Question Re Hd/digital Cable

[jerry430]

My current PVR consists of a Hauppauge PVR-150 connected to a 32" CRT via MediaMVP. I have Time Warner analog cable.
I've seen several postings regarding people using digital cable and an HDTV. I was of the understanding that the PVR150 would not work with digital cable. What is the sense of getting digital cable if you can't use the PVR? Also, would it be worthwhile to buy an HDTV using analog cable? It seems that the clarity of HD would be limited by a non-digital signal.
These may sound like stupid questions, but I can't see getting digital cable or HD if I have to do without my PVR or GBPVR.

[groover km]

I think you have a couple of questions mixed in there...

First of all, you can use your PVR150 with digital cable, but you still need the digital set top box from your provider. If you then hook the analog output from your stb to your PVR150, you can then view/record all the digital channels it is outputting in the same way as you are now.

You are not going to get HD with analog cable as you describe in your setup. My MVP is plugged into my HDTV, but it is still SD. I think you may be confusing digital cable with HD cable. The PVR cannot record (or in fact, decode) HD signal.

Hope this helps.

[wtg]

Also, with all the cable companies that I'm aware of in the US you continue to get all the analog channels when you get digital cable. You need a set top box for the digital channels, HD and PPV, no box is necessary for the analog channels.

So, you can continue to use your PVR-150 to record the analog channels without the box, and then send the SVideo or composite output of your STB into the PVR-150 non-coax inputs. GB-PVR coordinates with both quite nicely.

[groover km]

So, you can continue to use your PVR-150 to record the analog channels without the box, and then send the SVideo or composite output of your STB into the PVR-150 non-coax inputs. GB-PVR coordinates with both quite nicely.

Correct, but remember that you can only view/record one channel at a time. This won't enable you to record an svid input while watching coax for example.

Not sure why you would want to complicate things with the analog on coax when the STB is carrying them over the svid anyway...? Why not just 'upgrade' to the svid?

[jerry430]

Thanks for the replies. Groover is right about my confusion between digital & HD. (Actually, my confusion began when they took the tuner knobs off the front of the TVs).
OK, one final question: If I got digital/HD and wanted to record a show that was broadcast in HD, would it record the show in SD or not at all?

[Withbothfeet]

I am in the same boat. I want to get Digital Cable (or Sat) and use GBPVR.

If I am correct in my assumptions...
Your STB is used to program what to watch and when.
You set GBPVR to record at a specific time on channel 3/AUX.
Your STB pumps the stream to the tuner card, which is set to record whatever input there is at the time selected.

Yes? No?


Sidenote:
ATI/AMD has a new hardware product that is supposed to act like a STB called ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner.
I don't know if it works yet... I'm kind of waiting for other guinea pigs to let me know before I drop the $$$ on one.

"An OpenCable Unidirectional Receiver (OCUR), The ATI TV Wonder™ Digital Cable Tuner uses CableLabs Certified™ CableCARD™ technology to watch and record premium HD digital cable content on Windows Vista™ PCs. OpenCable certification ensures compatibility with U.S. digital cable networks, and offers technical excellence that delivers a superior entertainment experience on the PC."
http://ati.amd.com/products/tvwonderdigital/index.html

I have my fingers crossed that sub incorporates this technology into a future release of GBPVR, but then again since he is in NZ, there is an obvious pitfall to this wish list item.

[Ted the Penguin]

you are pretty close.

you will use GB-PVR to schedule all recordings, then when you want to use an STB GB-PVR will use something (serial cable/IR blaster) to change the channel of your STB, which will be hooked to your tuner card in some fashion (S-video preferably) and the tuner card will record what the STB is displaying. any more questions on capture source setup, just ask

ok, so I have been waiting for that product to come out. but I have a little bad news for you. I am pretty sure that the cablecard wont work with XP, and I believe that it has to come installed in a vista system. so you wont be able to add it to an existing system. I hope i am wrong about it.

[Withbothfeet]

any more questions on capture source setup, just ask

I understand what you are saying Ted... the tuner card changes the channel on the STB, right?
But then the tuner card channel changes too doesn't it? What about channels over 125 or the highest channel the tuner card goes to? I thought the tuner/capture device would act more like a VCR and would be tuned to channel 3.

I am admittedly a total noob (ignorant) when it come to the STB's and PVR'ing.
Any and all guidance on this topic is appreciated.

ok, so I have been waiting for that product to come out. but I have a little bad news for you. I am pretty sure that the cablecard wont work with XP, and I believe that it has to come installed in a vista system. so you wont be able to add it to an existing system. I hope i am wrong about it.

I was under the impression it was it's own STB. A pre-built system from ATI/AMD that includes the card and you can stream it to a Windows Vista PC for viewing. Vista has HDCP support. The hardware (video card, monitor, tuner...) will have to be HDCP compliant for the video signal.
But from my understanding that it is only going to be implemented in the HD signal, and if the hardware/software isn't HDCP compliant, that you can still view it, just not in 720 or better.
But I could be wrong...

[groover km]

The chain will go something like this (and don't worry, it took me a while to get my head round it initially...)

Your cable will come in to the STB as it does now. The STB will still be what changes the channel, ie, you want to switch to channel 400, the cable box switches to 400 (we'll come back to the 'how')

Then plug your STB into your PVR, preferably with s-vid as ted says. In GBPVR, you will then set up your capture source as PVR-150, and input as s-vid 1 (or something like that; can't remember). You won't be using the analog channel tuner that is on the card, simply taking everything that comes over that s-vid input.

Now, to change channels obviously need to change the channel on the STB. This is done with some form of 'IR Blaster' (if you have a PVR-150, you should have got one with the card). You'll plug the one end into the card, and stick the other end over the IR receiver on the STB. The other spindly wire is the receiver for the PVR-150 remote. Make sense?

When you set up your card in GBPVR, you will be asked to set up an Electronic Program Guide (EPG); for the US, this is going to be zap2it. Once you set up a zap2it account (free), GBPVR will download all the tv guide stuff, channels etc. The set up will also ask you what sort of channel changer you are gonna use. I have a PVR-150, and I use the haupblast.exe in the GBPVR folder.

So, once this is done, this is what happens: You are running GBPVR and you see in the tv guide a channel you want to watch. You select that channel, and GBPVR looks it up in the database and sends the channel code to the IR blaster. The blaster then flashes the signal to the IR receiver on the STB, and presto, the channel changes and you are watching...

Clever eh? You can see how sub is regarded as some sort of deity around these parts...

Hope this helps!

[groover km]

But then the tuner card channel changes too doesn't it? What about channels over 125 or the highest channel the tuner card goes to? I thought the tuner/capture device would act more like a VCR and would be tuned to channel 3.

Hopefully my previous post will answer this question as well. Rather than being tuned to 3 like a vcr, you'll just be fixing the input (same thing). Also, as you won't be using the analog tuner on the card itself, you won't have a problem with channels 125+.