DTT Trial (end) and PC Tuner Card

peneau

Hi everyone,

Hope I'm not posting this in the wrong section.

I've currently got a Hauppauge HVR-3000 (three tuner card) installed in my PC which picks up the DTT MPEG2 broadcasts from Three Rock, with the trial due to cease shortly and eventually replaced by MPEG 4 broadcasts, is that it for the DTT end of this card and do I need to start looking for a replacement is one exists?

Any help greatly appreicated.

watty

Different software only, probably. I'd guess if the card is less than 250 Eur that the MPEG2 is done in software.

smadger

Been wondering the same, but the folks over at Mediaportal seem positive ( see http://forum.team-mediaportal.com/general-talk-233/decode-h264-tv-signal-terrestrial-22680/ among others). People in Norway reporting success on their MPEG4, but not explicitly mentioning that card. But it is BDA and afaik passes the stream to CPU for decoding.

I've a HVR-3000 too, so will try it out on 4th Aug (I hope!). Fingers crossed.

peneau

Thanks for that Watty I paid around the €100 for the card hopefully I'll be able source some software to do the job when the time comes. Slightly off topic what will the situ be regarding new TV sets and integrated digital tuners presumably the current sets in stock only broadcast mpeg 2 ?

Thanks again.

peneau

smadger wrote: »

Been wondering the same, but the folks over at Mediaportal seem positive ( see http://forum.team-mediaportal.com/general-talk-233/decode-h264-tv-signal-terrestrial-22680/ among others). People in Norway reporting success on their MPEG4, but not explicitly mentioning that card. But it is BDA and afaik passes the stream to CPU for decoding.

I've a HVR-3000 too, so will try it out on 4th Aug (I hope!). Fingers crossed.

Thanks for that smadger, please keep me posted on how you go, suspect I may be looking to cog your notes if you mangage to get it to work.

bf1

I have a Hauppage Nova T stick and rang them today about it and they said if I got the cyberlink power cinema software it should work a treat

ffocused

I have a Hauppage HVR 4000 DVB-T/C/S/S2 card (which stated support for DVB-T2 when available) and an avermedia a16c DVB-T/Analogue/FM card which made no such statements, and both are picking up HD Ireland from Mt. Leinster using Powercinema or DVB Viewer, so the HVR 3000 should be ok once you have a suitable codec installed on your pc. I find CoreAVC more stable then the powercinema codec for MPEG4 transmissions.

watty

The T2 is nothing to do with it though.

Zaphod

Any DVB-T PCI card or USB stick will do once you have the right software, in particular an MPEG4/H264 compatible codec.
http://pie.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055128190&page=2

peneau

That's great news guys thanks to all for your very helpful replies I'm off to get me some software

bf1

It seems the latest GB-PVR software should be able to deal with the new standards..
Downloading it now and hopefully when the Dungarvan tests start it will work, heres hoping

I could pick up Oireachtas TV by using DVBViewer with PowerDVD 7's H.264 codecs. So you won't need to change the TV tuner card to get the MPEG-4 transmissions.

bf1

Right after doing some research (reading some NZ forums amongst others) ..

I have downloaded the ffdshow decoder for the H.264 Video and downloaded and installed the monogram AAC decoder for the sound (which seems to be the most suitable according to the posts from NZ)

That had to be done manually with a DOS command (which I have never done before..)

.. but hopefully this setup will work
Should I pick up some test broadcasts from Dungarvan and the setup works, I think I will post up a little pointer guide for others if it helps

ffocused

watty wrote: »

The T2 is nothing to do with it though.

I am sorry, it does not state dvb-t2, i assumed that since hd sat is called s2, hd terrestrial would follow suit.

Here is a quote from www.Hauppauge.co.uk on HVR-4000

Freeview DVB-T digital terrestrial TV & radio on your PC! Watch more than 50 Freeview digital terrestrial TV broadcasts and digital terrestrial radio on your PC, with a simple rooftop aerial*. WinTV-HVR-4000 will also support High Definition DVB-T channels (when available).

Ghost Train

I have the hvr-3000 and use altdvb software with coreavc or powerdvd codecs. No problem getting mpeg4 or HD transmissions

Can watch BBC HD and picks up the HD Ireland and Oireachtas TV/RTE mpeg4 channels

watty

S2 is unrelated to T2 or even t. Your card has a DVB-s2 tuner (does DVBs) and a DVB-t tuner.

DVB-t2 needs hardware upgrade. It was envisaged regular DVB-t for HD, by using MPEG4

We are unlikely to launch DVB-t2 for years. Maybe not until after analogue switch off.

bf1

I have done up a small guide for watching MPEG4 DTT with a tuner card and computer, hopefully it's okay, any pointers / constructive critisism is welcome


http://www.fileqube.com/shared/qWoyRU68144

Myxomatosis

bf1 wrote: »

I have done up a small guide for watching MPEG4 DTT with a tuner card and computer, hopefully it's okay, any pointers / constructive critisism is welcome


http://www.fileqube.com/shared/qWoyRU68144

You should possibly suggest that there's a good chance the software which comes with any DVB-T card / stick may have the ability to display MPEG4 streams when the appropriate codec is installed before recommending third party viewing software.

Myxomatosis

Myxomatosis wrote: »

You should possibly suggest that there's a good chance the software which comes with any DVB-T card / stick may have the ability to display MPEG4 streams when the appropriate codec is installed before recommending third party viewing software.

True, though I know that the software that came with my DVB-T card only seems to work on MPEG-4 channel in Windows Vista, under XP I get a black screen even with the right codecs installed.

peneau

bf1 wrote: »

I have done up a small guide for watching MPEG4 DTT with a tuner card and computer, hopefully it's okay, any pointers / constructive critisism is welcome


http://www.fileqube.com/shared/qWoyRU68144

bf1 thanks for taking the time to do that, it's really helpful and easily followed will certainly assist me post July 31 in getting my Hauppauge HVR-3000 to (hopefully) display the mpeg 4 transmissions.

Thanks again.

12bore

Do you need a powerful computer to watch MPEG4 DTT with a USB or pci tuner?
I have a Sempron 3100 with a gig of ram.

I have a Skystar 2 pci satellite tuner card, just about manages the MPEG2 BBC HD channel. I don't get any of the Irish channels on satellite, so if I could get them with a cheap DTT tuner, it would be great. Have an analogue tuner, but the picture is pretty bad.

I get a little confused between MPEG4 and HD. Are all the MPEG4 DTT channels going to be Hd, requiring powerful processors? I'm only interested in getting RTE1, Net2, TG4 and TV3.

Myxomatosis

12bore wrote: »

Do you need a powerful computer to watch MPEG4 DTT with a USB or pci tuner?
I have a Sempron 3100 with a gig of ram.

I have a Skystar 2 pci satellite tuner card, just about manages the MPEG2 BBC HD channel. I don't get any of the Irish channels on satellite, so if I could get them with a cheap DTT tuner, it would be great. Have an analogue tuner, but the picture is pretty bad.

I get a little confused between MPEG4 and HD. Are all the MPEG4 DTT channels going to be Hd, requiring powerful processors? I'm only interested in getting RTE1, Net2, TG4 and TV3.

BBC HD is MPEG4. What codec are you using? Some are more efficient than others and may yield better performance.

The standard DTT channels will be standard definition MPEG4, so not overly power hunger, far less than a HD MPEG4 stream

12bore

You are right, it is MPEG4.
I think I was using CoreAVC when I tried it last (long time ago), just tried it now but not getting a picture. Will fiddle around later this evening.

Glad to hear that DTT MPEG4 is not too power hungry, I will order a DTT tuner this week. Live about 20 miles from Mt. Leinster, hopefully there will be some form of test transmissions going on.

Am I right in thinking that it is only HD that is really power hungry, and that there is not much difference processing wise between MPEG2 and MPEG4?

Thanks

Myxomatosis

Try PowerDVD codecs, I find them far better than CoreAVC.

There would be a difference in the amount of processing power required to decode MPEG2 v MPEG4 but your processor should handle SD MPEG4 comfortably.

If you have a decent graphics card, such as an ATI Radeon HD series or a GeForce 8 you can enable video acceleration which offloads the MPEG-4 processing to the graphics card. Works very well, only 8% CPU usage on my PC (Core 2 Duo E6420) compared to about 60% with video acceleration off.

bf1

@ Myxomatosis; Will do, that was an oversight on my part, apologies.
@ Karsini; That worries me.. having only XP.. and I will add that a Graphics card def. helps
@ peneau; no probs
@ 12bore; I put that in just so that not to get hopes up of people that laptops/PCs don't have a lot of processing power just in case they go and get something that won't work.. (I don't know how much will be actually be required)

Apparently the Hauggauge site here: http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/site/support/support_satellite.html has the power cinema codecs ect (I haven't tried them myself yet)
direct link to the download: http://www.wintvcd.co.uk/cd/PCM51-4222to4410.exe

bf1

bf1 wrote: »

@ Karsini; That worries me.. having only XP.. and I will add that a Graphics card def. helps

Well it may just be that particular software (TerraTec Home Cinema). The newest versions might even work in XP but I couldn't use them on the DTT trial because they removed the ability for the software to ignore the encrypted flag - therefore it reported the channel as scrambled and refused to show it. So I was stuck with version 4.12 which was the one that only showed MPEG-4 channels in Vista.

DVBViewer worked fine in XP though; but obviously its an extra expense.

Myxomatosis

I have TerraTec Home Cinema, latest beta version, and it has no problem viewing the "scrambled" feeds from Mt Leinster. The channel shows up with a dollor sign beside it and sometimes when you change to a channel the software complains for a second that the channel is encrypted and there is no CI preset but shows the stream regardless.

bf1

Karsini wrote: »

Well it may just be that particular software (TerraTec Home Cinema). The newest versions might even work in XP but I couldn't use them on the DTT trial because they removed the ability for the software to ignore the encrypted flag - therefore it reported the channel as scrambled and refused to show it. So I was stuck with version 4.12 which was the one that only showed MPEG-4 channels in Vista.

DVBViewer worked fine in XP though; but obviously its an extra expense.

Ah right, okay, it might just be that specific setup so. If I'm in Dublin after the MPEG4 broadcasts start I can see (or not) if the Hauppauge or GB-PVR software will let me watch and of course I will report back with my findings

peneau

ffocused wrote: »

I have a Hauppage HVR 4000 DVB-T/C/S/S2 card (which stated support for DVB-T2 when available) and an avermedia a16c DVB-T/Analogue/FM card which made no such statements, and both are picking up HD Ireland from Mt. Leinster using Powercinema or DVB Viewer, so the HVR 3000 should be ok once you have a suitable codec installed on your pc. I find CoreAVC more stable then the powercinema codec for MPEG4 transmissions.

ffocused, I installed PowerCinema ver5 last night it picked up Analogue, DVB-T (until switched off) and DVB-S channels, however the picture stutters and pixelates any comments on how to resolve this.

No problems with signal strength all above display fine in WinTV.

Any assistance greatly appreciated.


System Specs: P4 3.0, 2.5 Ram, ATI x1950pro, Hauppauge HVR-3000

bf1

The newer updated quick guide is here and as a new fangled pdf
http://www.fileqube.com/hl/DJlJI73410/DTT on Laptop or PC Quick Guide.pdf

peneau

Nice one, thanks again, bf

Myxomatosis

"Then go to the start button, go to help, search for MS DOS Command, then click on MS DOS Overview
There should be a link to open the Command Prompt window. Click that link."

Start > Run > "cmd" > Enter

bf1

Start > Run > "cmd" > Enter

Aha

Thanks, I will put that in at some stage

No probs peneau

Myxomatosis

Myxomatosis wrote: »

"Then go to the start button, go to help, search for MS DOS Command, then click on MS DOS Overview
There should be a link to open the Command Prompt window. Click that link."

Start > Run > "cmd" > Enter

Unfortunately the Run command isn't there by default in Vista, you can enter cmd into the search box but by default it spawns a command window with no admin rights. Can't remember for sure but I think you need to press Control+Enter to get the UAC prompt to appear.

EDIT: Just tried, it's Control+Shift+Enter to open an elevated command prompt.

ffocused

peneau wrote: »

ffocused, I installed PowerCinema ver5 last night it picked up Analogue, DVB-T (until switched off) and DVB-S channels, however the picture stutters and pixelates any comments on how to resolve this.

No problems with signal strength all above display fine in WinTV.

Any assistance greatly appreciated.


System Specs: P4 3.0, 2.5 Ram, ATI x1950pro, Hauppauge HVR-3000

Sorry for the delay in replying, i typed out a reply a few days ago and must have forgot so submit it:o
Did you install the powercinema codecs first?
Powercinema is a horrible program and has now been removed from my pc for good. You would be better spending a few euro on dvbviewer for a stable program that works. I am now using nero8 for dtt and dvbviewer for sat, and both work fine.

Myxomatosis

Karsini wrote: »

Unfortunately the Run command isn't there by default in Vista, you can enter cmd into the search box but by default it spawns a command window with no admin rights. Can't remember for sure but I think you need to press Control+Enter to get the UAC prompt to appear.

EDIT: Just tried, it's Control+Shift+Enter to open an elevated command prompt.

Ah yeah, but who in their right mind uses Vista lol

smadger

peneau wrote: »

Thanks for that smadger, please keep me posted on how you go, suspect I may be looking to cog your notes if you mangage to get it to work.

Just set it up. Coming in loud and clear on a HVR-3000 from Clermont Cairn following a rescan in Mediaportal. Had to install CoreAVC on the clients for them to view it, but all working fine so far.

peneau

ffocused wrote: »

Sorry for the delay in replying, i typed out a reply a few days ago and must have forgot so submit it:o
Did you install the powercinema codecs first?
Powercinema is a horrible program and has now been removed from my pc for good. You would be better spending a few euro on dvbviewer for a stable program that works. I am now using nero8 for dtt and dvbviewer for sat, and both work fine.

Thanks for that ff and for taking the time to reply. Downloaded dvbviewer pro
the other day haven't had a chance to install it yet, will have a go over the next day or two, any possible problem areas I should be aware of? Will avail of the benefit of your experience and remove Powecinema.

Thanks again.