Hauppauge HD PVR

[cyber_blob]

Background: I am a technical novice looking to finish my home theater by May 1, 2008. I will build a computer to function as a jukebox and as a PVR. It will house and catalog all of my digital music and movies. (No more CDs and DVDs for me!) It will use my current HDTV as a monitor, and my current AV receiver for audio output. It will use a remote control and it will have a friendly and easy-to-use interface. If it is possible, and legal, I’d like to record premium HD content from a cable TV provider.

I just heard a rumor that Hauppauge will release a peripheral device in Q1 '08 which connects a computer to a Set-Top-Box (STB.) Cable or satellite providers broadcast a digital signal to an STB. The STB processes the signal and sends audio and video to a TV. This Hauppauge device intercepts the signal before it can be processed and possibly scrambled by the STB. Intercepting the signal prior to scrambling, will allow anyone to record any content which flows through the STB, including premium HD content.

I have been to the Haupauge site and saw no mention of the device. Does anyone know anything about this peripheral, its capabilities and when it will be made available to the general public?

Marshall

 

[adk highlander]

I have not heard of this device or one similar. Where did you hear the rumor? The application of this product seems questionable. How would the card control the stations that you want to record if it is not using the tuner controls of the STB or sat box? If it has a built in tuner than it may only work with certain systems.

 

[jinjuku]

You most likely won't be able to record the HD content from the cable provider. It is normally sent as encrypted QAM. OTA (Over the Air) HD will be fine however.

Are you going to use Windows Vista MCE (Media Center Edition)? Do you have your computer already together. Are you rigging it to run silent?

Inquiring minds want to know

 

[cyber_blob]

Hd Pvr

I have not heard of this device or one similar. Where did you hear the rumor? The application of this product seems questionable. How would the card control the stations that you want to record if it is not using the tuner controls of the STB or sat box? If it has a built in tuner than it may only work with certain systems.

I was in a restaurant last night in a booth, on the phone, and heard a couple guys talking at the next table. By the time I finished my conversation, they left.

I don’t think that the card would need to be a tuner card. The peripheral could simply intercept the signal and pass it on (unscrambled.) You bring up a good point though… I’ll need to think that through. I may have problems scheduling the recording of premium HD content.

 

[cyber_blob]

HD Jukebox and PVR

I didn't think that the signal was sent encrpted... I thought the STB encypted the signal. I am probably wrong though. I usually am.

I have not purchased the hardware or the OS yet. It will more than likely be built on Linux. I love the Media Center Interface for the jukebox idea, but I am afraid of DRM and Microsoft.

I temporarily lost access to a lot of my digital music because I used XP and a “playsforsure” wireless media player with an internet connection. I updated the “playsforsure” media player software and lost the ability to play the music on the media player and on Windows Media Player. When I copied the MP3s to my MP3 player, they did not work. In order to fix the problem I uninstalled and re-installed Windows Media Player, I deleted everything on my MP3 player and then copied the music back to the MP3 player and it worked. What a hassle! This just happened to me a couple of weeks ago. That’s why I want to build a jukebox.

Do you want to buy a D-Link Wireless HD Media Player, model # DSM-520? I no longer want it.

I don’t care if my new PC is quiet or not, and don’t even mind if it is butt-ugly. It will be in a closet with the AV receiver, DVD player and STB. I will run a 6 foot DVI to HDMI cable from the computer down through the closet floor into the basement, then up through the floor on the other side of the closet wall into the HDMI input on my HDTV. (I hope makes sense.)

If the remote control will not work through the door, I will use a wireless mouse and keyboard to control the functionality. I’d really prefer to use the remote.

Marshall

 

[jinjuku]

I didn't think that the signal was sent encrpted... I thought the STB encypted the signal. I am probably wrong though. I usually am.

I have not purchased the hardware or the OS yet. It will more than likely be built on Linux. I love the Media Center Interface for the jukebox idea, but I am afraid of DRM and Microsoft.

I temporarily lost access to a lot of my digital music because I used XP and a “playsforsure” wireless media player with an internet connection. I updated the “playsforsure” media player software and lost the ability to play the music on the media player and on Windows Media Player. When I copied the MP3s to my MP3 player, they did not work. In order to fix the problem I uninstalled and re-installed Windows Media Player, I deleted everything on my MP3 player and then copied the music back to the MP3 player and it worked. What a hassle! This just happened to me a couple of weeks ago. That’s why I want to build a jukebox.

Do you want to buy a D-Link Wireless HD Media Player, model # DSM-520? I no longer want it.

I don’t care if my new PC is quiet or not, and don’t even mind if it is butt-ugly. It will be in a closet with the AV receiver, DVD player and STB. I will run a 6 foot DVI to HDMI cable from the computer down through the closet floor into the basement, then up through the floor on the other side of the closet wall into the HDMI input on my HDTV. (I hope makes sense.)

If the remote control will not work through the door, I will use a wireless mouse and keyboard to control the functionality. I’d really prefer to use the remote.

Marshall

I have Vista MCE and have none of the encryption worries that you speak of. Why? Because I have never given a red cent to any music with DRM on it.

I have played around with the Linux and Myth and it doesn't stack up to MCE. I simply have to give props to MS for MCE. Plus with Windows I can take full advantage of Netflix 'Watch Now' for $9.

I simply decided not to get my panties in a bundle over MS and DRM. There are very functional and easy ways around it all. You either have a goal of having a killer HTPC experience or you try to make some sort of political statement.

I believe most STB's have a firewire port. Which is what I think you are referring to when it comes to recording the HD stream. How that is going to work the ICT and HDCP, I have no clue.

Most remotes are IR (Infra-red) so you will need line of sight or an IR repeater.

 

[cyber_blob]

Vista MCE HTPC and DRM

Thanks,

MCE looks cool and I really like the functionality. If I can avoid problems with DRM, please tell me where to go to find out how.

I have copied music from home to work PCs in the past. Is that a mistake? Will I lose access to my music again if I add any DRM content to my library? (music that I bought and paid for?)

I don’t know Linux or Myth and I’ve never put a motherboard or a power supply into a case. Part of me wants to go through that experience, but mostly I just want a killer jukebox with a cool GUI.

As far as the technology behind the Hauppauge card, I don't know... I hadn't given it much thought. But if it it captures the signal prior to the STB, like I'd heard that it did, I'd think that it would use a coax (or is it a co-ax) splitter. One cable to the stb and one to the Hauppauge card.

I have an All In One Remote with an IR repeater which allows me to control multiple devices from almost anywhere in the house. Do you know if there is a similar type of remote that I could purchase to work with an MS HTPC?

 

[jinjuku]

Thanks,

MCE looks cool and I really like the functionality. If I can avoid problems with DRM, please tell me where to go to find out how.

I have copied music from home to work PCs in the past. Is that a mistake? Will I lose access to my music again if I add any DRM content to my library? (music that I bought and paid for?)

I don’t know Linux or Myth and I’ve never put a motherboard or a power supply into a case. Part of me wants to go through that experience, but mostly I just want a killer jukebox with a cool GUI.

IAs far as the technology behind the Hauppauge card, I don't know... I hadn't given it much thought. But if it it captures the signal prior to the STB, like I'd heard that it did, I'd think that it would use a coax (or is it a co-ax) splitter. One cable to the stb and one to the Hauppauge card.

I have an All In One Remote with an IR repeater which allows me to control multiple devices from almost anywhere in the house. Do you know if there is a similar type of remote that I could purchase to work with an MS HTPC?

The signal before the STB is most likely encrypted. The STB is a de-crypt and display device for the cable company. Most cable companies will send QAM in the clear for the 1st/2nd tier channels. You can bet the premium stuff is encrypted.

As far as getting around DRM: Simple solution is not to consume it in the first place. I can only describe people that swallowed that particular hook, line, sinker (iTunes/Play for Sure/Whatever) as morons. Sorry to come across as harsh, but what did you think you were getting exactly?

I have read that with DVD's you can get around the CSS encryption with products like ImToo, DVD-Decrypter, Any-DVD. There are others, these seem to be popular choices. This may/may not be legal depending what country you are in.

I purchase mainly used CD's. So I have my entire collection on my HTPC. No encryption worries there. Used CD stores, used CD's from Amazon and I am only on average paying about $0.35-0.40 cent's a track (if even that) with the following benefits:

1. No lossy compression
2. No DRM. It's mine dammit
3. I always have the source
4. By buying mostly used, I don't give my money to the labels. There are a few artists I give my money to by purchasing new from their websites.

An IR repeater should simply work. So no worries with there. Remember that Linux is only free if you place ZERO value on your time. If you want to be up and running in an hour, go with Vista MCE.

www.thegreenbutton.com is THE place for all things MCE.

 

[cyber_blob]

The signal before the STB is most likely encrypted. The STB is a de-crypt and display device for the cable company. Most cable companies will send QAM in the clear for the 1st/2nd tier channels. You can bet the premium stuff is encrypted.

As far as getting around DRM: Simple solution is not to consume it in the first place. I can only describe people that swallowed that particular hook, line, sinker (iTunes/Play for Sure/Whatever) as morons. Sorry to come across as harsh, but what did you think you were getting exactly?

I have read that with DVD's you can get around the CSS encryption with products like ImToo, DVD-Decrypter, Any-DVD. There are others, these seem to be popular choices. This may/may not be legal depending what country you are in.

I purchase mainly used CD's. So I have my entire collection on my HTPC. No encryption worries there. Used CD stores, used CD's from Amazon and I am only on average paying about $0.35-0.40 cent's a track (if even that) with the following benefits:

1. No lossy compression
2. No DRM. It's mine dammit
3. I always have the source
4. By buying mostly used, I don't give my money to the labels. There are a few artists I give my money to by purchasing new from their websites.

An IR repeater should simply work. So no worries with there. Remember that Linux is only free if you place ZERO value on your time. If you want to be up and running in an hour, go with Vista MCE.

www.thegreenbutton.com is THE place for all things MCE.

Thanks again for your advice.

Like most people outside forums like this, I didn’t think much about DRM until I was affected by it… Maybe I assumed that if I bought music, I should be able to play it at work, at home, and on my MP3 player any time I want. To a non-technical person or to a novice like me, it is not moronic to make that assumption. I was asking for advice in the Beginners and Audiophytes forum... I didn't think that I would offend anyone with my stupidity at a "beginners" forum.

I respect what you’ve done with your HTPC. I want what you have, except I want to listen to anything that I’ve purchased at anytime I choose. That includes DRM material. Thank you for suggesting that I check out ImToo, DVD-Decrypter and Any-DVD; I will look into them.

 

[jinjuku]

Thanks again for your advice.

Like most people outside forums like this, I didn’t think much about DRM until I was affected by it… Maybe I assumed that if I bought music, I should be able to play it at work, at home, and on my MP3 player any time I want. To a non-technical person or to a novice like me, it is not moronic to make that assumption. I was asking for advice in the Beginners and Audiophytes forum... I didn't think that I would offend anyone with my stupidity at a "beginners" forum.

I respect what you’ve done with your HTPC. I want what you have, except I want to listen to anything that I’ve purchased at anytime I choose. That includes DRM material. Thank you for suggesting that I check out ImToo, DVD-Decrypter and Any-DVD; I will look into them.

You're right, I do apologize for being harsh. It's just that so many people do stuff w/o getting their learn on first. It does get aggravating after a while. I also know that you can't be all things to all people. Again, sorry for being a jerk.

My real goal is to help you. Everyone needs to start somewhere

For a tuner you should check out the HD Homerun. It is an ethernet enabled TV tuner. With this you can have multiple machines tuning in cable/OTA broadcasts. I have an HTPC, Laptop, Desktop and install the software emulated tuner on each and then simply watch tv.

How many DVD's/CD's whatever are you planning on encoding?

 

[cyber_blob]

Cataloging existing content

It’s OK. No big deal… I understand. Sometimes when I speak with project managers or business analysts, I expect them to be well versed in the PMBOK and AGILE-style project management…. When they are not, I sometimes make the mistake of assuming that they are unintelligent, instead of realizing that they are merely less experienced than I’d hoped.

I don’t care much about watching one channel while recording another. I don’t watch TV very often. If I cannot record premium HD content, I don’t want to pursue finding the best HDTV OTA tuner card. OTA HD content just doesn’t hold much appeal for me, except for that show “Bones.” That “Bones” character is kinda hot!

I mostly want a jukebox to house music tracks and movies that I already own. If I buy a CD protected by DRM, I still want to play its tracks wherever I want, whenever I want.

I have well over 500 CDs and at least 100 movies. I would like to avoid physically looking for a CD or a DVD; hence my desire for an MCE style jukebox. These CDs and DVDs are in the same room as my HDTV. In my humble opinion, their presence is unsightly and is a poor use of space… and it doesn’t contribute jack to the acoustics.

All of my audio and visual media will be housed on computer hard disks. (Yes I will retain hard copy as a backup.)

I spoke with the computer technician at my office. She said that I could check out multiple computers to copy my DVDs and CDs to my hard drives as long as she could see my setup.

I know that ripping my CDs and converting my DVDs into a DIVX format will take a long time, so I am considering buying a Sony 200 disk VGP XL 1LB for about $300. Using this device I might be able to automatically rip 200 CDs at a time. When I’m done with it I’d sell it on EBay or Amazon. I still need to give this piece of hardware a closer look.

Marshall

 

[jinjuku]

With drive space being dirt cheap now days I wouldn't worry about trans encoding into other formats. Figure an average of 5GB/DVD so 500GB for your movies, figure around 1/2 GB for a CD so another 250GB. So if you picked up three 500GB HD's and put together a RAID 5 you would have 1TB of usable space.

In a RAID 5 you lose one drive to parity stripe but gain some redundancy in that if a single drive fails you don't lose data. You could also do 4 drives and go to 1.5 terabyte array.

I have 5 machines so I did 5 CD's @ a time. Took a little bit but eventually got done.

CD's would rip to WMA and DVD's would still be in their native file format (mpeg2). You would need to get into options in Windows Media Player and make sure you clear the protection scheme that is there.

 

[cyber_blob]

Giants Win!

I didn't think the Giants had a chance.

I consider myself to be fairly intelligent, but this might be over my head. Do I need to hire a professional to setup the RAID 5 thing you mentioned?

 

[jinjuku]

I didn't think the Giants had a chance.

I consider myself to be fairly intelligent, but this might be over my head. Do I need to hire a professional to setup the RAID 5 thing you mentioned?

Really good game...

You shouldn't need a computer guy to do this. Here is how it shakes out:

You get a mainboard with 4 or 6 sata connectors and built in chipset RAID. You will plug your drives in and power up the computer. Enter into the RAID setup and you will have a menu system for setting up the RAID. It is mostly automated. Then when you boot the Vista install DVD you will supply the driver CD so Vista setup and speak with the RAID controller and see the RAID.

 

[cyber_blob]

Raid 5

I'll do it on my own. I just need to find the right board. Thanks for all your help today.

Marshall

 

[jinjuku]

Check out this (passively cooled, no fans)mainboard

This CPU (I'm an AMD fan) it's a 45watt processor. Keep things nice and cool.

This video card It has built in 5.1 audio so you could go with a receiver that does HDMI1.3 and your audio and video will all go over one cable.

or

This
It doesn't feature audio over HDMI cable but you have optical out on the mother board. About $30 cheaper. Both cards are passively cooled (no fans)

Drives