Colossus questions

[Radhard]

Hi, I'm still quite new to the whole PVR game, having started using nPVR about 3 months ago.

nPVR has worked great for me so far, congrats (and Thank You!) to the devs.

I recently switched to hdtv and replaced my 2250 with a Colossus card.

It's working great and the image quality is awesome.

I would like to know how the capture is setup as far as bitrate, resolution, interleaving and framerate are concerned.

If the STBis set to output 720p, will the Colossus produce a 30fps progressive video?

Is it possible to detect image resolution from a components source?

Also there is one issue I cannot figure out so far.

On some channels (not all, and not only hd channels) I periodically get a black screen withthe message "encrypted content" in white lettering appearing for around 5 seconds. Audio continues normally during message. Video resumes normally after the message. After several minutes, it will reappear.

It may be more related to programs than to channels.

My current setup is Cisco 4642 STB, YPbPr to Colossus, DVI from PC to TVs HDMI (Panasonic S30)

Is this message produced by the STB? I could not find anything after some serious googling.

Thanks in advance to anybody who can shed some light on this.

Simon

[sub]

I would like to know how the capture is setup as far as bitrate, resolution, interleaving and framerate are concerned.

You can set the bitrate in the <HDPVR> section of the config.xml. With this device the resolution, and frame rate, is always the same as the input signal you're supplying to the Colossus. There are separate bitrate settings for SD/720p/1080i.

Is it possible to detect image resolution from a components source?

Yes, the drivers report it, and the application uses this to determine which bitrate profile to use.

On some channels (not all, and not only hd channels) I periodically get a black screen withthe message "encrypted content" in white lettering appearing for around 5 seconds. Audio continues normally during message. Video resumes normally after the message. After several minutes, it will reappear.

You might need to trying capturing one of the live tv buffer files soon after this appears, so I can take a look at the file.

Is this message produced by the STB? I could not find anything after some serious googling.

The application produces this message. You'd only expect to see it when you using a DVB or CableCard device, and are trying to watch encrypted paytv. We have seen a user getting it because of some garbage in the stream. I wouldnt think you'd get it with a Colossus, but if you can supply one of those live tv files, I can take a look.

[mvallevand]

Since 2.2.x first came out I get the "Encrypted Content" message about once a week on HD-PVR and ATSC content playing live tv. I'm sure I'd see it more if I wasn't using my NMT. I've read posts from other users too so I think it is a fundamental problem in this new logic in 2.2.x. I've provided several samples with no improvement. My symptom is I get the message but I can't get rid of it without exiting and restarting live tv. The logs show several messages about hiding and showing the OSD. The live tv buffer files play fine as "recordings" and I keep trying to find one that duplicates the live tv problem.

Originally I thought that it might be related to the terrible a/v sync issues I was having forcing me to FF/RW often but sub released a great patch to force AC3 and the a/v sync problem went away but I still get the black screen.

Martin

[Radhard]

Thank you for the quick response.

I will try to capture a live stream where the effect is exhibited. For now I will add a little context.

I had the message about 7-8 times while watching a live ice hockey game (about 3 hours long) last night in HD. Sometimes during the commercial break or when changing video formats (i.e. transitioning from live show to ads or between ads).

Also had the message frequently when watching the Science channel, an SD channel, this time during main programming (Inventions that shook the world was the program).

I watched my recording of Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman (from Discovery World HD) twice to make sure, message never appeared.

Also, VLC reports the framerate of my .ts files as 119.88 when capturing 720p is that possible?

Thanks again,

Simon

[mvallevand]

Also, VLC reports the framerate of my .ts files as 119.88 when capturing 720p is that possible?

VLC always seems to show double the framerate for me. Try using MediaInfo for better reports on what the file really looks like.

Martin

[Radhard]

Thank you Martin for the heads up on MediaInfo, been missing a tool like that for some time.

It appears the file is 720p60, so that must be what the STB is outputing.

Watched over an hour of garbage morning programming and could not reproduce error message.
My problem is less severe than Martin's as the audio playback continues just fine while the message appears and video resumes normally after about 5 seconds.

I really thought this was some Cableco's scheme to annoy their paying customers out of their unprotected outputs, may be I'm getting paranoid.

Simon

[sub]

Since 2.2.x first came out I get the "Encrypted Content" message about once a week on HD-PVR and ATSC content playing live tv. I'm sure I'd see it more if I wasn't using my NMT. I've read posts from other users too so I think it is a fundamental problem in this new logic in 2.2.x.

I'm not convinced there is any serious problem. While there have been some users report this, it's not many. I personally have only seen this message in valid conditions, like when I tune encrypted DVB-C channels. I've never seen it on DVB-T/S, which I used for receiving FTA unencrypted content.

I'm happy to take a look at any live tv buffer files, or recordings, that cause the user to see this. I'm sure we could quickly get to the bottom of it if someone can supply example files.

[Radhard]

I'll definitely keep an eye out for it.

There is another match tonight on the same channel and conditions should be very similar. Possibly it will trigger the message again. If I press pause at this time and then copy out the live-tv buffer, will it contain the necessary information for debugging? Or do you need additionnal files?

[sub]

You dont need to press pause. Just open Windows explorer and browse to the configured live tv buffer directory and copy the most recent live tv buffer file.

[smajor]

I'm not convinced there is any serious problem. While there have been some users report this, it's not many. I personally have only seen this message in valid conditions, like when I tune encrypted DVB-C channels. I've never seen it on DVB-T/S, which I used for receiving FTA unencrypted content.

I'm happy to take a look at any live tv buffer files, or recordings, that cause the user to see this. I'm sure we could quickly get to the bottom of it if someone can supply example files.

I'll see if I can capture something. I've not seen it in often and it's for 1-2 seconds tops. I'm HD-PVR only via my STBs so I wouldn't expect to see this with my configuration. I just wanted to add my voice since I don't think I've mentioned it.