Nova HD S2 help

[cidc]

Hi all, hope the forum could help me out here

I currently own a Nova 500 dual freeview card. Had some great success with this card for the last couple of years.

Have now decided to have a go with some HD content.

Have done lots of reading here and elsewhere and decided on getting a Nova HD S2 card. Installed into my 2003 server, did a scan and found lots and lots of channels.


The Nova HD S2 records .ts files. Are these raw Sat files?

I'm finding that is saves about 4GB per 30mins(BBC HD), is this normal?

My freeview card only saves about 1GB per 30mins.

I'm doing some testing tonight to see if I can record 2x freeview & 1xBBC HD to see if my SATA(150) drive can cope with the data transfer. My cpu is only running at about 10%

I've tried playing some recorded HD files on my laptop but the video keeps jumping all the time. CPU only 70%, not sure if the files have recorded fine yet.

So just wondering anybody else got this type of setup and what experiences are you having.

Also where do I get Sat scans from. I can't find ITV HD and CH4 HD, and if so how do I get this into GBPVR.

Thanks in advance for any help.

cidc

[srhutch]

I can confirm if I record HD that 4GB per 30 mins is what I am getting

Regarding ITV HD and Channel4 HD, I keep meaning to ask this also.

[Pob]

The Nova HD S2 records .ts files. Are these raw Sat files?

They are Transport Stream files. High-Def content is recorded as .ts, but standard def should record as standard mpg (assuming that is what you normally get, as dictated by your BDA multiplexor)

I'm finding that is saves about 4GB per 30mins(BBC HD), is this normal?

Yep

I'm doing some testing tonight to see if I can record 2x freeview & 1xBBC HD to see if my SATA(150) drive can cope with the data transfer. My cpu is only running at about 10%

Yes recording is not very CPU instensive - playback however can be!

I've tried playing some recorded HD files on my laptop but the video keeps jumping all the time. CPU only 70%, not sure if the files have recorded fine yet.

You don't mention what video card or CPU you have. Playing 1080i HD is very demanding. 70% CPU is high (probably spiking higher). You may be able to use hardware acceleration on your video card using, for example, PowerDVD8

So just wondering anybody else got this type of setup and what experiences are you having.

My rig records and plays back HD fine - even though using just software decoding. Laptops though tend to have slower CPU's and video cards.

Also where do I get Sat scans from. I can't find ITV HD and CH4 HD, and if so how do I get this into GBPVR.

You can't find ITV HD in a scan as it is meant to be a red-button service. However you can manually edit your satellite scan-cache file (GBPVR/BDA) to add ITV HD. Here is a link to an edited scan-cache - ITV HD is at the bottom.
http://forums.gbpvr.com/showpost.php?p=3...ostcount=2
You would then be able to map ITV HD to one of the channels.
Channel 4 HD is not FTA - you need a Sky HD box to view it. However it is hoped that it may eventually be added to the Freesat line-up.

The HD channels you can watch and record in GBPVR now if using a standard SKy dish are BBC HD, LuxeTV HD, and ITV HD.

[cidc]

Thanks for the reply pob.

I'll have a play with the scan file.

I'm going to test my HD files on my brothers computer. I think my hardware not capable of playing these files back.

Last night I recorded 2x freeview files and 1 Sat file at the same time, recorded on my sata(150) drive.

All files seem ok, it appears the drive capable of keeping up.

Finally what type of play back system are people using out there, not sure whether to invest in a computer to playback on, or await the HD mvp from hauppauge.

Any other ideas?

[Pob]

Main PC for GBPVR - connected directly to an LCD TV via HDMI.
The drives of a second PC running GBPVR I have listed in my directories on the main PC - connected via gigabit ethernet. Have not dabled with network media players, but I know a lot of people do use them. To my thinking, building a PC (client without tuners) does not seem to cost a lot more than some of the network media players - and can do a lot more! I know some people here have built really smart looking micro-PC's.
Some users have listed their hardware here: http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php?t=35254