DVB-T Freeview in NZ

[Doubletop]

I see reports of people now getting DVB-T reception. Probably not surprising as it goes live in April

from http://www.reven.co.nz/Forum/Default...?g=posts&t=430 "I have been testing using DVBViewer with a Hauppauge Nova-T-USB2 DVB-T receiver on Vista Ultimate x86 with cyberlink h.264 codecs from just after x-mas in Hamilton. All is going well with 14 channels being received. tv1, tv2, tv3, c4, maori, tvnz6, tvnz7 (playing exact TV2 copy in 720 HD), tvnz8, Parliament + some other reserved ones and doubles. I get a two show epg, ie whats on now and next"

So something else to start tinkering with

[Doubletop]

Confirmed - I'm in Wellington and I'm getting all the DVB-T channels. So far only with the Cyberlink Power Cinema that came with the HVR 4000.

I've tried using SageTV and it hangs in "loading preview" but there's a sense of deja vu in that it may be scanning the channels.

I'll try again when I have more time

[JREkiwi]

You need a modified PredefinedDVBT.frq file to be able to scan, but the format they are transmitting is not supported in SageTV yet.

It's the same transmission format as Norway and will require a new decoder set as well as some capture changes to work. Fortunately one of the few providers of codecs that support the Video/Audio spec used in NZ and Norway is MainConcept, who are the supplier of codecs to SageTV.

I know SageTV are working on some samples, so hopefully they'll have something available before the DTT launch in April.

John

[Doubletop]

John

Thanks for the info.

I am managing to watch the DVB-T channels with cyberlink's power cinema so would assume I have the codecs, or is it the case that SageTV itself doesn't support them?

Anyway it looks promising and can't be that far from working.

Any further info on the PredefinedDVBT.frq file?

[JREkiwi]

The codecs that Power Cinema uses only work in Power Cinema. Playback isn't really a show stopper as a dev build of mencoder works too. The difficulty is that currently SageTV doesn't recognize the transmissions as being a valid stream, so can't record them. I don't have any idea about the timing of when the work needed to fix that might happen.

The modified PredefinedDVBT.frq that includes the NZ settings would look something like this one. It will allow you to at least scan the channels, so you can feel like your making some progress. You'll need to restart to pick up the new values.

John

[Doubletop]

Thanks; I'll try this once the current recordings have completed

Now I'm getting into this I have dug around for more information

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp...&topicid=19328

http://www.freeviewshop.co.nz/digita...trial-i-8.html

I see you have 5 freqs per transmitter in the .PredefinedDVBT.frq file but the information above appears to show that only 3 will be used. Is there a reason for 5 in the file, (but it probably doesn't matter)?

[JREkiwi]

Most of the transmitters will only be using 3 to start, but they have 5 frequencies reserved. Doesn't really matter, just future proofing.

John

[Doubletop]

Originally Posted by JREkiwi

The codecs that Power Cinema uses only work in Power Cinema. Playback isn't really a show stopper as a dev build of mencoder works too.

Yes; played with this a bit more at the weekend and SageTV had no problem in playing back the files recorded in PowerCinema. The HD test channel was broadcasting some stunning HD test footage.

[zzmystique]

Has anyone had any luck getting this working in SageTV yet in NZ Auckland?

Anyone experiencing audio issues? Most of time have no sound!

Thanks

[Dalmuti]

I installed the trial version yesterday to test it out.
Pretty cool program, does pretty much everything I want except there is no sound on DVB-T. Video quality is great though.
Let me know if you come across any ideas!

[zzmystique]

Found this link on the hauppauge forum - looks like it is a known issue.

http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/board/sho...t=13980&page=2

looks like uk users have had similar issues

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26229

[Doubletop]

Originally Posted by JREkiwi

I know SageTV are working on some samples, so hopefully they'll have something available before the DTT launch in April.

John

Originally Posted by Dalmuti

I installed the trial version yesterday to test it out.

Does this mean there is a fix for SageTV in one of the threads somewhere or the "trial version" Dalmuti refers to is Power Cinema?

[JREkiwi]

The latest I heard for support for NZ DVB-T from Sage was "soon". The Hauppauge HD-PVR encodes in the same format as our DVB-T transmissions, so fortunately we're no lost in the wilderness with our codec support requirement.

John

[Dalmuti]

Originally Posted by zzmystique

Found this link on the hauppauge forum - looks like it is a known issue.

http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/board/sho...t=13980&page=2

looks like uk users have had similar issues

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26229

Hmmm OK... Might just have to wait then.

In response to Doubletop I was talking about SageTV but have tried PowerCinema and couldn't get video or audio at all on that, although my card (HVR3000) isn't listed as one of the ones that is supported by it.

SageTV looks better and more configurable etc anyway.

[JREkiwi]

I'd keep an eye on the beta section, Friday afternoons (NZ time) is usually when new betas appear. With the Hauppauge HD-PVR shipping 1st May, you'd have to think there would be a SageTV release within the next few weeks.

John

[Dalmuti]

Looks like the new beta supports the audio.
"12. Add audio format supporting AAC-HE(DVB/LATM)."
Thats the right one, yes?
Will test out tonight to see.

[Dalmuti]

Doesn't load anything at all now, says it has a problem rendering the audio no matter which audio renderer I choose.
DVBviewer plays the audio fine - doesn't even seem to matter which codec you use.
Haven't had too much of a chance to play round with it though as have had to move my PC where I can't plug it into a UHF aerial.
Anyone else have any luck?

[JREkiwi]

Originally Posted by Dalmuti

Anyone else have any luck?

I've been able to capture, and play back on a PC after installing the Monogram AAC decoder and the Arcsoft H.264 codec in HD Pack 1.2, however, there is no audio when played back on an MVP or HD extender and the video is not smooth on the HD Extender. There is a bug submission for those problems and they are being worked on.

John

[zzmystique]

Slightly off topic - but maybe someone here with experience of HD in NZ could advise what settings to choose for converting HD recordings to burn to DVD with sound?

[JREkiwi]

Just a little update on NZ DVB-T in SageTV 6.4.4

There have been a couple of changes

1. TV3 is now transmitting dual audio streams AC3/HE-AAC with the AC3 stream flagged as the primary audio stream.

2. SageTV now plays the TV3 H.264 1080i video smoothly on the HD extender with AC3 audio (no HE-AAC audio). The MVP no longer plays the 1080i smoothly, with picture breakup on movement and pans , but we do get audio now.

3. SageTV no longer plays the TVNZ/Maori H.264 720p/576i smoothly on the MVP. Looks similar to the pausing playback that I get with these channels on the HD extender. All of these only have HE-AAC audio, so no audio on HD Extender and MVP.

John