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Old 25th January 2004, 18:16   #1  |  Link
Doom9
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volunteers wanted

As you might know, I now have a DVB setup. This week-end I started capturing some content for later conversion to DivX, SVCD and DVD.

Now, I only have one sat card and I don't exactly wish to buy a dozen to cover everything. Same goes for the applications.. I've tried about everything there is for my SkyStar2 card, but haven't got a lot working (I have a dual sat with twin-LNB which already complicates program setup and I have yet to figure out some of the technical details when having to set everything up manually).

So, I'll be able to handle recording with my application of choice and take it from there (correct errors, cut out commercials, convert to PS streams, etc.) but I could need a few people to handle the part before that. Specifically: list of cards with their pros and cons, useful softwares for those cards to watch and record TV, and an explanation of the basics perhaps.

Also, living in Europe it's not exactly like we have access to a lot of HDTV material (I have yet to determine if I'm able to receive the sole HDTV channel there is and I believe it is encrypted), so for the HDTV side I'd need a few people to do the same thing, and a guide on capture and processing as well.

So far this forum hasn't exactly been high traffic but I very much would like to change that, but I'm unable to do it all alone. Digital TV is certainly a very interesting subject and it fits into the global goals I have for my site. Any takers?
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Old 25th January 2004, 19:01   #2  |  Link
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If you have a DiSEqC compatible switch, you should make sure that you set the valid DiSEqC values for each satellite you receive. In the DVBViewer you can do this, simply by open the channellist, selecting the satellite and setting the proper value at the edit tabsheet.
HDTV material in europe is indeed quite rarely, but Euro1080 is just the beginning. On february the german paytv channel Premiere is broadcasting the superbowl probably free to air as HDTV event. I suppose the exact 1:1 feed of the americans - incl. commercials

If you want to know more about DVB in common and DVBViewer in special take a look at the english manual which can be found at http://www.dvbviewer.com/~oliver.

There you also find a couple of useful tools for converting the recorded material into DivX, DVD etc.

Cheers
Christian
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Old 26th January 2004, 08:30   #3  |  Link
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The DVB section (incl. the guides) in the German forum is excellent. I'd vote for a translation.

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Old 26th January 2004, 08:37   #4  |  Link
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@bb: I consider that a starting point but I want to go way beyond that. I'm already in touch with Lucike regarding what tools to be used (some of the information needs to be updated a bit) and such. But being German there's obviously nothing about HDTV.
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Old 26th January 2004, 09:50   #5  |  Link
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thats true, since the most informations inside the DVBViewer forum are pointing to you webpage - its logically that you are familiar with them
Converting HDTV should run similar like converting of ordinary tv transmissions. I tested to transform the new year concert broadcasted by Euro1080 into XVid, but the result was quite ugly. So i dropped the idea to convert HDTV so far. But i bet if you ask inside the Encoding part of the DVBViewer Forum you will get quite fast the help you need.

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Old 31st January 2004, 14:51   #6  |  Link
Karl Beem
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I'm certainly interested. However I'm in the USA (Atlanta). Is it possible to use one of these cards to capture DVB-s here? If so which cards and which satellite service?
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Old 31st January 2004, 16:27   #7  |  Link
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yes, it is possible to use the skystar2 also in the united states. Since the satellite technique should be the same... A couple of american providers are offering these cards for nearly the same price like in europe...

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Old 31st January 2004, 17:44   #8  |  Link
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Providers? You mean like Dish Network?
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Old 31st January 2004, 18:02   #9  |  Link
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no, sorry i suppose i used the wrong identifier.
I meant hardware sellers, like http://www.dvbwest.com/product_info....ad909fa1f1d5b.

Christian
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Old 1st February 2004, 14:36   #10  |  Link
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Ok, so how is the SkyStar2 connected? Does it connect directly to the antenna output, or to the output of a receiver?
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Old 1st February 2004, 15:02   #11  |  Link
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it's great you interested in DVB, for me DVB was always a lot more exciting than DVD, it's also how I came to DVD and where DVX originated.
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Old 1st February 2004, 15:36   #12  |  Link
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this depends on..
If you plan to receive more than one satellite you might think about some so called DiSEqC switch. Its an european "invention" and quite popular here, but i'm not sure if you are able to buy these exotic devices also in america
A dvb card does not need a special receiver, you only plug the LNB output cable directly into the card and the rest is done by software.

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Old 1st February 2004, 16:24   #13  |  Link
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Quote:
Originally posted by Hackbart
...I tested to transform the new year concert broadcasted by Euro1080 into XVid, but the result was quite ugly. So i dropped the idea to convert HDTV so far. But i bet if you ask inside the Encoding part of the DVBViewer Forum you will get quite fast the help you need.

Christian
I tried a similar experiment with an Euro1080 broadcast too.

I hate to say it but I only managed to obtain acceptable looking 1920x1088i encodes by using the WMV9 codec. With RV9 coming in a close second.

However another problem I found, is not so much to do with the encoding, but to do with the playback. Unless you have a speedy PC and good graphics card (with plenty of onboard memory) 1920x1080/1088i encodes are not very practical!

I've had more success with Mpeg4 when it's resized from 1920x1080i to 1280x720i/p. And rather good results can be achieved at bitrates of around 2500-3500kbps.

But like I said before, you still need a speedy PC and graphics card.

Cheers
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Old 1st February 2004, 17:51   #14  |  Link
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I have a complete end-to-end lab at work that does ATSC and DVB encoding, muxing, and modulating (databroadcast encapsulation too i.e. wmv video (or any other codecs) into mpeg sections) and then demodulation with professional IRDs, pc tuner cards, etc. So the long and short is that I can set this up for hardware and software encoding, statmuxing, and any DVB/ATSC/MPEG broadcast simulation of any kind. If there is anything specific anyone would like to see tested, let me know. One caveat, I will not deal with anything related to getting pay services for free.

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Old 1st February 2004, 18:17   #15  |  Link
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Hi Kon,

It sounds like we need a guy like you to help us out on this thread too: -

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.ph...0&pagenumber=1

Cheers
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Old 2nd February 2004, 22:07   #16  |  Link
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@kon: I suppose you have the theoretical knowledge as well? If so it would be nice if you could write a basics article that explains how DVB and ATSC work, the stream formats and such because that's an area I'm still lacking. Also.. do you (or anybody else) have some standalone receivers that support streaming to PCs? That part I won't be able to cover (as well as using hardware that cannot be used by DVBViewer, ProgDVD and DVDPortal - those 3 programs are going to make it into my guides).
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Old 3rd February 2004, 11:55   #17  |  Link
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Quote:
Originally posted by Doom9
Also.. do you (or anybody else) have some standalone receivers that support streaming to PCs? That part I won't be able to cover (as well as using hardware that cannot be used by DVBViewer, ProgDVD and DVDPortal - those 3 programs are going to make it into my guides).
I've not yet come across a standalone receiver that does what you ask!

However, in the UK/Europe, Hauppauge market both digital terrestrial TV and digital satellite TV USB2/ScartTV devices.

The digital satellite TV device is here: -
http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/html/digi...od.htm#dec3000
It's a little different to similar devices because it can be connected 'directly' to a TV via an on board scart.

Over here in euro land we now have our first dedicated Hi-Def set top box satellite receiver - the Zinwell ZDX-410HD . Which can be used to watch our 'one and only' hi-def 1080i channel!

More receivers are promised soon. Hopefully offering DVI output, Hard-drive recording and streaming.

That said, I would really like to know what kind of Mpeg2 chipset is in this STB!

Cheers
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Old 3rd February 2004, 13:17   #18  |  Link
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I've not yet come across a standalone receiver that does what you ask!
Really? If I go to the local CE superstore they have plenty of DVB-S receivers with a HDD, but so far I haven't looked for NICs. However, I know there are at least a couple, as mentioned here: http://forum.gleitz.info/showthread.php?t=83#GID03
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Old 3rd February 2004, 14:02   #19  |  Link
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Yes, in Europe we too have quite a few digital satellite (and now even a couple of digital terrestrial) receivers with internal hard drives.

But none yet incorporate either an USB2 of FireWire connection to transfer Mpeg2 streams to an PC.

That said there are a couple of units that will allow USB1.1 connection for transferring audio streams and image files. I think there's also a receiver that carries an 'media card reader'.

I'll have a look in some of my UK satellite mags to see if I've missed something.

Cheers
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Old 3rd February 2004, 14:47   #20  |  Link
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Quote:
Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital

But none yet incorporate either an USB2 of FireWire connection to transfer Mpeg2 streams to an PC.
Most of the PVR (receivers with HD) have a port to transfer files to a PC. But usually you need first to record the file to the receiver's HD, and then you can transfer it to the PC offline. The program TPVRconv has been written to process (demux, convert to Divx, cut, trim, etc.) this kind of files.

But recently I've read about a couple of models which are able to record directly to the PC hard-disk. They are called Neotion and SkyBox (nothing to do with Sky UK and Sky Italia pay-tv services) and I think it's the same receiver with two different brands.

They use the Video-Link software that allows a full-control from the PC, including direct stream recording:

http://www.neotionbox.com/datas/indexbox-gb.html

Bye!
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