Connecting Comcast HD to my PC

tom_in_atlanta · 04-25-2008, 08:17 PM

here is the wiring information for my monitor...

Note the sentence "Do not use both cables on the same computer. Use both the cables only when they are connected to two different computers with appropriate video systems."
_____________________________________________

Connecting Your Monitor

CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions.

To connect your monitor to the computer perform the following steps/instructions:
• Turn off your computer and disconnect the power cable.
• Connect either the white (digital DVI-D) or the blue (analog VGA) display connector cable to the corresponding video port on the back of your computer. Do not use both cables on the same computer. Use both the cables only when they are connected to two different computers with appropriate video systems.

After you have completed connecting the DVI/VGA cable, follow the procedure below to complete your monitor setup:
• Plug the power cables for your computer and monitor into a nearby outlet.
• Turn on the monitor and the computer.
If your monitor displays an image, installation is complete. If it does not display an image, see Solving Problems.
• Use the cable management opening on the monitor stand to organize the cables.

**rbinck** · 04-25-2008, 08:25 PM

You might be better off getting the DVI daughter board, see post #15

tom_in_atlanta · 04-25-2008, 08:44 PM

I agree. Yes daughter board seems to be the way to go for me. Using the post 15 wiring diagram. Thanks.

**rbinck** · 04-25-2008, 08:46 PM

Just realize it takes two adjacent card spaces.

tom_in_atlanta · 04-26-2008, 07:37 PM

OK thanks. I appreciate all the info. Card is on order.

tom_in_atlanta · 05-02-2008, 09:39 AM

I have the MyHD card installed. Turns out my sound card is taking up one of the PCI slots so I hookep up the monitor using the VGA cable. SO I didn't need the daughter card.

I haven't hooked up the cable yet. I am running the MyHD card just using a rabbit ear antenna. The picture quality looks great. The toggling from HDTV mode to PC Desktop works well.

The only glitch I am having is when I use the Power Off button on the remote. If I turn off the tuner card using this button, the monitor can't detect the PC Desktop to display it. I have to reboot. Is this a bug in the software? Anyone else have this happen?

My work-around is to not use the power button and to switch back to PC Desktop uising the keyboard. This means I have to get up off the sofa but I can live with that.

I haven't used the time-shifting capability to TIVO any shows but overall I am happy with this card. Thanks.

tom_in_atlanta · 05-06-2008, 09:04 AM

Having had some time to work with this card..here is my evaluation..

I think I have worked out all the bugs and it works for me the way it was advertised. (I may want to download the latest drivers) I tend to use the keyboard shortcuts and switching from full screen mode to PC Desktop is pretty smooth. I just use the remote to change channels and volume.

Occasionally I get hung up in full screen mode and can't get back to PC mode without rebooting. But I think I found a work around for that. I may eventually get a smaller monitor and split up the loop thru feature.

I am doing the loop-thru to one monitor using the VGA cable provided. I didn't use the daughter board. The DVR function works smoothly with the TitanTV interface.

Off the air HD broadcasts in the Atlanta area come in crystal clear. There are 8 or 9 local stations here including two PBS stations. Time-shifting my favorite programs using the DVR function makes it feel like there are twice as many channels. I can watch what I want-when I want.

The QAM tuner works well with the clear QAM channels. I prefer the signal off the air on the local stations without going through the cable system. But the ability to mix OTA and Cable using the "Favorites" input is great. Capturing OTA or Cable using the TitanTV website works like a charm.

The only hitch is that Comcast in Atlanta encrypts all their HD channels except the local ones (required by law to be clear). It still carries the analog channels and I don't know if that will change after February 2009. But there are no digital equivalent channels on their clear cable for the analog channels at the present time. Perhaps after the conversion there will be.

This leaves me with the dilemma of needing a cable card or a set top box to un-encrypt channels like CNN-HD, History-HD, Discovery-HD, etc. I expected these to be clear but they are not. I thought only HBO, Showtime and the other premium channels would be the only ones to be encrypted. That is not the case.

I guess they consider "digital" (480i, 720p or 1080i) to be "premium" channels. So I am paying 50 bucks to get the HD channels that I can already get OTA with a rabbit ear antenna. Not a good deal.

I am assuming that if I get a cable card or a STB i cannot in turn feed the output signal into the MyHD tuner card, right? Can the MyHD tuner card and a cable card co-exist in the same PC? That way at least I could use the DVR function for the OTA channels. And watch the other HD channels without the ability to record them.

Has anyone tried this? It may be pushing my PC beyond it's limits...

tom_in_atlanta · 05-07-2008, 03:49 AM

Can you send me a link to get the latest drivers for the MyHD MDP 130?

tom_in_atlanta · 05-07-2008, 05:56 AM

I am currently on version 1.66.1u. Is this the latest?

tom_in_atlanta · 05-16-2008, 01:20 PM

I have the MyHD working very well now. I ordered this antenna that seemed to get very good reviews...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EHUE7I

I will let you know how it works out.

One problem: I have read all the tips on this at the AV Forum but still haven't eliminated the problem. OTA I get great 1080i reception of all the local channels (hope to get even stronger signals with the above antenna.) I got nowhere with the cable company so I dropped cable.

When I use the DVR capability of the MyHD MDP-130, I get pixelization and some audio dropout. Even with the best antenna setting. (signal strength 90%) There were many tips on the AV site but none of them helped in my particular situation. I cut back the resolution to 720p, turned off virus protection, even tried recording straight to my internal drive to avoid the USB connection to my external drive. The MyHD overlay is disabled. Any ideas?

I love the DVR capability and it makes it seem like I have twice as many channels. I can watch my favorite shows on PBS and I'm happy.

Any tips would be appreciated...

**rbinck** · 05-16-2008, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tom_in_atlanta

The only glitch I am having is when I use the Power Off button on the remote. If I turn off the tuner card using this button, the monitor can't detect the PC Desktop to display it. I have to reboot. Is this a bug in the software? Anyone else have this happen?

My work-around is to not use the power button and to switch back to PC Desktop uising the keyboard. This means I have to get up off the sofa but I can live with that.

Don't use the power button to go back to the desktop use the HD button at the lower left of the remote. The power button does not turn off the card, it should shutdown the computer, or do what ever your power button is set for in the power settings.

**rbinck** · 05-16-2008, 02:36 PM

"Cutting back" the resolution to 720p only changes the output of the card. Everything else will still happen at whatever resolution/format the signal is received. I have my MyHD card set at 1080i because I still send it to a CRT based HDTV and a1080p LCD. When I record a show from ABC, FOX it still records in 720p and shows from CBS, NBC it still records in 1080i.

What I see a lot is macroblocking and that is an issue with the stations. After a time you will be able to tell when it is the station and when it is the signal. Low signal will cause picture breakup and dropouts. For more info on this with picture examples see: HDTV Artifacts

If you think the signal is weak still, try a good preamp on the DB4.

For more help put a post in the Local HDTV Info and Reception forum.

I can tell you that the tuner in the MyHD card is as good as they come. I also have a ATI HDTV tuner card that came in a HP computer and it is very weak by comparison. The ATI tuner will not get several stations that the MyHD card and my Zenith HD SAT520 gets.

As far as the cable system being able to be used with your PC, if they don't offer the channels you want in the clear, then you are just going to be out of luck. They are basically telling you to rent one of their DVRs and pay for their digital service. So far there has not been any cable cards for PCs except for some specialized media PCs that come with a cable card slot built in. As soon as I saw the price of these PCs, I promptly forgot all of the details.

tom_in_atlanta · 05-28-2008, 09:59 AM

I seem to have isolated this problem. It is not a reception issue. Programs play fine while recording. But during playback they break up. I found some freeware that lets me play .tp files using Windows Media Player and they look fine. Is this a bug in the playback software for the MyHP or is there a setting somewhere I am missing?

**rbinck** · 05-28-2008, 10:08 AM

I had this exact problem at first. The disk drive had slipped to PIO instead of DMA. The recordings would do fine, but playback would skip.

tom_in_atlanta · 05-29-2008, 02:46 PM

I have tried all the suggestions from the AVSforum to fix this problem of pixelization during playback of my .tp files. Nothing has worked so far. here is the link:

http://www./avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7176986#post7176986

I checked the hard drives, and they were PIO instead of DMA. Changed those settings, rebooted, and i still get playback problems using the MyHD playback mode. When I play them back using WMP (with the codec I got from freeware) they look fine.

I even expanded the settings for my virtual memory.

Any suggestions?

04-25-2008, 08:25 PM	#17
rbinck Administrator Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Katy, Texas Posts: 12,959	You might be better off getting the DVI daughter board, see post #15 __________________ www.highdefinitionblog.com www.BlogOfHawaii.com

04-25-2008, 08:46 PM	#19
rbinck Administrator Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Katy, Texas Posts: 12,959	Just realize it takes two adjacent card spaces. __________________ www.highdefinitionblog.com www.BlogOfHawaii.com

05-16-2008, 02:36 PM	#27
rbinck Administrator Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Katy, Texas Posts: 12,959	"Cutting back" the resolution to 720p only changes the output of the card. Everything else will still happen at whatever resolution/format the signal is received. I have my MyHD card set at 1080i because I still send it to a CRT based HDTV and a1080p LCD. When I record a show from ABC, FOX it still records in 720p and shows from CBS, NBC it still records in 1080i. What I see a lot is macroblocking and that is an issue with the stations. After a time you will be able to tell when it is the station and when it is the signal. Low signal will cause picture breakup and dropouts. For more info on this with picture examples see: HDTV Artifacts If you think the signal is weak still, try a good preamp on the DB4. For more help put a post in the Local HDTV Info and Reception forum. I can tell you that the tuner in the MyHD card is as good as they come. I also have a ATI HDTV tuner card that came in a HP computer and it is very weak by comparison. The ATI tuner will not get several stations that the MyHD card and my Zenith HD SAT520 gets. As far as the cable system being able to be used with your PC, if they don't offer the channels you want in the clear, then you are just going to be out of luck. They are basically telling you to rent one of their DVRs and pay for their digital service. So far there has not been any cable cards for PCs except for some specialized media PCs that come with a cable card slot built in. As soon as I saw the price of these PCs, I promptly forgot all of the details. __________________ www.highdefinitionblog.com www.BlogOfHawaii.com Last edited by rbinck; 05-16-2008 at 02:42 PM.

05-28-2008, 10:08 AM	#29
rbinck Administrator Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Katy, Texas Posts: 12,959	I had this exact problem at first. The disk drive had slipped to PIO instead of DMA. The recordings would do fine, but playback would skip. __________________ www.highdefinitionblog.com www.BlogOfHawaii.com

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04-25-2008, 08:17 PM	#16
tom_in_atlanta Must this be so complex? Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 39	here is the wiring information for my monitor... Note the sentence "Do not use both cables on the same computer. Use both the cables only when they are connected to two different computers with appropriate video systems." _____________________________________________ Connecting Your Monitor CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions. To connect your monitor to the computer perform the following steps/instructions: • Turn off your computer and disconnect the power cable. • Connect either the white (digital DVI-D) or the blue (analog VGA) display connector cable to the corresponding video port on the back of your computer. Do not use both cables on the same computer. Use both the cables only when they are connected to two different computers with appropriate video systems. After you have completed connecting the DVI/VGA cable, follow the procedure below to complete your monitor setup: • Plug the power cables for your computer and monitor into a nearby outlet. • Turn on the monitor and the computer. If your monitor displays an image, installation is complete. If it does not display an image, see Solving Problems. • Use the cable management opening on the monitor stand to organize the cables.

04-25-2008, 08:44 PM	#18
tom_in_atlanta Must this be so complex? Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 39	I agree. Yes daughter board seems to be the way to go for me. Using the post 15 wiring diagram. Thanks.

04-26-2008, 07:37 PM	#20
tom_in_atlanta Must this be so complex? Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 39	OK thanks. I appreciate all the info. Card is on order.

05-02-2008, 09:39 AM	#21
tom_in_atlanta Must this be so complex? Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 39	I have the MyHD card installed. Turns out my sound card is taking up one of the PCI slots so I hookep up the monitor using the VGA cable. SO I didn't need the daughter card. I haven't hooked up the cable yet. I am running the MyHD card just using a rabbit ear antenna. The picture quality looks great. The toggling from HDTV mode to PC Desktop works well. The only glitch I am having is when I use the Power Off button on the remote. If I turn off the tuner card using this button, the monitor can't detect the PC Desktop to display it. I have to reboot. Is this a bug in the software? Anyone else have this happen? My work-around is to not use the power button and to switch back to PC Desktop uising the keyboard. This means I have to get up off the sofa but I can live with that. I haven't used the time-shifting capability to TIVO any shows but overall I am happy with this card. Thanks.

05-06-2008, 09:04 AM	#22
tom_in_atlanta Must this be so complex? Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 39	Having had some time to work with this card..here is my evaluation.. I think I have worked out all the bugs and it works for me the way it was advertised. (I may want to download the latest drivers) I tend to use the keyboard shortcuts and switching from full screen mode to PC Desktop is pretty smooth. I just use the remote to change channels and volume. Occasionally I get hung up in full screen mode and can't get back to PC mode without rebooting. But I think I found a work around for that. I may eventually get a smaller monitor and split up the loop thru feature. I am doing the loop-thru to one monitor using the VGA cable provided. I didn't use the daughter board. The DVR function works smoothly with the TitanTV interface. Off the air HD broadcasts in the Atlanta area come in crystal clear. There are 8 or 9 local stations here including two PBS stations. Time-shifting my favorite programs using the DVR function makes it feel like there are twice as many channels. I can watch what I want-when I want. The QAM tuner works well with the clear QAM channels. I prefer the signal off the air on the local stations without going through the cable system. But the ability to mix OTA and Cable using the "Favorites" input is great. Capturing OTA or Cable using the TitanTV website works like a charm. The only hitch is that Comcast in Atlanta encrypts all their HD channels except the local ones (required by law to be clear). It still carries the analog channels and I don't know if that will change after February 2009. But there are no digital equivalent channels on their clear cable for the analog channels at the present time. Perhaps after the conversion there will be. This leaves me with the dilemma of needing a cable card or a set top box to un-encrypt channels like CNN-HD, History-HD, Discovery-HD, etc. I expected these to be clear but they are not. I thought only HBO, Showtime and the other premium channels would be the only ones to be encrypted. That is not the case. I guess they consider "digital" (480i, 720p or 1080i) to be "premium" channels. So I am paying 50 bucks to get the HD channels that I can already get OTA with a rabbit ear antenna. Not a good deal. I am assuming that if I get a cable card or a STB i cannot in turn feed the output signal into the MyHD tuner card, right? Can the MyHD tuner card and a cable card co-exist in the same PC? That way at least I could use the DVR function for the OTA channels. And watch the other HD channels without the ability to record them. Has anyone tried this? It may be pushing my PC beyond it's limits...

05-07-2008, 03:49 AM	#23
tom_in_atlanta Must this be so complex? Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 39	Can you send me a link to get the latest drivers for the MyHD MDP 130?

05-07-2008, 05:56 AM	#24
tom_in_atlanta Must this be so complex? Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 39	I am currently on version 1.66.1u. Is this the latest?

05-16-2008, 01:20 PM	#25
tom_in_atlanta Must this be so complex? Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 39	I have the MyHD working very well now. I ordered this antenna that seemed to get very good reviews... http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EHUE7I I will let you know how it works out. One problem: I have read all the tips on this at the AV Forum but still haven't eliminated the problem. OTA I get great 1080i reception of all the local channels (hope to get even stronger signals with the above antenna.) I got nowhere with the cable company so I dropped cable. When I use the DVR capability of the MyHD MDP-130, I get pixelization and some audio dropout. Even with the best antenna setting. (signal strength 90%) There were many tips on the AV site but none of them helped in my particular situation. I cut back the resolution to 720p, turned off virus protection, even tried recording straight to my internal drive to avoid the USB connection to my external drive. The MyHD overlay is disabled. Any ideas? I love the DVR capability and it makes it seem like I have twice as many channels. I can watch my favorite shows on PBS and I'm happy. Any tips would be appreciated...

05-28-2008, 09:59 AM	#28
tom_in_atlanta Must this be so complex? Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 39	I seem to have isolated this problem. It is not a reception issue. Programs play fine while recording. But during playback they break up. I found some freeware that lets me play .tp files using Windows Media Player and they look fine. Is this a bug in the playback software for the MyHP or is there a setting somewhere I am missing?

05-29-2008, 02:46 PM	#30
tom_in_atlanta Must this be so complex? Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 39	I have tried all the suggestions from the AVSforum to fix this problem of pixelization during playback of my .tp files. Nothing has worked so far. here is the link: http://www./avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7176986#post7176986 I checked the hard drives, and they were PIO instead of DMA. Changed those settings, rebooted, and i still get playback problems using the MyHD playback mode. When I play them back using WMP (with the codec I got from freeware) they look fine. I even expanded the settings for my virtual memory. Any suggestions?