HTPC system for HDTV, MPEG4, H264 - Terratec Cinergy 2400i DT ? (1 Viewer)

[Dann]

Hello all!

I'm lookin' for components to build a new HDTV HTPC system. Let me say that i'm from Slovenia and here it 'll be used the DVB-T MPEG4 standard to transmit the tv signal that is already available in my area. So i was askin' myself what tuner to buy... here are the specs of the signal available to me:

Bitrate: 19,91 Mb/s
FEC: 2/3
Guard interval: 1/4
Mode: 8k
Modulation: 64 QAM

...i belive the stream is also in H.264...

My1. question:
Searchin' through this forum i found some info on the pci-e dual tuner Terratec Cinergy 2400i DT. So now i need some advice to find out if this tuner will do the trick or not - do anyone use this card to watch HDTV?


Here are the system specs of parts that i plan to buy soon:

-AMD ATHLON 64 X2 4000+
-Gigabyte GA-M56S-S3 (dual channel, onboard HD audio, SPDIF in/out)
-1GB of RAM (2x500MB)
-ATI HD 2600 pro (MPEG4 hardware acceleration)
-Terratec Cinergy 2400i DT - if it 'll do the trick
...the system will be connected to a plasma tv 1024x768 (720p) via VGA or HDMI cable, the audio will be also connected to a home theater surround 5.1 system via SPDIF...

My2. question:
The ATI HD 2600 pro has built in MPEG4 hardware acceleration that is used when watching a HD MPEG4 movie causing a big offload of the CPU. But will this be used when watching HD MPEG4 stream from the tuner? Does this stream even has to be decoded by the GPU, or it is already being decoded by the tuner? Does the tuner support 720p, 1080i (or even 1080p ) streams?


My3. question:
I think that the CPU is powerful enough to process an MPEG4 1080p movie, but what about when watching a HD MPEG4 channel from the tuner and recording another one - still enough power?


My4. question:
I plan to use the system's standby mode (S3) mostly and i've read that with the 2400i DT there is no problem... am i right?

If anyone sees anything wrong in the specs or thinks that anything should be changed, please let me know about - i'm all ears!

Thanks in advance for the answers!
Regards!
Dann

...and of course happy new year to everyone, especcialy to the Mediaportal team and for such a great piece of software!!!

 

[petsa]

My1. question:
Searchin' through this forum i found some info on the pci-e dual tuner Terratec Cinergy 2400i DT. So now i need some advice to find out if this tuner will do the trick or not - do anyone use this card to watch HDTV?

Yes, I use it to watch HDTV (h.264) with good results.

My2. question:
The ATI HD 2600 pro has built in MPEG4 hardware acceleration that is used when watching a HD MPEG4 movie causing a big offload of the CPU. But will this be used when watching HD MPEG4 stream from the tuner? Does this stream even has to be decoded by the GPU, or it is already being decoded by the tuner? Does the tuner support 720p, 1080i (or even 1080p ) streams?

I can not comment specifically on HD2600 since I have Nvidia 8600GT but both have HW-acceleration. The HW-acc will be used when watching a h264 TV-stream, and the decoding done in the GPU and not by the tuner. I have only tried it for 720p so I can not comment on the other streams.

My3. question:
I think that the CPU is powerful enough to process an MPEG4 1080p movie, but what about when watching a HD MPEG4 channel from the tuner and recording another one - still enough power?

I'm not sure why this should be a problem. When you record the stream is not decoded and there is less CPU needed for this. The channel you are watching will be decoded by the GPU. I have a Intel C2D 2.6GHz and it sits at about 5-10% util when watching a HDTV stream, it used to be 50% before I added the graphics card with HW-acc.

My4. question:
I plan to use the system's standby mode (S3) mostly and i've read that with the 2400i DT there is no problem... am i right?

Should be OK, that was the main reason I changed to this card from Twinhan 3040 and Hauppage T500.

Hope this helps!

/Peter

 

[Dann]

Hi Petsa!
I was reallay hopin' to catch you on this thread
THX a lot for your answers! That was a BIG help to me!
...i think later i'll post another question that is botherin' me...

 

[petsa]

Glad I could help! I'm not an expert in the area but the many nights tuning the system hopefully tought me something...

/Peter

 

[Dann]

So here it goes...
My5. question:
I was unable to find any DVR-MS file sample, so i wonder, what is the file size of one hour long video file recorded from a DVB-T HD (MPEG4) stream?
...and i would like to know the same for a DVB-T (MPEG2) stream... can please anyone provide that info?


...this leads to My6. question about the HDD...
According to the info about file sizes, will be a WD 500GB HDD enough to be able to record a HD channel while time-shifting another one? Will be the HDD fast enough to do it, or maybe i should put two HDDs - lets say a 120GB for time shifting purposes and a 500GB for recordings?


7. question
This is for owners of graphic cards with built in audio and HDMI connection:
I would like to output the audio on the spdif and HDMI simultaneously, so i wonder if spdif out from an onboard soundcard and the sound from HDMI output of an ATI HD 2600 pro (or similar) will work at the same time? Can anyone please confirm this please?


Thx in advance for the answers!

 

[Dann]

...me again... ...sorry for bumpin' this, but i really want to buy the parts for my htpc as soon as possible...

8. question
I'm really unsure which DVB-T tuner to buy, so i would like to know the pros. and cons. for every of next models:

- Terratec Cinergy 2400i DT (dual DVB-T, supports S3 - standby, didn't found any complainin' post on MPs forum, how fast is this tuner when switching channels??) product link: http://tven.terratec.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=240

- Leadtek - DTV1000 T (dual DVB-T, in the specs it claims to support S3/S4 - can anyone confirm this?, didn't find any posts about it on MPs forum) product link: http://www.leadtek.com/uk/tv_tuner/overview.asp?lineid=6&pronameid=220

- Leadtek - DTV2000 H (hybrid - analog/DVB-T, in the specs it claims to support S3/S4 - can anyone confirm this?, did find lots of complainin' posts about it (like the analog part not workin' in MP, no radio, "unable to create graph" - is this solved yet?) product link: http://www.leadtek.com/uk/tv_tuner/overview.asp?lineid=6&pronameid=252

- please add any dual dvbt or hybrid tuner that meets followin' requirements:


- S3 (standby) support
- it has to be fast and responsive (when switching channels - hopefully less than 1 second)
- will be used for H.264 mpeg4 HD content (and analog - if hybrid) and mpeg2 content
- has to be fully supported by MP
- not a must, but will be better if supports PIP (picture in picture) - is PIP supported yet in the TV section of MP?

...my thought is generally if the tuner is for mpeg2 content it wil allso do mpeg 4 HD content - is this right?

Please mention the pros. and cons. about theese tuners.


BIG THANKS to anyone who will try to blow away this dense fog in my head!

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

5 File size is only slightly larger if in mpeg4\H.264 approx 1.5 gig per hour

6 No problems, can record 6 or more channels at once, seagate 320gb recording\timeshifting the only limit is recorded hours.

7 Cannot help with this one.

8 My vote Terratec 2400i, no known issue's besides the odd faulty one on delivery.

 

[petsa]

Hi Dann,

On no 5 I got a larger file size than Ray. I think for an h264 broadcast I get around 3GB per hour or so. Don't have any examples to verify but I recall it is about that size. With regular (Mpeg2 it is about 800MB/hour). For SVT-HD (Swedish Television test channel) you get about 4x bitstream speed for 720p compared to SDTV.

On 6 I guess it depends on how many recordings you have

Can't help on 7 and you have my vote on 8 already...

/Peter

 

[Dann]

Hi guys! I meant to post this one month ago, but nothing changed since then, so here it is...

Me again ... and still with the same problem - what tunner for HD?
...I already got the parts for the HTPC and got it running without the case (that i'll build my own) but still didn't got the tunner
I contacted at least 7 pc shops about the Terratec Cinergy 2400i DT (in and out of my country), but neither of those shops had any card left and seems to be unavailable in Europe now for awhile (semms to me like the production is halted - hope not ended)... can't get a second hand card either...
So now i'm looking for an alternative and the only one that i can get seems to be the Pinnacle PCTV Dual DVB-T Pro PCI 2000i, but i already found out some issues and i would like to ask you guys to help me out here:

-will it handle HD? and what does this in the specs mean "2x HDTV support (Australia only)" - is this just 'cause no H.264 support is implemented in their software? - so no problem for MP?

-is there any true of the issues mentioned in this review and on the AVforums ?

-If turns out that this card is not suitable for an implementation like mine, seems that i have to go for two single tuners and i would really appreciate all of yours suggestions and reccomandations.


... i'll start to build the case soon and will post some pics in the "Ongoing HTPC Projects" section...

THX all of you! ...best supported comunity forum ever...

 

[petsa]

Hi Dann,

So far I have been a strong promoter of Terratec 2400i but recently I found an issue with the card. When I resume from S3 standby I typically (but not always) MyTV will freeze after some 3-10 minutes. This is discussed here https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/general-talk-233/problem-terratec-2400i-standby-modes-35171/

The workaround (for now) is to use S1 standby instead.

The issue is annoying but fairly simple to work around, switch channel and then back again. However, if this happens during timeshift you loose all "timeshifted" material.

I've contacted Terratec support but got no answer so far. This may have to do with the combo of 2400i and my mobo, haven't had time to test it on my other PC yet.

/Peter