operate properly under VISTA or be as useless as the current extender for VISTA users?

[davephan]

Is there are URL for more information about the HD extender?

Dave

[95TBird]

Fantastic News!!

We should have suspected that you were locked up in your lab coming up with a better product!!

"Look Igor it has HDMI !!!"

[KarylFStein]

Yay, HDMI! I hope it does audio over it too. Then I'd have to get a new receiver and TV , and then new speakers. Hm, this'll get expensive fast...

[flavius]

Excellent. Was that so hard to do?

[colinbo]

I was thinking about getting an AOpen Mini PC and using a Sage TV client. Will the HD Extender offer anything compelling over the Mini PC approach?

Thanks,
Colin

[CollinR]

Hardware thin clients are usually cheaper, and more reliable. Just like an MVP vs a SageTV client today.

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by flavius

Was that so hard to do?

Actually I'm guessing it was, since it probably required a commitment from the hardware supplier to have the boxes ready to ship by mid-November.

[Lucas]

That's great!

Jeff can you please answer a couple of more general questions of interest to non-US/Canada SageTV users?

Q: Will the HD extender only be available through the SageTV store or will we be able to buy a similar product from the local market (eg Europe, Australia etc?)

Q:Will the HD extender be able to automatically or manually switch video refresh rates for 25fps, 24fps, 60fps, 29fps video content?

[bcjenkins]

Will it support component video too? My old Pioneer Pro 710-HD just keeps going and going..

[flavius]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

Actually I'm guessing it was, since it probably required a commitment from the hardware supplier to have the boxes ready to ship by mid-November.

If I were to guess was holding them up, I'd say it's legal stuff.

[Rob]

Jeff, Thanks for the update. I really appreciate it. Its great to hear the news.

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

Will it support component video too? My old Pioneer Pro 710-HD just keeps going and going..

Yep, my Pro 710-HD still works great too.

[Fluffdaddy]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

Will it support component video too? My old Pioneer Pro 710-HD just keeps going and going..

Love to get a response to this too. One of my sets is a none DVI/HDMI unit also. The 7 year old 36" hdtv tube, just keeps working


Thanks for the update....................better late then never.