HD and Satellite-what's everyone doing???

[JUC]

Hey all!
Well, I just found out that I am elligible through the DNS service to receive my local broadcasts in HD by satellite. This is because where i live I cannot receive any OTA signals. The reason I have not made the switch to HD yet is because I thought I could not receive any local channels--which make up my primary viewing. This is huge for me now as I just purchased a 42" Plasma so having local HD would be awesome! So, obviously i can't record these HD channels in Sage without a very expensive mod which i do not intend to do. So, for those people out there that do not have OTA reception and or do have HD coming in from a satellite provider--What are you doing? I was thinking I could use sage for all my normal SD viewing and then when i want to watch a local or Discovery I could switch the inputs and watch it on the HD STB--of course no PVR though--and seems like a PITA. I could always get the HD DVR for $400 or so and just use sage for the media stuff (which is kind of what I am leaning towards now) but i really would hate to do that and lose sage PVR functionality.

As an aside: I'm thinking--through studio, is it possible to have the guide show all channels for directv SD and HD--and if I select a HD channel make it prompt me to change inputs on my TV or something and not record in sage?? I dunno.

Mods: If this belongs in another thread feel free to move it. It has flavors of General discussion, Hardware and even Studio now. Although the intent of this thread is not studio related and just an afterthought...

Thanks,
JUC

[KJake]

I you don't want to get the mod (which is very expensive, I agree), then I think the only hope would be to capture via the components if you still want to capture. I don't think it will be HD anymore though, so you're kinda screwed.

[JUC]

ya, that's the whole problem--it won't be HD running through sage. I really don't need to capture the shows in HD--i just want a way to be able to link them somehow or see what others are doing. I guess the easiest would just be to switch the tv input when i want to watch HD--live tv only though.

Has anyone tried the Directv HD DVR? That looks like my only option for PVR functions of HD at this point. I'm just excited because i can now get my locals in HD. I just need a way to put it together so the WAF doesn't go downhill.
JUC

[Jesse]

Hello JUC,

If you have not checked out the Directv HD threads at AVS I suggest you do.

You need to find out for certain whether your HD locals will be in MPEG2 or MPEG4 format. I know that here in Atlanta (one of the Big 13 that gets locals in MPEG4 via the new satellites) the HD locals are only in MPEG4, and there is no DVR available for MPEG4. The current Directv HD DVR will only do MPEG2. The new DVR is due out sometime late Q1 or Q2 (this date seems to keep moving.....).

In short, you may not be able to get a DVR that will work with your HD locals at this time.

HTH.

Jesse

[JUC]

No MPEG4 for me i'm guessing for some time..Vermont just isn't a high priority place...go figure So it will definately be MPEG2 for a while. And no OTA options either or I would be all over that.
JUC

[KJake]

My Dad has a DirecTV DVR, not HD, but it is just a Tivo combined with a Sat-box.

[IKK]

Well I also kinda dealing with this issue. You see I live in Los Angeles. I do have access to Local HD and plan to get an HD card. But I would also like to record the HD sat pay channels. Since I cant play HD in any other room I was thinking of recording all SD channels in Sage and record HD channels on a Directv DVR. Kinda of sucks that I cant do it all on one machine.

In the future I have heard tha Directv will offer a whole house system. Not sure how it will work and what limitations there are but I may go that direction depending on what MS Vista or Sagetv has to offer when it comes out.

[JUC]

ya, i've been trying to figure out if i can justify spending a minimum of $200 or $300 on a Directv HD DVR (after rebates and hastle) and still use sage for the additional media options--doesn't really make sense. I dunno--i just really would like to be able to watch HD on my HDTV.
JUC

[elaw]

I don't know if it's kosher to mention it here, but there are certain things you can do to any Tivo to either stream the stored programs to a PC, or download them as .mpg files (which could then be viewed in Sage).

Not a completely seamless solution (until someone writes a Sage plugin to handle it, hint hint ) but it definitely works.

[JUC]

thanks for the suggestion. i am familiar with those 'techniques' but have decided to stay with sage until Directv comes out with their PCI card (if ever). Until then, i just orderred a new Motherboard and extra tuner to add to my system so that should tide me over for a bit
thanks
JUC