4 Channel Recording

[asppr]

Im trying to build a 4 channel recorder.

Can I record 4 channels simultaneously on the same system with the application?
What TV Tuners should I use?
Would you recommend any specific brand or model?



Thank you for the support.

[Graham]

Yes, you can record four channels simultaneously and probaly more than four.

Many people round here (including me) use tv tuners by Hauppauge.

There are many very cheap digital tuners about. I also use this and it works well.

[martint123]

The main thing to find out is if your broadcast system is analogue or digital - satellite or terrestrial.
4 channels is no problem.

[smiffypr]

If you are receiving a digital signal, more than one channel will be transmitted on one frequency, so a single tuner, tuned to that frequency will receive all the channels on that frequency, and that means you can record all of them simultaneously via that one tuner. For example, New Zealand Freeview (digital terrestrial) uses three frequencies for more than 16 tv channels, so with three tuners I can simultaneously record all of the channels.

[bassic]

I've got a pair of these. They have two tuners each, work great with npvr and you can watch tv on any pc connected to your network.

[imilne]

Hopefully the original poster would know this, but for the rest of us (and according to wikipedia):

Code:

Portugal follows the DVB-T implementation, using H.264 with AAC audio encoding. It has been live since April 29, 2009 and the switch-off date for all analog signals is April 26, 2012.

There'll obviously be DVB-S(2) services too, but I've no idea about DVB-C.

Iain

[asppr]

Thank you all for your replies.
What I want to do is record 4 cable channels, that are being delivered in analogic signal. Of course it would be interesting to have digital also.
I was looking for a tv tuner with dual channel, if possible both chanels analog and digital. Hardware enconding of course.
Also the problem is to get the right hardware to deal with this.
CPU Core I5 / I7
8GB Ram?
Fast HDD, SATA 3?
As it's going to be a expensive machine your input is very important.

User Bassic also gave me an excellent idea. I didn't know that such device exists. Is there a version that records analog? How does it work?

Thanks

[Rich A]

What OS are you planning to use?

With multiple tuner setups the biggest issue will be hard disk I/O. I currently have an HTPC that is running 2 servers (one NexPVR and the other a BeyondTV server. The NPVR has 3 HDHR PRIME cable card tuners and the BTV has a mix of 5 analog and clear QAM tuners. Sometimes I have six or more recording running at the same time. My hard drive system is complex to give me the through put to be able to handle a lot of recordings simultaneously

A single SATA3 or SATA6 drive should be able to handle 3 tuners. But I would recommend keeping the C: or OS drive separate from your show recording drive. Not just partitioned as two but rather two different physical hard drives.

My HTPC has a solid state C: drive for "only" the system
Also another 80 GB SATA drive (D) that is used for program files, swap file and more or less a temporary or scratch drive.
Then there is a 500 GB that is used for all recordings. All seven of the tuners write to that drive. As each show is finished being recorded it is moved to one of 3 other drives which are set up with genre based folders IE drame, Sports, SciFi etc.

All post processing is done to the files after they are moved to their respective final storage drives.

This allows the OS drive to be optimized and unencumbered by outside processes All the swap file and program files are only accessing the 2nd D: drive.
All the post processing stuff (comskip, re-encoding etc.) is divided up between the three storage drives which leaves the main recording drive only being accessed for recording. Also that recording drive is empty (all recordings when finished are moved to the storage drives) plus some post recording processes are run on that "recording drive" to clean up any left over temp recording files etc. So 90 percent of the time, that recording is starting with a clean slate .. no fragmented files. This system has been running 24/7 365 days a year for 9 years now. I've never had a missed show or had a glitch in a recording. (except when the power went out, or the 2 video card fans and one power supply died.). This was primarily a BeyondTV dedicated system. Operated like a "Tivo on steroids".

And now I just installed a NextPVR to the system. So far the two servers seem to be able to run fine together. Eventually though I may nuke the BeyondTV server and just run NextPVR alone.

Of course all this is really "over the top". But you can get some ideas you can use for your system that may help you configure your own. All you really need for a three tuner basic system is an OS drive and a recording drive. And you CAN combine the two into one drive if needed. But drives are so cheap these days that adding a dedicated 2nd drive for recording and/or show storage will take a load off that single C: drive and give you a more efficient drive environment with fewer "potential" hard drive issues.

Good luck .. Rich

[sub]

Thank you all for your replies.
What I want to do is record 4 cable channels, that are being delivered in analogic signal. Of course it would be interesting to have digital also.
I was looking for a tv tuner with dual channel, if possible both chanels analog and digital. Hardware enconding of course.
Also the problem is to get the right hardware to deal with this.
CPU Core I5 / I7
8GB Ram?
Fast HDD, SATA 3?
As it's going to be a expensive machine your input is very important.

User Bassic also gave me an excellent idea. I didn't know that such device exists. Is there a version that records analog? How does it work?

Thanks

Put two Hauppauge HVR-2200's in there, and it'll give you four tuners, each capable of either DVB-T or analog (hardware encoded). With these NextPVR would have no problems recording four analog channels at the same time.

[asppr]

Than you Rich A and sub!
I was hoping to use Win7 64 bit so I can abuse on memory.
I was hoping to put an 64GB SSD for the OS and programs and a 1TB SATA3 drive for recordings.
For storage purposes I was thinking of a NAS and a “homemade” windows service to transfer the recordings after they are done.
2 Hauppauge HVR-2200's would be perfect for my needs!
Then it would be the time to config NextPVR and enjoy.

My biggest fear is how much CPU will 4 simultaneous recordings need…

Thank you much.