Does HDHR Prime = HDPVR?

[SDeGonge]

I currently have a HDPVR and cable box connect to SageTV. I'm looking at options to get more tuners without having to shell out big bucks for additional HDPVRs and cable box rentals.

Will the HDHR Prime do this for me? I see it takes a cable card and has 3 tuners which, on the surface, seems to do what my current setup has X 3.

If true then I have a few more questions...

1. Does the HDHR Prime work the same way as my HDPVR? Meaning...does it tune to a station and stream to SageTV so I can view, record, schedule?
2. How does it stream to SageTV? I only see an Ethernet connection.
3. How does SageTV see 3 tuners and how does it handle tuning? Any plug-ins required?
4. Does it tune quicker than the HDPVR? It takes my system about 7 seconds to change the channel.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by SDeGonge

I currently have a HDPVR and cable box connect to SageTV. I'm looking at options to get more tuners without having to shell out big bucks for additional HDPVRs and cable box rentals.

Will the HDHR Prime do this for me? I see it takes a cable card and has 3 tuners which, on the surface, seems to do what my current setup has X 3.

If true then I have a few more questions...

1. Does the HDHR Prime work the same way as my HDPVR? Meaning...does it tune to a station and stream to SageTV so I can view, record, schedule?
2. How does it stream to SageTV? I only see an Ethernet connection.
3. How does SageTV see 3 tuners and how does it handle tuning? Any plug-ins required?
4. Does it tune quicker than the HDPVR? It takes my system about 7 seconds to change the channel.

SageTV will not record DRM'd content it can record all non protected from the Prime. You will need a Network encoder like OpenDCT as sageTV does not natively support the prime.

[SDeGonge]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

SageTV will not record DRM'd content it can record all non protected from the Prime. You will need a Network encoder like OpenDCT as sageTV does not natively support the prime.

That's a show-stopper for me. I just put my cable into diagnostics mode and was able to see what channels are 'copyonce'...about half of 'em

So how does the HDPVR manage to get away with not having DRM restrictions?

[wayner]

Originally Posted by SDeGonge

That's a show-stopper for me. I just put my cable into diagnostics mode and was able to see what channels are 'copyonce'...about half of 'em

So how does the HDPVR manage to get away with not having DRM restrictions?

The HD-PVR uses the A(nalog) hole. Component output is an analog standard that has no copy protection. There has been talk of disabling this output in some current cable boxes and/or you may not see component outputs on boxes in the future

HDMI does have copy protection but there are some devices that ignore or strip the copy protection.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by SDeGonge

That's a show-stopper for me. I just put my cable into diagnostics mode and was able to see what channels are 'copyonce'...about half of 'em

So how does the HDPVR manage to get away with not having DRM restrictions?

Because it's recording the analog output of a box that can decode DRM'd streams.

[phantomii]

So one thing you can do is use an HDHomerun Prime to view/record the non protected channels and use the HDPVR to view/record the protected channels. You can then set the tuner priority so SageTV uses the HD primes first and only skips to the HDPVR if you wanna view/record protected channels. Works well for me...

[UgaData]

Originally Posted by phantomii

So one thing you can do is use an HDHomerun Prime to view/record the non protected channels and use the HDPVR to view/record the protected channels. You can then set the tuner priority so SageTV uses the HD primes first and only skips to the HDPVR if you wanna view/record protected channels. Works well for me...

Or create a second line-up just for the HDPVR and only have the premium channels in it.

[SDeGonge]

Originally Posted by UgaData

Or create a second line-up just for the HDPVR and only have the premium channels in it.

My hope was to get rid of the HDPVR/CableBox. If I can't do that then there's no point in adding the HDPVR.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by SDeGonge

My hope was to get rid of the HDPVR/CableBox. If I can't do that then there's no point in adding the HDPVR.

I wouldn't say that, depending on the networks you use, an HDHR Prime can reduce the load on your HDPVR and cable box. A Prime would give you more tuners for the "half" of your channels that are copy freely, that's not "no point" if you ask me. It might be enough to save you a cable box rental.

Or heck it it might even eliminate it if you don't watch the Copy Once channels.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by stanger89

I wouldn't say that, depending on the networks you use, an HDHR Prime can reduce the load on your HDPVR and cable box. A Prime would give you more tuners for the "half" of your channels that are copy freely, that's not "no point" if you ask me. It might be enough to save you a cable box rental.

Or heck it it might even eliminate it if you don't watch the Copy Once channels.

I completely agree with this. Back when I used 2 STB's, I augmented them with a dual ClearQAM tuner that was able to get the locals from my cable company. Since cable programs often air the same episode many times and local channels usually once, this actually worked really well at the time. Once CableCARD tuners came out, I kinda went nuts though.

[SDeGonge]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

I completely agree with this. Back when I used 2 STB's, I augmented them with a dual ClearQAM tuner that was able to get the locals from my cable company. Since cable programs often air the same episode many times and local channels usually once, this actually worked really well at the time. Once CableCARD tuners came out, I kinda went nuts though.

I hear ya. I currently have 2 Clear QAM tuners doing exactly that in addition to the HDPVR.

[SDeGonge]

Originally Posted by stanger89

I wouldn't say that, depending on the networks you use, an HDHR Prime can reduce the load on your HDPVR and cable box. A Prime would give you more tuners for the "half" of your channels that are copy freely, that's not "no point" if you ask me. It might be enough to save you a cable box rental.

Or heck it it might even eliminate it if you don't watch the Copy Once channels.

So with DRM protected channels are you able to still pause/rewind?

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by SDeGonge

So with DRM protected channels are you able to still pause/rewind?

Sage has no concept of DRM. If a recording has DRM, Sage can't play it.
If a channel has DRM, Sage can't record it, unless something else removes the DRM first.

If you are using an HD-PVR connected to the component video outputs of a cable box, then the cable box is tuning the digital channel, making sure you are authorized to view that channel, decoding the digital stream and outputting an analog signal with no copy protection or DRM. The HD-PVR grabs this unprotected analog signal and encodes it into a digital format. Regardless of whether the original signal had DRM or not, this new digital file produced by the HD-PVR will be free of DRM. So Sage can play it (fast forward, rewind, whatever), and have no idea whether or not the original channel was broadcast with DRM. This all happens in real time, so you can watch live tv too.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by SDeGonge

So with DRM protected channels are you able to still pause/rewind?

No, Sage can't handle DRM at all.

What we're saying is that if half of your channels are Copy Freely, you can use an HDHR Prime for those, leaving your more limited supply of STB/HD-PVRs to record those fewer channels that are Copy Once.

Depending on the channels you watch, that might be enough that you don't need more STBs/HDPVRs.

[SDeGonge]

Originally Posted by stanger89

No, Sage can't handle DRM at all.

What we're saying is that if half of your channels are Copy Freely, you can use an HDHR Prime for those, leaving your more limited supply of STB/HD-PVRs to record those fewer channels that are Copy Once.

Depending on the channels you watch, that might be enough that you don't need more STBs/HDPVRs.

I understand now...thanks guys.