Can the Hauppauge HD-PVR be used with Verizon FIOS?

[vorius]

I'm checking to see if there are any alternatives out there for using SageTV with Verizon FIOS, as I currently use a R5000 modified STB and I'm frankly sick of it.

1. Flipping between channels takes approx. 12-15 seconds

2. Many times it tries to change channel it missing a front digit, for example if I select channel 542 on the menu the R5000 software tunes the STB to 42, clipping off that front 5. Have to flip to another channel and try again a couple times before it works (while waiting for the delay cited above for each channel flip)

3. It is not very stable and sometimes the video is stuttered

4. It seems to refuse to tune to certain channels, as it will show the video for a completely different channel. For example, I may successfully tune to channel 5 (FOX) but the video I see is for channel 2 (CBS).

So, if I can use the Hauppauge HD-PVR with SageTV/Verizon FIOS would it alleviate any of the problems I am having now with R5000 ?

[Djc208]

The HD-PVR will take any component input and convert it to H.264. So as long as the FIOS box can output a component HD signal you can record from it.

That said there's no guarante it would fix the issues you talk about. People have had trouble with them locking up. Channel changing is always a hit-or-miss thing depending on the method you use, though it could be easier to trouble shoot and there is more than one option.

As for the delay, that would depend on a few factors. Sage introduces a slight lag, the computer will too, and I don't know if the HD-PVR does or not. Your cable box may have a slight delay either after it changes the channel or between sending the command and actually changing the channel. So there's really no guarantee until you know exactly where the delay is coming from.

[jriskin]

I've been using FireWire recording for several years now, it's very similar to how the R5000 records. Sage has always been hit and miss with playback quality. Because the R5000 is recording transport streams directly from the provider it has the same problem. Every broadcaster generates their own signal and potentially each one of them can be a slightly different format or quality of encoding. VLC has been the only player that consistently doesn't stutter but still does have occasional audio dropouts on certain channels.

The Hauppauge HDPVR is recording an analog signal and encoding it with its own chipset. This means every channel is going to be recorded in the same way. So if one channel works they're all going to work.

FIOS should work as well as any other provider I have an install date Friday next week so I can give you an actual validated answer then.

[JerryB]

I have Verizon FIOS and it does work with the HD PVR. However, there are 2 issues you should be aware of.

1) I found channel changing using the included IR blaster from the HD PVR to the STB be unreliable. I located and followed the instructions on this forum to switch to firewire for changing channels and haven't had a problem with this since then.

2) There is an incompatability between the Verizon FIOS 5.1 DD audio signal and the HD PVR. The problem is with the HD PVR since the FIOS 5.1 DD audio plays fine when connectly directly to an A/V receiver. Hauppauge is aware of and acknowledges this problem with the HD PVR but currently does not have a solution for it. A 2 channel analog audio connection from the FIOS STB to the HD PVR does work without any problems.

[jriskin]

JerryB:

Good to know, I already use FireWire four channel changing so that shouldn't be a problem. Maybe I will luck out and there will be a significant number of channels that are not 5c encrypted

I also don't have a 5.1 setup yet, the room isn't very well set up for that sort of thing.

[vorius]

awesome, thanks for your input guys!

JerryB: How happy are you with that setup ? Considering the HD-PVR is recording analog and re-encodingit to its own format is that causing any noticeable video quality degradation in your FIOS HDTV channels?

[TallMomof2]

I use the HD PVR with Fios and except for the 5.1 sound I'm very happy with it. the picture quality is a little softer but that's due to the analog conversion.

Haven't gone to the FireWire channel changing but that's next because he only buttons on the Hauppauge remote that work are the play/stop/pause/ff/frew and skip. No channel changing are program control via the remote.

[JerryB]

Originally Posted by vorius

JerryB: How happy are you with that setup ? Considering the HD-PVR is recording analog and re-encoding it to its own format is that causing any noticeable video quality degradation in your FIOS HDTV channels?

With the exception of the DD 5.1 sound problem. I'm happy with the setup. The HD PVR solves a problem for which there is currently no other solution. I think the video quality is a touch on the soft side but certainly acceptable, at least to me. I have more of an issue with the H.264 TS file format than video quality but this will resolve once better means of dealing with/editing these files are available. In the interim, I'm happy using a firewire setup for non-encrypted ("local") channels and the HD PVR for encrypted channels.

[jriskin]

Everything is working fine here (not using 5.1) with the HD-PVR and FIOS. I use FireWire for channel changing. The picture is slightly soft but you really can't do anything about that, a second round of compression is always going to be a little worse.

I did test a few FireWire channels and the picture is sharp but sage always have such a hard time dealing with the FireWire files (5c channels practically lock it up).

[cgott42]

Originally Posted by jriskin

Everything is working fine here (not using 5.1) with the HD-PVR and FIOS. I use FireWire for channel changing. The picture is slightly soft but you really can't do anything about that, a second round of compression is always going to be a little worse.

I did test a few FireWire channels and the picture is sharp but sage always have such a hard time dealing with the FireWire files (5c channels practically lock it up).

Can someone guide me through and explain how to set it up to change channels via firewire.
(please explain for a newbie level - thanks)

[JerryB]

Originally Posted by cgott42

Can someone guide me through and explain how to set it up to change channels via firewire.
(please explain for a newbie level - thanks)

Setting up channel changing via firewire is not hard. There is a long thread ( http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9288 ) that already explains how to do it.

What you need to do is look at the summary at the beginning of the thread and then use the links in this summary to jump over most of the messages and get to the heart of the setup routine. Once I downloaded the appropriate files from the external sites indicated at the beginning of the thread, I followed the instructions given at ("The install path I followed") link at it worked.

Jerry