Using the AccessDTV HDTV Card w/ SageTV

[Forstall]

The AccessDTV web page states that it has "AC/3 surround sound audio." Excuse my ignorace, but does this mean that there is Dolby Digital support for recording/playback?

[Rob]

Yes it does. When the broadcast is Dobly Digital, the AccessDTV card is capable of record/playback of Dolby Digital. The accessdtv software only outputs this through the spdif output on the actual AccessDTV card. It is not passed over the PCI bus to the sound card like some other HDTV cards do. I'm hoping the development team addresses this in the future, but I also agree with the priorties they have been applying as they fix things.

When Sage is used to control the accessdtv card, Dolby Digital is included in the recorded files and played back via the systems sound card (I guess this assumes the system sound card has SPDIF output).

There are plenty of people around here that have more experience than I do using Accessdtv and using SageTV, so if I've misrepresented anything, please jump in.

[RBTConsultants]

Just wanted to jump in here with some news. I have been recording using AccessDTV and Sage for a while now, as well as using the new AccessDTV code for recording also. In either case, I am still trying to find the best playback mechanism.

Sage is not satisfactory because of problems mentioned in this thread. It is doing software playback and there are problems with demuxing different broadcast network recordings.

AccessDTV is not satisfactory because I cannot play back while something else is recording.

So, I have been using OnAir HD Editor from SASEM which plays back every TS file I can throw at it perfectly. Others have also reported similar success.

Now, if Sage could figure out a way to support the SASEM filters for playback, then we could use Sage as the playback tool for HD recordings. That would rock.

Then, we need to get Sage to support various HD tuners for recording and scheduling. I am selfish and want it to support AccessDTV but supporting a cheaper card with no hardware playback would be great also.

I envison where I can schedule a recording from the EPG and if it is available in HD it would be recorded using that tuner, otherwise it would use a PVR-250 tuner to record it. The it would selectively play back using the correct filters depending on which kind of recording it is.

This would give me seamless integration of NTSC and HDTV and my wife would love it. Then I could build HTPCs to sell to customers that would SMOKE consumer PVR available.

In any case, the fist step should be to get SAge to do playback using their own demux or allowing us to use one that works like the SASEM.

Just my $.02

Bob

[salsbst]

Is there any reason why a multichannel audio filter like WinDVD's cannot be used to output 5.1 via a multichannel analog card like the M-Audio Revolution when using SageTV for software playback?

[Bob, I agree with what you are envisioning, for what that's worth.]

[HookedOnTV]

This development is heading in the same direction as my desires. Question I have about the necessary "horsepower" on the client. I like the idea of the VIA EPIA solutions with their near silence but am fearing that they will not be able to handle the software decoding of the HD transport stream.

Any experiences on the lower end of hardware?

As an alternative to the EPIA I have been looking at a system using the mobile Athlon XP processors.

[mangriotis]

I have a few problems with AccesDTV and Sage as well.

I have emailed the AccessDTV tech support, but after 3 weeks have yet to hear a response. Since the AVS forum is down for indeterminate amount of time, I thought I would try for some answers here.

My main issue is this: I cannot go fullscreen with the AccessDTV software. When I press the fullscreen button on the virtual remote, the mouse gets restricted to within this button but does nothing to the picture. I am able to switch between small and normal sizes...

Within Sage, I experiencing frame drops and/or stuttering using the AccessDTV software on certain channels. I am in the Chicago area. the only channel that works reliably is WLS-DT (ABC), and I believe it's because it's a 4:3 480p signal, any high def. and the video either stutters a ton or locks up completely (although the scroll bar on the bottom seems to indicate it is continuing to record). Do I need to make changes in settings? increase my RAM?... I already checked that my disks are DMA mode

In the AccessDTV software, many of these channels work better although with HD material I still notice frame drops and slight stuttering...

Can anyone here be of help?

[Rob]

Originally posted by mangriotis


When I press the fullscreen button on the virtual remote, the mouse gets restricted to within this button

This is not a problem I've seen since I upgraded to the 2003 beta releases. If your still running with Version 2.4 or the 2.5 beta, I'd highly recommend you install the 2003 driver and application. It has resolved much of the flakyness and instability of the prior releases.

http://www.accessdtv.com/accessdtv/downloads.htm

You probably will not get much support from itech. But you will get support if you go to avsforum:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...ight=accessdtv

Regarding the sage problems you refer to. I experience the same thing. Only 2 channels playback properly. Some channels tune to the wrong subchannel and some playback very jerky. I think the Sage guys are aware of these and hopefully when they get a breather from Sage2, they will get this worked out.

[chadman]

I just added the AccessDTV card and I can not get it to work with SageTV. I installed the lastest drivers and software from the access web page:
v2003.6 (beta Release Candidate 2) accessDTV DeskTop Software for Windows 2000 and XP (5.65 Mb - 11/05/03)

accessDTV Drivers
v2003.0 Release Candidate 4 accessDTV Drivers for Windows 2000 and XP (360 KB - 10/22/03)

When I try to run SageTV it will not start. I first get the error "Application would not start, the JanusPCI.dll could not be found. Reinstalling the application my fix this problem." After that popup box I get a few more errors and the Sage will not start. I have tried to reinstall SageTV twice but keep getting the same errors. any ideas?

Thanks,
Chad

[djg]

Chad,

It sounds like you need to copy the JanusPSI.dll file from your accessDTV directory to your SageTV directory, if you haven't done so already. I trust you've also copied the new Sage.dll from the first post to overwrite the one installed with SageTV. That's all it should take.

Hope that helps,
Dave

[chadman]

Thanks dgj, that did it, well kind of. I did have to copy that file from my AccessDTV dir to my SageTV dir. I can now start Sage, but not sure how it should work. Do I still have to run the AccessDTV software? I can not seem to get a picture just by running the Sage software. Is there any other special setting I am missing?

Thanks,

Chad

[djg]

No, you don't run the accessDTV software - Sage does all the controlling of the card, in fact, it will probably lock up you pc if you try to run it with Sage. You need to select the video and audio decoders in the Setup > Detailed Setup page. I have WinDVD installed so the Intervideo Video and Audio decoders show up as a choice on the Video and Audio tabs of the Detailed Setup dialog. If you don't have those available, you may have others that will work or you may need the Elecard decoders - here's the link: http://www.elecard.com/download/ These will work for 21 days or so and then you have to buy them for $20. if you want to continue using them.

I assume you ran the setup wizard to set the Janus Capture TV tuner as your source and configured a channel lineup for the guide to work.

Dave

[chadman]

Thanks again djg. Ok I did not have the decoders setup. It works now, but I am not getting any sound and the piture is jittery, kind of like slow motion. It might be the computer I have it hooked up to, Pet III 800MHZ. I am going to try it in my P4 and see what happens. Ill let you know.

Thanks,
Chad

[chadman]

btw is there an advantage to the Elecard decoders? I have the Intervideo and Sonic decoders I have been using for ZoomPlayer and they seem to work well.

Thanks,
Chad

[djg]

I don't see an advantage to the Elecard decoders other than there are some files that won't play with the Intervideo but will with the Elecard and vice-versa. But if I had to choose only one, I'd stick with the Intervideo.

It sounds like your processor is a too weak to play the HD streams in Sage, which is all in software. Your system should be ok with accessDTV app since that's decoded in hardware.

Dave

[riekl]

Ok .. AccessDTV installed using the latest drivers (via the avsforum 2003.0? update)

Installed the demo of SageTV, set it up as instructed in this forum (everything seemed to go smoothly the sage setup showed the janus capture device etc). Set up my guide for the "local broadcast" channels .

However I can not "see" anything on any channel nor do i hear anything no matter what decoders i use (including the dvd ones) one question is how sage maps these channels from the accessdtv card ? For example my cbs is channel 3 analog (and in all epg's) but my HDTV cbs is channel 2 ? How do I get to see this info and tune to this channel ?

[djg]

riekl,

You have to remap any analog channels in the program guide to tune to the proper digital channel, if the digital channel does not show up in the program guide. For example, channel 20 analog broadcasts its digital content on chan 21 in Chicago but only channel 20 shows up in the Sage program guide. So right click on the channel in the channel setup menu and change the channel number to the digital channel. This works fine for me but there are some issues with subchannels that Sage cannot address.

Hope this helps,
Dave

[riekl]

Ok channels are working .. but i can't seem to find a decoder that works well .. which is odd because the dvd express one is the same one that the accessdtv software uses right ? With dvd express i get 100% cpu usage and nothing on the display (this is a 2.6ghz cpu 800mhz fsb mind you)

With sonic decoder and 64 buffers (as recommended earlier in this thread) cpu usage is below 20% but it skips around like crazy .. ideas on what decoder i can use ?

[djg]

As I mentioned in a post above, I have the best luck with the Intervideo video and audio decoders as installed with WinDVD 4. But they aren't perfect. CBS gives me the most trouble - ABC, NBC, and Fox work fine.

[riekl]

Intervideo sound has a lot of audio drop outs ..
oh well its better then nothing

Does anying know if Sage 2.0 includes official support for the AccessDTV ? That would be enough to push me over to buying it now ..

[dkardatzke]

riekl,

v2 does not include any improved support for the aDTV card. It will still be supported in its current form at really an "alpha" level. We hope to revisit possible formal support after the release of v2.