appalachian_fox January 31, 2005 Share appalachian_fox Member January 31, 2005 Ok, tech question for the videoheads out there: I'm really interested in getting a DVR. I have an extra computer that can be restored to working order relatively easily and can take a video capture card. Is anyone familiar with turning a PC into a DVR? Of particular interest is not the recording of shows but the manipulation of live TV that set-top DVRs allow, ie, pause, rewind live TV and then catch up with it. Also, I want it to function in HD. Again, if I can't do the live TV functions I don't want to build something just to record TV shows. Anybody have any solutions? I'll even take non-PC solutions, so here's what led me to the PC question if that helps: (1) Not an option with my cable company right now. Hopefully in the near future, but not now. (2) Not an option to switch to satellite. I'm happy where I am, and though satellite is fine I'm vested in cable (I might be adding cable inet and dropping my phone soon) (3) Subscription DVR services like Tivo are right out the door, they require an equipment investment AND a monthly service fee exceeding what my cable company would require AND I'm not even sure any of the Tivos specifically do HD TV. I'm beginning to think that, realistically, I'm out of luck until I can get HD DVRs through my cable company since I'm so picky. But, I'm open to ideas and I can bring some money to bear on the situation. Fire away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clueless January 31, 2005 Share Clueless GC Alumni January 31, 2005 Do some reading on the ATI website, i'm almost positive that the All in Wonder line of video cards will do what you need. I have one, and I know that you can record, and it does have HDTV capabilities, as far as the live TV thing, you'll have to read up but i'm pretty sure it does since it just falls in line with the recording thing. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubblegum Bandit January 31, 2005 Share Bubblegum Bandit Member January 31, 2005 I've been messing with a few programs that have the functionality you are talking about along with a lot of extras. The one I'm messing with right now is: www.mythtv.org <---for Linux I started out with this one first, but liked myth better: www.xlobby.com <---for Windows Both of the programs are frontend/backend type programs for HTPC. Maybe a little more that what you are looking for, but might be worth the look. You can find a wealth of information here: www.avsforum.com Probably more information than you will ever need. Biggest question is what you are going to output your DVR box to. I have a 48" widescreen Mitsu that I'm trying to get mine to output to and I'm having a really hard time. I'm having to do a lot of fumbling around with powerstrip to get the timings correct. Another issue you may run into is wanting to do this with HD. There are probably people here with more information about it than be, but from what I've been reading the HD broadcasts might be encoded which causes problems when trying record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clueless January 31, 2005 Share Clueless GC Alumni January 31, 2005 Actually,as far as software goes, the media center software that comes with the ATI card is quite user-friendly, so you may not even need 3rd party software. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akaM2 January 31, 2005 Share akaM2 Member January 31, 2005 go to pcworld.com and they just did an article on this exact thing.... found it http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,118799,00.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appalachian_fox January 31, 2005 Author Share appalachian_fox Member January 31, 2005 (edited) BEAUTIFUL, guys! Great finds all! M2, I think yours came closest to what I was envisioning (least input of effort and cash), but this was all great info, especially mythtv, I wouldn't mind dipping my hand back in Linux for this project (though it does require a jacked-up effort component). I'll report back later when I have time to go through all this (ie, when I'm not working). Keep suggestions coming if y'all got more. ---edit--- I'm also hoping for a pain-free way to do this with my Mitsubishi RP HDTV...Not just to computer. So far, I figure with the TV tuner cards doing the brunt of the work my video card (or the TV card, if it's integrated) should also have some sort of video out to my TV. What's the best I can do with video out (is it still composite / S-Video? That might not be worth the trouble of HD recording...) and how cheap can I get a Dolby 5.1 sound card to hook up to my stereo? Yay, more questions! Edited January 31, 2005 by appalachian_fox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubblegum Bandit January 31, 2005 Share Bubblegum Bandit Member January 31, 2005 For the video out I'm using a VGA ---> Transcoder(I think that's the right term...I'm at work so going off of memory) Transcoder converts to the YPbPr to back of TV. S-video and component won't give you anything higher than 480 res. So you would be wasting your high def if you used one of them. I've done quite a bit of research in working with powerstrip and actually have a stable res to the TV, but its a very awkward res, I'd be willing to share my research with you if you are interested. As far as mythtv goes, to run it I have jumped feet first into Linux. I found a quide for RedHat Fedora that pretty much walks you straight through the whole installation, I have the link at home I'd have to get back to you if you are interested. It has set up for several different capture cards as well as video cards, I'd suggest doing a lot of research on the avforum I posted above before buying your components though. Its a huge web to weave figuring out what actually works with what. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appalachian_fox January 31, 2005 Author Share appalachian_fox Member January 31, 2005 (edited) Hehe, yeah, I'm not surprised. Nothing's ever easy. Redhat is my fave flavor of Linux, so if you can post up links later I'd like to read them if nothing else. I'll check out AVForums tonight, fo' shizzle. I'm waiting for a meeting right now so I'll check out that transcoder thing. ---edit--- http://www.keohi.com/keohihdtv/interfaces/diytranscoder.html http://www.keohi.com/keohihdtv/interfaces/...r_johrhees.html Ha! I knew it had to be relatively simple to convert the color component of the signals. The vertical refresh is a pain, that would have been really hard to figure out...Glad the schematics are all online! Whether or not I do the computer HDTV thing, I think this project is going on my workbench. This is a really neat idea, especially great for gaming on the monster. Plus, I'm a cheapskate. Edited January 31, 2005 by appalachian_fox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubblegum Bandit January 31, 2005 Share Bubblegum Bandit Member January 31, 2005 Wow, never saw that....not sure I'm that industrious with electronics. I can solder and what not, but I don't know about that. I just got my buddy to get me one of these on teh cheap! http://www.keydigital.com/itemdesc.asp?Car...6F8}&ic=KDVTCA3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman February 1, 2005 Share Batman Member February 1, 2005 (edited) My PCTV card records 16 shows at once off cable.. Its made by Pinnacle, and i got it for 24.00 on ebay.. It doesnt work with DishNetwork or Direct TV.. With the coax input i have a gamecube hooked up to it too, so i play console games on my pc monitor.. But with the TV out on your video card you can use it as a tivo machine.. OH my PCTV card didnt come with a remote though.. Edited February 1, 2005 by Batman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appalachian_fox February 1, 2005 Author Share appalachian_fox Member February 1, 2005 BGB, the link doesn't do anything for me...It tells me the shopping cart is expired. I'd go for a factory one if the price was right...but the price, at a very cursory glance, seems to be quite wrong. I also don't have a friend to get me one on the cheap, so that could be a factor. Batman, linkie to the card? Does it have a tuner or does it have to work through the box? It would seem to work w/o the box since it records 16 shows at once. Quality? Why doesn't it work with Satellites? Does it have to to with digital vs analog? I'd want it to work digital if at all possible. Remote I can actually deal w/o if I can manipulate the interface w/keyboard and mouse, cuz I can get wireless. I haven't actually looked up anything today, worked late and had to watch 24 so I'll have to look through everything tomorrow. Thanks for all the input! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman February 2, 2005 Share Batman Member February 2, 2005 (edited) WinTV This is pretty much what i got.. What i have is cable rdy, so you dont need the cable box just the cable, it will scan for all the channels.. Its sweet cause i use the svideo input for the video camera.. You can plug in a dvd player or vcr and watch it on the pc monitor.. You can play a home movie thats on vhs and record it to your hard drive then burn to cd or dvd.. For my card i have a sound loop cable, it goes out of the pctv card and into the 'line in' on your soundcard.. Edited February 2, 2005 by Batman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appalachian_fox February 2, 2005 Author Share appalachian_fox Member February 2, 2005 Batman, nice card! Good find, and cheap. Unfortunately to do what I'm looking for I need something that'll capture at 720p and 1080i, it'll probably need native component in. Argh! I found one capture board, yeah, it was $900. Not acceptable. But on the bright side, just about any video card has DVI nowadays (or is it HDMI, I can't remember) and so does my TV, so, problem solved there. There are even some cards (nVidia GeForce 6 series comes to mind) that have component out native on the card. I also have a cable company that goes to, like, 800 channels...I'm having problems finding input cards to support that...Nobody likes high-def these days it seems. *sigh* they'll come around. It'll probably be cheaper for me in the long run to rent the box from the cable company anyway. But I gotta say, this has been a fun little project. www.byopvr.com Lots of info, lots of learning. Thanks all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubblegum Bandit February 2, 2005 Share Bubblegum Bandit Member February 2, 2005 Just a word of caution....just because you have the same input on your TV as you have output on your computer doesn't mean that all the rates are going to sync....Wish I had dome some more investigation into this before I bought my TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appalachian_fox February 2, 2005 Author Share appalachian_fox Member February 2, 2005 Yeah, lots of tweaking with powerstrip from what I hear...but once that's set up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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