Hauppauge HD-PVR & Colossus Support (1 Viewer)

kilik360

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  • September 3, 2010
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    Hey kilik360,
    Can you give us a little more information on your setup?

    1. Who is your cable/sat provider?
    2. Are you experiencing any issues going from AC3 Channels to non-AC3 channels?
    3. On non-AC3 channels what does your STB send out? PCM? (You may not be able to find this)
    4. AAC codec?

    Thanks!
    Wile E.

    Hi WileE !

    1. Videotron (Québec/Canada) STB is Scientific Atlanta 4250HD
    2. No Issue with non-AC3 channel (SPDIF)
    3. Can i see it with MediaInfo on a recording ? Or with GraphStudio ? I'll take a look tonight.
    4. MONOGRAM i think

    Maybe your problem is related with ffdshow audio configuration... in the output section ?
     

    WileECoyote

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  • October 14, 2008
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    Hi WileE !

    1. Videotron (Québec/Canada) STB is Scientific Atlanta 4250HD
    2. No Issue with non-AC3 channel (SPDIF)
    3. Can i see it with MediaInfo on a recording ? Or with GraphStudio ? I'll take a look tonight.
    4. MONOGRAM i think

    Maybe your problem is related with ffdshow audio configuration... in the output section ?

    Hey Kilik360,
    No, the issue is not with FFDShow, my issue is the switching of codecs. I did a little playing last night and SJeffrey was right in his thoughts, it is trying to switch from the AAC codec to the AC3 codec (and vice-versa.) Other than stopping and starting the graph Im not sure how we will get around this. I'm also wondering how it is working on your machine? If you can, could you grab a graph from a Dolby Digital Channel and another from an non-Dolby Digital channel? I wonder if your STB puts out something other than PCM when a non-Dolby channel is playing. Maybe it puts out DD 2.0?

    @Sjeffrey,
    I did a little searching this afternoon and found our STB's have a 'Only Dolby Digital' setting. I hope that will allow it to use JUST the AC3 codec and never try to switch to AAC. I presume you are using the same/similar Dish Network STB's that I am...

    Thanks again for the information Kilik!
    Wile E.
     

    sjeffrey

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    @Sjeffrey,
    I did a little searching this afternoon and found our STB's have a 'Only Dolby Digital' setting. I hope that will allow it to use JUST the AC3 codec and never try to switch to AAC. I presume you are using the same/similar Dish Network STB's that I am...

    Thanks again for the information Kilik!
    Wile E.

    I think it's the same hardware yes. The option is something like DD Only, DD & PCM or PCM Only. It used to be DD & PCM and I never had issues with AAC. Actually I don't think AAC was ever used at all. For the moment I'm on PCM only and using RCA cables (I think:oops:)
     

    WileECoyote

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    I think it's the same hardware yes. The option is something like DD Only, DD & PCM or PCM Only. It used to be DD & PCM and I never had issues with AAC. Actually I don't think AAC was ever used at all. For the moment I'm on PCM only and using RCA cables (I think:oops:)

    Thats okay, its not like we havent been through a bazillion combinations of hardware/software of the past few months :D

    Im not sure what my boxes are set to (whatever the default is), but I too am using the RCA cables (for now.) I will try that DD Only setting tonight to see if that fixes the issue.

    Edit: I forgot to mention, if you remember the old HD-PVR Arcsoft software had a setting to output 2 channel audio as AC3 or AAC. It defaulted to AC3 so it wouldnt even attempt to switch codecs. The Colussus doesnt have that setting, it defaults to AAC :(
     

    kilik360

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    Hey Kilik360,
    No, the issue is not with FFDShow, my issue is the switching of codecs. I did a little playing last night and SJeffrey was right in his thoughts, it is trying to switch from the AAC codec to the AC3 codec (and vice-versa.) Other than stopping and starting the graph Im not sure how we will get around this. I'm also wondering how it is working on your machine? If you can, could you grab a graph from a Dolby Digital Channel and another from an non-Dolby Digital channel? I wonder if your STB puts out something other than PCM when a non-Dolby channel is playing. Maybe it puts out DD 2.0?

    Wile E.

    Hi WileE, when you say, grab a graph, is it with graphstudio (ctrl+g), one thing I know is, when i'm on a AC3 channel, my Onkyo receiver tells me it's " Dolby D " and it's "DOlby Digital 5.1" in Showbiz . But when i'm on a non "Dolby D" channel, on my Onkyo, Showbiz tells me it's Dolby Digital 2.0.

    Hope this help. Tell me how to grab a graph.
     

    WileECoyote

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    Hi WileE, when you say, grab a graph, is it with graphstudio (ctrl+g), one thing I know is, when i'm on a AC3 channel, my Onkyo receiver tells me it's " Dolby D " and it's "DOlby Digital 5.1" in Showbiz . But when i'm on a non "Dolby D" channel, on my Onkyo, Showbiz tells me it's Dolby Digital 2.0.

    Hope this help. Tell me how to grab a graph.

    No need to grab the graph, your answer explained everything. Your STB is only using your FFDShow codec because it never switches to AAC, so changing channels is not an issue. Im hoping that the 'DD Only' setting on my STB will produce the same results.

    Thanks!
    Wile E.
     

    mm1352000

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    Hi folks

    So with this AAC thing, are you saying MediaPortal has a problem switching between AAC and AC3 decoders for audio? Have you tried other AAC audio codecs like the DivX one (click on the "free download" banner in the top right corner)?
     

    WileECoyote

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    Hi folks

    So with this AAC thing, are you saying MediaPortal has a problem switching between AAC and AC3 decoders for audio? Have you tried other AAC audio codecs like the DivX one (click on the "free download" banner in the top right corner)?

    Here's what I know so far (I've been playing with this for the past two hours.)

    - I changed both my receivers set to do Dolby Digtial Only.
    - If I play ESPN (DD) it starts fine and creates the DD graph (see attached DD.png.) If I then change the channel to ESPN U (Non-DD) it trys to use the same graph and has no audio.
    - If I start ESPN U (Non-DD) it creates the Non-DD graph (see attached Non-DD.png.) If I then change the channel to ESPN (DD) it trys to use the same graph and has no audio.

    So starting either a DD or non-DD chanel works fine, the problem is when I switch channels and the second channel is the opposite of the first. I was hoping that my receiver would ONLY output DD with the 'DD Only' setting, but apparently it doesnt :( Unless I have to reboot the STB (I have rebooted my media center several times after all the changes.)

    @mm,
    If I use the Divx codec for both AC3 and AAC, do you think it will switch automatically? Another question, FFDShow has a built in AAC decoder, why cant we use it for TV?

    Thanks!
     

    Attachments

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    • Non-DD.png
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    mm1352000

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    @mm,
    If I use the Divx codec for both AC3 and AAC, do you think it will switch automatically?
    I doubt it. So far as I know it is just an AAC decoder. I suggested it because you seemed to be having trouble with AAC audio starting. Seems there is a more serious issue here...

    Another question, FFDShow has a built in AAC decoder, why cant we use it for TV?
    That's a question that I can't answer I'm afraid. I mean, I think it is available for video... just not for TV. I assume that there is a technical reason for that, however that knowledge is on the edge of my expertise. It is possible that it would work if we implemented this enhancement...

    The most important thing here from my perspective is that you're not working around a MediaPortal/TV Server bug. I don't want support to be hacky, or only work if you do things certain ways, or only support some features. I want it to be "excellent" and "just work" :)D). To that end, if you have problems with MP then please raise them. Even if I can't solve the problem, someone else in the team is bound to have a better understanding of the issues...

    mm
     

    WileECoyote

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    Hey mm,
    It looks like it is a problem with my provider. Look at the attached screenshot from Arcsoft Showbiz (Software that comes with the Colossus.) My receiver is set to DD Only (in the box) and the audio is currently being encoded AAC (look in the left column under current settings.) The really odd thing is, NFL Network is not in DD 5.1 but does output DD 2.0. Maybe the NFL Network is broadcast that way?

    I have not had Dish Network that long, so I am hoping Sjeffrey has some insite as to why this is not working.

    BTW, I just rebooted my STB's just in case, but the problem persits.

    It appears the only way to fix this issue is to stop the graph and rebuild it every time you change channels, unless SJeffrey has some ideas as to why the DD Only is not working on the STB's.
     

    Attachments

    • dd or aac.png
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