Hauppauge DCR 2650

[pcostanza]

Yes, I get emails from Ceton weekly offering me a deal now that they already have by $399! But, that was my decision which I fully knew would happen once the other guys came out with their version. I just hope the FCC doesn't nix forced cablecard support from cable companies.

[sub]

Here was a bigger version of that picture.

[BrettB]

As of yesterday, NPVR does work with this Hauppauge DCR-2650 with 'copy freely' channels (albeit with quite a few rough edges at this early stage).

For now its not identifying during scan channels are 'copy freely' vs 'copy once', but I should hopefully be able to add that in future. You'll always be at the mercy of the cable company changing them later though, once PC recording devices become more common. I'm sure you'll come to hate these flags - it sounds like the Tivo community do.

Very cool, Sub! Once I get my DCR-2650, will it work with NPVR 2.1.5 "out-of-the-box" or will we need to wait for a newer release?

Also, regarding the flags: I'm pretty sure that I've read that the cable companies CAN change the flags on a program-by-program basis depending upon the content on a given channel at a given time. Now, knowing how our (United States) cable companies actually work, I'm pretty sure that they're not going to be so sophisticated as to work that way--much more likely to just set the flag once for a channel and leave it that way. (Until management tells them they need more money and to be more restrictive... :-( ) But I think that, at least in theory, at channel scan time, the current program could be flagged 'copy once' but other shows on the same channel could be flagged 'copy freely' so the user might still want the channel included. Just something to think about as you are working out all of the details for this implementation...

[mvallevand]

Sub, good luck with this, I wish CableCard was an option in Canada too. As for copy freely I've watched as as my firewire capture abilities have moved from a great selection to almost none, I hope that what happened to clear QAM doesn't happen to copy freely. At least your cable providers make some rental money from the cards.

Incidently if you have a cable STB you might be able to tell if channels you want are available. For me I need these four "freely" flags to capture via firewire (probably the four video outputs).


Martin

[sub]

Once I get my DCR-2650, will it work with NPVR 2.1.5 "out-of-the-box" or will we need to wait for a newer release?

I had to change three dlls to get it working. In theory it could be done with a patch, but a new release is probably a better idea, since people would quickly find their existing install broke if they skipped these three files, and only updated a single of these files from a later patch.

Also, regarding the flags: I'm pretty sure that I've read that the cable companies CAN change the flags on a program-by-program basis depending upon the content on a given channel at a given time.

That is true. Conveniently I do record the flag, so we can at least tell if that is why a playback of a recording fails.

[BrettB]

That is true. Conveniently I do record the flag, so we can at least tell if that is why a playback of a recording fails.

Very good idea!

[johnsonx42]

I had to change three dlls to get it working. In theory it could be done with a patch, but a new release is probably a better idea, since people would quickly find their existing install broke if they skipped these three files, and only updated a single of these files from a later patch.

Just release the 3 .dll's together and I'll make it part of a cumulative update in the sticky. No one is allowed to complain if they skip a cumulative update and then install a later single patch. Well.. I suppose they can still complain, but the answer is 'go install the cumulative patch, and stop complaining'. No rush though since no end-users have a DCR-2650 yet.

[classpro]

This sounds like an ideal product if we can get it to work with npvr, and the cable companies don't flag too many videos for single viewing.

I have a question - what file format will the recordings be in? Mpeg? mp4?

[sub]

I have a question - what file format will the recordings be in? Mpeg? mp4?

Just like all other digital tv in north america, it'd be a .ts file containing MPEG2 video and either AC3 or MPEG1 Layer II audio.

[roy]

I've been investigating how to get my cablecard from comcast, and read many different (horror) stories, so I called and they said you must have a technician visit to install it. But it looks like Aug 1 is the date they must offer self install kits. Even saw one message showing an FAQ page confirming that, but it has since been taken down.

Good timing! I may have to visit my local office soon to see if they have any available.