DVB-T2 cards for UK (1 Viewer)

[noncom]

Hi all

I'm looking at building an HTPC for use with MediaPortal, which I've been testing out (1.1.3, looking forward to seeing 1.2.0 next week) on my laptop.

So far, it all looks very slick and would achieve what I'd like for our living room.

However, in terms of having a Unique Selling Point to justify the cost of building a dedicated PC to act as a TV server, the main feature I need to be able to guarantee is Freeview HD (DVB-T2) reception/recording (hopefully in time for the London Olympics next July).

What I'd like ideally would be 4 HD tuners (two twin-tuner PCI cards presumably would work better than 4 USB single tuners), although if that's a problem, a twin HD and a twin SD would do.

There doesn't seem to be much choice out there in DVB-T2 cards - the only two I've found being the BlackGold BGT3620 and the TBS6280.

In the Wiki, it seems to suggest that BlackGold cards are not supported by MediaPortal, and won't be until 1.3.0 (presumably a long time away), but I'm not sure if I'm reading that right. Is it only some BlackGold cards that don't work?

And has anybody had any experience of the TBS card TBS Dual DVB-T2 PCIe TV Tuner Card (TBS6280) - dabs.com to know whether it would work?

Would I be able to install two identical cards without problems?

Sorry for all the questions, but this is quite critical for me......

Cheers
noncom

 

[mm1352000]

There doesn't seem to be much choice out there in DVB-T2 cards - the only two I've found being the BlackGold BGT3620 and the TBS6280.

There's also the PCTV 290e.

In the Wiki, it seems to suggest that BlackGold cards are not supported by MediaPortal, and won't be until 1.3.0 (presumably a long time away), but I'm not sure if I'm reading that right. Is it only some BlackGold cards that don't work?

Yes, you're reading it wrong. DiSEqC switching (only relevant for satellite tuners) is not yet supported, but "basic" satellite tuning functions work fine. *Blackgold DVB-T2 cards are fully supported and work fine.*

And has anybody had any experience of the TBS card TBS Dual DVB-T2 PCIe TV Tuner Card (TBS6280) - dabs.com to know whether it would work?

One of our team members (elliottmc) has one I think. His reports that I've seen indicate it works fine. Here are a few other threads you should probably take a look through...
https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/...-bgt3620-dvb-t2-card-where-hd-channels-90945/
https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/tv-cards-333/what-dvb-t2-freeview-hd-card-uk-85404/
https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/tv-cards-333/pctv-dvb-t2-290e-work-media-portal-91456/

Would I be able to install two identical cards without problems?

Almost certainly.

mm

 

[noncom]

Fantastic. Thank you very much for your helpful answers........

noncom

(Where's the button to Thank someone for their post????)

I can't see it...

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

(Where's the button to Thank someone for their post????)

Now you can, kicks in on number of posts

 

[Caesium]

I'll toss in a vote for the BGT cards, I have two 3630s in my HTPC and they are *amazing*! They run a little bit hot, but other than that I can't fault them at all.

 

[noncom]

Are you seeing any of the problems I've read about in other threads with audio on the HD channels? Eg sound being lost when the channel switches format from HD to SD material. Or has that been solved now?

Thanks

 

[Caesium]

Not here. The only problem I've had with audio was the MONOGRAM AAC decoder can't play DVB-T2 HD audio (yet?). The DivX AAC decoder does it though so since switching to that I've had no issues.