HDTV -> PC (off a DVB card)

[likwid8]

This can be done, in fact i dont know wether im questioning myself or revealing something new out here to the people. Im just here to say that I bought a DVB card specifically for cpturing HDTV and yes I've managed to get it to work, in fact I was able to get HDTV and PDTV. The good thing bout the DVB card is that the analogue channels that werent HDTV were also capable of capturing them in digital stream, so basically it outbeats any capture card out there, yes even the Maxtrox lol.

My point is its possible only on DVB streams which consist of Dish Network and Bell Expressvu. No subscription needed, no receiver needed, just hook up the dvb card into your PCI slot and run a rg-6 cable from the dish on your roof to the pci dvb card directly. Bad part bout this is that you'll need a receiver (Bell or Dish) to actually get the signal, once you got it you just plug in the cable to the card, load in MyTheatre 3.19 or w/e verion yo've got and your on your way with free tv. I get all 700-900 channels w/e Bell Xpressvu offers and its just simple great I get all my programming for free and in digital 480*480 resolution.

Heres the downside of things; for starters you need a basic knowledge of how to setup this process, only because in order to get the stream off the dish you need to get the (software hack) which I dont support in this forum at all, this is simply for evaluation purposes only but ya, the simply "KEYS" to decrypt the signal and aswell as brief idea on what your doing. And recently Xpressvu added a Nagra 2 encryption which is for HDTV streaming and it blocked all data streams to the card. So for now I only get to see analogue streams which of course is over 800 channels but I dont get to see my HDTV ....

BTW, both analogue channels (digital) and HDTV feeds are all capped in .mpg format, now some people might say "how is that possible?". Well its simple, most "americans" go ahead and buy a HDTV card which is over $400 and $100 for a HDTV antenna and get their local HDTV programming. Thats ridiclous but its the truth, this DVB PCI card costs a merely $60 on Ebay and u get all HDTV channels freely available to you without having a stupid HDTV antenna on ur roof, or better yet manouvering it to get ur local HDTV channel hehe. Bell Xpressvu currently offers all the HD channels, including TMN/MOVIE-CENTRAL/WB/ all in HDTV, dishnetwork only offers a few local HDTV channels and HBO/SHOWTIME in HDTV. But TMN is the american version of HBO. Well i really hope someone finds this topic interesting I sure hope so. And if your holding back to buying a DVB card because I've just told you theyrs no HDTV programming available......well all I can say is... "not YET" at least, theyrs always a solution to everything, and software will be available before you know it so keep in touch with DVB forums and read up on it. It'll save you money and gets you everythign u need to watch. Plus it gets you all the analogue channels for free which is 800 or more.

P.S. BellXpressvu does work for the USA... (shhhhh!!) so does DISH!

[DeadLamb]

buy a HDTV card which is over $400 and $100 for a HDTV antenna and get their local HDTV programming.

wait ya need more info here or at least spell it out more by your location etc and so on in light of this being the whole "world" board thing.. Ya said ya got the card to work (that's a good thing) then ya said "able to get HDTV" but then list 480x480 (not even close to HD, pal I would guess) then later say "but I don't get to see my HDTV".. I'm not really looking to bag on ya at all and I do find the info interesting even if it's not something I plan to do.. I just like tech stuff over all, just the info.. ya know, as a geek.

but ya make it sound like this $60 card = HDtv (clearly not) or that ya need to drop $500 plus for hd on the pc as you call it the american way or something like that.. eh $500+? Maybe back a few years ago but not anymore. The Fusion "blah blah whatever" new model they have now is $150, plus ya do NOT always need a roof mounted antenna. I use a $30 indoor zenith silver sensor and get every local station and NEVER have to "move it around" to get the HDtv signals..

I mean ya get +++ points for sharing the info on the other stuff I guess but lets not spread the myth that HDtv on the PC is this $$$$$$$ tech thing that need all this gear and move this and that.. It scares people off..

plus as I said, 480x480 is so not even close to HDtv. Again, still interesting info but ya almost sound like your trolling to sell some card on ebay or something.. heh even if I would guess that is not the case... Why buy a D card for digital TV when you can have real HDtv for a few bucks more!?

[likwid8]

Well perhaps I didnt clearly specify myself correctly. You see, when hooking up for example a BELL EXPRESSVU satellite and you want to use the DVB card. Bell has 2 birds, one for the analogue channels and another for the HDTV channels, the dvb card picks up both, the 480*480 resolution is for the analogue channels that you will see digitally on the non-HD bird. Now on the other hand the HDTV bird you get the full HDTV resolution. And yes its much cheaper then a HDTV card aswell as more efficient because with a HDTV card you cannot capture any non-HD channels, and if you would be able to, it wouldnt be as close to the quality the dvb card captures it at, aswell as the amount of channels you get provided to you on the bell system.

DVB is excellent for HDTV, like i said u get all HD channels and all non-hd channels on a digital stream. Outbeats a HDTV card by a longshot.


Any further questions you just let me know

[DeadLamb]

well as I said, I do find the info to be interesting..

So I guess the main thing is that if a person has this satellite set up in the first place, then the DVB card works out well for them but you mentioned "no receiver needed, just hook up the" then go "bad part bout this is that you'll need a receiver." So sounds like a person needs some part of the sat set up in the first place, then you run the card to the dish, then you get HDtv thanks to the card..

So it sounds like if you have nothing at all right now, just a PC, the DVB card is not going to help a person as much as a HDtv card that can just pull stuff over the air (if you have the signals in the area).

Again, just looking out of the newbies here being I have this vision of some kid having $100 or so to spend, buying a DVB card for his pc then not really having the rest of the gear to hook it up too.. Plus ya mentioned the Xpressvu added a Nagra 2 encryption blocking the HDtv stuff but then said you get HDtv...

Sooooo again, not looking to nit pick ya to death or anything but it sound like you have a whoop ass "normal" tv set up with tons of channels thanks to the DVB card but are still not watching say Lost or NFL Football games in HD being ya can't get it? I just picture all these newbies who could get HDtv with less then $190 in gear now over the air with a HDtv card, reading this post and going "I can get it for $60" then buying something wrong like a Win-tv D card thinking it's a DVB card and getting the shaft..

Ah stupid message board limits!!! You are clearly excited over your tech stuff and I think that is what is making for a few of the contradictions in the post about don't need this, do need this and so on being ya have to type it all out.... Odds are if I was just talking to ya face to face there would be no "huh?" issues on my part. heh.. Anyways, DVB card sounds neat if one has the sat set up already but again, I think if a person has zero gear now, the HDtv card is the way to go.. At least as far as plug and go being ya mention software hack for the DVB card etc..

[Heff]

You can't get HDTV with a DVB, period. ExpressVu encrypts with Nagra2 there is no hack available for Nagra2, yet. Also Dish uses 8PSK modulation and all the cards out today only do QPSK and there's is a hardware solution only, so you'll have to wait for someone to develop a 8PSK DVB card and come out with Nagra2 hack before you'll ever get HDTV with Dish. You certainly can't get local HDTV with a DVB card.

[likwid8]

You "can" get HDTV off the DVB before they encrpyted the signal, but Im reffering to the general aspect of this operation. Point is its possible as I mentioned, and due to the nagra 2 encryption at the moment theres no hack, but YES iv gotten HDTV before the nagra 2 encryption, and so did many other friendly DVB users. A Nagra 2 encryption will be out soon, it has to come out just like all hacks come out sooner or later.

And btw, i might not be able to see HDTV off my DVB card now but doesnt mean its not useful, I still get to see my 900 channels off Bell which are all in digital crisp stream. Think of it as the best capture card digitally wise onm the market, it caps digitally, no dropped frames EVER!, crisp signal, 900 channels to choose from and best of all most channels cap in 704*480, mpeg-2 and 48000khrtz audio....all that means its DVD COMPLIANT... last week I captured King Of The Cage and Pride Fighting, after the event was done I simply loaded the direct stream into Tmpgenc DVD Author and I burned it as a dvd. Its an amazing card. The file is dvd compliant, and i burned a raw stream which it ended right under 4.37 gigs. this card doesnt get any better than this... I will post a sample clip soon, gimme like 20 minutes

[likwid8]

Here is a sample clip and here are the specs:

Resolution: 704*480
Video: MPEG-2
Audio: 48000 Khrtz
Bitrate: Around 3,200kb

Output:
DVD Compliant = no encoded needed, raw stream, raw video, only DIGITAL quality. Never drops frames, no such thing, it either picks up the signal or it doesnt, if theyrs a storm and video gets fuxx0red then cap ends, but never drops frames. You can preview while you cap, and you can record unlimited amount of hours with full version of MTheatre.

MTheatre offers a program guide for your listings. And it comes fully equipped with live full mode preview display, so you get to see live tv on ur PC. You gotta love this card for $60

P.S. No cropping needed at all

[dphirschler]

That's a piss poor quality capture if you ask me. I expected better. Lots of compression artifacts.


Darryl

[BJ_M]

yea -- it kinda looks bad

[DeadLamb]

Think of it as the best capture card digitally wise onm the market, it caps digitally, no dropped frames EVER

yeah but it's not.. Even "normal" shows that are not true HDtv looks whoop ass over a HDtv PC card like say the fusion HDtv card being they are also digital and in many cases at a much higher bit rate then digital sat set up.

Never mind that the true Hdtv stuff just CRUSHES anything else out there right now.... I mean come on now, can you get ANYTHING that even comes close to Nikki Cox in true 1080i HDtv!?!?? I'm thinking, no, no you can't..




Don't get me wrong, I still think your DVB card sounds sort of neat for those who have the gear but I would not pimp that tech over a true HDtv card for people who want HDtv (over the air)... At least not as being "better" then a simple HDtv card. Keep in mind from what I have seen most people seem 90% happy with how ever they watch "normal" tv now.. Be that cable or or or or..

THE main thing they are looking for with a HDtv PC card etc IS whoop ass high def TV in 1080i or 720p. Anything less that that is a let down and again, as neat as I think the DVB card for cheap sounds, it's not giving that knock out punch of true HDtv out the box, right now, hook it up and watch Nikki Cox in Las Vegas in HDtv!! So I don't see it as better.. I see it as cheaper and maybe something worth playing with on a 2nd cpu but from zero to HDtv I still think a simple $150 HDtv pc card is the way for most to go, IMO of course.. With the big * next to that of "if you can get a signal in your area"

edit: of course I know that posting that one vidcap just resulted in about 10 people who were on the fence about buying a HDtv going "Ok I have to get one now" hehe

[likwid8]

Well the DVB card does actually capture the same stream as a normal HDTV card will. Same resolution same everything, difference is that my card caps it in mpg and urs in ts files. but overall the stream is the same..

As for the cap i displayed, it is shrinked and yes doesnt look good but u need to see it in real life...... If im allowed to post a link to a 20 second clip I would? anyone willing to host it for a week?

[edDV]

[quote="DeadLamb"]

....

edit: of course I know that posting that one vidcap just resulted in about 10 people who were on the fence about buying a HDtv going "Ok I have to get one now" hehe

Just so the noobs realize that the current HDTV cards are for over the air (with Antenna) capture and will not input from their HD cable or sat tuner box.

They should first check www.antennaweb.org to see what HDTV broadcasts are available at their address and what antenna is needed.

[canadateck]

They should first check www.antennaweb.org to see what HDTV broadcasts are available at their address and what antenna is needed.

Anything like this site for canada?

[junkmalle]

Bad part bout this is that you'll need a receiver (Bell or Dish) to actually get the signal, once you got it you just plug in the cable to the card

Are you saying you only need the receiver to align the dish? Once aligned you don't need the receiver anymore?

Which DVB cards would you recommend? I saw several at ebay.

[likwid8]

Are you saying you only need the receiver to align the dish? Once aligned you don't need the receiver anymore?

Which DVB cards would you recommend? I saw several at ebay.

That is correct, they're are programs out their that will do it off the DVB card but it lags a few seconds so you cannot get the signal perfect at most times. I got the Hauppauge Nexus DVB card, works flawlessly and I get to see anything I want. The HDTV like i said is temporarily unavailable for the time being, but who cares i get the rest for free

[likwid8]

ohhhhh.........

I forgot to mention, this setup is for Canadians recommended only. And I say this because in Canada the freely available local HD channels are limited and not all available in your area. To maintain all HD locals you will need to purchase Rogers Digital Cable which isnt what you want if you want to record HDTV. In canada at the moment a certain amount of locals in HD are available, and arent many to get.

Canadian Local Residential Area HD channels
==============
NBC-HD ABC-HD
FOX-HD CTV-HD
...Those are some of the channels you might get not all of them, theyr might be a few missing


Bell Expressvu Sat DVB HDTV Channels
==========================
NBC-HD (east/west WBG-HD
ABC-HD (east/west) TMN-HD
FOX-HD (west/east) MOVIE-CENTRAL-HD
TSN-HD CTV-HD (east/west)
CITY_TV-HD GLOBAL-HD
PBS-HD (east/west) SPORTSNET-HD
DISCOVERY-HD CBS-HD (east/west)
NFL SUNDAY TICKET HDTV (4 channels)
PBS-HD


25 FREE HDTV channels which only BELL offers, no other dish offers this much.... like i said local area will get you like 5 the most and you need to be moving the antenna to get diff localsh on HD...

Now DISHNET offers a wide range of HD selection, not as much as BELL but like a few, and some of those few arent in BELL dish, for example:

DISH HDTV channels (samples)
=====================

HBO-HD (east/west SHOWTIME-HD
ESPN-HD



LOL looks as if im trying to advertise BELL over here, naw i just find this setup to be the best, since it offers 900 digital channels, 25 HD channels, card-free, receiver-free, getting nuked or hit with card will never happen, up 24/7, stable and cheap. and since its cheap it makes this all seem like a piece of treasure

[edDV]

They should first check www.antennaweb.org to see what HDTV broadcasts are available at their address and what antenna is needed.

Anything like this site for canada?

Another is http://www.titantv.com/

[tommyoz]

This can be done, in fact i dont know wether im questioning myself or revealing something new out here to the people.

Not to deminish your efforts but this has been around for awhile. The reason you don't see much about this topic on this site is because this is mainly a DVDR help site. There are other forums out there that talk about DVB cards and tuner boxes.

[likwid8]

The reason you don't see much about this topic on this site is because this is mainly a DVDR help site.

Well I did post this in the Digital forum, lol....

[tommyoz]

The reason you don't see much about this topic on this site is because this is mainly a DVDR help site.

Well I did post this in the Digital forum, lol....

No, i'm not saying you did anything wrong. What i'm saying is, had you posted this in a DVB forum, you would have gotten more positive responses.

[likwid8]

I understand, but this site I think deserves as much attention as a VCD site aswell to a DVB discussion, since DVB and HDTV are new wave in technology, why always stay talkin bout the same old stuff always? just my 2 cents but thanks for letting me know that, Im sure people will check it out.

[vhelp]

I'm sure the mention abuot Antenna is not your tipicle rabbit-ears antenna ??



* who's Nikki Cox
* and, what's so great about her

-vhelp

[dphirschler]

I'm gonna do it! Any opinions about the Skystar2 card?


Darryl

[DeadLamb]

I'm sure the mention abuot Antenna is not your tipicle rabbit-ears antenna

well the thing is at least in the USA right now OTA (over the air) HDtv is send on UHF.. So there is not really any sort of true HDtv only sort of antenna being one can use whatever they have sitting around, even the UHF loop ripped off a BW tv from the 60's.. Errrr now granted, that is not going to draw in signal as well as an antenna tuned for HDtv UHF but it might get something..

Many still just run the old home antenna they had from years ago for hdtv..

but anyways, for me, it's just this little silver sensor sitting all ghetto like in the cpu room on a 30cent tile from a hardware store.. Compass near it was to tune it for the direction as listed for my location by http://www.antennaweb.org


but keep in mind, I do live in a top 20 tv market and only 25 miles from the main broadcast towers. So it's very easy for me to get over the air HDtv for all the networks. Where in some areas the ONLY way to get HDtv is going to be sat/cable... That is where the idea of a cable tuner HDtv card or this DVB card starts to kick in and look good to some people.. Free over the air is great if [big if] you can get it..

edit:as for nikki, I just think she is hot but she is also married to Bob Goldthwait in one of those classic life is not fair sort of things.. heh

[likwid8]

I'm gonna do it! Any opinions about the Skystar2 card?


Darryl

I got the Hauppauge one, but yah its ok i guess never tried it

[samuraijack]

Okay. Im a little confused. It was stated that this setup was for canadian systems, but I see folks from the US wanting to try this. Am I missing something here? I was under the impression that the US area broadcasts under a different signal. On the Hauppauge site, they make a clear distinction between cards for the US and cards for EURO market. I think they called the US card a "USATSC standard". http://www.hauppauge.com/Pages/products/data_hd.html This is the one Im referring to.
So What am I missing here? Is it just the version of the FTA signals that are different or is the signal from the SATs different? IE. Is a DVB card, the same here as there? ( if you subtract the FTA reception? )

Very curious and dying to know...

[dphirschler]

ATSC is the US standard, bu at likwid8 said...

P.S. BellXpressvu does work for the USA... (shhhhh!!) so does DISH!

From my research, I see that a lot of the satellites above the US are using the euro standard DVB anyway. So when I receive my card, I will give it a try. If nothing works, then I may ebay it and try a different one.


Darryl

[samuraijack]

So what card did you decide to go with?

[likwid8]

Hauppauge offers the HDTV card, and the DVB-S card. The HDTV card is specifically made for ATSC signals from your local neighbourhood, nothing to do with satellite. But the DVB-S card on the other hand is dealt with DVB streams off the satellite stream which in this case you can get. And yes you can get the streams from the US, anywhere in north america.

NOTICE: WinTV HDTV and DVB-S that picks up HDTV are 2 totally different things. Plus the DVB picks up analogue channels on digital stream.

[dphirschler]

I got the Skystar2. And I got a dish (DirecTV) from a guy here at work. I will report back my success/failures. Any software recommendations? PM if necessary.


Darryl