Official SageTV 3.0 Information

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by geogecko

Hmm...what's the upgrade path to get SageTV 3.0 if you bought version 2.1 back in December? Will this be a free upgrade, be a partial cost upgrade, or a buy the software all over again "upgrade?"

Just wondering, as I haven't seen this question asked yet.

From the very first post in this thread:

Originally Posted by dkardatzke

- We are targeting this spring for a version 3.0 release and this will be a free upgrade to all current SageTV 2.x customers.

- Andy

[Crazedz]

Originally Posted by zigzagtx2778

No offense Mitchman, but I hope they don't choose to go with the MyHD. Although I like to hardware assisted nature of the card, I value more the purity of directly connecting the computer to the PC with DVI and having all of the material travel over the direct link.

I realize that solutions such as Fusion3 and ATI's HDTV Wonder would be processor intensive, but the HTPC I'm planning on building is going to be more than capable. It may be the price we have to pay (building a fast PC).

Not meaning to butt heads with you on the fusion cpu usage issue but

On the HDTV support issue i think or at least hope that they will support the Fusion cards for one. Since they came out with the hotfix 29905 drivers they now support dual fusion cards so this would be great for thoughs with the power and the desire to run dual hdtv in pvr systems.

http://www.dvico.com/support_hdtv.html

Who wouldn't want to record 2 HDTV channels at once i know i would and since my Fusion 3 card only uses between 18 to 34% cpu when recording and playing back video at 1080i and while playingback video live or recorded it uses the same amount of cpu cycles but recording scheduled recordings in silent mode it only uses between 2 to 6% of the cpu. This is on a athlon 64 2800+ mind you but still thats about the same as sage uses when doing silent recordings on a PVR 250 as well as using the same amount of cpu as the Fusion software while playing back video. So i wouldn't say that the fusion cards require a real powerfull cpu as long as you have a cpu above a 1.6 gig p4 the fusion 3 can record in the higher recording settings but has more modest settings for cpu's down to 750 mhz as long as you have a hardware assisted videocard. As i recall the hardware PVR cards wanted more powerfull cpus for their higher recording settings even though they were recording in hardware mainly for software playback as seems to be the case with the fusion cards.

Anyway i know that 750 mhz maybe more than some have for their htpc systems heck 1.6 gig is more than a number of people have but then when Hardware encoders came out they required beefier systems than a mumber of people had. pointing out the requirements for Hauppauges PVR 250
Processor requirements:
Pentium® II processor 733MHz or faster for TV pause with full screen playback
Windows®98SE (Second Edition), Windows® Millennium Edition, Windows2000 and WindowsXP.
Free PCI slot
Sound card
DVD or CD-RW writer (optional for burning DVDs or Video CD’s)
VGA card (PCI or AGP) which supports video overlay (NVidia, S3, ATI, etc.)

Though i belive some have gotten around the cpu requirement by useing xcards and other hardware mpeg2 decoders or by just useing the system to record the shows but not for playback choosing to stream it to other systems with more power for playback.

Anyway the Fusion cards do require more power than the hauppauge cards on the minimum side but not by much. Though i belive the PVR 250 didn't need a cpu much faster than 1.4 gig for higher end playback and the fusion wants a 1.9 gig or faster for it's highest end playback but you don't have to use the highest end recording recording settings to make playback easier on lower end systems. I know whats the point of HDTV if you can't use the highest quality right? But even lower quality recordings in HD are clearly better than the highest quality recordings on a PVR 250. Even 480i recordings look a bit better than recordings done on a pvr 250. Not meaning to slam the pvr 250 it's a great little card and i still want mine but like any other SD card it just can't match a HDTV Card. Besides theirs still hardware decoders that can be used to allow slower systems to playback shows recorded in mpeg 2 and 4.

Minimum Requirement
Pentium 3 750MHz CPU (with ATi RADEON series with DxVA VGA, nVidia MX440, FX series)
Pentium 4 1.6GHz with DDR266 or faster memory for non DxVA VGA
Windows ME/ 2000/ XP or later version of Windows

A p3 750 is not that much and as i pointed out earlier on faster systems you can easily record 2 or more HDTV streams in 1080i at once while playing back a recorded one. As i recall this is where sagetv really made it's big jump in the PVR arena by being the first PVR software to support multiple PVR cards while others even hauppauge and Microsoft said it couldn't be done. Well that and having the best set of features So HDTV Cards like the Fusion brand i think would be right up Sagetv's alley so to speak for the multi tuner support. And the Fusion 3T Qam cards now are selling for the same price as the pvr 250 cards $149 which is lower than any other HDTV card i have seen other than the ATI HDTV card of course but then that was selling under a mail in rebate and thats over with now so it doesn't really count i guess.

[phenixdragon]

Has Frey thought about custom version of Linux that is stripped down just to run SageTV and the drivers? To me that’s the best open for Linux; like how TiVo is.

[Media_Maven]

I've often though gaming consoles would make ideal clients, or, media extenders.

Since there is a Playstation Linux (playstation linux ), how about a media extender version that runs on a playstation and talks to a Sage server running either on a Windows machine or a Linux machine?

Ideally, it would boot off of a DVD and use a game controller for the UI control.

You know, for the kids' room...

[dagar]

Originally Posted by phenixdragon

Has Frey thought about custom version of Linux that is stripped down just to run SageTV and the drivers? To me that’s the best open for Linux; like how TiVo is.

Good idea Given that the hardware involved for a build will vary (unlike Tivo) I am wondering if it would be best to use a 'distro-compilation' source build that can build all the drivers/etc for the box.

I wonder if there are plans to work with Hauppauge to actually build a driver set for the various cards. Using the 'old' PVR250 is not a preferred choice, esp with the 500 density and the 150 price points

[sunray]

It has been mentioned in the information about Sage 3.0 that media extender support for the Hauppauge MediaMVP will be included in Sage 3.0. What I want to know is if special firmware or hardware will be required that we'll have to buy from Frey or will any MediaMVP will do.

The reason I ask this is because Circuit City has the MediaMVP on sale with a $30 rebate. So I'm wondering if Frey is going to come out with their own version or can I use the one from Circuit City.

[tbil99]

"We are still considering an unsupported version for Linux but have not determined what this option would be. Keep in mind that a software only version for Linux is more complex than a Windows version since there are many different distributions of Linux..."

Maybe you can release the same (OEM) version and let people know what the suggested distribution is and what the suggested hardware is and people can decide whether their machines are compatible and whether they are willing to make the necessary modifications if they are not.

Tim

[pez]

Does anyone know what Linux distribution Frey is using? I really want to build a 1 Terabyte Raid 5 server using Linux. It would be very convenient for it to double as the SageTV server. My hope would be to easily add Sage support if it comes available.

So you can probably tell that on my top 10 list, the first 5 slots are filled up with support for a Linux server support.

-pez

[flagg0204]

Originally Posted by pez

Does anyone know what Linux distribution Frey is using? I really want to build a 1 Terabyte Raid 5 server using Linux. It would be very convenient for it to double as the SageTV server. My hope would be to easily add Sage support if it comes available.

So you can probably tell that on my top 10 list, the first 5 slots are filled up with support for a Linux server support.

-pez

While I am all for a linux version of sage available to joe public, there is no reason why you couldnt build your raid array using linux, then install samba to allow a sage windows client to write to that array.

[mayamaniac]

Thought I read somewhere that SageTV Media Center (SageTV 3.0) will be out in March, of course I'm surprised if it isn't ready as its typical of softwares companies to be behind schedule.

I hope they are making good progress on the Media Extender. I think if they have a fully functional product when ever it is out (hopefully not too long), that will solve a lot of issues that current users have. It will put SageTV ahead of competition for sure. This is big because since they changed the product name to include "Media Center," they have to back it up. This means the Extender device must ba able playback both DVD and Music medias, and possibly other Video formats. Otherwise its not a true "Media Center" product. I'm' not sure if they can pull it off, but time will tell.

[mikejaner]

Microsoft's Media Extenders don't play back DVD's, so how is this a must. There is currently no company who has set this standard you talk about. I can almost guarantee you DVD's will not be playable with the Extender due to today's copywrite laws. Streaming content which has been decoded off of a DVD violates the DMCA. As for music, MVP's can do that now, so I am pretty certain that would be possible.

[mayamaniac]

Originally Posted by mikejaner

Microsoft's Media Extenders don't play back DVD's, so how is this a must.

Assumung you are talking about the Xbox Media Extender, the last time I checked it can already play DVDs with out the Extender. Yes given that the Xbox includes a DVD-Rom and software but thats not Microsoft's fault that they don't have to work hard to make it work. But the point is it is a "Media Center" because you can play DVD's with it.

[Fluffdaddy]

Are we still on Schedule for a spring release of SageTV 3.0 ?

Really looking forward too:
1)Online Scheduling with SageTV 3.0
2)Media Extender support for SageTV with MVP

I was all ready with a MVP unit and SageClient licenses to use with some 3rd party modifications........................But if we are close to an Frey Technologies release I can wait.

Thanks

[lonndoggie]

Originally Posted by zigzagtx2778

No offense Mitchman, but I hope they don't choose to go with the MyHD. Although I like to hardware assisted nature of the card, I value more the purity of directly connecting the computer to the PC with DVI and having all of the material travel over the direct link.

Connecting the computer to the PC? Hmmm...

In any case, the MyHD cards have an available DVI output daughter card--so much for that concern (assuming you meant "connect the computer to the TV with DVI").

Add my vote to the "Please support the MyHD card" column.

LDog

[wexsmith]

Originally Posted by kny3twalker

yeah I think it is ridicilous that SageTV will not even consider adding renderless exclusive mode VMR9
that is just stupid
what they are doing now eliminates 90% of the software decoding users from using VMR9 to an HDTV
with exclusive mode renderless VMR9 people with slower less able cards are able to use VMR9
now you either have to use component/ transcoders to the HDTV and have a fast video card
I am only having slight issues at 720p usually during football games and such
but when using apps like nstant media no problem
I really do not want another solution
I am going to see how the next nvidia driver update goes and sageTV to at least get 3.0 out now
I will probably jump ship at MCE 2006 if these problems have not gotten completely fixed (although I knew this is a long time, I might reconsider
sooner)
right now 720p looks about the same as 1080i on set for the most part

Since day 1 I've gotten tearing while using VMR9 with SageTV. It's the one and only issue I have that makes me consider switching software. From what I've seen there has been no effort to fix the problem either.

Other than that I think the software is great.

[salsbst]

Originally Posted by lonndoggie

...MyHD cards have an available DVI output daughter card--so much for that concern (assuming you meant "connect the computer to the TV with DVI").

Add my vote to the "Please support the MyHD card" column.

LDog

I'd like to see support for any good card, but I'd rather do software decoding than have to deal with multiple inputs on my TV. So chalk me up for support for a decent HD card, but not to waste time trying to harness its built-in HD decoding/rendering.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by salsbst

I'd like to see support for any good card, but I'd rather do software decoding than have to deal with multiple inputs on my TV. So chalk me up for support for a decent HD card, but not to waste time trying to harness its built-in HD decoding/rendering.

Works for me, an I've got a MDP-130

[salsbst]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Works for me, an I've got a MDP-130

... and I'm hedging my bets... I've got one on order.

The broadcast flag cometh. The broadcast flag induces strange behavior. People purchase products that are not exactly what they want, but good enough, given that Black Friday looms. Sorry for the Steely Dan-ism.

Those of you U.S. citizens who do not live in the occupied territory otherwise known as the District of Columbia (those of you who have voting representation in Congress), please write to your Senators and Congresspeople and voice your support for fair use rights in the first digital millenium.

Sorry, shameless plug. Had to do it. At least I didn't use bad words to describe the new Chairman of the FCC. I will stop now.

This was a SageTV 3.0 thread at one time, wasn't it?

[lonndoggie]

Originally Posted by salsbst

I'd like to see support for any good card, but I'd rather do software decoding than have to deal with multiple inputs on my TV. So chalk me up for support for a decent HD card, but not to waste time trying to harness its built-in HD decoding/rendering.

Ah, well, lucky me, with an older HDTV, I'm using RGB input from the HTPC, so only one connector does it all. Not sure if that'd work with the DVI daughter card...

[broderp]

Doesn't summer start JUNE 21???

Spring release?

Once again in the dark....