Hauppauge 1600 WinTV VS SageTV Issue

[David HVR1600]

My first post!

I recently purchased a Hauppauge 1600 Hybrid tuner. I first installed the WinTV software and scanned for all QAM and Analog channels. It came up with all the channels I expected.

A colleague introduced me to SageTV and I really like the capabilities and interface quite a bit. I was even considering purchasing an HD media extender.

I first manually set up sage for the Digital channels because the scan wasnt working reliably. Having Physical channel info from WinTV I was able to configure Sage correctly and I got all my digital channels. (all 5 of them that is because I live in a small market) At any rate, after a couple days I noticed two digital channels were not coming in. I was getting no signal. WinTV can tune them however without difficulty. Of further annoyance is the fact that they show the same signal strength as the rest of the digital channels that do come in. It doesn't seem to be related to actual signal incoming to the tuner or the tuner because WinTV is working to tune those stations. It is just sage that can not.

Is there anything I can do to correct this? Who should I talk to/notify? I already took back the second tuner I bought because there is no point in keeping it for 3 digital channels I also don't see any point in buying the extenders or further investing in this product if it is not working.

[David HVR1600]

Hrm,

Maybe this sounds stupid but I am now wondering if it doesnt have something to do with the way the digital signal is being sent/encoded?

I can't actually watch the channels on WinTV on my PVR box, I have to tune the channel with remote desktop (which doesnt let me see any video) and hit the record button. I can watch that recording with VLC when I am done.

However, when I put that same recording made by WinTV in my "Videos" import folder and then import it in to sage, I can not watch it at all. I get no sound and a black image that never changes. The media folder does show a thumbnail for the video but will not play it.

The queer thing about this is that when I first set up the sage box it was fine, all channels were viewable. I tried to watch one of those channels another day and got nothing. So I'm probably way off base here but just something that came to mind while thinking about how sage couldn't view one of the recordings made by WinTV.

[Djc208]

Originally Posted by David HVR1600

Hrm,

Maybe this sounds stupid but I am now wondering if it doesnt have something to do with the way the digital signal is being sent/encoded?

I can't actually watch the channels on WinTV on my PVR box, I have to tune the channel with remote desktop (which doesnt let me see any video) and hit the record button. I can watch that recording with VLC when I am done.

Sounds more like the way they're being decoded, though it's strange. Have you tried using the same VLC decoder in Sage?

I'd also look at re-scanning the channels within Sage, it takes forever but it does work. If they've been shifted or the way the two different programs represent the channel are different it could cause similar issues. Digital tuners seem to have strange ways of representing the sub-channels. My Samsung will show one channel number on screen and the built-in TV Guide program will show a different number for the same channel through the same tuner.

[David HVR1600]

DeSoto,

Thanks for the reply. I have actually re-scanned 3 times and gotten different results each time. First scan foudn 13 channels. Second found 40 channels the 3rd found 39.

When I first did this I used the WinTV database to help me. I set the physical channel to what WinTV found then - 0 - minor like the sage instructions show.

The sage scans that found *some* of my digital channels had like 82-3-1 But My original input was 82-0-1. It seems the middle designator (major) doesnt matter. That 3-1 is the actual OTA desitnation for the station 3.1. However 82-3-1 or 82-0-1 get me the same channel.

Further annoyance is the fact that this morning sage came up with one of my two channels that arent working just fine when it was paid programming. I almost wonder if they arent turning encryption on and off.


I will try to record with sage and then watch with VLC later.

[David HVR1600]

And there you have it..... I go to the guide and pick one of my two channels that will not play via the sage interface. I choose Record and let that go for a couple minutes. Sage won't play the recording but VLC will.

How do I correct this?

[stevenkd]

I would check the settings tab of audio and video decoders in setup. I am using INtervideo for my MPEG2 Video Decoder filter, Direct show for MPEG4 playback, Directsound for Audio Renderer, and MPEG Audio Decoder for MPEG2 Audior Decoder filter.

I think the reasons why you get different results for the scans is that when people choose an on demand program, the cable company broadcasts it through one of the multiple channels. If it is playing while you are scanning it picks it up, once it is over the channel is blank.

[David HVR1600]

stevenkd,

Thanks I will check those settings.

My market is small though, we don't have on-demand. Just pay-per-view

[stevenkd]

I believe pay per view works the same as on demand, they broadcast it through one of the open channels, so when you scan it may pick one up if it is playing, then next time there is nothing on that channel

[David HVR1600]

Well, I still don't really have a solution to this. I thought it was codecs etc..

I had a friend suggest NvDVD and the purevideo drivers and I tried them.

The bottom line is with the Hauppauge WinTV software I can record any of my digital channels and view them with VLC. Two however do not show image in Sage but I do hear audio. I did a test a few days ago as indicated above and I was able to view the sage recording with VLC. In the last two days however what I see with VLC is well... hard to describe.

Vlc continuously changes windows size and mostly I see green squares but I do hear audio.

I am ready to pull the trigger on purchasing an HD extender and the software but not with this problem

[Djc208]

Originally Posted by David HVR1600

The bottom line is with the Hauppauge WinTV software I can record any of my digital channels and view them with VLC. Two however do not show image in Sage but I do hear audio. I did a test a few days ago as indicated above and I was able to view the sage recording with VLC. In the last two days however what I see with VLC is well... hard to describe.

Vlc continuously changes windows size and mostly I see green squares but I do hear audio.

Check your cable connections then, maybe patch from a point closer to the source and see what happens. If the signal is noisy and you're getting a poor signal, then it could be that VLC is better about decoding this degraded signal than the default MPEG decoder. Seems a little weak but I'm running out of other ideas short of a bad card.

[David HVR1600]

Its not the signal. I connected the line coming up from the ground directly (with a straight through coupler) to the line that goes to the room where the sage box is. From that wall jack I conneced a single line only to the Digital tuner side of the card. The signal strength was no better and the problem was not corrected.

I could see VLC possibly being a better decoder but the quality on a true HD show is exceptional. No artifacting and crystal clear image. Further, as I said above, WinTV can view/capture the channels in questoin without any difficulty.

I have decided to ask sage support for help because I can not justify the kind of investment I am thinking about making with such flaky results.

[Djc208]

Ok, reading back through your posts I guess I'm not clear on one thing. Is the recording and playback hapening on the same machine?

I can't actually watch the channels on WinTV on my PVR box, I have to tune the channel with remote desktop (which doesnt let me see any video) and hit the record button. I can watch that recording with VLC when I am done

It looks like you're recording from one machine and trying to play on another via a client/placeshifter? If so this adds a whole seperate issue to the equation. What is your hadware situation? How are you playing back the files from Sage?

[David HVR1600]

The sage Media server just has some crappy onboard video. I do not watch from it. I only use it to stream to clients. I have tried both place-shifter and the local network sage client.

My recordings were made via WinTV and Sage on the serve but were viewed over the lan with VLC and a sage client.

I believe my change in experience with VLC while trying to watch recordings on the channel that the sage clients won't view is due to the nvidia purevideo driver being set as default after I installed it.