initial support for Hauppuage HD-PVR (2 Viewers)

[ixian]

Ok, I think I've finally caught up and gotten things working to the point where I'm having the same problem as the rest of you now More on that in a second, but first - Codec setup.

For weeks now I've never been able to view live or recorded TV in MP at all with my HDPVR. It was maddening, because I had confirmed that the TV Server was working - manual timeshifting/recording/tuning worked, at least, but I would never see it on the client (either single-seat or remote). I finally set up my laptop as a MP center/TV client using the latest SVN (actually, forum member Disaster's custom build based off it), and I was able to get audio and very garbled video. After cleaning out all the existing codecs on the laptop, installing and configuring the SAF codec pack recommended here on the MP forums, and finally disabling EVR and using VMR9/exclusive mode (I am using Vista64 on the laptop) I got full video and sound! The quality isn't that great however, and it stutters, ever so slightly.

Can any of you offer any tips on your client codecs/plugin setup? I tried it using both MPC and CoreAVC 1.9 and neither was significantly better than the other - they work, but quality is so-so. I think it might be related to the fact I'm not using EVR - when that is enabled in Directshow properties I get no video/audio at all and the client either locks up or times out and loses connection to the TV Server. This is on a Core2Duo 2.13 laptop, 4gb memory, Nvidia 9400m/latest WHQL drivers, Vista x64, and the March 1st Disaster SVN build based off the 2/25/09 SVN.

Are any of you using EVR/have good quality video/audio, and how did you get it to work? Can someone share their working codec settings/setup with me?

Also, I'm guessing that now that I can actually see video the lengthy channel changing I'm also seeing is the very problem Garry and Wile now have been trying to solve for some time? It takes me about 13-14 seconds from the time I select a channel to the time it actually comes up.

Using my living room tv, which is directly connected to my dishnetwork box, I was able to watch the process while my Mediaportal box changed channels. On the Dish side, I can see the blaster (I am using the Hauppauge one in the HDPVR for now) change the channel, and it's reasonable fast - about 3-4 seconds, which I know I can tweak down using the Hauppauge blaster config (it's using default settings). The point is, on the Dish box it takes about 3-4 seconds for the channel to change and video/audio to start, then there's another 10 or so second lag before MediaPortal catches up.

This is the same problem you all are working on, correct? If so, it's still there - I'm using the TVLibrary.dll & DirectShowLib.dll Wile just provided, above, and it still happens.

Thanks for any help and thanks for all the work on this so far!!

 

[WileECoyote]

ixian,
As far as the codecs go, I posted my settings on post 262 of this thread -> https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/380875-post262.html

Have you installed the Arcsoft TME software that came with your HD-PVR?

 

[WileECoyote]

I had problems with channel changing of the 2/28 build, so here is a new build that goes with the 2/25 build of MP TVServer. I have reduced the PMT time, so timeshifting starts in 2-4 seconds and channel changes are around the same.

Thanks again to sjeffrey for helping me test!!!

 

[ixian]

Thanks! I missed your post earlier.

I have not installed Arcsoft on the remote client that actually works right now (my laptop). I do, however, have it installed on both the TVServer (for singleseat) and the actual remote client I want to use, an AMD780g setup. As of last night, TV viewing didn't work on either of them although I didn't try disabling EVR on them, only on my laptop (which then started working).

Now that I am sure it's a codec issue I'll keep plugging away at it. Maybe it's my video drivers - the TVServer and my remote client are both ATI based (4830 and 3200, Catalyst 9.1 drivers) while my laptop is Nvidia.

Thank you for the new TVLibrary build; I'll try that out tonight when I get home.

 

[sjeffrey]

ixian
You mentioned that your client stutters a little. I do see this after a channel change and all I need to do is to pause for a second and resume. You could give that a try.

 

[ixian]

Thanks sjeffrey, I did try that, but the problem remained. Maybe "stutter" is the wrong term; it's just not very high quality, kind of like watching a lower-bitrate movie file. I'm certain it has something to do with my codec/video driver setup.

 

[WileECoyote]

Thanks sjeffrey, I did try that, but the problem remained. Maybe "stutter" is the wrong term; it's just not very high quality, kind of like watching a lower-bitrate movie file. I'm certain it has something to do with my codec/video driver setup.

Have you checked your bit-rate settings in the Arcsoft Software? If you open the Arcsoft Total Media (on the server) and preview the HD-PVR, you can click the Format button to see the current bit-rate setting. If its too low it will look pixilated, but be careful not to go too high as it will take longer to load and will stutter. I have both mine set on 8-Low Setting and 13-High Setting. Some others also play around with the Constant, Varible Peak and Variable Average settings. I seem to get the best quality with the Constant setting.

 

[ixian]

I'll give that a try when I get home. Wouldn't that affect how it looks in TMT too, though? Locally, viewing it in TMT it looks almost perfect, hard to even see a difference from the regular feed. Recordings made with TMT look the same. It's only in the MP TV client I am seeing this problem.

I'll give the settings a try anyway, can't hurt

 

[sjeffrey]

It seems I narrowed done my issue. As I was telling WileE, the latest TVServer patch build is stable until I use ServerBlaster. For my current setup, I have to use the HD PVR's blaster for channel changing. My set top box doesn't support serial or firewire. IR Server Suite might of been an option but last I hear it still doesn't support Hauppauge blasting. Besides I'm using iMon because it came with my HTPC case (Antec Fusion) and they aren't compatible together.

All this to say, if I use TVServer's manual control, I will successfully start timeshift once and get the right channel change. When I stop the timeshift then it all goes wrong. The following time I try to start timeshift it throws and error. At that point I am forcer to power cycle the PVR and restart TVServer service. If I remove the ServerBlaster plugin, I can start/stop timeshift as many times as I want.

On the other hand. If I start everything fresh, go to MP and use TV normally it seems to work correctly. I'm guessing that the client starts the timeshift onces and the rest is just straight channel change and that's why it's working correctly.

If I get a chance I might look at what's going on with the custom build of ServerBlaster for Hauppauge.

Thanks to all who are putting to effort in getting this to work.

 

[ixian]

I rebuilt the Serverblaster plugin (the one already customized for Hauppauge) against the latest svn and with the HDPVR in mind; just some minor fixes. It works fine for me now, feel free to test it if you like. I'll attach it here; it's also in the original thread for that plugin.

I'm working on getting it to work with two HDPVR's but as that depends on the Hauppauge blaster software and it isn't too friendly with more than one device it may prove impossible.