Setting HDPVR Resolution

[mvallevand]

I have recently started using the latest HDPVR beta drivers and they seem to be working very well and I have been able to set my STB to output the raw feed for the first time. I now have a problem with NPVR using the resolution of the first channel tuned resulting in using the wrong bit rates.

Here is the recording of and HD channel that was previously on an SD channel

Code:

2011-07-23 10:49:59.563    [DEBUG][6]    Device reports resolution: 720x480 (fps:60)
...
011-07-23 10:49:59.652    [DEBUG][6]    device confirms bitrate as: 6000000

and then if I just stop and start that channel

Code:

2011-07-23 10:50:46.867    [DEBUG][6]    Device reports resolution: 1920x1080 (fps:30)
...
2011-07-23 10:50:46.995    [DEBUG][6]    device confirms bitrate as: 16000000

I specifically want a lower bit rate (6Mb vs 16Mb) for my SD recording so that they can fit on flash memory for my player.

Martin

[sub]

Are you talking about live tv? If so, I cant change the bitrate while it's running. If it needed to do that, I'd have to stop the device and restart it, which would add a few seconds of black screen on each channel change...

[mvallevand]

Both LiveTV and Recordings since the bit rate is established in NRecord when the recording starts. If it is 2 seconds more fro LiveTV I would happily live with that rather than watching a blocky HD broadcast at 6 Mbs. The stop/restart that I do takes much more than 2 seconds.

Martin

[sub]

To be honest, I'm not really sure there is anything tidy I can do. It'd need to start the graph, and run it for a bit, sample the resolution, then stop it and restart it with correct bitrate. Really hacky and ugly, and probably adds like five seconds channel changes. I really dont think that is viable for every channel change. Personally, I'd just set my set top box to always output 720p or 1080i.

[mvallevand]

Ok, I will go back to fixed, I was hoping to make smaller SD movies without transcoding, but I guess I can change the fixed rate to 480p when I need it. If HDPVR/Colossus users complain out quality you likelywill need to point this out.

Note that in TME I do see the bit rate change on their screen output after I tune between HD/SD and it seems pretty quick.

Martin

[TonyUniopolis]

sub,
Is there a way to (for the HDPVR/Colossus) do the channel change first, then wait a few seconds (set by parameter , maybe) and then start the recording? This would give the STB enough time to change to the right channel and the device would then be set for the correct resolution/bitrate. I wouldn't want this delay for any of my other capture devices...but I would really love it for my HD-PVR and Colossus.

Just a thought,
Bill

[mvallevand]

I did some testing of this and I confirmed that the solution isn't just the need to delay after tuning. Some information about the resolution stays with the graph from the previous tuning session. When I manually tune the STB with the remote before changing channels, when NPVR starts recording it uses the previous "files" bitrate profile. So even with the latest drivers, I guess I need to repeat my as yet unanswered request to have HDPVR recordings tuned twice.

Martin