Which DViCO FusionHDTV ATSC card(s) do you plan on using with SageTV 3?

[srothwell]

Originally Posted by mkanet

srothwell, I can confirm that the .ts files created by SageTV 3.0.7 (using Fusion 5 Lite) are different than standard ATSC .ts files created by products like HiPix and MyHD. These will ONLY play in SageTV.

I am able to play HiPix .ts file both inside SageTV and externally in Windows Media Player (using latest Nvidia decoder). I am almost certain MyHD .tp files will produce identical results.

Check out this post on AVS Forum which also confirms what I found out. I also posted there...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...49#post6029149

So maybe, even though I have installed the DVIco demo playback software, it didn't actually put the codec needed for Sage?

Or do the drivers that Sage installs upon seeing the card allow Sage to playback the .tp files? Can anyone from Sage confirm this? \

Again, I am just trying to avoid spending $150 on a card that I can't return only to find out it won't work.

Thanks!

[stanger89]

The only thing "special" to playing ts/tp files, is the demux, and Sage's demux can handle that. As for decoders:
nVidia
Sonic
Dscaler

can all play HD, WinDVD and PowerDVD should be able to also, but I've never tried.

[Kingjamez]

Originally Posted by srothwell

So maybe, even though I have installed the DVIco demo playback software, it didn't actually put the codec needed for Sage?

Or do the drivers that Sage installs upon seeing the card allow Sage to playback the .tp files? Can anyone from Sage confirm this? \

Again, I am just trying to avoid spending $150 on a card that I can't return only to find out it won't work.

Thanks!

The Fusion software uses its own decoders called ZULU. These deocders are only useable inside the Fusion software. For HD inside sage, I use the NVidia, or Intervideo decoders.

What it boils down to is that if you can run the Fusion software you'll have no problems with the Fusion in Sage.
-Jim

[Kingjamez]

On the issue of using the Fusion 5 Gold. I can't see ANY reason to use it at all. The only advantage it has is that it playes analog stations a bit better (10 bit vs. 8 bit D/A) big deal. If you want good analog then you should have a PVR-150 or 500.

I don't understand the argument about the better audio bridge.... the audio is muxed into the mpeg2 stream and should exit the card digitally.... no D/A involved on the Fusion.

-Jim

[srothwell]

Originally Posted by Kingjamez

The Fusion software uses its own decoders called ZULU. These deocders are only useable inside the Fusion software. For HD inside sage, I use the NVidia, or Intervideo decoders.

What it boils down to is that if you can run the Fusion software you'll have no problems with the Fusion in Sage.
-Jim

Then I feel I'm tru;y stuck then.

I have the intervideo decoders (from windvd6) and all I get is blavk screen and digital-sounding audio when playing back tje .tp files off the divco web site.

I guess just buying the darn card won't really help then?

Also, how do I get the nVidia decoders?

Stacy

[Kingjamez]

Originally Posted by srothwell

I live too close to the towers here in Richmond. I get multi-path issues galore. However I hear that the 5th gen RX (that, incidentally is in the Fusion5 product) handles multi-path very well and that it might make things a little better.

Stacy

I don't understand this at all. The proximity to the towers has nothing to do with Multipath issues. How do you know you have multipath? Have you looked at the ATSC signals on a spectrum analyzer and seen the multipath humps?

If so do you have short or long delay multipath?

Multipath is really only a large concern in big cities, downtown, etc. where buildings are of sufficient size to reflect a sizable portion of the RF wave to you to interfer with the original signal. If you do live near large RF reflectors, then I'd suggest trying to get the reflected signal rather than the original...again your spectrum analyzer will easly show how which is best.

But it'd be pretty hard to have multipath if you live close to the towers... that's a bit oxymoronic.

Even if, you can use your spec-an to point the antenna, 90% of multipath can be eliminated with a directional (yagi) antenna and careful pointing.

-Jim

[Kingjamez]

Originally Posted by srothwell

Then I feel I'm tru;y stuck then.

I have the intervideo decoders (from windvd6) and all I get is blavk screen and digital-sounding audio when playing back tje .tp files off the divco web site.

I guess just buying the darn card won't really help then?

Also, how do I get the nVidia decoders?

Stacy

If it plays in the Dvico software then your computer is powerful enough to play in Sage... the rest is simply software setup. The .tp files from Dvico may not play well since they were encoded with the Zulu encoders, and thus meant to be decoded with the Zulu decoders.... I suggested them only as a test to see if your computer can handle them... Not as a test to see if you can get them to play in sage.

Again if your computer can play the Dvico files, then sage with a Fusion card will most likely be fine from a computer hardware perspective.

A simple search of NVidia's website yeilds:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/dvd_decoder.html

-Jim

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Kingjamez

The .tp files from Dvico may not play well since they were encoded with the Zulu encoders, and thus meant to be decoded with the Zulu decoders....

The Dvico TP files are (AFIAK) encoded by the broadcast station, the Fusion does no encoding on the files at all.

Also it appears they are the the same files that have been posted there for a couple years, and last time I tried I think they all played fine in Sage. I know they didn't crash my computer.

[mkanet]

Stanger89 and all, I think the problem might be with the Fusion driver. That would explain why the .ts files produced in the DIVCO app AND SageTV cannot be played back externally. Special accomodations need to be made in the media player for these .ts files to be played back.

NOTE: These files are DEFINATELY different than ATSC .ts files. I just tried to process the Fusion .ts file in TStoATSC and I got the following error:
Couldn't find PCR packet. Bad stream or wrong video PID?

I also tried it in HDTV2MPEG2 and even though the audio/video PIDs were recognized, the video preview window wouldn't show the video.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by mkanet

Stanger89 and all, I think the problem might be with the Fusion driver. That would explain why the .ts files produced in the DIVCO app AND SageTV cannot be played back externally. Special accomodations need to be made in the media player for these .ts files to be played back.

All the Dvico files play in WMP for me. Files created with Sage, Graphedit, or HDNE also play in WMP. The PIDs of the Dvico demo files do appear to be weird though.

And AFIAK the driver has nothing to do with the stream, it just retrieves the broadcast bistream off the hardware. All Sage does is strip out the desired subchannel.

NOTE: These files are DEFINATELY different than ATSC .ts files. I just tried to process the Fusion .ts file in TStoATSC and I got the following error:
Couldn't find PCR packet. Bad stream or wrong video PID?

Many of these HDTV tools are less than robust.

[mkanet]

Okay, I have a little bit more information...

I downloaded PRIME Canberra.tp (renamed to PRIME Canberra.ts) from the Divco website. It WILL playback in Windows Media Player... as my HiPix .ts files. SageTV .ts files using the Fusion card will only playback in SageTV.

What's the missing piece to this puzzle? What's different about the Fusion files produced in SageTV?

[Goodspike]

Originally Posted by Kingjamez

But it'd be pretty hard to have multipath if you live close to the towers... that's a bit oxymoronic.

I think where you're likely to see that is where you're tying to receive an OTA channel over cable. The strong signal bleeds into the coax and creates a multipath issue because of the delay in the signal from the cable system.

[Kingjamez]

Goodspike... an interesting observation that I hadn't thought of. However, OTA signals are generally not at the same frequency or modulation as their cable counterparts. You might have co-channel interference at the OTA freq's but not multipath.

-Jim

[srothwell]

OK.... Finally I think I've got it from everyone here that unless I have the card (and the associated driver that Sage will use), I ain't gonna see the .tp file inside Sage.

So, I'm gonna shut up (ok... everyone stop clapping at once!) and buy the Fusion 5 Gold card.

Anyone want to offer advice on where to buy it?

The only place I see is http://www.digitalconnection.com/Pro...eo/fusion5.asp

Are they repuatable and will the ship it soon?

Thanks for all the info the last few days...

Stacy

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by srothwell

OK.... Finally I think I've got it from everyone here that unless I have the card (and the associated driver that Sage will use), I ain't gonna see the .tp file inside Sage.

I'm not sure where you got that, the card doesn't install anything special (other than decoders) that allows transport stream playback. And you don't need anything terribly special to playback TS/TP files, the only thing that used to be tricky is the demux, but Sage's MPEG Demux can handle TS/TP streams.

[srothwell]

Originally Posted by stanger89

I'm not sure where you got that, the card doesn't install anything special (other than decoders) that allows transport stream playback. And you don't need anything terribly special to playback TS/TP files, the only thing that used to be tricky is the demux, but Sage's MPEG Demux can handle TS/TP streams.

At least one other person stated that the .tp files from the DIVCO demos would only play with their special software, but stuff recorded under Sage will play fine.

All I know is that on two entirely different PC's (different MBs, different chipsets, different video cards, different CPUs - one P4 one AMD), neither one will play the .tp files outside of Sage without completely locking up both PCs. Inside Sage, the PC with AMD processor will lock up Sage. The P4 will try to play it, but with black video and a screming digital sound coming from the audio.

Now, some people have said that most of the demo files on DIVCo's web site are encoded with some special codec that will only playback in their software. They did say that there appears to be one clip that will play without their software, but I am out of town on business and the incredibly slow "hi-speed" internet connection that the beautiful Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey Hilton I'm at tops out at about 60kbps. That file is 109MB, so I'll wait until I get home.

The file is called DVB..... I thought DVB was some kind of European standard. Maybe I'm way off base.

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by srothwell

The only place I see is http://www.digitalconnection.com/Pro...eo/fusion5.asp

Are they repuatable and will the ship it soon?

Stacy,

That's where I got mine from. They were out of stock when I initially ordered, but they kept me informed of the stock status without any prompting from me. They shipped the same day that their stock came in which was about a week after I ordered if memory serves.

Here's another place that sells the Fusion Gold:

Copperbox

If I recall I've seen good reviews of this place too.

[mkanet]

Srothwell,

Just to clarify, DIVCO's demo DOES play in Windows Media Player using any Mpeg2 decoder (ie Nvidia, sonic, windvd, etc). You dont need SageTV nor DIVCO software. If it doesn't, this is a problem with the system default mpeg2 decoder/demultiplexer (used in Windows Media Player).


HOWEVER, the .ts files produced by SageTV 3.0.x using the Fusion cards can ONLY be played back by SageTV. They will NOT playback in Windows Media Player. Again, DIVCO demo .tp file WILL play on Windows Media Player, as other .ts/.tp files produced by other ATSC capture cards.

PS: The DVB demo file is the wrong one! You want to download/playback an ATSC .tp/.ts file.

Hope this helps!

Originally Posted by srothwell

At least one other person stated that the .tp files from the DIVCO demos would only play with their special software, but stuff recorded under Sage will play fine.

All I know is that on two entirely different PC's (different MBs, different chipsets, different video cards, different CPUs - one P4 one AMD), neither one will play the .tp files outside of Sage without completely locking up both PCs. Inside Sage, the PC with AMD processor will lock up Sage. The P4 will try to play it, but with black video and a screming digital sound coming from the audio.

Now, some people have said that most of the demo files on DIVCo's web site are encoded with some special codec that will only playback in their software. They did say that there appears to be one clip that will play without their software, but I am out of town on business and the incredibly slow "hi-speed" internet connection that the beautiful Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey Hilton I'm at tops out at about 60kbps. That file is 109MB, so I'll wait until I get home.

The file is called DVB..... I thought DVB was some kind of European standard. Maybe I'm way off base.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by mkanet

HOWEVER, the .ts files produced by SageTV 3.0.x using the Fusion cards can ONLY be played back by SageTV. They will NOT playback in Windows Media Player.

I don't know why they don't work for you, but AFIAK, every file I've recorded in Sage plays in WMP. All Sage does is strip out the desired subchannel.

[srothwell]

Originally Posted by mkanet

Srothwell,

Just to clarify, DIVCO's demo DOES play in Windows Media Player using any Mpeg2 decoder (ie Nvidia, sonic, windvd, etc). You dont need SageTV nor DIVCO software. If it doesn't, this is a problem with the system default mpeg2 decoder/demultiplexer (used in Windows Media Player).


HOWEVER, the .ts files produced by SageTV 3.0.x using the Fusion cards can ONLY be played back by SageTV. They will NOT playback in Windows Media Player. Again, DIVCO demo .tp file WILL play on Windows Media Player, as other .ts/.tp files produced by other ATSC capture cards.

PS: The DVB demo file is the wrong one! You want to download/playback an ATSC .tp/.ts file.

Hope this helps!

If I have some kind of a problem with the default decoder, where do I fix that problem?