DVR vs VCR with ATSC Tuner?

tipstir · 12-20-2007, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbinck

Yep, I chose to have 2 HTPCs that can do both so I can record 2 shows at the same time. It really comes down to how much you want to spend, I guess.

In any case, I was just giving an alternative to the OP that will work with practically any computer. Some of the other tuner cards require a pretty powerful (read expensive) PCs. Just about any P3 or P4 level computer will work with the MyHD card allowing some $$ to be spent on hard drives rather than computer. Also a good use for the older computer you want to replace as well. Both of mine run Windows 2000 even.

There only so much PIII or P4 can do well the old ones with 1GHz CPU. Well I guess you found a way to keep on using Windows 2000 Pro. Now do you watch Live TV on your PC? Or do you have it hooked up to the HDTV you have? I know it's a 50/50 split.

Yes all of this can get expensive I really haven't notice too much. Most of the gear had rebates like $20 back. So I made $100 bucks on the 4 tuners and about the same for 4 of the MediaMVP. Comes out to be $200 bucks. But those days are gone.

Here is a sample of my MediaMVP 16:9 on HDTV running on a wireless drop connection.
http://files.filefront.com/Kodak+Dec.../fileinfo.html

**rbinck** · 12-21-2007, 04:32 PM

Yes I watch live TV on the PC. From your post I see you still don't understand the card operation yet. It does not use the computer for any video at all. Everything is on the card. You can think of the card as a set top box ATSC tuner with the ability to store and retreive the video streams from the hard disk. When I'm watching live TV the computer is 90% idle and most of the 10% is for background tasks like the VNC server I have running so I can control the HTPCs from my laptop in the living room.

The MyHD card is completely different than the other cards that use the computer for video and a lot of people have a hard time understanding the semi-stand alone nature of the card.

tipstir · 12-21-2007, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbinck

Yes I watch live TV on the PC. From your post I see you still don't understand the card operation yet. It does not use the computer for any video at all. Everything is on the card. You can think of the card as a set top box ATSC tuner with the ability to store and retreive the video streams from the hard disk. When I'm watching live TV the computer is 90% idle and most of the 10% is for background tasks like the VNC server I have running so I can control the HTPCs from my laptop in the living room.

The MyHD card is completely different than the other cards that use the computer for video and a lot of people have a hard time understanding the semi-stand alone nature of the card.

Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 Tuner Cards
Record, Store, Play, Pause, able to show Live TV.
Capture media off VCR, DVD an etc..

When use with SAGETV, that software records, shows PIP of Live TV in the TV Guide just like a DCT 6412 would do. I don't use it that way. I think your software and mine work the same, but you and use it differently.

I too use the wireless laptop or wired desktop to remote into the HTPC to controls things if needed. But I have programmed autobot (macro with my mouse movement to take care some the daily functions using Windows Task Manager every 7 hours around the clock)

Once the data is stored on my extra HDD in the system I call DVR folder. I can use any system in the house to watch the file through, MVP via it's server software, or though SAGETV client Live Window over the network I can use Desktop Remote to see it also or use VLC through the IE Browser WebServer to watch media.

I think your way and mine work the same, it's just you and I do it a different way. Unless the MYHD does something completely different. The load on the CPU and RAM is not that great. I don't load AntiVirus nor Spyware stuff, it's just a plain system. It streams the media to MVP or to another PC on the network from the HDD I record too.

I'll have to check your MYHD more to see what it does differently as you say it does and compare.

**rbinck** · 12-22-2007, 12:14 PM

Yes the MyHD card is completely different than the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 Tuner Cards in that there is no video output on the Hauppauge. It uses the computer's video card for output thus requiring both buss and CPU loading that the MyHD card does not use. When watching live TV on the MyHD card, almost everything is done by the card. It also has an s-video/composite, stereo audio inputs in addition to a VGA input and a VGA (or component) output. The software just controls the card and shuffles the files on and off of the hard drive. Quite different than the Hauppauge or Fusion cards and therefore work equally well with a 400 mhz P2 64mb ram as it would with your level of computer. That 10% was on my P3 computer, the Compaq P4 is much lower. Another difference is it has 2 coax inputs, one for OTA and the other for cable.

hdgtx · 12-22-2007, 03:25 PM

I ran across the DVICO brand TViX recoder(M-6500A, MSRP $469, selling for $ 399) on the Digital Connections web site, someone listed in a previous post. Does this device do as advertized; "...a simple alternative to home theater PC" Sounds almost too good to be true? The specs did not list included hard drives, nor did I see a mention of editing ability of the recorded HD or SD programs. Any body have thoughts on this yet to be released neat little black ?

tipstir · 12-22-2007, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbinck

Yes the MyHD card is completely different than the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 Tuner Cards in that there is no video output on the Hauppauge. It uses the computer's video card for output thus requiring both buss and CPU loading that the MyHD card does not use. When watching live TV on the MyHD card, almost everything is done by the card. It also has an s-video/composite, stereo audio inputs in addition to a VGA input and a VGA (or component) output. The software just controls the card and shuffles the files on and off of the hard drive. Quite different than the Hauppauge or Fusion cards and therefore work equally well with a 400 mhz P2 64mb ram as it would with your level of computer. That 10% was on my P3 computer, the Compaq P4 is much lower. Another difference is it has 2 coax inputs, one for OTA and the other for cable.

Okay you have me there now..Yes PvR-150 doesn't have hardware decoder, so I would have to use my video card hardware decoder to connect to a TV for viewing on VGA. There are a lot of users who still use PIII with PVR-150 but just to record. I just built a faster system to handle both MPEG2 high quality bit rate recording, streaming and MediaMVP Server to each of the 7 MVP an etc. Since I don't use the PC with the video card to watch TV an etc.. The MediaMVP hardware decoder for MPEG1/2 and then there is Divix also. It will play AVIs too.

Hey your system and mine does one thing it records.. I just playback the recordings using medai boxes as you to directly to your TV.

**rbinck** · 12-22-2007, 04:43 PM

Yes they do the same thing. The difference is in the cost of the two systems. Given that the MyHD card will operate with just about any computer that the OP may have, maybe even retired to the garage, the cost could be as low as $100 plus a new hard drive of another $100 for a 300 gb or so.

**rbinck** · 12-22-2007, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hdgtx

I ran across the DVICO brand TViX recoder(M-6500A, MSRP $469, selling for $ 399) on the Digital Connections web site, someone listed in a previous post. Does this device do as advertized; "...a simple alternative to home theater PC" Sounds almost too good to be true? The specs did not list included hard drives, nor did I see a mention of editing ability of the recorded HD or SD programs. Any body have thoughts on this yet to be released neat little black ?

Another issue with them is there is not any method of receiving ATSC or QAM material. They are used as a set top box in a distributed video system where you put a M-6500A at each HDTV and files can be transferred over your home network from a central server. Alternately it can connect via USB and hard drives can be added for local storage via USB. It is not a stand alone package like the HD TiVo.

tipstir · 12-22-2007, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbinck

Yes they do the same thing. The difference is in the cost of the two systems. Given that the MyHD card will operate with just about any computer that the OP may have, maybe even retired to the garage, the cost could be as low as $100 plus a new hard drive of another $100 for a 300 gb or so.

Yes the cost is cheaper your way.. But you can only record 1 show at a time. I can record up to 4 shows. Some users I know have the PVR-500 with dual PVR-150 tuners so if you had 5 PCI slots 10 tuners. No way you can do that with PIII, you'll need a system with 2GB of RAM and 3GHz CPU. But that's very expensive route. The only PvR card that acts like yours is PVR-350 has both encoder/decorder hardware with output..

My system with 4x PVR-150 NTSC PCI I do have one more (PCI for another card but that might be ASTC) RG6 2.3GHz below:

tipstir · 12-22-2007, 04:54 PM

Here's a shot of two Hauppauge MediaMVP one for viewing and the other one I use to use to record to my DVD recorder. It was the faster to do it that way. It worked great back then..

tipstir · 12-22-2007, 05:01 PM

Below is kind of messy but this is how I was recording off Ondemand from Comcast when I had them using the HTPC. There is a RS 4-way composite video converter to S-Video I use to use with 50FT of composite video cable. It worked perfectly..

tipstir · 12-22-2007, 05:02 PM

Insides of the HTPC I've built

Specs

Case 530W PSU 2x MagDog Turbo Fans 120mm, 80mm
AMD Sempron64 2800+ OC 2.4GHz, 1GB Dual Channel DDR 400MHz, MSI K8T Neo-V Geforce4 MX 4000 128MB DDR AGP 8x 4 WinTV-PVR-150 PCI (NTSC) @ driver: 1/25/2005 - 2.0.24.23025, 7 Media MVP 1000 (NTSC) Wired 100-Full duplex and 1 Wireless Network SAGETV Windows XP Pro Media Center Edition 2005 SP2 OS/Programs: 60GB, REC: 300GB + Archived1: 200GB + Achived2: 200GB

**rbinck** · 12-22-2007, 05:03 PM

Actually, I was able to get a second MDP-120 card (discontinued) for $40 on eBay that I put in an old computer for my 2nd HTPC which allows me to record 2 HD programs at the same time. The cheap cost allows for old computers to be turned into a recorder for not much $. Then with VNC software control them all from my laptop.

I used to be in the computer networking business and have a number of older computers just waiting for me to run across more of the cheap cards on eBay.

Anyway my first post was to provide an alternative to a VCR with a ATSC tuner which I read as the OP was looking for a cost effective method of recording HDTV programs. I in no way was calling your baby ugly!

tipstir · 12-22-2007, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbinck

Actually, I was able to get a second MDP-120 card (discontinued) for $40 on eBay that I put in an old computer for my 2nd HTPC which allows me to record 2 HD programs at the same time. The cheap cost allows for old computers to be turned into a recorder for not much $. Then with VNC software control them all from my laptop.

I used to be in the computer networking business and have a number of older computers just waiting for me to run across more of the cheap cards on eBay.

Anyway my first post was to provide an alternative to a VCR with a ATSC tuner which I read as the OP was looking for a cost effective method of recording HDTV programs. I in no way was calling your baby ugly!

Yes good idea to turned them into what you want to do.. That's how I first started with HTPC with PII 450MHz 512MB of SDRAM Cart remember those. Then with PIII 500MHz 768MB of SDRAM another Cart CPU. Those can be used still, but for the what I had wanted to do I decided it was better to build a new system just for HTPC.

You can also take those old PC and make them into Routers using IPCOP using 2 NICs.

Well I guess we both gone overboard here but I've learn from you about the MYHD, I might just buy one to cut cost as the Hauppauge is very expensive.

hdgtx · 12-23-2007, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbinck

Another issue with them is there is not any method of receiving ATSC or QAM material. They are used as a set top box in a distributed video system where you put a M-6500A at each HDTV and files can be transferred over your home network from a central server. Alternately it can connect via USB and hard drives can be added for local storage via USB. It is not a stand alone package like the HD TiVo.

Hello "rbinck", I went back to DVICO's web site & found they have several models with ASTC tuner options (you are right, the M6500A does not). The HD M5110SH, HD M4110SH & HD M4010SA all have ATSC tuners included, they can be purchased w/o tuners as multimedia players. I can not tell if they come with installed hard drives. Here is a link (from Digital Conn) to one model; HD M4110SH:

http://www.digitalconnection.com/Pro...vixm4110sh.asp

Sorry, I was not trying to highjack the thread, but ran across these units while reading on a link a poster gave on this thread (Digital Connections).

Thanks for the pics, that sure helps us see what you are saying about your HTPC. I am enjoying this thread!

12-21-2007, 04:32 PM	#17
rbinck Administrator Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Katy, Texas Posts: 12,993	Yes I watch live TV on the PC. From your post I see you still don't understand the card operation yet. It does not use the computer for any video at all. Everything is on the card. You can think of the card as a set top box ATSC tuner with the ability to store and retreive the video streams from the hard disk. When I'm watching live TV the computer is 90% idle and most of the 10% is for background tasks like the VNC server I have running so I can control the HTPCs from my laptop in the living room. The MyHD card is completely different than the other cards that use the computer for video and a lot of people have a hard time understanding the semi-stand alone nature of the card. __________________ www.highdefinitionblog.com www.BlogOfHawaii.com

12-22-2007, 12:14 PM	#19
rbinck Administrator Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Katy, Texas Posts: 12,993	Yes the MyHD card is completely different than the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 Tuner Cards in that there is no video output on the Hauppauge. It uses the computer's video card for output thus requiring both buss and CPU loading that the MyHD card does not use. When watching live TV on the MyHD card, almost everything is done by the card. It also has an s-video/composite, stereo audio inputs in addition to a VGA input and a VGA (or component) output. The software just controls the card and shuffles the files on and off of the hard drive. Quite different than the Hauppauge or Fusion cards and therefore work equally well with a 400 mhz P2 64mb ram as it would with your level of computer. That 10% was on my P3 computer, the Compaq P4 is much lower. Another difference is it has 2 coax inputs, one for OTA and the other for cable. __________________ www.highdefinitionblog.com www.BlogOfHawaii.com

12-22-2007, 04:43 PM	#22
rbinck Administrator Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Katy, Texas Posts: 12,993	Yes they do the same thing. The difference is in the cost of the two systems. Given that the MyHD card will operate with just about any computer that the OP may have, maybe even retired to the garage, the cost could be as low as $100 plus a new hard drive of another $100 for a 300 gb or so. __________________ www.highdefinitionblog.com www.BlogOfHawaii.com

12-22-2007, 05:02 PM	#27
tipstir Banned User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 4,664	Insides of the HTPC I've built Specs Case 530W PSU 2x MagDog Turbo Fans 120mm, 80mm AMD Sempron64 2800+ OC 2.4GHz, 1GB Dual Channel DDR 400MHz, MSI K8T Neo-V Geforce4 MX 4000 128MB DDR AGP 8x 4 WinTV-PVR-150 PCI (NTSC) @ driver: 1/25/2005 - 2.0.24.23025, 7 Media MVP 1000 (NTSC) Wired 100-Full duplex and 1 Wireless Network SAGETV Windows XP Pro Media Center Edition 2005 SP2 OS/Programs: 60GB, REC: 300GB + Archived1: 200GB + Achived2: 200GB Last edited by tipstir; 12-22-2007 at 05:08 PM.

12-22-2007, 05:03 PM	#28
rbinck Administrator Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Katy, Texas Posts: 12,993	Actually, I was able to get a second MDP-120 card (discontinued) for $40 on eBay that I put in an old computer for my 2nd HTPC which allows me to record 2 HD programs at the same time. The cheap cost allows for old computers to be turned into a recorder for not much $. Then with VNC software control them all from my laptop. I used to be in the computer networking business and have a number of older computers just waiting for me to run across more of the cheap cards on eBay. Anyway my first post was to provide an alternative to a VCR with a ATSC tuner which I read as the OP was looking for a cost effective method of recording HDTV programs. I in no way was calling your baby ugly! __________________ www.highdefinitionblog.com www.BlogOfHawaii.com

12-22-2007, 03:25 PM	#20
hdgtx High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: SE TN Posts: 49	I ran across the DVICO brand TViX recoder(M-6500A, MSRP $469, selling for $ 399) on the Digital Connections web site, someone listed in a previous post. Does this device do as advertized; "...a simple alternative to home theater PC" Sounds almost too good to be true? The specs did not list included hard drives, nor did I see a mention of editing ability of the recorded HD or SD programs. Any body have thoughts on this yet to be released neat little black ?

12-22-2007, 04:54 PM	#25
tipstir Banned User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 4,664	Here's a shot of two Hauppauge MediaMVP one for viewing and the other one I use to use to record to my DVD recorder. It was the faster to do it that way. It worked great back then..

12-22-2007, 05:01 PM	#26
tipstir Banned User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 4,664	Below is kind of messy but this is how I was recording off Ondemand from Comcast when I had them using the HTPC. There is a RS 4-way composite video converter to S-Video I use to use with 50FT of composite video cable. It worked perfectly..

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