Hauppauge HD-PVR

I've got the HD-PVR. I initially had in running on a Windows box running SageTV. The SageTV software was unreliable at best and my machine bluescreened frequently. So I once Elgato came out with HD-PVR support in EyeTV, I switched. EyeTV works quite well for recording and outputting to my TV. However, EyeTV doesn't have any support for the IR Blaster so you can't change channels on your cable box through EyeTV. You can buy a separate IR Blaster-like setup like ZephIR but I haven't done that. EyeTV takes care of all the (basic) video format issue. It records it to a native .eyetv format and lets you export to a variety of other formats.

Here's how I would use EyeTV to record a show:
1. Set my cable box to record a show
2. Set EyeTV to record the same show.
3. Edit commercials out of the the recorded show
4. Export to AppleTV (or iPod)
5. Enjoy

It's not perfect but it works.

The HD-PVR works great but only encodes in native h.264 and AAC stereo.

From their website :

The HD PVR supports AC-3 (5.1) or 2 channel AAC audio capture. AAC 2 channel is received using RCA audio inputs, or SPDIF when set to PCM. If using SPDIF with bit stream audio, you will get 5.1 AC-3 Dolby Digital. DTS audio is currently not supported.

If you go with mpeg the video and audio will be separate files. An mpeg video and the AC-3 Dolby Digital. However this format will only be usable in a program like Final Cut.

I'm using the Hauppage HD-PVR with a nice HDPVRCapture program for the Mac available here.

All the hard encoding work is done in the PVR box, so you can run the capture program on almost any hardware. A Mac Mini would be ideal. By default, HDPVRCapture generates a ".m2ts" file which contains the h.264 video and the AAC or AC-3 audio. It will also convert to an MP4 container which allows the files to be played in iTunes. However, I have not had any luck getting these files to play on the AppleTV. I just play the .m2ts files on my Mac with VLC, or on my TV using a WDTV box. If you connected a Mac Mini directly to your home theatre system, that would be a great way to play the files.

I haven't used the feature myself, but I believe that HDPVRCapture facilitates scheduled recordings and can use the HD-PVR's IR blaster to tune your cable box to the right channel when the recording starts.

I am also using the HD-PVR with the HDPVRCapture software. There is a long-running thread about this software here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1081590

To reiterate the point that you can use practically any mac, I am using a 5-year-old G4 iBook and it works great. I have my Dish Network DVR connected to the Hauppauge via component and RCA audio cables, then USB to the iBook. I use it solely for archiving programs that I have recorded to the Dish DVR. I have not tried setting any timers to record, but I believe that for my set-up it would require setting the Dish to auto-tune and scheduling the Hauppauge separately using iCal via HDPVRCapture.

As far as transcoding files to an AppleTV format, I have only done this for testing purposes. The native M2TS files play beautifully on the PS3 so that's what I do. In testing for the AppleTV though, I found that you get the best results if you go with the "AppleTV" setting of 960x540/30fps. The Hauppauge records from the Dish DVR at 1280x720/60fps, but if you convert that to the 24fps that the AppleTV can handle at 720p, some motion gets a little jerky.

Exidor - When you tested the path to the AppleTV, how did you do the frame rate conversion? Did you read the 720p/60 .m2ts file into HandBrake, select the AppleTV preset then change the frame rate to 29.97 (NTSC Video) in the Video tab? Or did you first let HDPVRCapture repackage the video into an MP4 container before loading it into HB? I haven't had much luck getting HandBrake to process these files.

Thanks,

kc

To MapleLeaf Mag:

Actually, no. My goal at the time was to get my HD stuff into a stock AppleTV and add descriptions, movie posters etc. I tested converting to 720p/24fps and 540p/30fps - the two "HD" formats the stock AppleTV will play. I finally decided that it would take too much time to convert all that with my equipment, though.

To KevinC867:

It was so long ago, I really can't remember for sure, but I think you're right: I probably let HDPVRCapture repackage as an mp4 then did the conversion. I believe I tested HandBrake, QuickTime and MPEGStreamclip, then tortured my poor girlfriend by making her tell me which one looked best out of about a dozen variations. Since I gave up on the whole thing I don't remember which one won in the end but I do remember the 540p playing more smoothly. Just for the heck of it, I tested a 30 second M2TS clip tonight straight into HandBrake and it converted fine using the AppleTV preset and changing the frame rate. Seemed to add some luma, though. Oh, and for some reason, QuickTime crashes on my G5 when I try to play it.

Does anyone use the program Hauppauge made for this? HDPVRCapture ? Also, will this record stuff that is saved on your dvr?

HE15MAN said:

Does anyone use the program Hauppauge made for this? HDPVRCapture ? Also, will this record stuff that is saved on your dvr?

Click to expand...

See my first post above. I'm using HDPVRCapture. Hauppage officially supports EyeTV on the Mac, but HDPVRCapture is a nice program done as a side project by a Hauppage engineer.

This package is great for recording HD programs from your DVR. Just connect the component video outputs from the DVR to the HDPVR, play the program and capture it on your Mac with HDPVRCapture.

KevinC867 said:

See my first post above. I'm using HDPVRCapture. Hauppage officially supports EyeTV on the Mac, but HDPVRCapture is a nice program done as a side project by a Hauppage engineer.

This package is great for recording HD programs from your DVR. Just connect the component video outputs from the DVR to the HDPVR, play the program and capture it on your Mac with HDPVRCapture.

Click to expand...

Do you have to pay for EyeTV and HDPVRCapture? What can EyeTV do that HDPVR cannot ?

HE15MAN said:

Do you have to pay for EyeTV and HDPVRCapture?

Click to expand...

Yes. HDPVRCapture costs $30 and I think EyeTV goes for $80.

HE15MAN said:

What can EyeTV do that HDPVR cannot ?

Click to expand...

I haven't used EyeTV, so I can't say for sure. EyeTV may have more format conversion built-in. They can both set up scheduled recordings. HDPVRCapture uses TitanTV for the program schedules. I think EyeTV uses a service from TVGuide. The TitanTV service is free. I think you need to pay for the TVGuide service, but it may be more reliable.

I don't use the scheduled recording feature. I just use HDPVRCapture to record things I start manually on my DVR or BluRay player. I play the ".m2ts" files it produces on my Mac with VLC or on my TV with a WDTV box. You can also use iTunes as the player if you have HDPVRCapture convert the file into an MP4 container.

KevinC867 said:

Yes. HDPVRCapture costs $30 and I think EyeTV goes for $80.



I haven't used EyeTV, so I can't say for sure. EyeTV may have more format conversion built-in. They can both set up scheduled recordings. HDPVRCapture uses TitanTV for the program schedules. I think EyeTV uses a service from TVGuide. The TitanTV service is free. I think you need to pay for the TVGuide service, but it may be more reliable.

I don't use the scheduled recording feature. I just use HDPVRCapture to record things I start manually on my DVR or BluRay player. I play the ".m2ts" files it produces on my Mac with VLC or on my TV with a WDTV box. You can also use iTunes as the player if you have HDPVRCapture convert the file into an MP4 container.

Click to expand...

Thanks for all the help!

So can I play a Blu Ray movie through my PS3 and it record onto my iMac using the HD PVR? If so I am 100% sold!

Also, I keep reading a lot of different stuff about the audio side of this and am by no means an audio expert. Can it do 5.1 surround or no ?

Also, what is the most universal filetype to keep all the videos for my Mac Mini HTPC in if I want to play them through Plex?

Thanks again!

Is there a way to set this up so it does not have to be on unless it is recording to the mac mini?

for those with the hauppage hd-pvr and eyetv combo, what are you using to edit HD programming? can you use eye tv to edit HD programming?

HE15MAN said:

Thanks for all the help!

So can I play a Blu Ray movie through my PS3 and it record onto my iMac using the HD PVR? If so I am 100% sold!

Also, I keep reading a lot of different stuff about the audio side of this and am by no means an audio expert. Can it do 5.1 surround or no ?

Also, what is the most universal filetype to keep all the videos for my Mac Mini HTPC in if I want to play them through Plex?

Thanks again!

Click to expand...

I haven't tried it with a PS3, but if it has Component outputs it should work.

5.1 AC3 (Dolby Digital) audio works fine for me with the fiber-optic connection. I don't think it will capture DTS audio. In that case, you would need to use the analog RCA outputs from the player.

For your application, I would just leave the files in the ".m2ts" format. I believe Plex can play these just fine.

HE15MAN said:

Is there a way to set this up so it does not have to be on unless it is recording to the mac mini?

Click to expand...

It sounds like you are doing manual recordings, so you can just hit the power button when you're done. If you are doing scheduled recordings of programs, then you would need to leave it on.

help

I just purchased the HD PVR from Hauppauge and will use HDPVR Capture for my software.

Kev, I'm curious, does the software allow you to adjust the FPS rate? I've watched many captures for sports and it seems that 60fps works much better than 30fps. I'd like to be able to capture in 60fps. Is that what is native to 1080?