Would you buy BTV v5 if it only added updates t support new capture cards and/or OS?

[vidiot1985]

Originally Posted by Jakesty

Just got word of my "upgrade" from Comcast. I HAAAAATE Comcast!!!
Now they provide 2 digital boxes with the upgrade. So I happen to have 3, I'm guessing they're probably want to charge me now for the extra unit. They just raised prices another $5, that's like $25 since the last upgrade two years ago when they got rid of my ClearQAM.

After that June date, they no longer have to provide the two "free" boxes to you. I would assume that they'll quickly start charging for all three unless you are on a contract plan that specifies otherwise.

[Bill1426]

Well, The letter came in the mail from Cablevision.. As of April 17th, 2012, they are switching to all digital.. Only a few Unencrypted QAM channels will be available (local stations, and few others). So, it looks like BTV so out, (because of the lack of Cable Card tuner support) and Windows Media Center is in. I will be ordering a Ceton Infiniti 4 external, and getting an cablecard (m-card)..

[jerry6]

yes , hate WMC files can only be played with win7 wmc computers , at least beyond TV lets me play the files with any other computer , XP or W=7 , tp files with jet audio , or if I can convert with VLC . Windows files cannot be converted , useless

[Rich A]

That's not entirely true. There are a few WMC video file converters out there. One that I like is MCTVConverter. http://mctvconverter.vivolum.net/

Install it on your Windows 7 PC that is running WMC. It can be configured to automatically convert any new content and move the files to your favorite BTV shows folder, where you can then watch them in BeyondTV.

Another solution is to get the Nextpvr software (free) and have it all. That and a HDHomerun Prime cable card device and you can record, watch, edit, burn to DVD all the recorded shows without any kind of DRM. I've been running NPVR (NextPVR) for a couple weeks.

Right now I'm trying to find a way to run both NPVR and BTV in the same system, I just like BTV too much to totally give up on it.

[lschroeder]

Originally Posted by Rich A

That's not entirely true. There are a few WMC video file converters out there. One that I like is MCTVConverter. http://mctvconverter.vivolum.net/

Install it on your Windows 7 PC that is running WMC. It can be configured to automatically convert any new content and move the files to your favorite BTV shows folder, where you can then watch them in BeyondTV.

Another solution is to get the Nextpvr software (free) and have it all. That and a HDHomerun Prime cable card device and you can record, watch, edit, burn to DVD all the recorded shows without any kind of DRM. I've been running NPVR (NextPVR) for a couple weeks.

Right now I'm trying to find a way to run both NPVR and BTV in the same system, I just like BTV too much to totally give up on it.

Would the VideoRedo/Autoprecessor method over in the CableCard Tuner thread be another way to do this? Is the advanatage to the method described in that thread is that you get commerical skip and metadata plus use BTV for playback; the disadvantage is we need to use both NPVR and BTV, buy VideoRedo, and it is complicated to setup? It looks like both MCTVConverter and the method described there can be automated.

[jerry6]

Originally Posted by Rich A

That's not entirely true. There are a few WMC video file converters out there. One that I like is MCTVConverter. http://mctvconverter.vivolum.net/

Install it on your Windows 7 PC that is running WMC. It can be configured to automatically convert any new content and move the files to your favorite BTV shows folder, where you can then watch them in BeyondTV.

Another solution is to get the Nextpvr software (free) and have it all. That and a HDHomerun Prime cable card device and you can record, watch, edit, burn to DVD all the recorded shows without any kind of DRM. I've been running NPVR (NextPVR) for a couple weeks.

Right now I'm trying to find a way to run both NPVR and BTV in the same system, I just like BTV too much to totally give up on it.

Thanks will five converter a try

[Rich A]

Just an upate. I now have my HTPC running dual servers. One server (BeyondTV) is set up to record all the clear QAM stations with a 2 tuner regular HDHomeRun device along with a couple Hauppauge internal PCI tuners. This gives me all the major networks in my area and allows me to record up to 4 shows at once. All the clear QAM are either 1080 or 720 HD

In the same HTPC I also have running the NextPVR server. That has the Silicon Dust 3-tuner cable card device. This tuner is dedicated to record all the rest of the encrypted QAM that I normally can only get by using the cable company set top tuner or DVR.

I can get rid of the set-top boxes, tuners etc. I now have an all digital 7 tuner setup. All HD and/or digital .. and everything is recordable WITHOUT any DRM or other limitations.

I'm running both BTV and NPVR on the system. No problem. Two weeks now without a hitch. The cable card means I now have it all.

I'm saving a ton of $$ in rentals. Here is a typical example.

Old system:
Rental of three Cable Company tuners $ x 3
Purchase of three Hauppauge HD PVR converters $ x 3

New system
Purchase of a Silicon Dust 3-tuner cable card device $
NextPVR software .. $ (free)
Monthly rental of M-CableCard $ 1.99

The new system gives me all the encrypted QAM including any premium services I subscibe to. No DRM, No copy once limitations. And I can copy, edit or use the recorded video to author a DVD.

My Cox cable provider has activated my cablecard device and does not impose any restrictions on my content. I hear some other Cable Companies may optionally impose a "copy once" policy .. YMMV.

Even IF those restriction are in place by your cable company .. you still get all your recordings unencrypted to record and/or view ...

And here is my note to SnapStream. I am running two PVRs right now because after all is said and done, the BTV pvr software is (IMHO) still the best designed, reliable, and trouble free PVR out there. I now have NextPVR running 24/7 in the background and my BTV as my primary PVR keeping Showsqueeze, commercial skip, and all the other things that BTV does correctly in place. I would LOVE to "have it all" and use just BeyondTV for everything. But Nextpvr is the only thing out there right now that can work (and work well) with CableCard devices.

Would I pay extra for cablecard capability with BTV? Hell yes !

[Zogg]

I will second Rich A: I would gladly pay for an updated version of BTV that adds cablecard support!

I'll go further and say I'd be glad to pay a nominal annual fee since we use BTV every day and have for years!

But, I, too have been experimenting with NextPVR and it has a lot of compelling features. The plugin support is great - I already have the nDroid plugin working and can stream LIVE TV from my HDHR Prime to my Android devices, as well as watch and schedule recordings. The web admin isn't as good as BTV, but it's still pretty darn good. And with the cablecard there is no more H.264 to deal with.

And like Rich, I'll be able to give up 2 STB's and save about $15 per month, and for the most part stop dealing with buggy HD-PVR's.

The only thing I really don't like with NPVR is the GUI, which is kind of bland. But that can be fixed over time.

I can see a time when I abandon BTV in order to have a unified setup with only one system to schedule recordings on. But my preference would be for a little love from Snapstream because there is still a lot to like with BTV.

[RiderFan]

Unfortunately, Snapstream doesn't care if you abandon BTV. They have already got all the money they are going to get from us and as we all know, have stated that they are abandoning us. Quite frankly, we are a drain to them. We use up their bandwidth downloading EPG data, and they have to dedicate servers for this forum and snapstream.net.

Honestly, I think they would prefer if we left.

It's like your boss firing you. Once that happens, you have lost all bargaining power. You can't fire me...because I quit! lol.

I won't be leaving BTV, but I also am not expecting them to add support for anything.

[Jakesty]

I'm sure it wouldn't take much for Snapstream to make some minor adjustments to their system and allow cablecard support. Even for a minor fee, it would be worth it. Heck, I'm ready to give them some money over at NEXTPVR because of all the great support they have. SS can't see the forest through the trees.

Zogg, as far as the bland NPVR set up there are several plug ins and updates that have been developed that provide many choices in how the screens look. I use one called TV LISTINGS that has almost everything I want in the GUIDE and RECORDINGS part of the system. It's getting there, not perfect yet.
One of the problems I still have is the amount of detail on the screen. BTV has a nice concise listing and that really works for me. Much of this is customizable too as far as the interface is concerned, but you've got to spend time on it testing. Fortunately the program opens in about 1 second and you're back to testing. Try that with BTV.

[Zogg]

@Riderfan, you are correct about the money, but their business model was flawed. They didn't offer updates often enough with a fee to generate enough money, and kept giving away the guide data.

While I love not paying for things, we use the heck out of BTV every day so I'm okay with a recurring fee of $20 or so. If all BTV users had paid this (before most moved on), would that have generated enough to pay the salary of a programmer or two? What if they had put out a real update every year or 2 and charged for it? I don't know but I would think at one time they had enough users so that this type of model would generate enough money to pay development costs to keep the consumer product going. It's probably too late now, but I bet if they started doing this they would get enough customers back in the fold to make it worthwhile.

@Jakesty, you are right about the extra plugins. I haven't tried them yet as I'm not sure if I'll be using NPVR as a front end. They support skins but there doesn't appear to be any other skins available yet, and this would go a long ways to dress up the program. But at least the potential is there. So far I really like what I see.

[Rich A]

One reason I still have hopes that there will be a cable card support effort at SS is because I frankly can't see how they can survive without it. I'm talking about their "Enterprise" systems.

I don't have any info myself, but I wonder what SS is offering those Enterprise accounts in the way of tuners? I can't believe that a commercial entity is willing to put a bunch of set top tuners each feeding a device with a component video transcoder to h.256 recording, when all they need is a cable card tuner .. Each cable card being able to provide three or more tuners. Most of we consumers who are running PC based PVRs are now seeing the effect of "lost analog", first in the OTA and now with Cable Company.

It's for that reason that I still hang on to some hope that we might see some cable card support in the near future. Has anyone here ever talked with someone who is using the Enterprise end of things?

[Bill1426]

Rich A, I bought up the same idea last month.. And in looking at the info (release notes, faqs, etc) on the Enterprise section, it doesn't look like they offer Cablecard Support yet. As I put down in my post and agree with you on, They have to add the CC support. Since more and more cable companies are switching to encrypted digital.
In their faqs, they talk about the how to get encrypted channels, their answer in the faq is to add set-top boxes for every channel.. I really can't see that happening. Some areas will need 20+ boxes, at the cost of $7.00+ per box per month... No way will that happen...
So, I too, am hanging on, in hopes of cablecard support to be added..

[RiderFan]

Here's my 2 cents. Snapstream knew they were going to stop development of the consumer version of BTV for many months before they actually came clean and told us so, maybe even up to a year, who knows. You don't think maybe they could do the same thing with their enterprise version? They could have stopped development already for the enterprise version, and are just selling off as many systems as they can, before people on the enterprise side start getting restless, like we did. If this scenario is true, then nothing new will be added to enterprise, and nothing will filter down to us.

I wouldn't put it past Snapstream. If they did it once, they could do it twice.

[nrf]

interesting thought, wonder what new thing they may be dreaming up while waiting to drop the other shoe?