Magewell HDMI Capture Devices

[KryptoNyte]

I wonder if something like this would work in Sage, they claim to be directshow compatible, and Linux compatible;

HDMI capture (up to 8 channel audio they claim);
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074JFXJG6/

And an adapter to fit my older Pcie computer;
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GCXCR7W/

I've been reading about the pcie/m.2 based product line from Magewell for the past couple hours and these look like solid capture devices. Pricey, but solid. If you had a kidney to sell, they do (4) at once with this one;
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0178DV064/

There are a bunch of fairly in-depth reviews of their products on Youtube.

[JustFred]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

I wonder if something like this would work in Sage, they claim to be directshow compatible, and Linux compatible;

Unfortunately, there's a lot of "creative" ways that manufacturers implement directshow support. Having recently worked on some of the Sage open-source code to add/fix support for some Hauppauge "directshow-compatible" capture devices, I'd say there's no way to know if it'll work until somebody actually tries it.

[wayner]

The other potential downside to those devices is that I am betting that they will respect HDCP whereas the BM-1000 ones don't.

[fresnoboy]

Originally Posted by wayner

The other potential downside to those devices is that I am betting that they will respect HDCP whereas the BM-1000 ones don't.

HDCP is nothing to worry about. There are a number of cheap HDMI splitters that effectively strip HDCP. Even the amazon reviews explicitly call out these units...

Would definitely be interesting if these can be made to work reliably as encoders.

thx
mike

[KryptoNyte]

I have the parts ordered, should know sometime this week.

[KryptoNyte]

Poop. I just received the following email from Magewell;

"Pro Capture device could support capturing 5.1 channle audio. However the directshow API could only stereo audio, so it is impossible to capture 5.1 audio by SageTV. The only way is to develop the application by yourself and integrate our SDK to the application, thus you can capture 5.1 channel audio"

I would imagine adding this capture device to SageTV is a bigger job than me just donating one of these devices to the developer?

[KryptoNyte]

Using Magewell's own capture software, the video is crystal clear (it's pretty much perfection), but the multi-channel audio needs guidance as they didn't take their software that far. SageTV doesn't recognize the capture device. If anyone is interested in seeing the mp4 file that this Magewell device produces, please PM me.

I'm absolutely amazed that this tiny little m.2 device can capture like this on two separate inputs for less than what I paid for my first two HDPVR's - if this device could work in SageTV, my search for a capture device that future-proofs Sage would be over.

Any takers that understand how to integrate a directshow capture device in Sage? If so, you'll get one of these dual capture devices shipped to your house for free. If not, is it even reasonable to provide some guidance for a non-programmer like me to work to integrate this into Sage?

[baudfather]

Doesn't the Timmoore FireWire capture method use graphedit / directshow filters to do just this? My memory's a little hazy but I'm guessing it would depend on the type of stream created by the device?

[wayner]

@KryptoNyte - How much does it cost for the dual capture version?

[KryptoNyte]

Originally Posted by wayner

@KryptoNyte - How much does it cost for the dual capture version?

The one from my link is $350.

[KryptoNyte]

Originally Posted by baudfather

Doesn't the Timmoore FireWire capture method use graphedit / directshow filters to do just this? My memory's a little hazy but I'm guessing it would depend on the type of stream created by the device?

I don't know, I've never looked at the Firewire capture method. Magewell's website does show graphedit as compatible. I didn't realize how raw this piece of hardware is - Magewell sells the hardware, provides their SDK, and then developer writes it into their software.

Where would I find more info on this?

[MattHelm]

Guys, I know nothing about any of this, but since the card is compatible with VLC, could you use VLC and restream the feed somehow so SageTV could use it? (Talking about the Magewell card)

[JustFred]

To get an idea of what might be needed to get Sage to recognize this card, it would be helpful to see the Sage log file. Stop and then restart Sage; wait 1-2 minutes, capture sagetv_0.txt and post it.

I'm assuming this is running on Windows?

It might be best to move further discussion of the Magewell to it's own thread.

[KryptoNyte]

Originally Posted by JustFred

To get an idea of what might be needed to get Sage to recognize this card, it would be helpful to see the Sage log file. Stop and then restart Sage; wait 1-2 minutes, capture sagetv_0.txt and post it.

I'm assuming this is running on Windows?

It might be best to move further discussion of the Magewell to it's own thread.

I'll grab a log file tonight. Yes, Windows 7 64bit. And yes, sorry, should have started a new thread. Maybe Opus will break this discussion out into a new thread if he decides to.

ENE created a generic pipe capture in OpenDCT here;
https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63823

Would this be a way to capture with the Magewell product line?

[KryptoNyte]

I installed this device;

http://www.magewell.com/eco-capture-dual-hdmi-m-2

With this adapter;

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GCXCR7W/

On this motherboard;

https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Motherbo...H-B3-rev-13#ov

I started the SageTV service and let it run for a couple minutes, started the UI briefly, and then stopped the service - the log file is attached. Also attached is a jpg image of device manager with the Magewell hardware installed.

[JustFred]

Looking closer at the specs for this device:

1. It won't capture HDCP (protected) content, so an HDMI splitter is needed.
2. No h.264 compression in hardware (which probably explains the low price), so expect high CPU utilization (especially with 4K) if you want h.264
3. Audio is probably limited to stereo

Are any of these show-stoppers for you?

[will]

Originally Posted by JustFred

3. Audio is probably limited to stereo

I am really surprised by that, it seems like all the HDMI recording devices don't do 5.1 audio. I just got an HD PVR 60 and it is only stereo.

I just don't understand why, do you think there are licensing fees or some other technical reason why?

The magwell device, the HD PVR 60, the BM1000, none of them do 5.1 over HDMI.

[KryptoNyte]

Originally Posted by JustFred

Looking closer at the specs for this device:

1. It won't capture HDCP (protected) content, so an HDMI splitter is needed.
2. No h.264 compression in hardware (which probably explains the low price), so expect high CPU utilization (especially with 4K) if you want h.264
3. Audio is probably limited to stereo

Are any of these show-stoppers for you?

1. Correct
2. I believe this is correct, no h.264 in the hardware, but it does allow you to select other PC hardware that is capable. I selected the Intel-hardware option in their software and am seeing about 10% CPU (2500k at 4.2 ghz) while recording 1 capture device to 1080p 60fps. The device that I purchased is not capable of 4k.
3. The audio situation is actually what drew me to the hardware. The hardware claims to be capable of capturing up to 8 channels of audio per capture device (I assume it was originally intended for 7.1 channel HD audio, but who knows). I have contacted the Chinese manufacturer directly to ask if any of the software in their compatibility list was already capable of recording 6 channels (including Magewell's own capture software), and he confirmed there is none. This leads me to believe that the 5.1 channel audio would not be a "pass-thru" digital as we would like it to be, but it would have to be "guided" and re-encoded by SageTV. If this device just plain can't do the audio, then I can't see any reason to select it over the network encoders that folks have been purchasing over the past year or so.

One more thing that I would add as a negative is that I have captured some 1080p 30 fps and 60 fps video using Magewell's own capture software, and when playing some of those files back on the HD300, they will occasionally leave the HD300 spinning for a long time at the end of the file.

Maybe I was just overly optimistic here.

[KryptoNyte]

Originally Posted by will

I am really surprised by that, it seems like all the HDMI recording devices don't do 5.1 audio. I just got an HD PVR 60 and it is only stereo.

I just don't understand why, do you think there are licensing fees or some other technical reason why?

The magwell device, the HD PVR 60, the BM1000, none of them do 5.1 over HDMI.

I read up on the Dolby Digital (AC3) licensing situation last night and concluded that it may have appeared to expire in 2017, but that Dolby labs are experts at protecting their technology, and all the conversations led to having to hire patent attorneys to determine if AC3 licensing requirements have truly expired. On the other hand, these companies could pay for the licensing per device, I just have a feeling that 5.1 channel audio must not be in high demand. I have also been in contact with numerous manufacturers of the network encoders, and all of them have confirmed they are only stereo audio.

I believe the HDPVR2 is the only HDMI device that I'm aware of that is 5.1 channel capable, and isn't that even coming in via optical?

[trk2]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

I believe the HDPVR2 is the only HDMI device that I'm aware of that is 5.1 channel capable, and isn't that even coming in via optical?

The Colossus variants will also capture 5.1 including 5.1 over HDMI but I've never had much luck doing so reliably. The audio will typically be out of sync, particularly on long recordings such as movies or sporting events. This will occur in Sage and using Hauppauge's recording software.