Is loopback to an HD-PVR a solution for HD Netflix in Sage?

[wayner]

This might sound crazy, but how about using loopback of your server video output into an HD-PVR via component cables as a solution for delivering HD online content from Netflix, Hulu, etc to all Sage clients? There are a few drawbacks to this - primarily UI control - how do you get the remote control from your extender? And then there is the delay problem - since you are going through an encoder the feedback from your remote control would be delayed by a couple of seconds so it would be somewhat painful to use. But using PlayOn is also kind of slow and has several drawbacks.

Is this a crazy suggestion or does it have some merit? It would allow you to get HD Netflix and other services to Sage extenders - I guess there isn't much point with PC clients since you might as well run Netflix, et al, locally.

To add a touch of irony - perhaps the best way to facilitate this would be to run Win 7 MC (without any tuners) on your server as it has a fairly decent 10 foot UI for Netflix, and other online services and it integrates pretty well with Hulu (via Hulu desktop). Is there any reason why you can't simultaneously run MCE and Sage if you don't have to deal with tuner contention?

What modern video cards output from component cables - you used to often get component cable dongles with a video card but I haven't seen that in recent video card purchases - is that an option? Would you just set this up as a secondary output on your server?

And what are your options for controlling the UI with your remote control? Could you use an RF remote control? Bluetooth? IR repeaters? It would be great if Sage extenders would act as an IR receiver that could be sent back to the server.

Or should I just fuhgeddaboutit and use SFF PC clients instead of extenders.

[gplasky]

Playon transcode all of the sites including Netflix. Netflix also delivers less HD to PC clients. The Netflix HD delivery is to specific devices like Xbox360, Roku, Smart TVs, etc. If you're using Playon you're not accessing any HD in the first place.

Gerry

[MattHelm]

Originally Posted by wayner

This might sound crazy, but how about using loopback of your server video output into an HD-PVR via component cables as a solution for delivering HD online content from Netflix, Hulu, etc to all Sage clients?

Or better yet, HDMI out of the video card to the HDMI on the Colossus???? Just asking.

[wayner]

You wouldn't be using PlayOn - you would be going directly via a web browser or through the MCE Plugin for Netflix and I am pretty sure that both of these can do HD.

The re-encoding would be done by the HD-PVR which would then take this and re-encode - just like an STB plugged into the component inputs of the HD-PVR.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by MattHelm

Or better yet, HDMI out of the video card to the HDMI on the Colossus???? Just asking.

I was assuming that there would be DRM on the HDMI PC output but who knows?

[brainbone]

You would probably see better performance, and easier implementation, by using a Roku or similar device, looped back through the HDPVR. It could be a reasonable solution as long as you worked out IR control of the Roku, though there would be some annoying lag in its operation.

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by brainbone

You would probably see better performance, and easier implementation, by using a Roku or similar device, looped back through the HDPVR. It could be a reasonable solution as long as you worked out IR control of the Roku, though there would be some annoying lag in its operation.

Yup and that lag can be upwards of 10 seconds using sagetv since it has to buffer and record first. Would be almost unusable IMHO.

[GKusnick]

But you don't really need interactive control of the Roku once playback has started. Pause, FF, RW, etc would all be handled by Sage on the output side of the buffer.

So one simple way to make this work would be to connect the Roku to an HD-PVR or Colossus, then connect the passthrough from that device to a spare input on the nearest TV. To set up a movie you go to the room where the Roku is and use its own remote to navigate Netflix menus or whatever. Once playback has started and the HD-PVR/Colossus is recording, then you can view the movie from any extender or client on your Sage network, with independent playback controls at each client.

A more high-tech approach might be to try to figure out a way to script the Roku to start playback of the first movie in your queue. Connect that script to a custom command in Sage. Use your smartphone or iDevice to push the movie you want to the head of your queue, then go into Sage and trigger the script. This would eliminate the need for interactive control of the Roku through Sage.

[wayner]

I guess a side benefit of this is that you would be able to record what you are watching via Sage. IANAL but I wouldn't see why the legality of such a recording is any different than the legality of recording anything from the component outputs of a STB, like a movie from HBO or a PPV movie/event.

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by wayner

I guess a side benefit of this is that you would be able to record what you are watching via Sage. IANAL but I wouldn't see why the legality of such a recording is any different than the legality of recording anything from the component outputs of a STB, like a movie from HBO or a PPV movie/event.

The legality has more to do with Netflix's agreement with the studios. They are allowed to stream the content but not allow any permanaent storage of the streams. Hence the DRM thru Silverlight and other devices. No devices that have Netflix streaming can save or record the streams.

Gerry