Sage TV windows and Hauppauge HD PVR

[htpcmaniac]

I'm incredibly interested in the Hauppauge HD PVR. I'm looking at the $275 bundle with Sage. I haven't used this software before, so I have some questions for everyone.

Right now, I have a dual core Intel 820 processor based system running a 3Ware RAID card with 4 1TB drives in a RAID-5 setup. Will this machine be able to run the HD PVR device? If I were to upgrade the processor to a 690G based board with a fast processor, will it be able to capture and replay?

Will I have any issues if I use one machine to capture and then watch the video live across a network with another machine?

I'm sort of deciding as to whether I should have a server connected to the PVR/cable box and then two clients or if one of these clients should act as the server as well. I'm also wondering if a wireless N network will be fast enough to stream the HD video that is captured. Also, will I need an additional license for each machine?

Any thoughts anyone might have would be appreciated.

[Beefcake550]

You machine is more than enough to do the capturing of the video, but I'm not so sure about the playback.

What I would do is get the bundle, and along with it, get the HDX-100 extender (or 2 in your case - one for each TV) and use the current machine for the server/storage duties while the extenders will function as the STBs (set top boxes).

That will probably yield the best performance all around (and save some money).

Unelss you want to fool around with gettign smooth and reliable h264 playback - I'm doign this now), the extenders are the way to go. I'd get one right now, if they had them in stock.

Good Luck.

The reason I went with a client PC was because I already had the system in house and didnthave to spend moeny on it. Also, the extender doesn't do HD Audio formats like Dolby TruHD and DTS-MA. I believe it can down-convert them or you can change them into FLAC, but I chose not to go down that route.

-Brian

[htpcmaniac]

That might be a good solution. There's too much potential for time wasting with a PC. Can the HD device play ISO's from a NAS? Can it play MP3's flocc and other media files?

Also, does anyone know the bandwidth needed to stream these files? The spec just says a 10/100 connection. I'm looking at doing wireless bridging of two N routers via WDS.

[Chriscic]

The HD-100 plays most media files really well. It won't transcode DTS to stereo though and won't play some 1080p files well (latter not Sage's fault... video must be encoded peoperly).

I've had a lot of problems with the SageTV HD-DVR, HD-100 combo. Audio sync is off, the HD-PVR files don't play 100% smoothly (close), and PC playback is a mess. Not to mention no-one has any idea when the 5.1 capable driver will arrive.

Others have had better luck, but I believe more have had problems... I wouldn't make the investment until things get worked out (if they do).

[Roadtrip]

Another NewB here, so forgive my ignorance. Along the same lines of the OP, I too am looking at setting up my home theater with a HTPC and media extenders. I currently have a DLInk DSM520 to pipe over music and picutres, but it's pretty limited in what it can do. I was looking at the Popcorn Hour A110 so I could rip my blu-rays and home movies to my PC and feed them to PCH-110 in another room. That was until I cam accross The Hauppauge HD PVR and SageTV package; with the ability to record HDTV as well as channel all my other media through extenders, it is REALLY peaking my interest.

Now to my questions - I have my PC (a quad core) in my home office, and I'm not interested in moving it next to the TV in my living room. Starting there, can I run the Hauppauge/set-top box/PC in my home office and still use the SageTV extender to get the guide/change channels/pause&record shows in my living room? Also, what would I need to make it work in my other two rooms (master and game room); would I need additional set-top boxes in the home office to go with additional extenders in each room to view different channels (not necessarily with the ability to use the PVR)?

Thanks again.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Roadtrip

Another NewB here, so forgive my ignorance. Along the same lines of the OP, I too am looking at setting up my home theater with a HTPC and media extenders. I currently have a DLInk DSM520 to pipe over music and picutres, but it's pretty limited in what it can do. I was looking at the Popcorn Hour A110 so I could rip my blu-rays and home movies to my PC and feed them to PCH-110 in another room. That was until I cam accross The Hauppauge HD PVR and SageTV package; with the ability to record HDTV as well as channel all my other media through extenders, it is REALLY peaking my interest.

Now to my questions - I have my PC (a quad core) in my home office, and I'm not interested in moving it next to the TV in my living room. Starting there, can I run the Hauppauge/set-top box/PC in my home office and still use the SageTV extender to get the guide/change channels/pause&record shows in my living room?

Absolutely, my Dish box, HD PVR, and server are tucked in a corner in my utility room with nothing connecting them to the rest of the house but the ethernet, which connects to extenders.

Also, what would I need to make it work in my other two rooms (master and game room); would I need additional set-top boxes in the home office to go with additional extenders in each room to view different channels (not necessarily with the ability to use the PVR)?

All you need in other rooms are extenders. Tuners/encoders (which include STBs) are completely separate from clients, which means you don't have a tuner assigned to each client, you have a "pool" of tuners which are used acording to need (recordings + live TV). So you need enough tuners (encoder/STB) to handle as many simultaneous recordings+liveTV as you expect to need.

[Roadtrip]

Originally Posted by stanger89

All you need in other rooms are extenders. Tuners/encoders (which include STBs) are completely separate from clients, which means you don't have a tuner assigned to each client, you have a "pool" of tuners which are used acording to need (recordings + live TV). So you need enough tuners (encoder/STB) to handle as many simultaneous recordings+liveTV as you expect to need.

If I understand correctly, I could have one cable box with the Hauppauge HD-DVR connected and another without it connected, and use both of those among three rooms (as long as all three TV's aren't running at the same time).

How does SageTV HD Extender compare to the PCH-110? I know the PCH will easily play MKV's as well as virtually anything else you throw at it, but I haven't seen a way of controlling a cable/dish box with TV guides. Is there a front end to go with the PCH that works with the SageTV MC (I really like having a HD attached to the extender). But if I can rip my BluRays in my home office and store them on a NAS or other HD and pipe them throughout the three areas of the house through SageTV HD extenders, then it sounds like the perfect setup.

Also, can you choose which tuner you're going to use from the extenders? IE, if I'm in the master bed room and decide I want to record something I'm watching, can I do that as long as I'm not already connected to that tuner/HD-PVR from another extender?

Thanks again, and sorry if these are dumb questions!

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Roadtrip

If I understand correctly, I could have one cable box with the Hauppauge HD-DVR connected and another without it connected, and use both of those among three rooms (as long as all three TV's aren't running at the same time).

Not sure what you mean by "another without it connected". You need 1 tuner setup for each liveTV and/or recording you want to do simultaneous.

How does SageTV HD Extender compare to the PCH-110?

You mean the Popcorn Hour A110? The HD100 is almost hardware equivalent to the A100.

I know the PCH will easily play MKV's as well as virtually anything else you throw at it, but I haven't seen a way of controlling a cable/dish box with TV guides.

The HD100 plays almost anything.

Is there a front end to go with the PCH that works with the SageTV MC (I really like having a HD attached to the extender).

Not that I'm aware of, but I've never looked.

But if I can rip my BluRays in my home office and store them on a NAS or other HD and pipe them throughout the three areas of the house through SageTV HD extenders, then it sounds like the perfect setup.

You can, but you need to make sure to use a compatible container and audio codec (DD or DTS basically).

Also, can you choose which tuner you're going to use from the extenders? IE, if I'm in the master bed room and decide I want to record something I'm watching, can I do that as long as I'm not already connected to that tuner/HD-PVR from another extender?

No you can't choose an encoder, the user has no idea what tuners are available. If you're watching, you're already recording it, selecting "Record" in Sage basically just changes the status so it's not deleted when you stop.

[Roadtrip]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Not sure what you mean by "another without it connected". You need 1 tuner setup for each liveTV and/or recording you want to do simultaneous.

Sorry, that was a confusing way of wording that. What I was thinking was I could get just one HD-PVR and have two cable set-top-boxes with one of the STB's connected to the HD-PVR and handling all recording.

But as I thought about that, I realized that the one STB without a Hauppague HD-PVR would have no way of connecting to the HTPC; so I guess I'll need one HD-PVR to go with each STB, correct? If so, this plan is getting a lot more expensive!

[stanger89]

Or you could connect it to an SD tuner.

[Roadtrip]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Or you could connect it to an SD tuner.

Stanger,

Thanks for your replies. All the TV's in the house that I'd be getting extenders for are HD, so an SD tuner would defeat the purpose of the HDTV.

If I understand all of this correctly (highly doubtful ), in order to have HD cable TV tuning available to all three HDTV's at the same time through SageTV, I would need the following:

1 PC running SageTV in a back room (running it elsewhere is non-negotiable - the PC stays in the home office)
3 Set-top boxes from the cable company at the PC
3 Hauppauge PVR's at the PC (roughly seven Franklins)
3 SageTV HD extenders at each HDTV (another six Franklins)

From this setup, I should be able to tune to whatever station I want, record it if I want, watch a previous recording, watch a ripped blu-ray or DVD, stream music and pictures at any of the three TV's... all at the same time, and all through SageTV's extender interface (with the cool interface, guides, etc)???? Of course, I could knock one STB/PVR/Extender off the list if I don't mind only having two of the HDTV's available to operate at the same time.

It would also appear that I'll need a lot more Franklins for the muliti raid arrays to keep up with all the media that this setup could gobble up!

BTW, what year Pony you running (I'm guessing an '89)?