Best way to record 720p?

[barbarian]

Is there a best solution for recording 720p signals output from a set-top box with DVI, HDMI, or component video? I am looking for a good quality, low-cost capture card that works well with GB PVR.

Not all the channels available are in 720p, many are in standard 480i, so that could present a few issues as well.

[sub]

I'm not aware of any devices that'll allow you to capture 720p or 1080i from a set top box.

[zaphod7501]

This is one of the classic questions over at AvsForum that will get you flamed for not doing a forum search. (probably not here though ) It can apparently be done with several thousand dollars worth of commercial hardware. The only financially practical method seems to be firewire capture from certain set-top-boxes. I believe there is a thread on that here that you might look at. http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php?t=22639

[barbarian]

This is one of the classic questions over at AvsForum that will get you flamed for not doing a forum search. (probably not here though ) It can apparently be done with several thousand dollars worth of commercial hardware. The only financially practical method seems to be firewire capture from certain set-top-boxes. I believe there is a thread on that here that you might look at. http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php?t=22639

Thanks for the reply. Looks like the best solution is to simply pay out the extra $$ for a set-top box that includes its own PVR.

[groover km]

We've got a HD DVR through Charter (it's made by Moxi), and it will record in the broadcast resolution, right up to 1080i.

sucks though as it only has an 80GB(!) HDD so it fills up very quick with HD content.

There is no way to get the HD signal off the box, and even though it is bristling with usb ports, a ethernet port, firewire ports, they are all disabled (B$%^rds)

I don't see much point in transfering HD to DVD??? You might as well just record a high quality SD transmission, as it's only going to be 480i... putting HD on DVD is like putting your DVDs on VHS.

[zaphod7501]

There is no way to get the HD signal off the box, and even though it is bristling with usb ports, a ethernet port, firewire ports, they are all disabled (B$%^rds)

That's the rub with set top boxes or TVs with built in DVRs. Like the others here, I put my tuners in the PC. MyHD for ATSC/QAM, HVR1600 for OTA ATSC. (43 minutes of 720p just barely fit on a single DVD-R disk) I'm lucky (?) that none of my favorite cable shows are in HD so the Hauppauge PVRs are adequate for analog.

I don't see much point in transfering HD to DVD??? You might as well just record a high quality SD transmission, as it's only going to be 480i... putting HD on DVD is like putting your DVDs on VHS.

Actually, it's not that bad. You can get the correct aspect ratio. Broadcast bugs and logos tend to be subdued on the HD transmissions, weather alerts, election results, and the like may be reduced (some stations can't even generate them on the HD feed), and the image will be crystal clear, which makes for a nice looking DVD. Of course, I'm set up to convert in real time using a transcoder looped back into a Hauppauge PVR250. Anything I can view fullscreen can be captured as an mpeg with no restrictions.

[groover km]

Actually, it's not that bad. You can get the correct aspect ratio. Broadcast bugs and logos tend to be subdued on the HD transmissions, weather alerts, election results, and the like may be reduced (some stations can't even generate them on the HD feed), and the image will be crystal clear, which makes for a nice looking DVD.

I agree, by downscaling, the picture quality is going to be better than normal SD - my point though was that it is not going to be HD, which was the OP's question. I am assuming that for you to get 720p on a DVD-R, you are burning a data disk? A DVD-compatible disk is going to be limited to 480i.

Still sucks about the ports on the cable box though (and I've tried all of them... )

[wtg]

If you have the right STB you can do this with nothing more than a firewire cable. I have a Motorola 6412 HD DVR and it's one that works well. I just learned one could do this a couple days ago so I'm still learning, but I've been able to capture 720p and 1080i as long as the broadcast isn't marked as encrypted. The clarity is incredible, but boy does it eat up disk space. I captured a 2 1/2 hr broadcast at 1080i and it ate 20 GB.

This thread is where the discussion started for me, and contains a couple useful links: http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php?t=22563 I've not yet got this integrated into GBPVR but I'm working on it.

[zaphod7501]

I am assuming that for you to get 720p on a DVD-R, you are burning a data disk?

Yes, but the MyHD can play it from the DVD ROM drive without copying it back to the hard drive and that's the only HD interface to the PJ anyway. I edit and save them in chunks that run between commercials. (sequential filenames) This gives me a crude "Next" function since there is no nifty "Menu". I can continue on the next disk this way too without breaking into the middle of a scene, just a long commercial break to swap disks.


wtg, I run all my recordings through VideoReDo as soon as possible to reduce file size. This will remove the commercials and any null packets to minimize disk space usage until I can watch (or archive) the shows. With a QAM tuner, you could conceivably be recording 2 - 4 HD streams simultaneously. Now that would eat up disk space.

[wtg]

wtg, I run all my recordings through VideoReDo as soon as possible to reduce file size. This will remove the commercials and any null packets to minimize disk space usage until I can watch (or archive) the shows. With a QAM tuner, you could conceivably be recording 2 - 4 HD streams simultaneously. Now that would eat up disk space.

Yeah, I'm experimenting now with comskip to see how it handles the transport streams. It's running, but it's understandably a lot slower.

For the movies and what-not I want to archive, I haven't researched what I can use for cutting commercials. I've been simply using mencoder but haven't looked into whether it'll work with .ts files or not. And I'll probably convert them to a more compressed format, XVID or something, but I'll have to experiment to determine what will work best to preserve the HD resolution. Any suggestions?