Going HD

[Vitalogy]

This week I buy my first TVHD and I get a free HD set-top box for 1 year. I was wondering what this change involve...

To me it seem as easy as

1. Unplug the old set-top box.
2. Plug the new HD set-top box.
3. Configure USB-UIRT so it can control the new set-top box.
4. Will probably want to change the quality of recording in SageTV
5. Enjoy!

However I'm afraid that I forget something and it will not be as easy...

About the quality of recording, can I define a quality for each channel? Because not all channel broadcast in HD it would make sense to increase the quality of recording only for those channels.


I'm confused, do I need to change my Hauppauge card (PVR-350) and buy the HD PVR?

[GKusnick]

If you just swap out the STB and connect your existing analog capture card to the new STB's S-Video or composite output, it will work but you won't be recording in HD. You'll be recording downconverted SD. When you play it back on your big-screen HDTV it will look like low-res SDTV blown up to giant size.

If you want to record in HD, you have several choices.

You can record clear QAM channels straight off the coax using a digital tuner card, but typically you'll get just your local broadcast channels this way, no upper-tier cable channels (which require an STB to decode).

If your new STB supports Firewire, you might be able to get a few more channels that way.

Or you can use an HD-PVR to record everything your STB receives. This is closest to the setup you have now.

[Djc208]

Originally Posted by Vitalogy

I'm confused, do I need to change my Hauppauge card (PVR-350) and buy the HD PVR?

No need to get rid of the Hauppage card. You can connect the cable directly to the 350, you won't get all the channels but you'd still get all of the unscrambled SD channels, which aren't going to look any better on the HD PVR anyway.

[Vitalogy]

Ah thank you! I'm happy to learn that at least it will work.
When I get some more money I will want to improve my system but it's good to know than meanwhile I will not have to look at a blank screen.

[Djc208]

Originally Posted by Vitalogy

Ah thank you! I'm happy to learn that at least it will work.
When I get some more money I will want to improve my system but it's good to know than meanwhile I will not have to look at a blank screen.

Oh, you can plug the STB into the 350 same as before, but as GKusnick said it won't be HD video, just SD like before.

However if you did get an HD-PVR you can continue to use the 350 without the cable box as above which would give you two tuners.

My advice would be to hook the HD box up to your TV to enjoy the HD video, and just record your unscrambled SD channels via the 350.

[Vitalogy]

Originally Posted by Djc208

My advice would be to hook the HD box up to your TV to enjoy the HD video, and just record your unscrambled SD channels via the 350.

Good idea. My provider offer what they call "Multivision" (Multivision let you watch different channels on each of your TVs without additional set top box.) I will ask more info on that and ask what channels I have access to.



I looked again at the Hauppauge HD PVR... If I understand correctly, this HD PVR can record video but it can't read them, correct? I guess it mean that to use SageTV I need to plug my computer directly to my TV like if I used my TV as computer monitor? (it would be OK, my TV has a RGB(PC) jack input)

I've read the following in this blog:

The software does not allow full screen viewing of the program being recorded so if you want to watch the program while it is being recorded in full screen, you will need to watch the HDTV component inputs rather than the PC input. That brings up another important point. The Hauppauge 1212 HD-PVR Video Capture device does not allow stored programs to be played back via the component outputs, but rather only through the PC video card. That means in order to fully use the capabilities of the Hauppauge 1212 HD-PVR Video Capture device you will need to have a HDTV and computer that will work together. That will be a problem for many HDTVs that do not have PC input capabilities.

Just to be sure,
Can I still pause and rewind live TV shows? The part in bold confuse me (but maybe it's only my English that fail, French being my first language)

[TallMomof2]

If you go for the HDPVR then the easiest playback option is to use the HD-200 extender sold by Sage. Your other option is to use a PC hooked up to your TV for playback. With either option you get all the PVR features of pause and rewind.

[Djc208]

Originally Posted by Vitalogy

I looked again at the Hauppauge HD PVR... If I understand correctly, this HD PVR can record video but it can't read them, correct? I guess it mean that to use SageTV I need to plug my computer directly to my TV like if I used my TV as computer monitor? (it would be OK, my TV has a RGB(PC) jack input)

Yes, the HD PVR can't play back video, just record. The other set of jacks allows the signal to pass through to a TV so you could watch it when not recording (or watch what you're recording) but that's it. So your computer's graphics card would have to be attached directly to the TV for playback.

Just to be sure,
Can I still pause and rewind live TV shows? The part in bold confuse me (but maybe it's only my English that fail, French being my first language)

Correct, playback of the files through Sage is no different than any other recordings. The biggest problem with the HD PVR is that the h.264 files are more difficult to play in that they require either a more powerful CPU or specialized hardware found in newer GPUs or the HD Extender.