TV and HD options

[snap2it]

Hello,
I was wondering if someone here can advise me. I am thinking of trying a pvr setup in Windows but not MCE. I was considering Beyondtv. I have several questions but I'll ask my two main ones first. I want to know if someone can tell me how difficult it is connecting Beyondtv to a lcd tv and digital cable set top box. That is, I would need to coordinate the tuner card and video card to the lcd and I'd prefer to use a dvi to hdmi connection. I have the cable already. The TV has a 1366 x 768 native resolution. I've read there's issues in which you need to convert to 1360 x 768 or 1368 x 768 so I would like to know that there is a 'fix' that I can obtain assistance with here. ;-)

The other problem I have is I only have one computer at the moment to use but there is already an OS on it and data. I would like to keep it and I think it's best to have the pvr setup on a separate drive. I didn't really want to dual boot that so I was hoping there is a way to use a seperate drive. Could someone inform me how that would work and whether that would be a good idea? If I could do it that way, I would only need to get a tuner card and another HD. Then I could ask which ones. ;-) Is a Hauppauge PVR 250 a better choice than the 150s? Should I consider High Definition tuner cards? Would I have to keep connecting and disconnecting the Hard Drive cables? I'm not sure how a two-drive configuration would work. I hope someone could explain.

If there is a problem with that method, I'd consider another computer but I would want to know which hardware is most important for BeyondTV to work best. I suspect that there are certain hardware that allow it to give a better picture or work smoother (avoid choppy video for e.g.). As an example, going to the best CPU one can afford might help with the encoding? I'm talking about the individual parts, cpu, memory, mb etc.

My current computer consists of Asus A8N32 - SLI Deluxe MB, 4600+ cpu, 2GB RAM, x300 ATI video card (but I am open to changing the card if I needed to). So, as you can see, this computer should be sufficient for BeyondTV. I just have to decide about whether a 2nd drive or computer is best. I can either use this computer and two drives or I could get another computer and have either it or the current one be the PVR computer?

Thank you for any advice, comments and info.

[whalemangler]

I have nearly your exact setup and it works great. Your processor is way better than mine as well.

I have a P2.8, 1g ram, a boot drive and an extra 200 gig drive that just holds shows. I have the ATI x300 and it is hooked to my lcd(1360x768) via a DVI->HDMI cable. I have a 2 tuner standard def card hooked to cable and an ATI 650 hooked to an antenna in my attic for HD.

HD looks great on this setup for me. If your OS is XP you are all set.

[snap2it]

Originally Posted by whalemangler

I have nearly your exact setup and it works great. Your processor is way better than mine as well.

I have a P2.8, 1g ram, a boot drive and an extra 200 gig drive that just holds shows. I have the ATI x300 and it is hooked to my lcd(1360x768) via a DVI->HDMI cable. I have a 2 tuner standard def card hooked to cable and an ATI 650 hooked to an antenna in my attic for HD.

HD looks great on this setup for me. If your OS is XP you are all set.

Wow, thank you for such a quick reply! Maybe we could compare notes? :-)

I'm still wondering about using two drives, though. They would both be bootable? I was in a store a while ago and I was told I would have to alternate between the two drives, disconnecting one after I shut down and then connect the other one and boot to that one. That sounded like a hassle. Would I have to do that? I was just wondering how accurate that was.

If I want HD, would I have two cards, one analog tuner card and one for HD or could I get a digital card and use for both? I might have read that you can't. Anyway, thanks for your reply as I'm getting closer to answers!

Btw, my OS would be XP.

[myktek]

you have almost everything that you need, now your gonna need a TV tuner card w/ an IR Blaster, that way you can control your cable box, besides that I don't think your missing anything. Your ready to go.

[dgw80]

I just want to give another data point. I had a Dell PC with 2.8 P4D, 1Gb and X300 video card and I could not get HD video to display properly. I tried different drivers, different MPEG2 decoders and even a fresh minimal install of Windows (i.e., nothing but Windows, drivers and display SW), to no avail. When I finally upgraded to an X1300 Pro video card, HD displayed fine.

Apparently, YMMV.

Dennis

[snap2it]

Originally Posted by myktek

you have almost everything that you need, now your gonna need a TV tuner card w/ an IR Blaster, that way you can control your cable box, besides that I don't think your missing anything. Your ready to go.

Which tuner card do you recommend? Is there a thread to follow for this?

I'm used to Hauppauge capture cards but with an lcd tv and digital set top box, should I look at HDTV capture cards? What about the DViCO FusionHDTV cards? Or do I want to look at the ATI Theater 650 or Hauppauge HVR 1600 cards? (I've done some home work or at least tried to, right?).

Also, I still need to figure out what I can do with my drives. I have a Pentium 3 computer that I could use my current drive with if that's easier. I have data files, OpenOffice documents and a song collection on there. I was thinking I'd have BeyondTV running 24/7 recording shows etc. and I probably wouldn't have much opportunity to get at the other drive (with my data) on it anyway, right? I have Windows 2000 on that drive and I'd probably have XP installed on the drive I install BeyondTV on. So, they would be separate bootable drives with 2 different operating systems? See, I'm still confused about this and I think I might be better off keeping the drives in separate computers, perhaps. I understand the posts from people here who have multiple drives to separate the core beyondTV and using separate drives to keep an archive of recorded shows etc. But, my problem is somewhat different, right?

[mtmsol]

You will only have Windows installed once on the PC. BeyondTV is an app that runs on Windows, it's not a seperate OS. So, you would leave your current XP install on the promary drive, and you could install the BTV app to this drive as well. If you want to add a 2nd drive you could just store your recordings there (ie. the new drive would show up a a new drive letter in My Computer). Many of us have multiple drives in our PCs - one for the system and one or more for recordings. BeyondTV works in the background, so even when you're using your computer for something else it will continue to record your shows.
As for the capture cards, realise that no cards can capture HD content from your digital set top box. The only way to record HD content is ATSC (over the air using an antenna). You will ONLY be able to record SD content from analog cable or your set top box.

[snap2it]

Originally Posted by mtmsol

You will only have Windows installed once on the PC. BeyondTV is an app that runs on Windows, it's not a seperate OS. So, you would leave your current XP install on the promary drive, and you could install the BTV app to this drive as well. If you want to add a 2nd drive you could just store your recordings there (ie. the new drive would show up a a new drive letter in My Computer). Many of us have multiple drives in our PCs - one for the system and one or more for recordings. BeyondTV works in the background, so even when you're using your computer for something else it will continue to record your shows.
As for the capture cards, realise that no cards can capture HD content from your digital set top box. The only way to record HD content is ATSC (over the air using an antenna). You will ONLY be able to record SD content from analog cable or your set top box.

I understand that BeyondTV is not an OS. Are you saying you surf, play music or do other computer stuff on the same partition or drive as the one BeyondTV is on? I thought it would be best to just have BeyondTV running and not do anything else on that drive or partition. I guess I just don't know how a multiple-drive system works. I have a current drive with 2000 installed and several apps on it. I was under the impression with another drive with a different OS on it, only one can be running at a time. Much like a dual boot system. If that was the case, I thought I might as well have BeyondTV on a separate computer. I'm still confused so I hope someone will realize what I'm asking and clarify my options. I want to leave the 2000 OS as is with my apps on it. I would like to install XP on a separate drive with a PVR on it such as BeyondTV. Does one of these drives have to be shut down or off while the other one is in use? I want access to both drives simultaneously so I am asking if that is possible in the same computer but I am guessing I probably need two computers. ???

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by snap2it

I thought it would be best to just have BeyondTV running and not do anything else on that drive or partition.

No reason for that, unless you are recording 24/7, BTV should be mostly idle...

I guess I just don't know how a multiple-drive system works. I have a current drive with 2000 installed and several apps on it.

It is probably worth seeing if you couldn't simply install and run BTV on it like that...

I was under the impression with another drive with a different OS on it, only one can be running at a time.

Only one operating system can be run at a time (unless you are talking of virtualization software like VMWare), but you can have access to any number of drives...

I want to leave the 2000 OS as is with my apps on it. I would like to install XP on a separate drive with a PVR on it such as BeyondTV.

That's the part that I don't understand, do your other application require 2000 or are you sure that BTV couldn't run on 2000?

Does one of these drives have to be shut down or off while the other one is in use?

No, but you have many possibilities...

1) You could add a new drive as C:, with your old drive as D:, then install XP on C:, using your BIOS you might be able to select which is C:, so you can get a dual boot system... The data from both drives are available at all time.

2) You could add a new drive as D:, with your old drive as C:, then install XP in dual boot mode on either C: or D:, assuming there are no specific restrictions...

3) You could install Beyond TV on your 2000 disk... (assuming it works)

4) You could install XP, Beyond TV and migrate your installed applications/data to XP...

[snap2it]

Originally Posted by Fonceur

No reason for that, unless you are recording 24/7, BTV should be mostly idle...

It is probably worth seeing if you couldn't simply install and run BTV on it like that...

Only one operating system can be run at a time (unless you are talking of virtualization software like VMWare), but you can have access to any number of drives...

That's the part that I don't understand, do your other application require 2000 or are you sure that BTV couldn't run on 2000?

No, but you have many possibilities...

1) You could add a new drive as C:, with your old drive as D:, then install XP on C:, using your BIOS you might be able to select which is C:, so you can get a dual boot system... The data from both drives are available at all time.

2) You could add a new drive as D:, with your old drive as C:, then install XP in dual boot mode on either C: or D:, assuming there are no specific restrictions...

3) You could install Beyond TV on your 2000 disk... (assuming it works)

4) You could install XP, Beyond TV and migrate your installed applications/data to XP...

BTV might be idle but since I'll be using an LCD TV (or wanted to), I have several other problems to contend with, one is resolution or picture of the computer. I don't think I want to do much surfing or anything else on the BeyondTV part as the desktop won't look all that great on an LCD TV, right? The native resolution of the TV is 1366 x 768 so I think I have a problem here.

I'm also confused about configuration of the tuner card, video card, LCD TV (which has S-video, component and HDMI options) and the tuner card (only has s-video or composite). I wanted to use the HDMI connection of the TV but with the set top box in the equation as well. Unfortunately ,the set top box (i.e. digital cable box) only has component and s-video on the back. So, how do I do this?

This sounds like a major project and I could see screwing up the entire OS or BeyondTV and perhaps, needing to reinstall or start over. I thought it was safer to keep my data/surfing/music separate from BeyondTV or my PVR system and then I could have another drive (3rd drive or 2nd for separate computer?) for the archived recordings.

I'm most confused about the configuration part. It was easy with a CRT monitor but now with the tv, I am lost. :-/

Btw, whalemangler or anybody who has a similar setup, how did you do that? How do you use the lcd tv with hdmi and integrate it with a cable set top box, your tuner card and your video card?

I guess I could even ask for the simpler method: for e.g., if I was to use s-video, how would I hook all this up? I did that with the crt monitor but with the lcd tv, I don't want to use the VGA port. Would I have s-video going from the set top box to the tuner card and an hdmi cable from the tv to the video card or some other configuration? If anyone can answer the initial question regarding using htmi, I would really appreciate it. Sorry, I find it confusing.

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by snap2it

I wanted to use the HDMI connection of the TV but with the set top box in the equation as well. Unfortunately ,the set top box (i.e. digital cable box) only has component and s-video on the back. So, how do I do this?

Unless the TV's hdmi/component inputs are mutually exclusives, you should use:

STB to TV through components cables
STB to Capture card through s-video + RCA audio cables
PC to TV through DVI/HDMI cable

[snap2it]

Originally Posted by Fonceur

Unless the TV's hdmi/component inputs are mutually exclusives, you should use:

STB to TV through components cables
STB to Capture card through s-video + RCA audio cables
PC to TV through DVI/HDMI cable

Okay, thank you, Fonceur. I've used s-video before but I am confused on how to get audio or what audio options one has. I suppose if you have a A/V receiver you can use rca audio cables from the set top box to the A/V receiver then to speakers? But, what if you just want to do it the simple way first (w/o receiver)? I just want to output through either the tv or the computer speakers (shouldn't that be the most simple?)? My capture card only has a line in (PVR 150) so I don't know what you mean when you list RCA audio cables for the capture card. ???

I assume I won't have sound when using the DVI/HDMI method so I need to use the red/white RCA cables but I'm not sure where to hook those up.

[snap2it]

It sounds like my current computer is sufficient and I am looking at adding the ATI 650 Theater Pro as it would go nicely with my ATI X300SE (I hope it's good enough for HD, though). Could someone recommend a way to transfer my files or the entire drive to another computer, though? I was wondering if I transferred the files to a notebook. Is that problematic? I have Windows 2000 on the drive so I know transferring the files would be easiest to transfer to a computer with 2000 or XP. I thought a new affordable desktop would do the trick but then I started wondering about a notebook.

Anybody have any suggestions? Thanks.

[jkirk]

I assume I won't have sound when using the DVI/HDMI method so I need to use the red/white RCA cables but I'm not sure where to hook those up.

true unless you have a new hdmi vid card that supports audio. as for where you would hook it up you will have to consult your tv manual. some allow you to hook up sound but others don't. you will need external speakers for those that don't allow audio hookup.

[jkirk]

Originally Posted by snap2it

It sounds like my current computer is sufficient and I am looking at adding the ATI 650 Theater Pro as it would go nicely with my ATI X300SE (I hope it's good enough for HD, though). Could someone recommend a way to transfer my files or the entire drive to another computer, though? I was wondering if I transferred the files to a notebook. Is that problematic? I have Windows 2000 on the drive so I know transferring the files would be easiest to transfer to a computer with 2000 or XP. I thought a new affordable desktop would do the trick but then I started wondering about a notebook.

Anybody have any suggestions? Thanks.

the only problem with using a notebook w/btv (if that is your intention) is disk space. laptop hard drives are nowhere near the capacity of computer hard drives. but you could use it for a link machine. this would allow your main computer to do the work but view the results on the laptop. just make sure you have an adequate network to support this if you watch hd.