SageTv Newbie - equipment question

[Graham Gollings]

Currently have a Hauppauge HVR950 (USB) and SageTV trial running.

I have found the HVR950 is using 30-50% CPU usage when watching live HDtv. I would like a solution which uses much less CPU time.

Questions
1. is this possible?
2. will installing a PCI type tuner help?
3. I only wish to receive HD but will a hardware MPEG-2 encoder help - or is this just for analog TV?

Ultimately I would like to have a dual HDtv tuner, and a Sagetv Media extender. So far I can't find a dual HDtv PCI tuner. Is this available?, also are there any recomendations for the "best tuner" based on price/performance/reliablility?

First impressions are good, but I miss the intuitiveness of my Tivo and haven't got used to the Sage approach yet. But ultimately I want to ditch the Tivo and think this might be the way to go.

[CollinR]

Your CPU use is most likely from decoding the video. What graphics card and which sw decoders are you using?

[jprine01]

I agree with CollinR, the cpu use is probably only for playback not recording. Which codecs for playback, settings, video card etc can change how much cpu for playback (especially HD files). If you open task manager and monitor useage, try going to live tv, start watching a show hit record, then hit stop to stop the playback. It should keep recording (record icon top right of sage) and you should get an idea of how much cpu recording takes up.

I have a few HD Homeruns and they are really good, especially if you dont want your over the air antenna near your computer. (or dont want to run an antenna cable to your computer) Vbox makes a dual internal HDTV tuner, but its only PCI-express. I don't if that will work for you.

[paulbeers]

Yes recording HD streams does NOT tax your computer. I can be recording 2 HD streams and I barely see 5% on my server.....what does tax your computer is playback. The bigger the file (resolution) the more it will tax.

[Graham Gollings]

Thanks everyone. You are right. if I just start Sage main menu = 0% CPU. If I watch TV live = 35-40% CPU, If I record something and go to main menu = 2-3% CPU. Even if I go to the Recording schedule the tiny video preview window puts the CPU back to 35-40% CPU.

I thought the USB port was causing the %CPU usage but I was wrong.

The PC dual AMD 3200, 3gb ram, Nvidia Gforce 7600gs 256mb,

Thanks for the hint about the HD Homeruns, that looks a perfect solution and will save a tricky coax run to my PC.

I really want to use my PC as a server, I will hardly ever watch TV on it. So is there a mode that can put Sagetv into a background process (basically hide it?)

So for a budget cost it looks like

Homerun $ 170
Sage HD Media Extender kit + bundle $245
Placeshifter $27 (maybe?)

I couldn't find any "deals" on any items....

The big question is this kit reliable? I have read a few people complaining about V6 and going back to V5.

Does placeshifter really give the ability to watch TV from afar? - ie. is it worth getting?

Thanks again.

[Djc208]

Originally Posted by Graham Gollings

Thanks everyone. You are right. if I just start Sage main menu = 0% CPU. If I watch TV live = 35-40% CPU, If I record something and go to main menu = 2-3% CPU. Even if I go to the Recording schedule the tiny video preview window puts the CPU back to 35-40% CPU.

I thought the USB port was causing the %CPU usage but I was wrong.

The PC dual AMD 3200, 3gb ram, Nvidia Gforce 7600gs 256mb,

That sounds about right for the graphics card you're using. My old 6200 LE would push 60% or better on HD. My 7600 gives about the same CPU numbers you're seeing.

I really want to use my PC as a server, I will hardly ever watch TV on it. So is there a mode that can put Sagetv into a background process (basically hide it?)

The Sage TV service is what you're looking for. Runs it as a background process. Should be a link in the program folder. It doesn't require you to start the Sage TV interface at all.

So for a budget cost it looks like

Homerun $ 170
Sage HD Media Extender kit + bundle $245
Placeshifter $27 (maybe?)

I couldn't find any "deals" on any items....

The big question is this kit reliable? I have read a few people complaining about V6 and going back to V5.

Sounds about right. You can sometimes get a few dollars off the software from PC Alchemy.
The Sage software has been very reliable (at least for me) and the service offers an option to automatically re-start should it crash. Otherwise if the computer is stable without Sage it will usually work fine with it, my system has almost a year of Sage uptime and the software itself has never crashed the system. Bad drivers, hardware, settings sure, but not Sage. As with everything though, every computer is different.

Does placeshifter really give the ability to watch TV from afar? - ie. is it worth getting?

Yes, it works rather well as long as your internet connection is fast enough (on both ends). My mother uses it all the time to watch some shows she doesn't get at home (in PA) from my computer (in VA). I've used it on many vacations and business trips from hotel rooms on my laptop. However HD may not stream so well due to it's size. I think the server has to transcode it to lower resolution which my system can't handle in real time.

[Graham Gollings]

DJ, thanks for the details. Sounds like I'm on a roll. We started off with a costly package from Charter Comm's 3 years ago. After some time we had exhausted their view on demand offerings. Then realized that we were recording mostly the FTA programs. So downgraded to their basic package and started using Blockbuster for movies. We had (still have) a Tivo2 and used this as our DVR. Then came the HD channels, we live in Pasadena and I can see the LA TV antenna farm from where we live (it's 7miles away). So now I am thinking to sell the Tivo2 with it's lifetime subscription while it's worth something and change to the SageTV setup. We recently got 2 years free for Netflix (a Dr Phill show give away).

So now two questions.

1. Is it possible to get XM internet radio via Sagetv somehow? (I am subscribed)
2. Is it possible to get streaming movies via Sagetv from Netflix?

Sorry to ask, but I notice that your an advanced Sage user, I'm a day old at it. If this is a subject already handled in the Forum, sorry but I am about to do a search for it after sending this. Thanks.

[Slipshod]

Originally Posted by Graham Gollings

So now two questions.

1. Is it possible to get XM internet radio via Sagetv somehow? (I am subscribed)
2. Is it possible to get streaming movies via Sagetv from Netflix?

Not through an extender... There is a netflix plugin which lets you manage your queue through the extender and watch trailers, but the watch-it-now function only works through a PC w/ the Sage client on it.

When I looked at XM, it was theoritically possible to setup, but required a lot of hoop jumping. You needed the SlimMP3 plugin (PC only, no extender) and a 3rd party tool to remap XM stations to local MP3 streams. Can't remember the name of the program, but it was a pretty ugly prospect that wouldn't work well if you listened to more than a couple of stations. And it didn't work with the HD extender so I dropped it entirely.

[Graham Gollings]

Hi, I am thinking seriously about building a small as possible media center PC and locating it at the TV to replace the Tivo. I would like it to be similar to a Tivo size wise. I don't know the build cost but it must come in below a Tivo HD. This would take care of my MX radio and Netflix question. I like the idea of using the Sagetv software, then perhaps in the future I could add a media extender to our bedroom TV.

I have always been impressed with the Tivo's Linux based stability. But if I chose to use Linux it would make me a bit nervous because I haven't used it before.

I have tried to find a ready built small media center but haven't found anything that I like - as yet.

Anyway, I find this an interesting project, but as you can see it's still at the idea stage....