Freesat question - PC

Biro

Someone may know - is it possible to get a DVB-S card for a PC that's Freesat compliant, for want of a better phrase?

Rippy

Not yet, but maybe one day with reverse engineering of the EPG.

syboit

well, any dvb-s/s2 card should pick up the channels including itvhd (though havent tried yet) , but as rippy said no epg though..

Biro

Ah right, it's the EPG I was kind of looking for.
Thanks for the replies!

mossym

syboit wrote: »

well, any dvb-s/s2 card should pick up the channels including itvhd (though havent tried yet) , but as rippy said no epg though..

i've tried it, it works

mossym

Biro wrote: »

Ah right, it's the EPG I was kind of looking for.
Thanks for the replies!

easy enough to get an epg for nearly all the channels on freesat for a pc, check out xmltv

GerardKeating

mossym wrote: »

easy enough to get an epg for nearly all the channels on freesat for a pc, check out xmltv

Or Windows Media Centre...

watty

I use Digiguide
http://www.gipsymedia.com/

worth the extra money.


It will be a little while longer before there is integrated PC Freesat EPG.

syboit

mossym wrote: »

easy enough to get an epg for nearly all the channels on freesat for a pc, check out xmltv

cool, must have a look at this, I use mediaportal and would be nice to have some epg

mossym

that's exactly how i'm using it. use xmltv to download the epg for the channels i get, then mediaportal automatically imports it and populates its epg

mossym

watty wrote: »

I use Digiguide
http://www.gipsymedia.com/

worth the extra money.


It will be a little while longer before there is integrated PC Freesat EPG.

looks like a standalone app, does it give you a epg file that can be imported into something else?

syboit

mossym wrote: »

that's exactly how i'm using it. use xmltv to download the epg for the channels i get, then mediaportal automatically imports it and populates its epg

yeah, looks the biz, had a quick go off it last night. thanks for that...

mossym

no bother. what you should do is set up a schedueled task to run once a weeka and download the updates for you, that way mediaportal will always be showing a complete epg.

I got all the FTA stuff, inclusing HD channels, on a Technisat SkyStar 2 PCI card. Had to manually edit the PIDs for ITV HD but once I did it came in clear as day with only 8% CPU usage as the graphics card (NVIDIA 8800GT) did all the hard work.

There were a couple of drawbacks though, no official EPG as of yet (though this would be the case with any non-freesat device) and an annoying bug which required me to keep restarting the application if I "flicked" through too many channels. Also the infamous overheating problem with 2.3 Skystar cards had me concerned so I kept a fan blowing at the thing.

Myxomatosis

Karsini wrote: »

I got all the FTA stuff, inclusing HD channels, on a Technisat SkyStar 2 PCI card. Had to manually edit the PIDs for ITV HD but once I did it came in clear as day with only 8% CPU usage as the graphics card (NVIDIA 8800GT) did all the hard work.

What software are you using? Is your card officially DVB-s2?

I have a technotrend budget dvb-s card and downloaded the trial version of ProgDVB pro along with the trial h246 codec it requires to view HD streams but BBC HD was very choppy and sluggish.

The technotrend software is pretty good and stable for viewing and recording but it doesn't seem to be able to decode mpeg4/AVC.

mossym

coreavc is the only job for h264 decoding...

mathias

I saw this yesterday and ordered it , just going to have a mess with it and see how far I get , has anybody else got one ? And if so does anyone know if I bought the CIM module would it work with a Sky card ?

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=342676

Im mainly looking into this to see if I can record off BBCHD and the like. Anything else is a bonus.

RuggieBear

mathias wrote: »

I saw this yesterday and ordered it , just going to have a mess with it and see how far I get , has anybody else got one ? And if so does anyone know if I bought the CIM module would it work with a Sky card ?

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=342676

Im mainly looking into this to see if I can record off BBCHD and the like. Anything else is a bonus.

will you keep us informed on how it goes? I'm looking at that card or the nova s2 thingie from Hauppauge

pH

mossym wrote: »

coreavc is the only job for h264 decoding...

Coreavc 1.7 is good, it's fine for me on a dual core AMD for BBC but ITV HD is a little jerky.

Apparently the new ATI cards which start with HD **** have a full bitstream h264 decoder on them and PCs can show full 1080 HD on 15% CPU usage. However the whole area seems to be a nightmare still, you still need a codec (apparently there's a new one in development with MPC-Home Cinema) and there's the cyberlink code which comes with PowerDVD,

It all gets confusing with renderers, Vista (and the new EVR/DXVA 2.0) and getting the codecs working. Add to that a mess of applications (Media Center, MediaPoral, DVBViewer, GBPVR, ProgDVB etc) all doing things a little differently, I'm thinking of going MythTV!

Has anyone got one of the new ATI HD???? cards working with any of these applications for watching UK Freesat HD broadcasts (BBC + ITV at the moment) ... which viewer apps are working, what cards are you using, what CPU usage are you seeing for 1080i playback?

mathias

will you keep us informed on how it goes?

I will , I should have the card tomorrow.

Zaphod

mathias wrote: »

And if so does anyone know if I bought the CIM module would it work with a Sky card ?

It should but you would also need to buy a Dragon/T-Rex CAM. Depending on the software you use, there is the cheaper Phoenix Smartmouse approach.

Myxomatosis

Myxomatosis wrote: »

What software are you using? Is your card officially DVB-s2?

I have a technotrend budget dvb-s card and downloaded the trial version of ProgDVB pro along with the trial h246 codec it requires to view HD streams but BBC HD was very choppy and sluggish.

The technotrend software is pretty good and stable for viewing and recording but it doesn't seem to be able to decode mpeg4/AVC.

I'm using DVBViewer with PowerDVD 7.3 for the H.264 codecs. The card isn't DVB-S2 but neither the BBC or ITV muxes are DVB-S2 anyway.

eddiem74

mossym wrote: »

that's exactly how i'm using it. use xmltv to download the epg for the channels i get, then mediaportal automatically imports it and populates its epg

So do you just get the freesat channels in MediaPortal, or do you also have your Sky channels also linked in ?

I would love via mediacenter or mediaportal to be able to link all channels in to one EPG, etc. on my HTPC.

mossym

i only have the freesat channels for now. it is possible to get the sky channels, but it is quite a bit of work , and you need a cam.

i have the svideo of my sky box going to my receiver as well as my htpc(sky+ box is in another room connected to tv with scart. so i have no pressing need to get sky on my htpc.

it is doable though

eddiem74

mossym wrote: »

i only have the freesat channels for now. it is possible to get the sky channels, but it is quite a bit of work , and you need a cam.

i have the svideo of my sky box going to my receiver as well as my htpc(sky+ box is in another room connected to tv with scart. so i have no pressing need to get sky on my htpc.

it is doable though

Ok, thanks for the clarification.

mathias

I have the card installed , its currently scanning for stations , its about 10 minutes in and it has found about 30 so far , I have it set to scan everything and it looks like its going to take an hour or more.

Driver installation was pretty painless under Vista , seems OK so far , obviously Im using the Terratec software first , I dont imagine it will be as straightforward to get it working under media center , I'll post when I get that far.

mossym

what software are you using? a full scan for me in mediaportal takes a lot less than that

mossym

pH wrote: »

Has anyone got one of the new ATI HD???? cards working with any of these applications for watching UK Freesat HD broadcasts (BBC + ITV at the moment) ... which viewer apps are working, what cards are you using, what CPU usage are you seeing for 1080i playback?

i have a 2600xt ultimate working with mediaportal and pick up bbchd (itvhd is in mediaportal). runs smooth as silk

Conar

Stumbled upon this thread while bored.
Anyway I saw this before when looking into the same thing and it may be useful to some people here:
http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/skymceintegration.html

mathias

OK , I have the card installed , the Terratec driver and home cinema software installed without a hitch

The first scan was taking a long time then I realised I hadnt filtered it properly , so set it to the Eurobird Astra combination and scanned , it took about 30 minutes and found about 202 stations.

The HD channels were nowhere to be seen , so using the home cinema software I did a manual scan for BBC HD using the info in the sticky here.
Got it and it plays back very nicely , if a little choppy , but I think that may be my video card at fault there.

Now for the problems , the Terratec software is not great at all , it will freeze more often than not every time you change a channel , theres no epg to speak off , just the next program. Sometimes on changing channels there is a wait of about 10-20 seconds for the channel to come on and when it does its like its on fast forward for about 5 secs , it settles down then and is watchable.

Channel 4 HD I found , again with the info on here , its on the channel list but when selected it shows nothing but a black screen.

ITV HD cannot be found anywhere , Ive tried the info on here , but nothing , it does not show up on the listed frequency , all that comes up there is Brit shorts.

So , anyone recommend any alternative software , and where oh where is ITV HD ?

Im running a core2 duo with 2GB and the video card is an nvidia 8500 by the way. Just in case anyone is wondering.

pH

Channel 4 HD I found , again with the info on here , its on the channel list but when selected it shows nothing but a black screen.

ITV HD cannot be found anywhere , Ive tried the info on here , but nothing , it does not show up on the listed frequency , all that comes up there is Brit shorts.

So , anyone recommend any alternative software , and where oh where is ITV HD ?

Other options for PC sat control software are DVBViewer, ProgDVB, MediaPortal, GB-PVR. None as far as I know can grab the freesat EPG yet (MythTV can) but they all allow you to import xmltv.

ITV-HD is tricky, it's unencrypted but some part of the stream is non standard and some players don't like it. DBBViewer which I use gets it no problem.

C4 HD is still encrypted and only available on Sky.

RuggieBear

this thread might be able to help for itv HD.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=788062

Could it be that as it is similcast/interactive with ITV 1 there needs to a HD show on ITV 1 before the HD channel kicks in

mossym

if the hd channels are your main concern, dvbviewer is your only bet. only thing i have got working with itvhd. bbchd works inside mediaportal, but not itvhd, and it has o be manually added, even to dvbviewer..

you can screw around with other software and try to get itvhd working, or just get dvbviewer and get it working straight away

mathias

I just got hold of DVBviewer , I'll give it a go in the morning , it doesnt have my card listed in the support section though , heres hoping it works anyway.

Thanks for the heads up on ITV HD and Channel 4 HD lads , I thought I was doing something wrong there for a couple of hours.

I recorded about an hour of content off BBC HD with the terratec software earlier on , it plays back smooth as butter using Powerdvd , so I guess the slightly choppy/juddery video from earlier on was down to the Terratec software as well.

mathias

mathias wrote: »

I just got hold of DVBviewer , I'll give it a go in the morning , it doesnt have my card listed in the support section though , heres hoping it works anyway.

Thanks for the heads up on ITV HD and Channel 4 HD lads , I thought I was doing something wrong there for a couple of hours.

I recorded about an hour of content off BBC HD with the terratec software earlier on , it plays back smooth as butter using Powerdvd , so I guess the slightly choppy/juddery video from earlier on was down to the Terratec software as well.

I was using the TerraTec software with a DVB-T card for the trials. I did notice some performance issues with the HD channel but disabling DxVA (video acceleration) solved the problem (while substantially increasing CPU usage). It wouldn't pick up the video for Oireachtas TV in XP, only in Vista, which had me confused because the HD was fine under both.

Bottom line, it's a bit flaky alright.

mossym

mathias wrote: »

I just got hold of DVBviewer , I'll give it a go in the morning , it doesnt have my card listed in the support section though , heres hoping it works anyway.

Thanks for the heads up on ITV HD and Channel 4 HD lads , I thought I was doing something wrong there for a couple of hours.

I recorded about an hour of content off BBC HD with the terratec software earlier on , it plays back smooth as butter using Powerdvd , so I guess the slightly choppy/juddery video from earlier on was down to the Terratec software as well.

can't remember if my card was in the list or nto, but given how common the terratec cards are i'd be surprised if they weren't supported

RuggieBear

forgive me if this is an incredibly stupid question but with ITVHD being a "red button" freesat exclusive, does that mean that it won't be possible to tune ITVHD in on a HD FTA box or a dvb-s2 PC card?

I begining to confuse myself

mossym

RuggieBear wrote: »

forgive me if this is an incredibly stupid question but with ITVHD being a "red button" freesat exclusive, does that mean that it won't be possible to tune ITVHD in on a HD FTA box or a dvb-s2 PC card?

I begining to confuse myself

read post 33. easy to tune. whether or not they will always be programming on it or only when there is hd feed available is another question. i.e. if, when nothing is on that they have hd footage for will they just show upscaled SD.

either way no problem getting it working on a dvb-s2 card. will be enjoying the euros this weekend in HD

RuggieBear

mossym wrote: »

read post 33

oh i get that (i think:o)...i suppose what i'm getting at is are you only getting ITVHD as it is in testing but come saturday will that change once it becomes a redbutton only feature or is it still the exact same source

(This is all very new to me so i'm trying absorb as much as i can)

mossym

ah now i get what you mean. if i remember correctly, the CL final was available as a red button method on freesat( it was a hack to get it working, buti t was there) and it was still available on my dvb-s2 card. i see no reason for it to change. they ahve gone to the trouble to set it up this way so that sky users won't be able to get it.

99% it will still be the exact same source. if not they would have had to havebeen testing it somewhere else as a stream and someone would have found it.

soon as the first match starts tomorrow i'll confirm..:)

RuggieBear

that would be cool. ordered the hauppauge dvb-s2 card but it is still to be delivered so i'm dying to see if it will all work

mossym

same card as i have..it'll be fine..:)

mossym

good news, working just fine..:)

RuggieBear

\o/

syboit

watched both games yesterday ,1 on itvhd and the other on bbchd, quality is excellent. Even get 5.1 from bbchd.

Had to try different h.264 codec's though, ffdshow/coreavc wouldnt work for me, only when I set it to the powerdvd codec would all 3 HD channels come in ok.

mossym

syboit wrote: »

watched both games yesterday ,1 on itvhd and the other on bbchd, quality is excellent. Even get 5.1 from bbchd.

Had to try different h.264 codec's though, ffdshow/coreavc wouldnt work for me, only when I set it to the powerdvd codec would all 3 HD channels come in ok.

you sure it was 5.1? BBC HD set the 5.1 flag, but only broadcast stereo. that way your amp thinks it is getting 5.1, but is only getting 2 channels. maybe they fixed it for yesterday, but it's been a big prlem for a while


funny about the codecs. coreavc works best for me. ffdshow is not a true h264 codec anyway, so not surprised that didn't work

i have noticed that the screen shots many people are posting on various forums of bbchd are much better in quality terms than what i am getting. i might try powerdvd codec to see if it improves quality

then again i'm watching on a 108" screen so it might be that blowing it up that big show the defects in the bbchd stream. i find the itvhd stream much better

syboit

mossym wrote: »

you sure it was 5.1? BBC HD set the 5.1 flag, but only broadcast stereo. that way your amp thinks it is getting 5.1, but is only getting 2 channels. maybe they fixed it for yesterday, but it's been a big prlem for a while

funny about the codecs. coreavc works best for me. ffdshow is not a true h264 codec anyway, so not surprised that didn't work

i have noticed that the screen shots many people are posting on various forums of bbchd are much better in quality terms than what i am getting. i might try powerdvd codec to see if it improves quality

then again i'm watching on a 108" screen so it might be that blowing it up that big show the defects in the bbchd stream. i find the itvhd stream much better

Yeah, not sure never actually ran around the room to check if I was getting 5.1.

if I select ffdshow dvbviewer crashes when I turn on bbchd, coreavc works fine for bbchd, but on luxe/itv hd the video is scrambled. coreavc also works fine for .mkv h.264 stuff played through mediaportal/mediaplayer

I've my proj screen set at around 100", I thought of the 2 games yesterday the bbchd one was better. I suppose a lot is down to personal preference/setup.

Either way good times

Conar

syboit wrote: »

Yeah, not sure never actually ran around the room to check if I was getting 5.1.

if I select ffdshow dvbviewer crashes when I turn on bbchd, coreavc works fine for bbchd, but on luxe/itv hd the video is scrambled. coreavc also works fine for .mkv h.264 stuff played through mediaportal/mediaplayer

I've my proj screen set at around 100", I thought of the 2 games yesterday the bbchd one was better. I suppose a lot is down to personal preference/setup.

Either way good times

So where's the step by step guide with hardware required and software setup etc???

mossym

syboit wrote: »

if I select ffdshow dvbviewer crashes when I turn on bbchd, coreavc works fine for bbchd, but on luxe/itv hd the video is scrambled. coreavc also works fine for .mkv h.264 stuff played through mediaportal/mediaplayer

change the vrm options in dvbviewer, solved that for me...it's under settings somewhere, video overlay.

mossym

Conar wrote: »

So where's the step by step guide with hardware required and software setup etc???

in my head, and gleamed from a ton of different websites

syboit

Conar wrote: »

So where's the step by step guide with hardware required and software setup etc???

Well here's what I have.

hardware:

core2duo 2.65ghz, nvidia 8500GT, 2gb ram, hauppauge nova HD-s2 sat card.
connection from lnb on sat dish to pc. hdmi lead from pc to projector, and spdif connection from pc to av-receiver.

software:

WinXP-sp2, mediaportal (media center hub), ffdshow, coreavc h.264 codec, powerdvd 7, and dvbviewer for watching the channels.