Using PVR-500 and a set to box

[lsutiger]

If I run my Set Top Box through the PVR 500 and watch an HD channel, will the HD resolution be tranferred to the tv ( using DVI-D )?
Thanx for any input!
"Da" Tiga'

[nurowolf]

NO

The PVR500 is only a Standard Definition Analogue card.

If your STB is a smart STB - then it will scale down the stream so that the PVR500 can understand it.

The DVI (assuming you have setup your PC correctly) can then UPSCALE the Standard Definition stream to High Definition.

You will probably need something like fddshow to clean up the image / scale the image before it is passed through the DVI link to ensure best quality.

To be able to pass HD directly to the DVI port, your capture card will need to be able to support the exact resolution that you will be displaying on the TV - otherwise some form of scalling will occur.

Cheers
Nuro

[lsutiger]

What is fddshow?
And would a PCI HD tuner work ( or is that only for OTA HD?)
Thanx a bunch..newbie in the HDTV world

[sub]

There is no device I know of that will enable you to get your HD signal off your STB.

[nurowolf]

Most HD STB have their data encrypted (so the Tunder card can not read them).

However some HD STB boxes will still allow output to SD without encryption.

However this means that your picture is in SD and NOT HD.

PCI HD Tuners (I believe) are currently only available for OTA HD broadcasts.


fddshow is a post processing application (freeware). Effectively it takes the raw image of your video feed and modifies it to your liking - including upscaling to HD resolution. It is a great package and can really clean up an image (but only on playback of recorded video - I dont believe it would work with live TV - but I could be wrong).

The down side of fddshow is that it is CPU intensive. If you dont have a P4 3mghz or eqivilant - dont even bother. It is also a lot of work to get the image to look good. But if you have the time - it can make a big difference. I use it with my DVD playback.