TV Tuner Hybrid Card usage on MediaPortal (1 Viewer)

[lafaki]

Hi,

I am in the process of deciding the final configuration for the HTPC that I want to build. One of the big dilemmas that I have is the selection of the TV Tuner card.

I was thinking initially to use an Analog PAL/DVB-T Hybrid TV Tuner card assuming that I could:
- have in MediaPortal both analog and digital TV channels
- browse between them (zapping) in a transparent manner with MediaPortal automatically switching the TV Tuner mode from analog to digital while browsing

However, after reading some postings about Hybrid TV Tuner cards, I was given the impression that my assumptions may not be valid.

I would appreciate if I could get any feedback in regards to the above dilemma, and especially from people that are using hybrid cards on their MediaPortals.

FYI, the card that I am thinking to buy is the:
HAUPPAUGE WINTV HVR-1100 HYBRID DVB-T & ANALOGUE TV+FM

/Akis

 

[mickelin]

I have been using HVR-1100 for a while a just got a second one.

In theory, it works exactly as you describe; transparent zapping between analog and digital. In my case I also have a couple of channels that transmit in both analog and digital and I can easily see the difference in picture quality by zapping back and forth.

In practise, there are a couple of things to be aware of:

1. Although the HVR-1100 and other hybrids have both analog and digital, it is not a dual tuner card. Only one of the tuners can be active at a time. However, MP sees the HVR-1100 as two separate cards. If you are recording an analog channel in the background and then start watching a digital channel, MP will not tell you that the tuner is busy, since it thinks one tuner is available. But of course, your recording is terminated... This problem is fixed in the TV-engine 3, where you can group the analog and digital tuners into one logical TV-card for MP.

2. A second problem I have is that sometimes when I switch from digital to analog, I loose the signal, resulting in black, silent screen. In those cases I have to re-initialise the card by hitting TV-Off and TV-On.

If you are mainly going to use analog, you should also consider the HVR-1300, since it has hardware encoding. That puts a lot less stress on your CPU.

Best of luck,
Michael

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

After DVB quality, would never use analogue unless absolutely necessary.

Why not a dual DVB-T

Just do not know about TV reception in Greece.

Good luck with whatever your choice.