DirecTV or Dish - HD - How to capture CC?

[graywolf]

Currently DirecTV with SD Receivers (D12-700) and HVR1600 so able to capture CC (Closed Caption).

Since my hearing is starting to have issues and we do watch some "british" shows, we sometimes have to rely on the CC.

Just had one of our receivers die but fortunately we can get a replacement D12-700 receiver (totally surprised at that) but guess it might be time to think ahead since I had to push to get it, they wanted me to totally switch to HD.

So, what do others do/use for Satellite HD and still be able to have Closed Caption? What hardware/codec/etc would be needed? Want to be able to turn on/off CC, not have it "burned" into the video.

Is it possible or are we just out of luck when have to switch to HD?

What about Cable, would it be same situation? (prefer to stick with Satellite but would switch to Cable if it meant HD with CC capability)

CC is huge WAF

[SHS]

When come to actual HD capturing and Closed Caption from HDMI or Component you can just forget about it, you're still stuck with Composite or S/Video input as there are no work around for it sorry.

[jpwegas]

Originally Posted by graywolf

So, what do others do/use for Satellite HD and still be able to have Closed Caption? What hardware/codec/etc would be needed? Want to be able to turn on/off CC, not have it "burned" into the video.

Unfortunately, I don't believe the HDMI standard ever defined a way to include CC data in the stream as data (i.e. so it could be enabled/disabled at the display endpoint and not "burned in"). The thought (which I consider a mistake) was that the STB would handle adding the burned in CC in the HDMI video signal to the TV. Which is reasonable when it's just STB -> TV. But for use cases like Sage it means HDMI capture can't get the raw CC data - only the burned in CC from the STB.

So using any STB (satellite or cable) with with HDMI output to HDMI capture devices like the HDPVR2 do not provide or encode closed caption data because it's just not available to the HDPVR2.

Originally Posted by graywolf

What about Cable, would it be same situation? (prefer to stick with Satellite but would switch to Cable if it meant HD with CC capability)

Cable might solve this for you, but not using an STB.

I capture most of our recordings using an HDHR Prime (using a CableCard on Verizon FiOS). It includes CC data because it is getting the entire data stream for the show, and we enable/disable CC display on the HD300 at viewing time. But that only works for channels that are marked Copy Freely (which is true for most, but not all FiOS channels, other cable systems are more restricted).

--John

[graywolf]

How would I check which channels are copy freely for time warner/spectrum in Charlotte NC area before deciding to go that route?

[KeithAbbott]

Originally Posted by graywolf

How would I check which channels are copy freely for time warner/spectrum in Charlotte NC area before deciding to go that route?

If you have a friend nearby with cable and a cable box, most cable boxes have a command sequence that allows you to see whether a given channel is flagged copy freely or not. To go thru all channels will take some time, but if there are specific channels that you are interested in, that would not take as long.

However, keep in mind that the cable provider can change their mind at any time, so a channel flagged as copy freely today may not be copy freely tomorrow. Usually it is fairly stable, but it is entirely up to the cable provider and the agreements that they have with the content providers.

Also, typically all of the premium channels (HBO, Showtime, etc.) are not flagged copy freely.

One other important item to note: the HDHomeRun Prime is currently not available new from SiliconDust. They have a six-tuner model under development, but there is no published timeframe for general availability. Used HDHomeRun Prime's are available on Ebay.

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by graywolf

How would I check which channels are copy freely for time warner/spectrum in Charlotte NC area before deciding to go that route?

If you have Time Warner forget it. You will probably only have access to the local stations. They are notorious for marking everything else as copy once.