Homebrew DVR

[mister]

What is the popular route for getting this done?

Are there specialized PC cards designed for DVR with companion software?


What about other standalone boxes out there besides TIVO -- are there any without subscription fees?

Internet based DVR's ?

Totally out to lunch on the current state of affairs with the DIY approach.

Thanks for any help.

[mister]

just saw something called "beyondtv" ?

what's that all about?

[edDV]

Windows MCE (Special XP OS version, comes with Vista Home Premium and Ultimate)

SageTV

BeyondTV

GBPVR (free)

MythTV (Linux)

Each have a following and extensive web support.

As for tuner/capture cards, each has a list of supported cards. MCE has the most restrictive list. Best to use capture cards with integral hardware encoders. These don't heavily load the CPU or HDD system so can work in the background while the PC is used for ther purposes.

The other current issues are ATSC (SD and HD) and ClearQAM (SD and HD) support in USA and DVB support in Europe.

[mister]

I was sort of searching at the same time posting so I ran into sagetv and beyondtv -- looks like beyond
may be more popular?

AND the software is included with some cards?

Ok -- so if I went with beyondtv what do you suggest for hardware requirements without "overkill"?

I see these wintv cards are popular?

The PC itself?

I have an old P2 400 laying around with XP on it and 256 ram?

I'll have a look at that wondows mce as well. ...thanks

[edDV]

Read my additions above. Use hardware encoding cards where possible. Each card has pro/con. Read the PVR support website's card reviews. Hauppauge PVR cards (150/250/350/500) are popular for SD. The HD HVR cards are still being worked out. The ATI 650 has pro/con issues. For the best results, go with the supported cards.

[edDV]

Old P4 machines might work for recording but for HD playback you will need a good display card (PCIe usually) and a PentiumD or Core2Duo. XP MCE requires special OEM XP OS software. Normal XP won't work.

Don't expect this to work on a 5 year old machine in the closet.

[SHS]

edDV I have old P4 and it dose find even HD H.264 the thing is a Good Video card that play key role in this area not
And mine is still AGP system with ATI HD 3850

[disturbed1]

edDV I have old P4 and it dose find even HD H.264 the thing is a Good Video card that play key role in this area not
And mine is still APG system with ATI HD 3850

My PIII 600 plays 1080i Mpeg2 just fine with an nVidia fx5500. With nVidia's VDPAU, I'd bet it could do H.264 as well.

The problem with PII's are the older boards won't accept newer AGP cards, so you'd have to find a PCI one. I know nVidia makes the 8400 line for PCI which has mpeg1/2, VC1, and H.264 decoding. I'm not up to date on ATI's cards .

If you plan on keeping Windows XP, strip out as much as possible, and turn off all effects to keep it slim.

Keep in mind only the video decoding is accelerated. Your CPU still has to decode the audio and encryption keys (if applicable). I wouldn't expect a PII to be able to play Blu Ray, even with the best AVIVO/Pure Video GPU acceleration, because of the DTS decoding. It should handle AC3 decoding just fine.

I also have a PII 450 (192mb). Without accelerated mpeg2 decoding, it stutters now and then on the standard DVD. Xvid above 512x$H is hit or miss.

Your system would do fine as a recorder using a hardware based encoding card. It will take some work to get it to play back with good results though.

[mister]

Ok -- thanks !

I'll look through the info.

I know you'll think I'm full of it but I have NO interest in HD at all. (except NFL)

SD is fine for me.

I may toy around with a couple of old PC's I have laying around (think I even have an old wintv capture card) and
I'll look at that GBPVR freeware.

What's the difference between the PVR150 250 thru 500 ?

Looks like there is some included software with these cards that will schedule recordings? (which is all I want, just record and play -- I don't need "pause" etc).

It looks like I can just put one of these cards in any of my (internet connected?) PC's...

Run the scheduler software
Record the TV show "whenever"
Record it to a DVD if I want later

That's really all I want out of a PVR....it doesn't even need to be connected to my TV.

Just record the shows I want -- preview them -- and if I like them, record to DVD. (with some authoring software?)

Also --

I'm thinking of just going back to analog cable.

So, this would be the way to go? (using the "scheduler"?)

For the more elaborate PVR systems beyondtv etc -- isn't digital cable required?

[SHS]

PVR150 and 500 are the same other then the 500 which is a Dual Tuner
That depend on the 250 some have old Hardware Encoder CX23415 but if it newer 250 which come CX23416 then main diff Video Digitizer and Audio Processor where 150 and 500 have an all one Video Digitizer and Audio Processor chip

[mister]

I notice the GBPVR has a lot of bells and whistles that are kind of silly....can I install a stripped down version that
just does video?

I see weather, you tube, I bet it associates itself with all my thousands of wav files etc.

How does GBPVR gather the info? Does it link to tvguide.com or something?

Do I end up paying a subscription fee?

It's a nice interface but I'd like to compare to a simpler "scheduler program" that is TV only -- any suggestions?

I'd like to click a show and have the PVR record.

Nothing more.