Recording HDMI to my PC

[xtremeD63]

Hi there! I have a cable box/DVR that provides a 1080i HDMI output, which is connected to my television. I can't get the video out of the box, as its Firewire and USB jacks are disabled. I tried taking the hard drive out and booting it with my PC - no dice. The PC doesn't even see it. I learned that those hard drives are locked.

So - are there any devices on the market that will allow me to cable the HDMI signal from the cable box/DVR to my PC? Some kind of video card with HDMI inputs for recording the 1080i (or even 1080P for that resolution) signal?

Thank you very much!

[usually_quiet]

I would not worry about recording 1080p. 1080p is not used for regular cable TV channels and many set top boxes don't support more than 1080i. The only place you might see 1080p used is for on-demand movie rentals.

It is important to get a device that can capture interlaced video as interlaced video if recording 1080i or 480i via HDMI. I have a Hauppauge Colossus, which can record 1080i, and 480i channels as well as 720p and 480p via HDMI. Others here like the Elgato Game Capture HD, which can capture video at a higher bitrate. You will also need an HDMI splitter that removes HDCP as a side effect to record HDCP protected sources. This one works well http://www.amazon.com/ViewHD-Port-Powered-Splitter-1080P/dp/B004F9LVXC

[xtremeD63]

Hello again. I'm looking for a Windows XP-compatible card or device that can capture 1080P-60fps video.

Any suggestions or links? I'd really appreciate the help. Thanks!

[usually_quiet]

Hello again. I'm looking for a Windows XP-compatible card or device that can capture 1080P-60fps video.

Any suggestions or links? I'd really appreciate the help. Thanks!

No. Your expectations are unrealistic. You will need get rid of XP and upgrade your system before you start looking for a cutting-edge HD capture device. The only capture devices I know of that capture at 1080p60fps require Windows 7 or Windows 8.x and/or an i5 or an i7 CPU.

You initially asked for something to capture the HDMI output of a cable DVR. There are no 1080P 60fps TV broadcasts to capture. You don't need 1080P 60fps unless you want to capture the HDMI output of a video game console or the HDMI video output from a PC.

[xtremeD63]

Yes, that is what I originally asked for. I hadn't much thought of the possibility of having something ready for the next resolution available to me, though. I'd hate to buy something this week only to realize next week that I should have bought something a little better. I'm running an Intel Quad Core @ 2.67 GHz with 3 GB RAM and a ATI 6850 Video Card. I also have a Blu-Ray player that has 1080P output through HDMI. I don't want to limit myself needlessly.

[usually_quiet]

Yes, that is what I originally asked for. I hadn't much thought of the possibility of having something ready for the next resolution available to me, though. I'd hate to buy something this week only to realize next week that I should have bought something a little better. I'm running an Intel Quad Core @ 2.67 GHz with 3 GB RAM and a ATI 6850 Video Card. I also have a Blu-Ray player that has 1080P output through HDMI. I don't want to limit myself needlessly.

Something better is not likely to be out next week, and it probably won't have XP drivers when it arrives, given that XP is a long discontinued and unsupported product now.

Blu-Ray itself is limited to 1080p24. Also, be aware that while there are 1080p streaming services that might be available via a Blu-Ray player, we aren't allowed to discuss recording those at VideoHelp.

The Hauppauge Colossus has drivers for Windows XP 32-bit. The Elgato Game Capture HD has no XP drivers.

[newpball]

Yes, that is what I originally asked for. I hadn't much thought of the possibility of having something ready for the next resolution available to me, though. I'd hate to buy something this week only to realize next week that I should have bought something a little better. I'm running an Intel Quad Core @ 2.67 GHz with 3 GB RAM and a ATI 6850 Video Card. I also have a Blu-Ray player that has 1080P output through HDMI. I don't want to limit myself needlessly.

With only 3GB of ram you are limiting yourself needlessly.

[wulf109]

If he's running a 32bit OS 3GB is O.K. 32 bit OS can't address more than 4GB's. To use more than 4GB's he'd need a 64 bit OS.

[usually_quiet]

Yes, that is what I originally asked for. I hadn't much thought of the possibility of having something ready for the next resolution available to me, though. I'd hate to buy something this week only to realize next week that I should have bought something a little better. I'm running an Intel Quad Core @ 2.67 GHz with 3 GB RAM and a ATI 6850 Video Card. I also have a Blu-Ray player that has 1080P output through HDMI. I don't want to limit myself needlessly.

With only 3GB of ram you are limiting yourself needlessly.

That depends on whether the OP has 32-bit Windows XP or 64-bit Windows XP, and fewer people installed the 64-bit version.

Anything over 4GB won't be seen by a 32-bit OS. A video card's memory and memory allocated by the OS for various devices on the motherboard count towards the 4GB limit.

Even if he has or upgrades to 64-bit XP, there are a couple of reasons why he may not be able to have more RAM. The type of RAM he needs might be hard to find now because it is no longer made, or the motherboard and BIOS may place limitations on how much RAM can be installed.

My HTPC runs 32-bit Windows 7 and I use an onboard video with 128 MB of sideport memory. Even so, Windows can only see 3.2 GB of the 4G of RAM installed. The remainder might be used for a RAM disc but I have never bothered to set one up. For HTPC use, 32-bit Windows has been fine. 32-bit Windows allows me to use the Ex Deus STB FireWire drivers to control my cable box. (64-bit drivers were never created for this driver package.) I'll have to give it up when I do move to an HTPC with a 64-bit OS.

[newpball]

Yes, that is what I originally asked for. I hadn't much thought of the possibility of having something ready for the next resolution available to me, though. I'd hate to buy something this week only to realize next week that I should have bought something a little better. I'm running an Intel Quad Core @ 2.67 GHz with 3 GB RAM and a ATI 6850 Video Card. I also have a Blu-Ray player that has 1080P output through HDMI. I don't want to limit myself needlessly.

With only 3GB of ram you are limiting yourself needlessly.

That depends on whether the OP has 32-bit Windows XP or 64-bit Windows XP, and fewer people installed the 64-bit version.

It won't matter, whether the limit is due to lack of physical memory or due to an obsolete operating system. In this case it happens to be both.

[usually_quiet]

Yes, that is what I originally asked for. I hadn't much thought of the possibility of having something ready for the next resolution available to me, though. I'd hate to buy something this week only to realize next week that I should have bought something a little better. I'm running an Intel Quad Core @ 2.67 GHz with 3 GB RAM and a ATI 6850 Video Card. I also have a Blu-Ray player that has 1080P output through HDMI. I don't want to limit myself needlessly.

With only 3GB of ram you are limiting yourself needlessly.

That depends on whether the OP has 32-bit Windows XP or 64-bit Windows XP, and fewer people installed the 64-bit version.

It won't matter, whether the limit is due to lack of physical memory or due to an obsolete operating system. In this case it happens to be both.

At this point running XP can prevent someone from upgrading their hardware for sure.

Having a 32-bit OS and 3GB of RAM installed is only a problem under some circumstances. I only use my HTPC for recording and watching video and web browsing. So far having a 32-bit OS and ~3GB of RAM usable by the OS has been adequate for those tasks. With a little luck, I might squeeze a few more years of useful life out of my old gear.

[xtremeD63]

Ok - I already purchased the ViewHD Ultra HD 4K HDMI 1x2 Mini Splitter (Model: VHD-Pluto), now I just need the capture device. With my limitations, could I get away with the Hauppauge Colossus? I'm not going to be changing my OS for a little while, so will these 2 devices work with XP and my operating environment?

Thanks!

[usually_quiet]

Ok - I already purchased the ViewHD Ultra HD 4K HDMI 1x2 Mini Splitter (Model: VHD-Pluto), now I just need the capture device. With my limitations, could I get away with the Hauppauge Colossus? I'm not going to be changing my OS for a little while, so will these 2 devices work with XP and my operating environment?

Thanks!

From Hauppauge's product page for the Colossus

System Requirements
Note: when playing back video recordings made with the Colossus, a fast CPU and at least 256MB of graphics memory are needed.

• Processor Requirements (minimum for HD playback): Dual core CPU 2.0GHz or faster
• Windows 7 (32 and 64-bit), Windows Vista or Windows XP service pack 2 (32-bit).
• Graphics with 256MB memory (or greater)
• PCI Express x1 slot
• Sound card for audio playback
• CD-ROM drive for installing the Colossus software

I never used the Hauppauge Colossus with XP, so I don't from know personal experience how well it works with XP. You'll have to take Hauppauge's word when the company says it works with Windows XP Service Pack 2 (32-bit). (Service Pack 3 should be fine as well.) Windows Windows XP (64-bit) is apparently not OK. It isn't listed in the system requirements so Hauppauge doesn't have drivers available for it.

An Intel 2.67GHz Quad Core CPU exceeds the CPU requirements for the manufacturer's included software. Your Radeon HD 6850 graphics card is fine too. It has 1 GB of memory onboard. I'm guessing you have a sound card of some kind (onboard is OK) and a CD or DVD burner. You have all the RAM your system can use with XP 32-bit.

If you have an empty PCI-e slot (anything from x1 to x16 will work) to install the card, then you are fine as far as Hauppauge's hardware requirements go.

If you don't like WinTV 7 and need alternative PVR software, your hardware and OS are good enough to run NextPVR.

I have a different ViewHD splitter than the one that you picked, and so do quite a few other members here. I can't tell you if the ViewHD model that you picked will work for avoiding HDCP issues. Your OS has no bearing on this.

[xtremeD63]

Thank you for that reply. I read a number of reviwes for that splitter and it apparently works the same way the other one does.

I don't know what WinTV 7 is and I'm assuming PVR stands for "Personal Video Recorder"? I guess I'll find out what all this means when the gadgets get here.

Thank you again!

[usually_quiet]

Thank you for that reply. I read a number of reviwes for that splitter and it apparently works the same way the other one does.

I don't know what WinTV 7 is and I'm assuming PVR stands for "Personal Video Recorder"? I guess I'll find out what all this means when the gadgets get here.

Thank you again!

WinTV 7 is Hauppauge's in-house timer-based recording software. Arcsoft Showbiz is also provided. The version of Showbiz included on the Colossus' install disc allows access to the card's hardware encoder settings. Don't upgrade it or you will loose that benefit.

Yes PVR means "Personal Video Recorder".

Regarding Amazon reviews, Amazon lumps reviews for what it thinks are similar models from the same maker together. You have to read carefully. Most of the reviews that came up for the VHD-Pluto were actually for the model I recommended.

[xtremeD63]

I have it all hooked up and it looks terrific! Very sharp and the framerate seems perfect.

However - I can't seem to get the audio to encode better than 119 kbps. That's with the analog inputs. With the HDMI or optical inputs, it will not encode better than 96 kbps. It doesn't sound very good. I have the format setting at 256 kbps, so I don't know what the problem is. Anyone else have this problem, too?

[usually_quiet]

With my set up, the Colossus doesn't encode audio. I have my cable box set up to bitstream AC3 audio via HDMI and my Colossus is set up to capture the original AC3 via HDMI. I'll have to check audio encoding settings and run some tests tomorrow using LPCM over HDMI. (I removed the analog breakout cable and S/PDIF cable because I decided not to use them.)

[xtremeD63]

Hmmm... another brick wall. When I try to adjust the bit rate for the S-Video or Composite input, the ArcSoft software freezes and will not close until I reboot the machine. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling to no avail. The HDMI bit rate adjustment works as it should.

[usually_quiet]

I have it all hooked up and it looks terrific! Very sharp and the framerate seems perfect.

However - I can't seem to get the audio to encode better than 119 kbps. That's with the analog inputs. With the HDMI or optical inputs, it will not encode better than 96 kbps. It doesn't sound very good. I have the format setting at 256 kbps, so I don't know what the problem is. Anyone else have this problem, too?

It looks like the Colossus doesn't always give you exact control over the audio or video encoding bitrates. I already knew that video bitrates could be raised or lowered for VBR encoding but precise control was not possible. CBR encoding was pretty close to the setting I specified in Arcsoft. I tested AAC 2-channel capture of LPCM audio delivered using HDMI. I set the audio bitrate to 256 kbps and sampled at 48k. If I used used variable bitrate encoding (video bitrate settings were 12 Mbps and 16 Mbps) with 48k for sampling, MediaInfo did not provide any bitrate information. When I played the file back with Pot Player, it reported the input audio bitrate was 252. Windows reported that as well. If I selected CBR encoding I could get 192 kbps with the video encoding bitrate set to 15 Mbps. 192 kbps is the default setting for the encoder.

Hmmm... another brick wall. When I try to adjust the bit rate for the S-Video or Composite input, the ArcSoft software freezes and will not close until I reboot the machine. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling to no avail. The HDMI bit rate adjustment works as it should.

To be honest, I have only tried the Colossus for capture with composite and HDMI. I have two other capture devices for S-Video and composite. I wanted the Colossus for component and HDMI, and those connections worked for both WinTV 7 and Arcsoft ShowBiz. I have too much going on in the next few days to take everything apart, install the breakout cables and run more tests. I think some other people here have successfully used composite of S-Video. Maybe one of them will see your post and explain what they did.

[xtremeD63]

Thank you so much for your time & effort. I do appreciate it. I'll try the VBR setting. I haven't yet used that. I just figured I could get 'the same' audio output with the 256 kbps setting for my renders. I'll keep at it for sure. I have some things on my ever-crowded DVR that I'd like to have on my PC, freeing-up my DVR in the process.

Thank you again!

[usually_quiet]

Thank you so much for your time & effort. I do appreciate it. I'll try the VBR setting. I haven't yet used that. I just figured I could get 'the same' audio output with the 256 kbps setting for my renders. I'll keep at it for sure. I have some things on my ever-crowded DVR that I'd like to have on my PC, freeing-up my DVR in the process.

Thank you again!

Have you tried capturing bitstreamed AC3 audio via HDMI yet, or is that option not available to you? It would give you 5.1 audio, and can be successfully edited with VideoReDo TV Suite H.264, as long as there are not many transmission errors in the audio your DVR recorded.

[xtremeD63]

Bitstreamed... do you mean live TV from the cable box? Yeah, I have recorded that way. It still only showed the audio as 93 kbps, and it sounded awful.

[xtremeD63]

Alright... I tried the VBR setting and got the same result.

Here's a new query - is there another program I can use with Colossus to replace ArcSoft? Just something that works pretty much the same, but without freezing my computer?

[usually_quiet]

Bitstreamed... do you mean live TV from the cable box? Yeah, I have recorded that way. It still only showed the audio as 93 kbps, and it sounded awful.

No, I mean set up the DVR to send the 5.1 channel AC3 audio from stored recordings or live broadcasts over HDMI, instead of sending LPCM, and record audio and video from HDMI. The Colossus doesn't need to re-encode AC3 audio to AAC. It can simply record it as is.

There is usually a setting somewhere in one of the menus to control HDMI audio output. Access to this setting may be handled differently with different set-top boxes and providers. (For my Comcast cable box, the HDMI audio setting is in a hidden menu that I access by turning the cable box off with the remote, and then pressing the "Menu" button. There is an HDMI option in the resulting menu which allows setting audio to "Passthough". )

Alright... I tried the VBR setting and got the same result.

Here's a new query - is there another program I can use with Colossus to replace ArcSoft? Just something that works pretty much the same, but without freezing my computer?

Maybe Capture4Me or GamerCap. I'm not certain though because I never tried them. They have free trials that allow making short test captures.

[usually_quiet]

If Capture4Me and GamerCap are no good, then you could try building a graph with GraphStudio or GraphEdit. See https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/356017-Hauppauge-Colossus-Capturing-with-GraphEdit-rcTvCap

I haven't tried this approach with the Colossus yet, but it has worked for me with other capture devices. All the settings Showbiz has available should be accessible through the DirectShow Crossbar, Capture, and Encoder filters. Figuring out the video input pins on the Crossbar could require some trial and error testing.

[deadsimple]

Simple solution for Sky or any HD box is ViewHD HDMi splitter and Aver Media Game HD II. No need for PC

[usually_quiet]

Simple solution for Sky or any HD box is ViewHD HDMi splitter and Aver Media Game HD II. No need for PC

...and there is no option to capture with a PC, if someone wants to do that, as the OP said he wants to do. The AverMedia Game Capture HD II can only capture with its own built-in firmware, which has its own bugs and limitations that users must deal with. Unlike the Colossus, it does not permit capturing the original AC3 audio if the source provides AC3 audio and does not allow capture via S-Video or Composite.

Both the OP and I already own a Hauppauge Colossus. The Colossus works quite well, if set up correctly and used with the right software. Neither of us needs to buy another device.

[xtremeD63]

Yeah - I already have the ViewHD Ultra HD 4K HDMI 1x2 Mini Splitter (Model: VHD-Pluto). No need for another one.

So - I figured out that for S-Video and Composite, there has to be a signal before changing the bitrate, otherwise the program freezes. Who knew? Even at that, though - the audio still won't go above 93.5 kbps, even though it's set at 256 kbps. And it sounds terrible. Almost like it's under water. Yuck. I need to find out how to fix this before I delete my shows from the DVR. I don't want to save anything permanently with this awful audio.

[usually_quiet]

Yeah - I already have the ViewHD Ultra HD 4K HDMI 1x2 Mini Splitter (Model: VHD-Pluto). No need for another one.

So - I figured out that for S-Video and Composite, there has to be a signal before changing the bitrate, otherwise the program freezes. Who knew? Even at that, though - the audio still won't go above 93.5 kbps, even though it's set at 256 kbps. And it sounds terrible. Almost like it's under water. Yuck. I need to find out how to fix this before I delete my shows from the DVR. I don't want to save anything permanently with this awful audio.

I have used HDMI and component to capture SD channels in 480i. The quality should be better than when using composite or S-video.

Capturing the original AC3 audio would provide the best possible quality. Is there some reason why capturing the original AC3 audio is not possible or desirable? Maybe I can find out how to set up your DVR to use "Passthrough" for audio using HDMI and optical digital audio. if you haven't been able to figure out what to do. I just need the name of your provider and the make and model of the DVR.

I posted two 720p samples here: https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/369290-Testing-Video-Upload?p=2365532#post2365532

[xtremeD63]

Thank you.

The DVR is a Samsung SMT-H3270. I have Time Warner Cable. I also use a Super-VHS VCR for some capturing. Same thing - anemic audio. It's as if the ArcSoft program refuses to capture any audio in a bitrate over 93 kbps. Optical input, HDMI... doesn't matter. Arghhh...