BM1000-HDMI (HDMI Encoder) Review

[KryptoNyte]

I just realized ENE (the Original Poster) developed this and had it working almost 6 years ago. I'm one of the 'late adopters' apparently.

[TGsell]

Thanks for the information - I might give it a try.

[TGsell]

Thanks to all on this thread especially KryptoNote, i picked up one of the single channel Uray encoders on Amazon - configured using OpenDCT and the advice on this thread and I have to say the quality is pretty amazing. vs my HDPVRs ...
Also, for tuning since I was already set up with tuning multiple WMC boxes, I just copied the tuning over to the new URay 'video source' and it works perfectly. I will try to add the STOP command later tonight.

Now I am tempted to buy another and replace both HDPVRs but will wait it out a bit to make sure this isnt premature. On my Andriod miniclients (FireStick 4ks) I did have to play around a bit and use IJK, however it works. Thanks again - just when I thought I was done improving the system... it never ends....

[wayner]

The other advantage of this is that it should also work to capture 4K content, or at least a 4K version of the Uray will.

[KryptoNyte]

Originally Posted by TGsell

Thanks to all on this thread especially KryptoNote ...

For the record, EnterNoEscape is the guy you want to thank. I'm just a user. He made this possible.

[TGsell]

Thanks EnterNoEscape! terrific additions to an already powerful product.

[TGsell]

Just ordered another one (single input URay) (I should have ordered the 4 input but lacked confidence...). Tuning is just about instant. Stop feature is perfect. Will tweak video settings eventually but started with KrytoNyte's (eg 12000 bitrate, etc) and quality is superb - especially on HD300 and 55" OLED but Firesticks are working perfectly too. I am hoping that when I am running two encoders that they are reliable (as SDSEAN reported there might be an occasional hiccup) . ANy suggestions on the HDPVR2s other than EBay?
Also -- I am using the RawSageTVConsumerImpl decode whereas others have reported the DynamicConsumerImpl .... not exactly sure why but will tweak that as well. thanks all for trying this early - hope others can benefit...

[KryptoNyte]

Originally Posted by TGsell

Just ordered another one (single input URay) (I should have ordered the 4 input but lacked confidence...).

I worry a little about spending so much on one device with 4 tuners. Any small hardware failure and you lose all 4 tuners/encoders. I don't think it's such a bad idea to ramp up your system one single-tuner at a time.

Glad you got it working ... including the STOP command which turns out to be big on stability.

[KryptoNyte]

Just wanted to follow up on the 4-tuner device:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TKMPCZH/

It's been the most stable, smooth solution I've found at this point (using WMC Live Tuners via Xbox360's), vs. any of the Hauppauge products (HDPVR, Colossus, HDPVR2). Once in a while I miss the 5.1 channel audio, but 98% of the time I'm watching TV now on a system with TV speakers only, so it doesn't much matter. The only glitches usually have to do with one of the Xbox360's getting disco'd from the WMC7 server somehow, and not being able to auto reconnect without a complete system reboot.

The other great option is to build your system one tuner at a time like TGsell, if you didn't want to drop the bank on the 4-tuner unit.

[TGsell]

Completely agree -- had I know how good the 'single' would work I would have sprung for the quad. Terrfic compatability with Sage via OPEN DCT, WmcLive Tuner and has a host of settings for optimization. One question KryptoNyte; do why do you need the Xboxs? My setup is MiniPC running WMC --> URay encoder and I do not need to strip HDCP (which can be done easily for $15 anyway)

[KryptoNyte]

The Xbox360's are network connected media extenders for WMC7 (similar to an HD300 for Sage). (4) of those currently provide the image and audio (via HDMI cables only) to the 4-tuner encoder. So my SageTV system consists of a Win7 PC running both Sage and WMC7 using a 6-tuner Ceton pcie tuner, (4) Xbox360 [extenders] on the same network as the SageTV PC, and the 4-tuner encoder device - that's it. Oh, and there is a tuning adapter plugged into the Win7 PC via USB to help the cablecard with the little amount of SDV channels from the cable service (not even sure there are any SDV channels right now).

When I dismantled all my HDPVR2's, I was amazed at how many cords I removed from the overall SageTV system.

[TGsell]

Thats a nice setup. Comparing the investment in Xboxs vs MiniPCs running WMC, it's likely a lot cheaper especially if you are tuning (4) cable cards as you are. I don't often need to record more than 2 cable channels at the same time (My OTA is perfect) , so it works for me and it probably as stable as the Xboxs or nearly the same. I probably go a month without any kind of reboot.... it's acceptable.

[KryptoNyte]

Yeah, it's just the one cable card with 6 tuners. The investment is substantial up front (well okay, the Xbox360's were cheap used on Ebay), but it's just a one time cost, unlike the recurring costs of set-top-boxes and cable company DVR fees.

It sounds like you have your system dialed in well, nice work!

[Melancholy Man]

Can someone point me to a post that explains and shows how to configure Sage to work with this encoder box? Kind of confused to how Sage captures an IP stream to record it.

Thank you,

Dan

[peternm22]

Originally Posted by Melancholy Man

Can someone point me to a post that explains and shows how to configure Sage to work with this encoder box?

I believe this is thread has the instructions: https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63823

[KryptoNyte]

These are the instructions that I used:

https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63855

I'm not sure how it differs from the "generic pipe" but I believe it was intended for use with these specific network encoders.

[TGsell]

That link should get him there - OpenDCT is the key and once it's recognized there, one will be able to add it as a source on Sage. The final key is in the OPENDCT properties for that specific device. The first one is relatively easy, adding additional encoders takes a little more time but it's logical.

[sdsean]

I just saw the thread bump and realized I should have commented more recently. I'm now running 3 URay single input H264/265 boxes and finally dumped my last HDPVR. The 3rd one is slightly different as it's LEDs are only single color but from what I can tell otherwise it works the same.

Ever since dropping my HDPVR i haven't run into a single lock up . . . it's been rock solid.

[wayner]

Thanks for the feedback Sean. Any disadvantages? I guess stereo sound, but that isn't a very big deal to me.

[sdsean]

Besides stereo sound (which yeah I don't care about that either), the only complaint I have is that they are initially setup with a hard-coded IP with a subnet of 192.168.1.

So. . .you have to set up your gateway (aka your router) to use that subnet at least initially even if you don't want to leave it that way, so that you can configure and talk to the thing. It doesn't have any kind of CLI for you to set it up with some other subnet from the start from what I can tell.

Totally minor annoyance though.