DVB-S2 trying to understand ! + Blueray (1 Viewer)

[Impuls]

Hi,

I'm completly new here and already read/learned a lot on this forum.
In my preparation to build a complete Media Portal envirremont I had a question of which I couldn't find the solution myself.

I'm looking for a DVB-S2 tuner card which is capable off :

- receiving HD signal
- play a channel and meanwhile record another
- communicates with a card reader for decoding (TV Vlaanderen - Digitale televisie via satelliet - De meeste zenders tegen de laagste prijs)

- if possible an mpeg2 encoder on board.
=> is this a great benefit ? hardware encoder onboard ?

Further, what happens if a channel sends out 5.1 dolby digital or even dts....?

Does the card needs to be capable of 'receiving' this or does my soundcard do al the work (say a soundblaster 5.1 capable card)

I would be using an external AV Receiver (like Onkyo SR608 / NR708), so eventually all be forwarding the signal raw and let the receiver do what it's build for.

Is this all possible, or am I to soon ...it is 2011 after all

Later I'd might add a second card, so i can record 2 channels and watch 2 others ...

Any hints/tips would be welcome.
Experience with specific products also.

I want to have top quality image, all 'players' will have a high end videocard with hdmi output.
The 'mainroom' will be connected to the server and soundoutput can be hdmi or optical towards the receiver.

---

Concerning blueray.
External player like sony or internal bay with 'software' .... is there a quality difference ?
The more I can combine in 1 solution the better...

Thanks for your time already.
Bjorn

 

[mm1352000]

Hi and welcome Impuls

I'm looking for a DVB-S2 tuner card which is capable off :

- receiving HD signal

What do you mean by "HD"?
- h.264 (MPEG 4 AVC) video
- DVB-S2 signals
Most current consumer DVB-S2 tuners support simple DVB-S2 modulation modes (8 PSK). That should be fine for the DVB-S2 channels that you would want to watch. Support for h.264 depends on the software *not* the tuner. MediaPortal supports h.264

- play a channel and meanwhile record another

You can record/watch as many channels as you like with one tuner as long as they are on the same transponder. Each extra tuner allows you to record/watch all the channels from an additional transponder. For example:

Transponder A
-----------------
- ch 1
- ch 2
- ch 3

Transponder B
-----------------
- ch 4
- ch 5
- ch 6

With MediaPortal and one tuner you can watch/record all channels on Transponder A or Transponder B, but you can't watch/record ch 1 at the same time as ch 5. For that you need two tuners. With two tuners you could watch record all channels on Transponder A and Transponder B at the same time if you wanted.

- communicates with a card reader for decoding (TV Vlaanderen - Digitale televisie via satelliet - De meeste zenders tegen de laagste prijs)

I can't really comment about that specific provider. You should search the forums since there appear to be some comments...

- if possible an mpeg2 encoder on board.
=> is this a great benefit ? hardware encoder onboard ?

Digital tuners (DVB-S, DVB-S2, DVB-T, DVB-T2, DVB-C) don't have encoders on board. The stream is already encoded by the broadcaster. Your tuner takes the stream from the dish/cable/aerial and passes it to software like MediaPortal so that video and audio can be decoded. Only analog signals require encoding, but that doesn't seem to be what you want...

Further, what happens if a channel sends out 5.1 dolby digital or even dts....?

MediaPortal supports MPEG 2, AAC, LATM-AAC (also called HE-AAC), AC3 (also called Dolby Digital) and Dolby Digital Plus, but you need to have codecs that can decode these formats. Many codecs are available for MPEG 2. There are free codecs for AAC, LATM-AAC and AC3. I'm not so sure about Dolby Digital Plus...
Regarding DTS: I think this is supported with AC3, but I'm not 100% sure.
DTS MA and Dolby TruHD are *not* supported yet.

Does the card needs to be capable of 'receiving' this or does my soundcard do al the work (say a soundblaster 5.1 capable card)

I would be using an external AV Receiver (like Onkyo SR608 / NR708), so eventually all be forwarding the signal raw and let the receiver do what it's build for.

As mentioned above, the codecs are the most important things because they decode the audio. The soundcard (render) receives the audio after the codecs. If you want to pass the signal to a receiver then you can choose to use a renderer that passes the audio to SPDIF (optical) or HDMI. Most modern ATI and NVidia cards provide an onboard soundcard so that audio and video from your computer can be passed through HDMI to external receivers and TVs...

Is this all possible, or am I to soon ...it is 2011 after all

No you are not too soon - MediaPortal is ready for you.

Later I'd might add a second card, so i can record 2 channels and watch 2 others ...

Like I said earlier, a second card can allow you to record or watch all the channels from two *transponders* - you are not limited to two channels.

I want to have top quality image, all 'players' will have a high end videocard with hdmi output.
The 'mainroom' will be connected to the server and soundoutput can be hdmi or optical towards the receiver.

It seems like you want a video card that can output HDMI to your receiver. The receiver will decode the audio and pass the video to the TV/projector.

Concerning blueray.
External player like sony or internal bay with 'software' .... is there a quality difference ?
The more I can combine in 1 solution the better...

Unfortunately MediaPortal does not support Bluray. The problem is the copy-protection. Bluray certification is expensive and would require us to go "closed source". We don't intend to do that, but support for non-copy protected Bluray might be added in the future.

I hope that helps

 

[Impuls]

Hi and welcome Impuls

Thanks for the warm welcome !

What do you mean by "HD"?
- h.264 (MPEG 4 AVC) video
- DVB-S2 signals
Most current consumer DVB-S2 tuners support simple DVB-S2 modulation modes (8 PSK). That should be fine for the DVB-S2 channels that you would want to watch. Support for h.264 depends on the software *not* the tuner. MediaPortal supports h.264

With HD I meant that I want to be able to receive the HD channels that are beeing broadcasted by the supplier/broadcaster (tv-vlaanderen)
Like some flemish/duth channels "Een HD", "VTM HD", and the regulars like 'BBC ONE HD', "National Geographic HD",..

You can record/watch as many channels as you like with one tuner as long as they are on the same transponder. Each extra tuner allows you to record/watch all the channels from an additional transponder. For example:

Transponder A
-----------------
- ch 1
- ch 2
- ch 3

Transponder B
-----------------
- ch 4
- ch 5
- ch 6

This part i'm still trying to understand.
I'd be using for exmaple this dish : TV Vlaanderen | Apparatuur - Multitenne
So I guess it will be looking at 2-3 satelites ? (Aastra, ...) ???
I guess that if I record something from a 'Aastra' channel I can't watch a 'non-aastra' channel ??? .. i'm lost LOL

With MediaPortal and one tuner you can watch/record all channels on Transponder A or Transponder B, but you can't watch/record ch 1 at the same time as ch 5. For that you need two tuners. With two tuners you could watch record all channels on Transponder A and Transponder B at the same time if you wanted.

That's why Mediaportal is receiving my full attention, we'll be rebuilding 40% of our house and we'll be having a little cinemaroom as well.
Goal is to have 1 server in the cinemaroom and 2 additional clients in the house.
With the correct plugins I want to be able to stop a movie at position A and continue to watch at position B using markers stored in a central database.

I can't really comment about that specific provider. You should search the forums since there appear to be some comments...

Any suggestions are welcome people !
I saw this : http://www.digital-everywhere.com/en/alcms/index.php?sid=1187859689
Compatible with Media Portal, has a remote controller, floppy bay installation possible and my broadcaster is on the list of tested and approved.
To bad it doenst has a hardware mpeg encoder on board....

Digital tuners (DVB-S, DVB-S2, DVB-T, DVB-T2, DVB-C) don't have encoders on board. The stream is already encoded by the broadcaster. Your tuner takes the stream from the dish/cable/aerial and passes it to software like MediaPortal so that video and audio can be decoded. Only analog signals require encoding, but that doesn't seem to be what you want...
MediaPortal supports MPEG 2, AAC, LATM-AAC (also called HE-AAC), AC3 (also called Dolby Digital) and Dolby Digital Plus, but you need to have codecs that can decode these formats. Many codecs are available for MPEG 2. There are free codecs for AAC, LATM-AAC and AC3. I'm not so sure about Dolby Digital Plus...
Regarding DTS: I think this is supported with AC3, but I'm not 100% sure.
DTS MA and Dolby TruHD are *not* supported yet.

What I meant with decoding is the card supplied by the broadcaster which allows me to watch the secured channels. (like those flemish ones)
So i'll need a cardreader.

Unfortunately MediaPortal does not support Bluray. The problem is the copy-protection. Bluray certification is expensive and would require us to go "closed source". We don't intend to do that, but support for non-copy protected Bluray might be added in the future.

And what if I have a bluray internal bay with official software like PowerDVD10, can it be controlled from inside Media Portal to start playing the movie ?

I hope that helps

Hell yeah !!

 

[mbuzina]

Hi Impuls & another welcome!

To your questions:
All usual DVB-S2 will be able to receive HD channels.

If you want to descramble protected channels, you will need a DVB-S2 card with CAM support (CAM = Conditional Access Module). In that you insert a CAM Module (which module depends on the encryption method used by your provider) and in that you will insert your subscription card. The CAM Interface is basically a PCMCIA slot, the CAM Modules are decryption PCMCIA modules with a smart card reader and your card is a smart card (thats what I know about it, I have no pay-tv/CAM).

For the transponders:
With a Multytenne you target several satellites all at once (e.g. Astra 19,2 ° E and Astra 27 something). For each sat you have a LNB ("antenna") in your dish. They are connected to something called a multi-switch. That is the one that is connected to your DVB-S2 card.

Each sattelite sends out signals in many frequencies, in a high and a low band and in horizontal or vertical polarization. So your card tells the switch please go to High Band Horizontal polarization on sat #1 and it delivers all frequencies in that band (a single cable can not hold all signals that are transmitted at the same time, bandwith issue). So now your multiswitch (in your multytenne) picks a fourth of the signals of one of the satellites and sends them down the cable.

Now your DVB-S2 card tunes to a frequency within that bundle of signals. Within this signal - called a transponder - there can be several TV programs (or radia stations, or internet data transfers, secret military protocols, whatever). So now that your DVB-S2 card is tuned to this frequency you can use all data within this transponder, so you can use all TV channels available within the transponder.

If you want to use more than one transponder at the same time, you will not only need 2 cards (or a dual tuner card), but you will also need the proper dish / multiswitch. There is a multytenne dual (technisat), which you can use with 2 receivers / DVB-S2 tuner cards. So if you want to upgrade later, you have to have the right dish.

There are several ways that blue-ray is supported, one of them is the solution you proposed.

Another thing: CAM or CI support is the right name for descrambling channels. CI stands for common interface. So you put a smart card into a CAM which you put into a CI (easy, ey?)

A last thing: morpheus_xx has developed support for the DigitalDevices DVB-S2 ( a dual tuner card with CAM / CI support). Have a look here https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/...devices-dual-dvb-s2-testing-cam-diseqc-82416/

A final word: You don't need a hw mpeg 2 encoder. You need a common interface (which the floppy dtv seems to have).

 

[Impuls]

Again tons of thank you.

A perfect answer with the correct use of terms

I was indeed already looking into a dual tuner card.
I found a quad tuner card as well, but not in dvb-s2 ...

But as I understand correctly, i'll need a dish with 2(or 4) outputs as well.

Anyways, I'll read a bit more on this site and i'm not in a hurry.

I hope to complete the constructions of our house this year, so i've got plenty of time to build my new server.

Keep up the good work in this community...cause you guys rock !

Cheers
Bjorn AKA Impuls