Ongoing High End HTPC MP based (1 Viewer)

[pezzer]

Hi,
Phew took me a while to read all these posts.
Have you got any pictures of your setup?
I'd like to see if the case really looks that good.

Also, this is the first time i've seen that floppy dtv tuner (Just started looking into HTPC's), is it good? Thus far i've only used my Happauge 250 PVR. Do you know how they compare or if your card works in the UK?

Cheers

 

[ghanz]

Pezzer,

Wife has got the camera along, but sure I will post a few pics for you later on. The case looks and feels really good. I'm sure there must be some difference with a Silverstone case which is 2.5 times more expensive. But this case is just very nice and i'm kind of picky on cheap feel.
the floppy DTV card works in the UK just fine, but it is only for digital television! It comes in 3 different types 1 for cable, 1 for satelite and one for ether. In the netherlands this means that you will need a smartcard reader (Common interface with a Alphacrypt decoder) to be able to decode the signal. Here is the biggest difference with your pvr250. This card is only for analoge signals. So if you plan to switch to digital television the firewireDTV is absolutely the best option for you, it ain't cheap but it delivers and it has a h264 decoder on it (like the pvr has a mpeg decoder built in for standard definition) If you do not plan to alter anything in your infastructure you don't need to purchase another card.

Hope this answers your question

Ghanz

 

[pezzer]

Pezzer,

Wife has got the camera along, but sure I will post a few pics for you later on. The case looks and feels really good. I'm sure there must be some difference with a Silverstone case which is 2.5 times more expensive. But this case is just very nice and i'm kind of picky on cheap feel.
the floppy DTV card works in the UK just fine, but it is only for digital television! It comes in 3 different types 1 for cable, 1 for satelite and one for ether. In the netherlands this means that you will need a smartcard reader (Common interface with a Alphacrypt decoder) to be able to decode the signal. Here is the biggest difference with your pvr250. This card is only for analoge signals. So if you plan to switch to digital television the firewireDTV is absolutely the best option for you, it ain't cheap but it delivers and it has a h264 decoder on it (like the pvr has a mpeg decoder built in for standard definition) If you do not plan to alter anything in your infastructure you don't need to purchase another card.

Hope this answers your question

Ghanz

Hi Thanks for that.
I've had a look at the website for FloppyDTV and it seems pretty good. I'll need to find out somehow if that card reader thing will work with my NTL/Virgin media card, which currently comes through cable. The support section on the floppDTV website seems pretty complex though.

Correct me if I'm wrong but,
before this you had a set top box with a card to recieve the channels?
and now you can simply take that card out and plug it into your floppyDTV?
So does that mean all the channels can now be tuned directly into MP?
Therefore instead on one S-Vid channel for example you'll have them all.
If thats the case then thats amazing,
also can you program a recording in MP and when its time to record MP will automatically tune into that channel?

A lot of questions I know - :sorry:

Thanks again

 

[ghanz]

I briefly looked into your NTL/virgin provider (but i don't see any reason why it should not work. Others have also got it working, but i only looked briefly!

Afirm, I used to have a settopbox which did the decoding for me, I inserted the smartcard and that was it. The floppyDTV (internal) or fireDTV (external) has a common interface. In this interface you can insert a CAM (common acces module if i'm not mistaking) of any kind (here is the only part you have to do your homework). You have to find out how your cable provider descrambles the signal. I think ntl/virgin uses nagravision decoding but i'm not sure. You would need a CAM like this:http://www.cardman.com/cams.html

Just google the forums on DVB-c / CAM / NTL/Virgin and find someone with a working setup.
With the right CAM, setup is as easy as installing a videocard. You instal the driver (they come with a MCE driver or with a BDA driver for MediaPortal, run MP setup, choose the UK transponderlist and let it scan!

For all your other questions: yes, yes, yes, better than you dare to dream!

MP does not only autotune your channels, you can organise them very easily and it will also grab the electronic programm guide for all your channels. You can also let this be done by the internet. Not only will MP autotune to record your shows, it will also wake up to record your show and shutdown afterwards. Or you can choose to sound an alarm to let you know your favorite show starts. Or simply choose to record all episodes from that show. Time shifting has never been so easy! It truly is amazing. And open source!

to get some feel with it you can browse thru the screen shots of the different skins (im using x-face)
I'm not even using the tuner of my Samsung anymore. I have 1 remote for mediaportal and that's it. (wife proof)

Hope this helps this weekend i will upload some pics for you!

 

[SiLenTYL]

good to hear ur enjoying MP =)

when i read ur specs i thought u went a bit overbeard on the graphics card/ram

i bet it run super smooth !

what temps do u run at?
u would hear it when the pc is under load?

 

[3dcoder]

Status/problems so far, if anyone has any ideas please respond:

Still not able to play H264 movies within the mediaportal player, now investigating ts reader, see how that works.

You got H.264 working? If not, install Haali Media Splitter and either FFDShow latest beta or commercial CoreAVC.

In Haali Media Splitter setup, enable AVI-support and TS & PS support. Install Core AVC and you are ready to go in HD!

I use CoreAVC which was advertised to be the worlds fastest decoder and it's incredibly fast. I have Pentium 4 3.00 Ghz and 1080p decoding loads the CPU between 40 and 80 percent. FFDshow is nearly as fast as CoreAVC, but with your setup it shouldn't be a major problem. If you want to try it out, go ahead and download file of your choice.

FFD Show Latest version

Free, old version of CoreAVC included in this package

Haali Media splitter

 

[ghanz]

SiLenTYL, CPU is running at a comfortable 35degr celcius. Actually the soundlevels are pretty comfortable also. The biggest noise producer is an older 500gb WD harddrive I put in there.

3dcoder, H264 is running pretty good with ffdshow, even x264 mkv files are running with dts sound. I had some problems there but was able to get it to work letting AC3 doing the passthruogh

I'm looking forward to start with MPII, but I have no idea when this will be.

thnx for the reply!

 

[ghanz]

rqst help with upscaling!

I'm currently in war with my codecs! In al my 'wisdom' I started with tweaking my codecs to upscale normal tv signal to 1920-1080. I know ffdshow has a upscal function, and tried to get this to work, however i get horizontal line structures (looks like a interlace problem) in my picture

request input as to how configure ffdshow for upscaling!

 

[Bussiebaer]

Eventghost works great to fill the gaps in remote controled htpc problems. (master volume). I'm working now with mce remote and keyboard. I even found a way to switch monitors with ultramon and eventghost, however i'm gonna try your option Muschi since the solution i'm using now is somewhat artificial (macro in eventghost using ultramon : MP exit fullscreen, switch monitor and fullscreen window in new monitor) The problem is of course that it lacks the flexibility to watch tv in 1 monitor while still using MP on the 7 inch lcd.

Can you switch Monitor with mce remote, or do you need the keyboard for this? How does this solution work out for you after the past months? I'm looking for a similar solution for an Inbuild-Touchscreen.

 

[SwingSultan]

i too have to ask why you picked a geforce 8800gts since it has no hd viedoaccelleration at all? are you playing quake 4 or something in or living room. the quadcore is a bit of an overkill too. why dont you use vista 64 or xp?