Potentially EXCITING News: DirecTV PC Tuner

[TonyXL]

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/08/direc...r-is-real/

:eek: The box sends DirecTV streams to your PC via USB for watching/recording on the PC. :eek:

Info is slim at this point, and it's not confirmed it would handle HD, but it looks like this box could be the HDTV/PC media center holy grail we've been waiting for in the US.

I'm sure the streams/recordings would be DRM-ed to the max (so you couldn't burn to Blu-ray or iPod), but you'd still be able to watch them all over your house.

Currently the only option for non-air/pay HD content is 1) the Dell/ATI OCUR/Cable Card setup which is extremely flaky and won't work with SDV...and 2) SageTv with Dish Network and the $500 R5000-HD modification.

Since the content and equipment are both DirecTV, odds are it would actually work.

Also not sure about integration potential with 3rd party software like GB-PVR and Sage.

Again, details are sparse, but imagine: all your HD channels (incl. TNTHD, HBOHD, etc.) viewable/recordable/streamable in GB-PVR....drool.....

[sub]

When I read about it yesterday I had the feeling it would be like the ATI OCUR setup and only able to work with Vista MCE and DRM'd to hilt. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Until we know more about this DirectTV device, the Hauppauge new component capture device with hardware H.264 encoder that captures up to 1080p sounds like a really nice solution. At least we know this one isnt DRM encumbered. It will also be supported by GB-PVR in the next release.

[Brian_W]

Well at least things are looking up in our area for HD stuff and pvr's. Unfortunately I had to ditch GBPVR due to not being able to use any HD (or digital cable channels as Time Warner is moving most of the analog channels below 100 to encrypted digital, effectively killing my 150's and 500). Only issue with the Hauppauge capture cards using component, I would need multiple STB's to capture more than one video concurrently. Hopefully this tru2way stuff will open things up to more devices on the cable system so I can rebuild a new PVR using GBPVR (damn I really miss it).

Cheers

Brian

[flyswatta]

Only issue with the Hauppauge capture cards using component, I would need multiple STB's to capture more than one video concurrently.

Yeh, when I switched from TimeWarner to Dish Network, I had to cough up the $5 a month for an extra dual-tuner - it's dedicated to GBPVR