Next gen HD300 replacement?

[TwistedMelon]

Alex, I'll take "Movies that start with the word JAWS" for $200

[photon]

If I get a Shield I'll probably investigate if it can interact with Insteon devices. I would prefer voice activation over motion activation of lights.

If someone ever comes up with a voice assistant that doesn't use access to the internet I'll jump in enthusiastically. :-)

[wayner]

Originally Posted by photon

If someone ever comes up with a voice assistant that doesn't use access to the internet I'll jump in enthusiastically. :-)

Why is this? You don't trust Apple/Amazon/Google?

[photon]

Originally Posted by wayner

Why is this? You don't trust Apple/Amazon/Google?

No company in particular. I'm not a fan of big data. If somebody wants what is being held it gets hacked eventually. Not to mention that once they have your data you can't take it back from them. You initially agree to one set of terms. If they change their policies to something you don't like as well or the company changes ownership what you agreed to originally doesn't matter. You either agree to the new terms or you get no service. If the company falls on hard times and funding for security is cut the risk rises. And odds are as the years go by somebody will eventually ignore what you agreed to and do what they want with your data any way. They will justify that of course. The data was old or some such.

[TwistedMelon]

Originally Posted by photon

If I get a Shield I'll probably investigate if it can interact with Insteon devices. I would prefer voice activation over motion activation of lights.

It can't (and won't ever directly). You'll need a home controller separate from Shield to handle that. But if you get a controller that supports Insteon and enabled for Google Home/Assistant, then you'll be able to issue voice commands through the Shield to manually control whatever that controller exposes - individual devices, scenes, etc.

But the big-picture for home automation controllers, is setting things up that happen automatically or at the very least are triggered by something you do that isn't a direct command - typically in groups (aka "scenes"). This includes the stuff Wayne mentioned earlier such as arriving home - and I wholeheartedly agree, some of the examples so many companies give are right out the window when you're sharing the living space and especially if you have a few kids around.

[valnar]

Back to the OP, I have three HD300's and one of them is a spare. I don't think anything compares to the Sigma based devices.

Nothing will replace it IMO until the new device does MPEG-2 and closed captions just as seamlessly. I need MPEG-2 because that's how ATSC/QAM is recorded. I need closed captions because that's what's embedded in ATSC/QAM recordings.

If we do away with recording live TV, then I would no longer need MPEG-2 or CC. But then if we did away with live TV, we wouldn't need Sage anymore.

Please developers, pick a a hardware device that does MPEG-2 and add CC, otherwise we're just spinning our wheels.

[photon]

Originally Posted by TwistedMelon

It can't (and won't ever directly). You'll need a home controller separate from Shield to handle that. But if you get a controller that supports Insteon and enabled for Google Home/Assistant, then you'll be able to issue voice commands through the Shield to manually control whatever that controller exposes - individual devices, scenes, etc.

But the big-picture for home automation controllers, is setting things up that happen automatically or at the very least are triggered by something you do that isn't a direct command - typically in groups (aka "scenes"). This includes the stuff Wayne mentioned earlier such as arriving home - and I wholeheartedly agree, some of the examples so many companies give are right out the window when you're sharing the living space and especially if you have a few kids around.

I have been using a Universal Devices ISY for years for Insteon automation via scenes and programs. Also sensing for water leaks and shutting off the water if they sense it. I think there are android apps that cost money which provide control from a phone. Maybe there is an app that will provide voice control. I haven't looked.

[TwistedMelon]

Looks like you can add devices connected via ISY to Google Home and by extension I'm assuming Assistant. ISY says "Home" but that's only a couple of specific product implementations - Google have some serious problems with marketing and branding their whole voice control platform. Once added you should technically be able to address them from Shield's voice input.

https://wiki.universal-devices.com/i...me_Integration

[photon]

Originally Posted by TwistedMelon

Looks like you can add devices connected via ISY to Google Home and by extension I'm assuming Assistant. ISY says "Home" but that's only a couple of specific product implementations - Google have some serious problems with marketing and branding their whole voice control platform. Once added you should technically be able to address them from Shield's voice input.

https://wiki.universal-devices.com/i...me_Integration

Thanks,
If I understand correctly it looks like I could do voice control right now by putting the Google Home app on my phone and subscribing to the portal service. No shield or other device needed.

[Oddity]

Valnar, completely agree, MPEG II is still required as most broadcast channels are still in this format and will be for many years to come. So if you use live tv then this is essential and why the HD300's are the only solution. For any replacement it needs to be a dedicated piece of hardware in my view.

[jm9843]

Originally Posted by Oddity

MPEG II is still required as most broadcast channels are still in this format and will be for many years to come. So if you use live tv then this is essential and why the HD300's are the only solution.

I use the Android miniclient on the Nvidia Shield TV and it's near flawless. This is with MPEG2 supplied by a HDHomeRun Prime decoding Comcast.

So the situation is a bit more nuanced than to say that the HD300 is the only solution. Ymmv.

[zoop]

Agreed, I find that MPEG2 decoding on the Shield is mostly successful. Additionally OpenDCT offers real-time transcoding as an option for less powerful android-based clients.

/jer