quote: Brad Miller

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*If I "record" a show on the PVR, will it be recorded using the same compression that DirecTV is encoding in, or will it have to re-encode thus losing quality?

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quote: Brad Miller

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*Is there a model PVR out there that if I say "record this show" will AUTOMATICALLY fire it up a minute or two early and record for a minute or two later? Or do I have to TELL it to do that every time?

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quote: Brad Miller

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*Can I drop a 120 or 200 gig drive in one of those things, or is there more to extending the capture time?

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quote: Brad Miller

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*Can the PVRs change the channel on the satellite receiver?

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quote: Brad Miller

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*Does anyone know what the codec being used by DirecTV and Dish actually is?

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quote: Brad Miller

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*What is the state of HD recording? Has Jack Valenti's gang royally fucked things up for everyone yet, or can I actually record an HD broadcast? I also have a D-VHS deck (JVC 30000)

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If they haven't then they will continue to work till they do so.

In the UK, the TiVo is now only marketed as the Sky Plus satellite receiver, basically a twin tuner satellite box with integrated PVR. They have announced that HDTV playback will require a telly or projector that has a HDMI or DVI with HDCP interface. This basically extends digital rights management down to the telly, so you supposedly cant record the digital stream.

Somehat humorously, the Sky plasma telly doesnt have a compatible interface, so to use the Sky HDTV service you need to buy a non-Sky telly :-)

TiVo is a fabulous thing. You cant explain them to people, but once you have one it truly revoutionises yoiur TV viewing. Here in NZ there is no TiVo; that would be really bad except the telly is so crap it turns out that no TiVo isnt so bad after all.

The TiVo program guide is marketed as optional. It isnt. Without the PG TiVo is almost useless.
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 02-15-2005, 09:37 PM:
 
I have some answers, but not all. I have a first-generation TiVo, have had the same unit since TiVo was introduced. TiVo rocks.

*If I "record" a show on the PVR, will it be recorded using the same compression that DirecTV is encoding in, or will it have to re-encode thus losing quality?

My understanding is HD-Tivo with DirecTV-HD can record the DirecTV HD signal without mucking with it at all. I'm not sure what it does with OTA (over-the-air) local HD broadcasts. In regular analog TiVo you can select Best-Medium-Low picture quality on a per-recorded-show basis.

*Is there a model PVR out there that if I say "record this show" will AUTOMATICALLY fire it up a minute or two early and record for a minute or two later? Or do I have to TELL it to do that every time?

If you create a "Season Pass" for a show (say, "Record every new (non-repeat) episode of this show"), you can tell TiVo to always start/end the recording of that show a little early/late. I don't think there's a global setting for that though, unless it's a feature on newer models. My TiVo didn't have the +/- feature when it was new -- It was added in a later software upgrade (which happens automagically). Of course you can always do that with a one-off recording too.

*Can I drop a 120 or 200 gig drive in one of those things, or is there more to extending the capture time?

You could with the old TiVos like mine, although I'm not sure if there was an upper limit in drive size. There's tons of how-to info out there.

*Can the PVRs change the channel on the satellite receiver?
My TiVo could change the channels on my Sony sat receiver. But you should probably confirm the specific sat rcvr. There might be some really dumb ones that don't have the required interface.

*Does anyone know what the codec being used by DirecTV and Dish actually is?

Nope.

*What is the state of HD recording? Has Jack Valenti's gang royally fucked things up for everyone yet, or can I actually record an HD broadcast? I also have a D-VHS deck (JVC 30000)

From what I've read, there is little or no copy-management going on right now. But isn't it just a matter of the content distributors toggling a bit in the data stream and wham, it's copy protected. Bastards! I also read an article that said Hollywood doesn't want to distribute anything in true HD over the air or via cable. They're prepared to start cheating on the resolution as soon as they think they're losing money or whatever goes on in their twisted logic.

Hope that helps at least some.

EDIT: Comcast (my cable provider) swears they don't compress the HD broadcasts at all. I can't tell any difference in video quality between what Comcast delivers and what I get from an antenna. This past weekend, FOX broadcast some NASCAR race in HD and I was surprised that I couldn't see any noticeable motion artifacts. That was from cable. Contrast that with the Olympics, where anything that moved turned into a mosaic -- It was truly awful to look at. So a LOT seems to depend on what the original broadcaster is doing. It's not just the downstream carriers that can mess things up, or cheat.
 

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Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 02-15-2005, 10:54 PM:
 
http://www.weaknees.com/

You can get stuff from them to upgrade with. I replaced the 40gb that mine came with with a 120gb without buying enything but the drive. However, if you want to use multiple drives you will need a kit. Also, if you buy the drives from the above link, they are basically just a plug and play type thing, so you would not have to go through the trouble of reformatting the drive.

I dont know much about compression or anything like that but I know some models have options for the quality of the recording. Low, Medium, High I guess. Obviously the lower the quality the less space it takes. On my Mom's Tivo, even the high quality does not look as good as a normal on air show. My tivo, however, does not have any options for this and the recordings look just like a regular show.

An HD tivo is going to run over $1k. I thought that I saw one at frys for around $600 but I must have been mistaken because I cannot find it anywhere online.
 

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Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 02-16-2005, 12:24 AM:
 
DirecTV is about to switch everything over to MPEG4 AVC as part of a big expansion plan. Presently their HD uplinks are SCPC (Single Channel Per Carrier) but by switching to MPEG4 they will be able to put four HD uplinks on a single transponder. Starting this year, and completing by 2007, DirecTV will be adding four new Boeing satellites to their constellation to handle the HD expansion. They are going to offer local HD channels in the 12 largest US markets, similar to what they've been doing on their SD service.

To use the new MPEG4 service, customers will need to buy new receivers capable of handling MPEG4.

PC Magazine: DirecTV's Future is MPEG4
 

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Posted by Don Cross (Member # 2980) on 02-22-2005, 11:33 PM:
 
Ive seen a Lacie non-mirrored RAID one terabyte drive connected to a tivo; although I personally view this as massive overkill.

I really can't figure out why tivo is so popular. Why not use something such as XP media center and record to a hard drive that way?
 

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Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 02-23-2005, 06:56 AM:
 
I'll tell you why Tivo is so popular....it is VERY EASY and works just as claimed.

I can't remember the last time I opened a box...merely followed the 1, 2, 3 of the instructions (and that is about all the basic instructions there are) and done...everything set everything working.

What you are paying for with Tivo really is the customer service. Their box works as claimed. Just choose what you want to see and let Tivo do the rest.

Despite being nothing more than a VCR for non-keeper tapes with a TV Guide built in, it satisfies a need in today's society. Again, it just works.

Steve
 

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Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 02-23-2005, 01:34 PM:
 
But of course, there's nothing left on TV that you'd actually want to WATCH with it...
 

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Posted by Don Cross (Member # 2980) on 02-23-2005, 02:36 PM:
 
Steve's correct, as its basically plug and play.

Jesse is also correct; in that broadcast television is about half infomercials now. The other half of broadcast television mostly being sports, talk-show, reality based, etc...

Can't wait to see what broadcast television turns into when the broadcasters end their "regular" format signals- to be completely coverted over to hdtv. Wonder how many years that is away??

[ 02-25-2005, 12:15 AM: Message edited by: Don Cross ]
 

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Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 02-24-2005, 01:27 PM:
 
I bought a 40gig TiVo from work and I'm currently upgrading it. There is an AWESOME book you can buy, and it really explains everything (yes, you can hack the shit out of a series 2 as well) call "Hacking the TiVo: 2nd Edition".

In a month or so I'll post my step by step instructions on how to do it...also if anyone buys a TiVo and they want to put my e-mail addy as someone who referred them...I'd be ever grateful
 

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Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 02-25-2005, 01:20 PM:
 
I just bought a Panasonic DMR-E95H. It came DOA with a bad (160 gig) H-drive. It got fixed by the local Panasonic repair place which took about 2 weeks.
If you use satellite TV you may wish to get a dedicated recorder from your respective satellite provider, here's why.

My Satellite tuner has one S-video out. My plasma screen has 1 S-video in. I used to hook it up from the output of the satellite box directly to the plasma screen. When I got the DVR I hooked it up between the satellite box and the plasma screen. The problem is that when the DVR is off it does not pass the S-video signal through, so you have to turn the DVR on for it to work. Why they did not allow for it to pass the signal through is beyond me, but they didn't.

My best solution at this point is to get a S-video "Y" cable and take the signal out of the satellite box and run one leg to the DVR "in" and the other leg to an S-video switch box and an S-video cable from the "output" of the DVR to the switch box. Then an S-video cable from the switch box to the plasma screen. So I'll be able to get signal from either the satellite box or the DVR. If I want to watch the satellite and record at the same time, I'll still have signal going to the DVR via the "Y" cable. My only concern is that there will be some insertion loss from the "Y" cable. I might have to get a amplified splitter instead of the "Y" cable if this is the case.
The point being that no doubt a DVR built into the satellite box would have the ability to pass the signal through without having to have the DVR part running. If I had it to do over I'd go for the satellite/DVR combo unit.
The upside is that I can burn DVDs with the Panasonic unit and I don't know if you can do that with the combo unit
 

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Posted by Chase Taylor (Member # 778) on 02-25-2005, 02:51 PM:
 
In November I bought a DISH 921 receiver, that is Dish Network HD PVR. The reason I bought it is because they finally dropped the price to $549 from $1000. I've really enjoyed it. I've never seen any quality problems with HD recording whether over the air or off of the satellite, I recommend it to anyone. The only problem is that Dish Network is lagging behind in HD programing. The only channels that Dish has is ESPNHD, HD-Net, HD-Net Movies, Discovery HD, TNT HD, and with a subsciption HBO East HD and Showtime East HD. The 921 was going to have fire-wire outputs to dump any recordings HD or not onto a D-VHS but have since dropped the fire-wire all together. Hope this helps.

Chase Taylor
 

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Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 02-25-2005, 03:29 PM:
 
One reason I didn't go with the Dish Network 921 is that I didn't want to be handcuffed to Dish Network. I actually tried 3 times to buy the 921, but couldn't get them to answer my inquires.

Once I get this system working right, I can go to Direct TV and not lose my DVR/DVD burner capabilities or have to buy a Direct TV dedicated DVR.

I switched from Direct TV a few years back and might go back, given the HD programming (with new satellites) they say they are going to be moving to, in the next year or two.
 

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Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 02-25-2005, 05:19 PM:
 
Greg, it's not insertion loss you'll be dealing with so much as an impedance mismatch when you split a 75 ohm baseband video output to two 75 ohm loads. At baseband you'd be better off going with a video distribution amp that has S-video connectors. Radio Shack sells some cheap ones but after having seen their (lack of) quality (rented some for a projection job) I wouldn't recommend them. Perhaps Mr. Guttag will be along with a recommendation for a decent and reasonably priced S-video DA.
 

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Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 02-25-2005, 05:36 PM:
 
Thanks Paul
I talked to a local manufacturer of a DA and he said the same thing.
Learn something everyday
It's hard to know what's important in a DA. Some of them are adjustable, some powered others not. I suspect the unpowered ones are just switches. I have a Radio Shack "switch", and the DA guy said it wasn't so bad as each of the outputs are terminated when not in use so there's no impedance mismatch. Does that sound right?
 

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Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 02-25-2005, 06:02 PM:
 
Greg,

Proper cable loading and impedance matching is key. There is no good way to do a passive distribution system with video. The signal degrades even as it runs along the wire (shorter wires are always better)...when using a passive "splitter" they will try to match impedances to have the sources "see" the 75-Ohm load but it is very dependent....like is the box you turn off no longer a 75-Ohm load? If not...there goes your impedance matching.

A DA is indeed the best solution to split a signal into 2 or more copies. The cheapest Extron S-Video DA is a 1-in, 3-out and lists for $190.00 your price will vary (and be lower) but it will be over $100 smackers. Extron 1x3 S DA

Kramer generally makes good stuff for the money. They make many little boxes that do nifty things.

In the case of S-Video...there is the PT-102S by Kramer that is a 1X2 DA...it goes for a little under $100.00.

Kramer 1x2 S DA

The switcher part of your scheme isn't as critical so long as it is well made. Passive should work though every connector the signal goes through (including the switch) will have a measurable affect on the signal...odds are you won't notice it with NTSC video.
 

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Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 02-25-2005, 06:04 PM:
 
Oops, Steve said it better while I was editing this.
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-25-2005, 06:16 PM:
 
Looks like I'm still in the same boat from about a year ago when I last started researching this.

I am looking for an HD solution (Dish or DirecTV, I don't care) with an HD DVR that has some way to archive on D-VHS tape after the DVR captures it. Right now I can archive all I want in standard definition to any video format, but not in HD thanks to my favorite person's ranting, right?
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 02-25-2005, 06:34 PM:
 
And as I'm sure you've read, they are gonna start a certain flag in a few months that supposedly won't let you record any HD content ever. Or at least that's the way it seems. Current or older equipment supposedly ignores this flag.

God I hate the entertainment industry. Having recording on SD didn't kill them. Why in the world do they think having recordings on HD will kill them? It just doesn't make any sense. This stubborness just MAKES me want to pirate stuff.
 

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Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 02-25-2005, 06:37 PM:
 
The Panasonic claims to do HD recording. This is where I got mine
http://www.beachcamera.com/shop/Product.asp?ProdTypeList=&Sku=PNDMRE95HS
It also takes firewire in as well as dig camera cards. And will burn all that stuff to DVD

Thanks Steve, I'll have to start reading. The "Y" connector I bought was only $10 so I guess I'll just order a DA. Of those you listed do you have a favorite?
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-25-2005, 07:28 PM:
 
Something is wrong with that Panasonic model Generally you get 1 hour of recording per gig. The Panasonic has a 160gig hard drive, yet claims 300 hours! Your recordings are being recompressed and as such it is losing quality.

EDIT - Ok I found out that apparently the 300 hours is in "EP" mode, so hopefully it has a setting which doesn't recompress the original stream.

Also, whether it can record HD or not (I couldn't find any info on that), burning to DVD kills it. I need a firewire to D-VHS solution.
 

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Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 02-26-2005, 06:51 AM:
 
Brad, if you have HD Cable access....Motorola has a line of set-top boxes with HD DVR in them. They output over DVI and HD-Component lines

http://broadband.motorola.com/dvr/dct6208.asp

There is even a dual tuner version the dct6212 (for recording one thing while watching something else).

Steve
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 02-26-2005, 06:57 AM:
 
But that does not allow for archiving.
 

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Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 02-26-2005, 09:17 AM:
 
You will still need an HD recorder...Brad was talking about outputting to a D-VHS...this thing will output both DVI and analog Component (analog is not a bad word)

As to the DAs...I haven't used enough of different varieties to have a "favorite" yet. Extron tends to have top notch customer support so favor them on the products they offer. Their DAs are as good or better than any. I believe the Kramer product has adjustable gains on Y and C....which is nice, if you have test generator and a scope or waveform monitor to properly calibrate it.

Steve
 

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Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 02-26-2005, 10:07 AM:
 
Thanks for the helps Steve, I just bought the Kramer unit
http://www.ritzav.com/Online_Store/KRAMER%20STUFF/kramer%20Tools.htm
 

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Posted by Chase Taylor (Member # 778) on 02-26-2005, 12:25 PM:
 
As far as I'm aware of there is no way to record HDTV from a dvr to a D-VHS deck. You can however find a HDTV Tuner that has a fire-wire output on it (sorry don't have any model numbers but if I remember right it was a samsung).

Chase Taylor
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 02-26-2005, 06:02 PM:
 
Steve, D-VHS can only record HDTV from its firewire input, thus rendering the entire D-VHS format obsolete.
 

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Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 02-27-2005, 11:26 AM:
 
Shows what I know about D-VHS. How dumb. Well, I guess you will just have to get a Panasonic D-5 or perhaps a Sony HDCAM...(of course you will need to convert the signal to HDSDI).

Nice news Greg...enjoy.
 

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Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 03-06-2005, 01:34 PM:
 
Got and installed the Kramer unit and it works just fine. It's very small, smaller than the power supply that comes with it. It has one in and two outs and is sort of like an active "Y" cable. It has adjustments for the outputs, to bring up levels should you need to. I didn't monkey with it. I did adjust the plasma display to get the best results, bringing up the "Sharpness" and "Picture" until I started to see what looked like little black pin holes in some scenes and then backing off a notch. Now I don't have to turn on the DVR to watch TV, but it is still "in line"
 

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