HDMI Capture card (1 Viewer)

[wazm]

Due to the demise of the satellite tv service I was using, I have had to move to another that uses an encription method that is designed to stop people using their own STB. This means I can no longer use my Twinhan card to work with MediaPortal. I have found a decent STB that will work with their signal and it has a HDMI output. Are there any capture cards that have HDMI as an input option?

I found this card AVerTV CaptureHD however as it uses a software encoder, I don't think it will work with MediaPortal. Can anyone help out with a better solution?

Warren

 

[Spragleknas]

I think you can forget about HDMI-capture cards, mainly because of HDCP. Best you can do is component capture, which is unofficialy supported by MP.

 

[wazm]

I think you can forget about HDMI-capture cards, mainly because of HDCP. Best you can do is component capture, which is unofficialy supported by MP.

Why does HDCP make a difference? (sorry if it is a stupid question)

 

[miroslav22]

HDCP essentially exists to prevent capture devices/cards being manufactured! (so protected content cannot be copied)

Unfortunately HDCP has now officially been broken with the publication of the master key last month. Its now only a matter of time before someone manufactures something that will allow a perfect digital copy to be made. 6 months from now there will probably be an abundance of them

 

[wazm]

The card I am looking at quotes this so I thought it would be OK other than the software encoder.

"AVerTV CaptureHD can support HDMI/HDCP input display up to 1080i* resolution and compact audio/video/composite/ component (1080i) interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. "

HDCP essentially exists to prevent capture devices/cards being manufactured! (so protected content cannot be copied)

Unfortunately HDCP has now officially been broken with the publication of the master key last month. Its now only a matter of time before someone manufactures something that will allow a perfect digital copy to be made. 6 months from now there will probably be an abundance of them

 

[pilehave]

HDPC protection doesn't make any sense anymore since both DVD and BluRay protection is broken. IMHO it's just a bump on the road to annoy users that are actually paying good money to watch TV.

Let's face it, who cares about HDTV-rips of old movies when BD-rips are available to download "for free". Output from a "protected" HDMI HDCP can easily bee dumped and copied raw - you just need to know how.

So even HDPC protection is just a false sticker that STB-manufacturers need to put on their box to make broadcasters happy.

A bit offtopic, sorry.

 

[wazm]

A bit offtopic, sorry.

Not really, the topic drifted that way

I guess the question really is, does mediaportal support software encoded mpeg2 or only hardware?

 

[motor]

Hey wazm,

guess you are in the same boat as me since selectv's gone -> austar?

I bought the h727 and can only get either composite or SVHS input into mediaportal so far (plus has a single hybrid analog and digital tuner).

I was going to use the "analog hole" approach using hidef component rather than HDMI, from all that I read about HDCP, HDMI and the aver card.

The supplied software could be used to view and record (untested yet) component, haven't bothered with HDMI input.

The device that includes a hardware encoder, appears to be supported in MP, and uses component input is the Hauppauge HD PVR - $329 best i've seen in Aus.

Wanted to go cheap too but think this option should work the best, although costs $$$.

 

[wazm]

Hey wazm,

guess you are in the same boat as me since selectv's gone -> austar?

Yep same problem. I have bought an UltraPlus F-9000HD PVR which is compatible with the austar card and gives a much better picture than the standard box. It also has hdmi output with upscaling. I have a leadtek PxDVR3200H which has a hardware encoder but it doesn't work very well in component mode and I have to drop the resolution. I just figure there must be a better way

The UltraPlus records well and my original idea was to be able to share the hd in the UltraPlus as a video source in mediaportal but even though the recordings are in ts format, mediaportal can't play them back. kind of frustrating but I am sure there is a solution somewhere.


Warren

 

[Hobby]

I think you can forget about HDMI-capture cards, mainly because of HDCP. Best you can do is component capture, which is unofficialy supported by MP.

Actually, I just bought one of these and it works very well for HD satellite recording(Direct TV). Does use a lot of resources though so something better than an AMD Athlon X2 6000+ is required for full 1080i capture(720p is atleast bareable). The biggest issue I have now is finding something other than AVerMedia Center for it to display on! Since it is not "technically" a tuner card, it is not recognized as a useable component my most media centers.

On the plus side, there is a downloadable software for someone way smarter than me that may hold the answer... AVerMedia offers an SDK for these cards... DarkCrystal HD Capture SDK(C727)
I recognize some of the contents within the SDK files, but not enough programming knowledge in this old head to make anything useful out of it anytime soon. Maybe someone else can take a whack at it.

If there is a way to "stream" content from the card to MP and someone has the patience to help me figure it out... step by step... I'd be willing to try it and learn how in the process.

Hobby

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line... in the opposite direction.