Hauppauge HD-PVR & Colossus Support (23 Viewers)

[mm1352000]

Just a small clarification: the stream data rates for the PVR-150 and Colossus are in Mbps (that is mega bits per second). The estimates are possibly a little high (20 Mbps is the maximum video stream bit rate for the Colossus) but not too far off. Traditional HDD sequential read speeds go from [very] roughly 120 MBps and to around 40 MBps (that is mega bytes per second) depending on read size. Maximum sequential write speeds are usually slower. See -->here<-- as an example.

Anyhow, the point I wanted to clarify is that 1 MBps is 8 Mbps. Recording or playback of 100% quality HD Colossus streams only requires the drive to operate at 2.5 MB (20 Mb) per second. That is not usually a problem unless you have a really full 5400 rpm drive that is used for OS and timeshifting and recording and other stuff. I use a green drive (~5900 rpm) here and can easily record 3 HD streams while watching one and working with the data on the same drive in other software...

mm

 

[elconejito]

^^^ and there you have it

 

[deskwizard]

Yeah, I'll change the HD tonight for sure

Thanks for the explanation guys, I wasn't sure of this at all!

Payment just got process for my colossus, so I'm crossing my fingers I'll ship today!

**EDIT**

It just shipped and hd is changed, i already see a slight difference from the old one, should be fine and big enough I hope

*** UPDATE ***

Got the card and set it up last night. Image quality is astounding compared to the pvr150 I had.
I'm having problems with it and MP though, but I'm not sure if they are related.

I will reinstall MP tonight and see if it solves at least one of them.

 

[deskwizard]

Well well well ...

After playing with this for some time... it's not going well!

For some reason, I seem to be dropping a lot of frames, which introduce studder (?) once every couple second.
Besides that, the quality is very nice I must say.

I still have other issues with MP that I didn't have before my reinstall, I will also have to look into those...

On the plus side, I've got my channels set up on both tuners, firewire blasting is working with the colossus, and I'm about to go do the channels combinations.

If I could only fix the studder and the remote thing i'd be all set!

I'll keep you guys posted ...

DW

 

[elconejito]

Hey Deskwizard, your hardware (AMD 4850e, ATI 5450, 2GB RAM) should be enough to play the H.264 encoded files. What codecs are you using? Win7 or XP, or Vista...?

 

[deskwizard]

elconejito,
You are totally right. I have checked if it could be anything hardware related, and it is not.

I have the feeling it has something to do with the frame rates for some reason...
But I'm having codec issues lately also.

Here is what I'm using:

mpeg2 ffdshow
H.264 DTV-DVD
MPEG/AC3 MPC-MPA
AAC MONOGRAM
DD+ DTV-DVD
Renderer ATI HDMI Output.

I added a screenshot of the frame rendering graphs from MP,
as you can see, there is a drop in framerate happening.
It happens every couple seconds, on all channels.
After this happens, the framerate drops to 55.75 something, then goes back to 59.99... then it studders and this all start again.

Hope I gave you everything you need to know ...


Now I'm off to find out why IRSS service is crashing on resume...

DW

 

[skoka123]

Hi DW,

There is a guide for setting up codecs for MP. In case that does not work I suggest getting SAF (https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/codecs-331/saf-v6-00-based-lavf-95635/).

I had serious issues with stuttering and dropped frames despite following the MP codec guide in Vista. SAF solved the problems.

 

[WileECoyote]

Hey deskwizard,
Something to also keep in mind is your video card refresh rate. For some reason if I set mine to 60hz I get all kinds of stuttering, but when I drop it back to 59 it works perfect.

Just something to try...
Wile E.

 

[deskwizard]

skoka123: Thanks for the hint! I installed SAF 6 last night, and even though its not 100% solved, it has improved to the point that I have to actively look for it to notice. !

WileECoyote: Thanks for the heads up, I will check what I can do with this... I think you might just solve the last remaining studder! Now... how to drive that think at 59hz...

BUT!

I fixed the problem with IRSS crashing on resume, I got my blasting back and "unscrewed" what I did trying to combine channels (there's something I din't get or do right...), so it's going a lot better! Only will have to fix some minor EPG issues, but that's nothing.

Next on the list (unrelated) heat/noise issues!

I will keep you guys posted as of the refresh rate thing.

 

[toricred]

So I'm trying to use this guide to try to figure out how to configure IRSS to change channels with my Colossus and DIRECTV. I am not seeing anywhere to set up a command line to call. I also don't see the STB button you refer to. I am guessing it is because I'm using MP 1.2.1. Any updates for this?