Need help to get started!

[Kamikuza]

Howdy all!
First post, signing in! I'm an ex-pat Kiwi living in Japan ... for the time being

Want to get started with a PVR, built out of my old PC but don't know where to start
Old PC is ...
Asus P4C800-E
P4 3.0
2Gb (4x 512Mb) DDR-400 - maybe, I forget now
160Gb + 80Gb + 80Gb removable HDDs
Sapphire 6800GT

We got SkyPerfect!TV on a STB and do NOT watch broadcast free Japanese TV. STB has S-video out (for sure) and maybe HDMI or something like that. Also had optical digital audio out ...
I use Onkyo home theatre box for audio with has digital optical in, from STB and DVD player ... VCR has RCA jacks.

What I want is ... a glorified VCR, basically - record shows, play files from the PC (region free PAL & NTSC DVD, .avi etc) and pause live TV. That'd make me happy. Anything else (record one show watch another from the STB) would be gravy and I do NOT want to spend days making it all work but will take it if I can

I'm trying to find a nice ATX case that'll lie horizontally but all I've seen here need micro-ATX mobo ... and I don't really want to buy a new mobo, memory etc if I can help it ...

So ... what extra hardware do I need to make it work?

[mikeh49]

With your hardware, you will probably only be able to do standard definition easily. Others have gotten high definition to work with similar hardware, but they're either lucky or have spent a lot of time tweaking it.

So, for SDTV, you need an analog capture card that will connect to the S-video of the set top box as well as the stereo audio out of the box. A Hauppauge PVR-150 is the standard for this. The key point is that it needs a hardware encoder to work with GBPVR. With this setup, you will only get stereo audio.

If your MB doesn't have audio, you will need a sound card.

Are you planning to watch the recorded video on your TV? If so, you'll connect the video out of the PC (S-video for a SDTV) to your TV or routed through the HT box. The audio out can go to your TV or the HT box. For S-video connections, set your video resolution to 720X576 (Japan is PAL, right?). This will look bad on the Windows desktop, but gives, in my experience, the best CRT TV picture. For a LCD TV, set your resolution to the native resolution of the panel.

You'll need a DVD drive to watch DVDs as well as a video decoder that can decode encrypted DVDs (this will probably come with a retail packaged DVD drive, otherwise, check back here for recommendations.) A basic decoder that works with the PVR-150 recordings comes with the PVR-150.

If you want to do hi def, post your specific TV, etc for further advice.

Mike

[markbb1]

What I want is ... a glorified VCR, basically - record shows, play files from the PC (region free PAL & NTSC DVD, .avi etc) and pause live TV. That'd make me happy. Anything else (record one show watch another from the STB) would be gravy and I do NOT want to spend days making it all work but will take it if I can

GBPVR will do all of that and more. If you want to play regionalized DVDs, you would probably need a DVD drive for each region you want to play.

I'm trying to find a nice ATX case that'll lie horizontally but all I've seen here need micro-ATX mobo ... and I don't really want to buy a new mobo, memory etc if I can help it ...

Your case selection will be a matter of your taste and what is available. I have an Antec Overture that I plan to use for one room and a Cavalier case that I plan to use in another room. Once you find your "ideal" case, your existing MB, CPU, Drives and memory will work perfectly.

So ... what extra hardware do I need to make it work?

If you have both NTSC and PAL sources, and you want to record to only one format (say NTSC), your best bet might be to convert it before you capture it to your PC. Let me know if you want to do that and I will identify a standards converter for you. There are software options that can convert after capturing, but I am not sure they wouldn't use so much CPU power while converting that they wouldn't interfere with guide downloads or other recordings, even with a 3 GHz cpu. If you decide to capture from both NTSC and PAL sources, then convert in software, my capture cards of choice are the Hauppauge PVR-150 for the NTSC stuff and a KWorld MCE 200 Deluxe for the PAL stuff. I have had good luck with my KWorld card, but have not tried it with GBPVR (it worked great with GotAllMedia 5.x).

If you want to change channels on the STB, you might be able to use the PVR-150 IR hardware (if it came with your card). If not, I have had good luck with the MCE 2005 USB beanbag and blasters.

[Kamikuza]

Oops ... I have Auidgy2 and CD/DVD-R's in the machine too Audigy2 has an optical output in the box somewhere I think ...
Japan is NTSC-J and it'll end up in a 32in LCD TV ... I forget the native res but it's like 16:9 1300x700 or something ... I wouldn't bet there's EPG for SkyPerfect anywhere that's easy to get at for non-J-speaker though ... I don't read kanji well

I've tried converting PAL to NTSC and making DVDs but had limited success at best ... I got the feeling that the LCD TV was just like a big ol' PC monitor ...? That's mostly for downloaded shows like Blake's 7

So a Happaug erm PVR-xxx whatsit will be fine? Which version do I want? Quality and stability ie. no sync issues are my primary concerns ... cost is secondary

[Kamikuza]

... what's the difference with the HVR-xxxx and PVR-xxx kit?

[cgilson33]

go to newegg.com and search for htpc cases most of these lie sideways and some fit a regular ATX board... here's an example

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811144231

[cgilson33]

HVR = hybrid video recorder, means it can record more than one type of signal (ie QAM/ATSC/NTSC)

[Kamikuza]

Do I need hybrid for just the STB? If no, which is better - PVR150 or PVR250 or ...? No PCI-E in the old machine ...
Does newegg ship outside of the US? Didn't last time I looked ...

[markbb1]

Do I need hybrid for just the STB? If no, which is better - PVR150 or PVR250 or ...? No PCI-E in the old machine ...
Does newegg ship outside of the US? Didn't last time I looked ...

I think all you need is a Hauppauge NTSC/NTSC-J 32552 WinTV-PVR-150 MCE PCI TV Tuner. The one at http://www.labx.com/v2/spiderdealer2/vis...id=4856655 doesn't seem to have any IR ports, so if you want to control your PC and/or your STB, you would need something like an MCE remote kit like the one at http://cgi.ebay.com/Microsoft-MCE-Media-...7C294%3A50 (URL selected because it has a picture to show you precisely what is required - handheld remote, USB "beanbag" and blaster buds, which are coiled up in that picture).

Ebay sellers frequently ship internationally if you find what you need there.

[Kamikuza]

Cool, thanks for the links! I'll hit the eBay ...