recording cable HD channels on pc tuner/capture card

[Zipbiscuit]

My intent is to record the HD channels from my cable to my pc. The problem is Time Warner's HD channels are all between 700 and 800, while the SD channels remain in the 3 - 102 range. So SD CBS is channel 13 and the HD CBS is 713 and so on. I currently have my HP Pavilion Elite hooked to my 42" plasma with the HDMI out from the NVIDIA Gforce 8600, no prob there. The cable source is split between the HD DVR and the PC tuner card. The Hauppauge HVR-1800 tuner card will only pick up the lower 3 - 102 channels. I'm using Win 7 Media Center. I can record the SD channels with no problem but on the plasma screen they are grainy of course. Is there an HD tuner/capture card that will allow me to watch and record channels 700 - 800 in HD? I called Hauppauge about the 2250 tuner card and they told me that it would work except on encrypted channels, Time Warner told me that a digital tuner card could de-crypt these channels. None of the channels are HBO or any premium channels, just the networks, TLC, Disc, cable news etc. I would like to do this thru a PC tuner card so as to have the flexibility of basically having 2 DVR's and not using a device you hook up to your DVR.

I'm some what of a newb at the HD and h.264 recording thing, so any help would be appreciated. A tutorial site somewhere or whatever. Thank you.

[yoda313]

Yes hauppauge makes the hdpvr 1212. Its an external box that captures via component cables and fiber optic audio for digital surround sound. It works perfectly with my comcast hd cable (motorola dvr).

YOu can also get a blackmagic intensity card that does hdmi input - I think it has adapters to record component as well.

I think the hauppauge is a better deal because you can do m2ts files and it doesn't take the same recording space the blackmagic does.

[usually_quiet]

3 - 102 and 700 - 800 sounds like the channel assignments for the cable company's STBs and DVRs. Channels 3 - 102 could present in in your system in analog form. and maybe digital too, while the HD channels in the 700 - 800 range would be only present in digital form. If there is no hyphen in the SD channel numbers the HVR-1800 finds, then it is only picking up the analog channels you have left. Otherwise, the channels it is finding are digital, clear QAM. At least some of your HD locals are probably available in clear QAM, but other HD channels are more likely to be encrypted, and can only be tuned using the cable company's equipment.

For HD channels that are encrypted, you can use an HD cable box/DVR tune them and connect a PC capture device to either its component out or HDMI out to record. The downside is that you will be limited to watching what is being recorded when these devices are in use. The Hauppauge HD PVR 1212 uses component connections. The BlackMagic Intensity PRO can use HDMI, or component, with their adaptor.

Your only other option for recording encrypted digital channels is a PC tuner that can accept CableCARDs (You rent the CableCARDs from the cable company.) This is the only one I have heard of http://ati.amd.com/products/tvwonderdigital/

[Edit] The HVR-1800 can tune and record clear QAM (unencrypted digital) cable channels, both HD and SD, as well as analog channels. The analog and digital tuners are separate inputs. The "TV-IN" RF connection is for analog cable TV plus FM radio. The "ANT IN" RF connection is for both QAM digital cable TV and ATSC OTA digital broadcast TV. You need to connect the cable to the "ANT IN" input to receive clear QAM channels. Have you tried that to see what HD channels it can tune?

I think the HVR-2250 has hybrid tuners, so each of its 2 RF input can tune both analog and digital.

The QAM channel numbers will not match the cable company's list, and will include a hyphen. My parents prefer to use their TV's digital tuner instead of the cable box whenever they can, so I made them a list cross-referencing the cable-company's list and what their TV tuner finds. You will have to do something like that too for the TV tuner card. Also, the cable company may change the frequency used for some digital channel every so often, and you will need to have the the TV tuner card re-scan its channels when they do.