Possible to record HD TV Via Cable

[onesikgypo]

Hi,

I have cable tv from cablevision - and i was thinkin about getting a tv tuner card - i was just wondering if it was possible for me to record HD(TV) Digital broadcasts on my PC?

If so, what would the general setup have to be at my home? - and also would the Hauppuage HVR-1800 suffice?

If not, does that mean the only way i could record HDTV on my pc is via coax cable from an antenna?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thankyou.

[fritzi93]

If you want to record HD programming in full resolution from a cablebox, you need something like a Hauppauge HD-PVR. It takes component out from the cablebox, with pass-through to your HDTV, and connects to your computer via USB. It records in h.264.

I'm not aware of any tuner card that has component inputs. Before I got the Hauppauge, I had a Winfast HDTV card that tuned Clear QAM, ATSC, and NTSC, with two coax inputs. I had a splitter before the box and one coax to the card through the cablebox, one not. I could record at full resolution from OTA and Clear QAM (local stations are unencrypted) but *NOT* through the cablebox input, which was down-rezzed to half D1. Same with S-Video input. And of course, the coax that wasn't outputted from the box was encrypted except for locals.

IIRC, my card was about a hundred bucks 4 years ago, dunno what a decent card goes for now. A Hauppauge HD-PVR will run somewhere under $200 from NewEgg, and is worth the money, IMO. There may be an equivalent product from another company, but I'm not aware of any. BTW, TMT(extreme) comes bundled with it, which has the capture module, an editing/conversion app, and a damn good software player (Digital Theater) which I play my Blu-Rays and AVCHDs on.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116030&Tpk=hauppauge%20hd%20pvr

Good luck.

[usually_quiet]

I was window shopping for a TV Tuner a few weeks ago. Good internal TV cards go for between $80 and $140, as I recall. Be sure to pay close attention to system requirements before you buy.

The Hauppauge HD-PVR is probably a better choice if you want to record anything other than your local HD channels.

ATI makes also an external HD tuner, the TV Wonder™ Digital Cable Tuner, that accepts CableCARDs. At some point, it may become a solution for some cable subscribers who want to record using a computer, but from what I understand the Hauppauge HD-PVR is a more reliable recording device.

[onesikgypo]

OK, so just ot make sure i understand right,

If i want to record my Local stations in HD - i can just connect it straight to the tuner (without going through the HDTV box, and the card i specified abov ehsould be fine) and i should be able to record the HD channels that way, but if i want to record any other in HD - then the best thing would be to get something like the Hauppauge HD PVR - which id then connect:

--> HDTV Box --> Hauppauge HD PVR -->(USB) PC

and thatd result in 1080i recordings for those non-local cable channels in HD



Edit:

Ive also done some further reading - if i wantde to record Local HD Channels in 1080i, its also possible if i have a compatible HDTV Set Top Box - I can hook a firewire cable from the Box straight to my PC - and in that case i wouldnt even need a tuner card?

[usually_quiet]

The HVR-1800 would probably be fine for recording local stations from cable, and enjoys good software support from 3rd parties, although based on what I read when shopping, some people still had problems with it. ...but that was true for any capture device I looked at. Also, in case you use them, analog closed captions are either unavailable, or hard to capture with any of the current TV capture device models.

You understood correctly regarding setup. An internal tuner card like the HVR-1800 would use a coaxial cable input directly, not output from your STB, to record HD channels. The same would be true for the ATI device I mentioned that takes CableCARDS. The Hauppauge HD-PVR doesn't have tuner and requires the use of a cable box. It only records the channel that the cable box is tuned to.

Cable companies are required by law to provide a box with a working firewire ouput, if the customer requests it. However firewire output may still be encrypted for anything but local channels, and even locals may at times include another form of copy protection that could cause the cable box to block transmission to a PC via firewire.

If those conditions don't exist, my understanding is you can capture whatever the cable box is tuned to at the time using appropriate software and the firewire port on your PC. See http://home.comcast.net/~exdeus/stbfirewire/ for more information about firewire capture from a cablebox.

VLC is one of the programs I have seen mentioned for playing the captured files.

[reTIREDgeek]

I also had a WinFast with which I was happy for several years. Recently the (only) cable company changed to a digital, HD signal. After ignorantly purchasing an off-brand "digital" TV card, I was curtly informed by a cable tech that I am ONLY allowed to RENT a digital HD card which they "activate". How much does this stink? I think our cable company recently changed owners. For the very first time I am considering satellite!

[usually_quiet]

I also had a WinFast with which I was happy for several years. Recently the (only) cable company changed to a digital, HD signal. After ignorantly purchasing an off-brand "digital" TV card, I was curtly informed by a cable tech that I am ONLY allowed to RENT a digital HD card which they "activate". How much does this stink? I think our cable company recently changed owners. For the very first time I am considering satellite!

You buy the CableCARD tuner and a copy of Windows 7 that includes Media Center. (Windows XP's Media Center and most Vista versions of Media Center won't work.) The CableCARDs needed for CableCARD tuners are rented. Your cable provider is not required to activate any CableCARD that did not come from them. The total monthly fees associated with a CableCARD usually amount to less than the cost of a cable box, though sometimes it is only a dollar less.

Clear QAM tuners don't require a renting a CableCARD. They normally pick up only local stations and a few others in the basic service tier, although some people have no clear QAM channels available at all. The FCC has up to now required cable providers to carry local channels unencrypted, although waivers may be granted if cable providers can prove a need to encrypt everything. This FCC policy is under review and it is possible that the requirement for clear QAM will go away soon, as happened with the requirement for providing analog versions of local channels.

[olyteddy]

I've got a HD Homerun Prime tuner, with cable card. It is actually three tuners in one box that streams over your Ethernet. The cable card allows it to decrypt scrambled QAM channels you subscribe to, and rents for $1.10 where I live. I also get any available Hi-Def feeds of the SD digital channels I subscribe to. With Windows Media Center you can record up to three programs at once.

[usually_quiet]

I've got a HD Homerun Prime tuner, with cable card. It is actually three tuners in one box that streams over your Ethernet. The cable card allows it to decrypt scrambled QAM channels you subscribe to, and rents for $1.10 where I live. I also get any available Hi-Def feeds of the SD digital channels I subscribe to. With Windows Media Center you can record up to three programs at once.

I don't have a CableCARD tuner yet, but I have looked into what my provider, Comcast, would charge me. Since I want to keep a cable box to have access to Comcast's free on-demand offerings, the charges would be $1.50 for the CableCARD, $10 for the Digital Outlet Fee required to use it, and a $2.50 credit for customer-owned equipment. They only charge the $10 Digital Outlet Fee and nothing more for a second cable box. I currently have SD digital service, and getting a CableCARD requires me to upgrade to the HD service plan and pay another $10 per month for that.

[jman98]

reTIREDgeek - Generally speaking, do NOT dig up old threads to comment on them around here.

But since the cat is well out of the bag in this one with almost as many follow ups as the original thread had in 2009...

I had a CableCARD from Comcast (now with AT&T Uverse and I do not have CableCARD anymore). The price wasn't all that much cheaper than having another box but even worse there were a small number of HD channels that I simply could not get via CableCARD even though Comcast admitted I should be able to do so. They worked on it remotely and even sent a guy out to my house and they were never able to get it to get those missing channels working via CableCARD. In the end I gave up and replaced it with a cable box. My experience indicates that cable companies really have very little experience dealing with CableCARD and if you run into problems like I did, they may not have the expertise necessary to fix them. It's quite possible that based on what unusually_quiet says that I was actually paying more for the CableCARD than I realized due to hidden charges.

[usually_quiet]

r It's quite possible that based on what unusually_quiet says that I was actually paying more for the CableCARD than I realized due to hidden charges.

The charges can vary by location, even with the same provider. Comcast, for example, doesn't seem to have a uniform policy for all its local franchises.

The point of the FCC's CableCARD mandate was to give digital cable subscribers the opportunity to use their own equipment at a lower cost if they so desired. While FCC regulations limit what can be charged for a CableCARD itself, they do not prevent cable providers from tacking on additional fees, or force them to train their personnel to provide proper support for subscribers with CableCARDs.