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<blockquote data-quote="ixian" data-source="post: 421249" data-attributes="member: 54932">Hell you are more creative than me, I just use the internal blaster for one STB then used electrical tape to tap the external blaster to my other STB, which also blocks the sensor and insures the only IR signals it receives are from the blaster. Quick and dirty but hey, it works <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />I wanted to share something else - Inspired by Chesh, I went on a quest this weekend to get the PowerDVD 8 (not 9) mpeg and h.264 codecs installed and correctly configured on my system. Upon doing so (it was a bit of a pain) I discovered that not only could I now use them in Media Portal for TV (confirmed with GraphEdit) but they A) Did not have lip sync issues like CoreAVC and B) Look a whole lot better than the default Arcsoft codecs do with hardware acceleration turned on. I mean, an order of magnitude better, even my wife noticed. Also, the Arcsoft codec even with hardware acceleration tended to use about 25-35% CPU on my smaller system (4850e). The PDVD8 codec(s) have it at 10-15%, a very significant drop.So now my PC's run cooler, and in one case quieter - I have an AOpen MP45 (think Mac Mini) PC in my bedroom that would kick in it's loud CPU fan on high every few minutes with the Arcsoft codecs, with or without hardware enabled. The PowerDVD 8 codec not only looks better, but the fan never kicks on, telling me what I confirmed externally - it uses much less CPU power.So if you aren't doing it already I highly recommend you try the PowerDVD 8 codec (version 9 appears to have an issue with live TV in MP). It's far better than the Arcsoft one. Hell, I'm going to try 1080i now and see if it works.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="ixian, post: 421249, member: 54932"] Hell you are more creative than me, I just use the internal blaster for one STB then used electrical tape to tap the external blaster to my other STB, which also blocks the sensor and insures the only IR signals it receives are from the blaster. Quick and dirty but hey, it works :) I wanted to share something else - Inspired by Chesh, I went on a quest this weekend to get the PowerDVD 8 (not 9) mpeg and h.264 codecs installed and correctly configured on my system. Upon doing so (it was a bit of a pain) I discovered that not only could I now use them in Media Portal for TV (confirmed with GraphEdit) but they A) Did not have lip sync issues like CoreAVC and B) Look a whole lot better than the default Arcsoft codecs do with hardware acceleration turned on. I mean, an order of magnitude better, even my wife noticed. Also, the Arcsoft codec even with hardware acceleration tended to use about 25-35% CPU on my smaller system (4850e). The PDVD8 codec(s) have it at 10-15%, a very significant drop. So now my PC's run cooler, and in one case quieter - I have an AOpen MP45 (think Mac Mini) PC in my bedroom that would kick in it's loud CPU fan on high every few minutes with the Arcsoft codecs, with or without hardware enabled. The PowerDVD 8 codec not only looks better, but the fan never kicks on, telling me what I confirmed externally - it uses much less CPU power. So if you aren't doing it already I highly recommend you try the PowerDVD 8 codec (version 9 appears to have an issue with live TV in MP). It's far better than the Arcsoft one. Hell, I'm going to try 1080i now and see if it works. [/QUOTE]

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