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Posted by Bill's News on 02/18/07 23:12
"Smarty" <nobody@nobody.com> wrote in message
news:sJWdnbvW8tsfQErYnZ2dnUVZ_r-onZ2d@adelphia.com...
> Glad to. The PVR cards I use are PVR-150 and I have 2
> installed. They have released a newer version of the PVR card
> which is the PVR-250. The playback units in some of my rooms
> are also Hauppauge Media Extenders. They make a wired version
> for $99 and a wireless version for about $139/
>
> SageTV from FreyTechnologies is the software. The recording
> PVR software is called SageTV Server and is around $60 or $70.
> The client software, if you decide to use another PC as a
> client is Called SageTV Client for $29.
>
> The Hauppauge Media Extender mentioned above can be purchased
> directly from Frey Technologies with a Sage client license for
> $99.
>
> The electronic program guide is free, and very much like the
> TiVo. It also has current weather info for your local area.
> The Sage software is a way better and much more comprehensive
> product than TiVO, and allows me to view and select all of my
> music, photos, DVDs, and 2 terabytes (2000 GB) of video from
> any of the 6 TV's / monitors in my house.
>
> Hope this helps and answers your question.
>
Nice set up, Smarty! However, I felt constrained by this some
years ago, even though SDTV was all that I could then display.
I opted for PCs connected to TVs (most ever were three) because
of all the features provided by the PC - superior video player
software (most of it free) and local user functionality, of
course including internet access.
What I was recently pleased to discover was that, when I finally
got around to HDTV capture, nothing else changed. The same edit
software handles the data and the same player software handles
wired/wireless transmission of HDTV programs with the same ease
as SDTV. If the TV is SD, the picture is somewhat better,
albeit letterbox. If the TV is HD then the image is exactly as
transmitted originally. The 3 TVs are connected to their PCs
via component, VGA, or DVI.
So my little system is also "server" based, in that two PCs (one
does HDTV capture, while the other does SDTV capture, separated
because of software conflicts between the chosen vendors)
provide wired playback to each other and the third PC receives
wirelessly from either.
I've not found it necessary to implement "Sage" or any other
like it - I tried it years ago and didn't like it but can't
recall why, so that's an unfair slur on my part.
TitanTV, a customizable Guide, also interfaces to the schedulers
provided by many PVRs - including both that I'm using. Sadly,
the Hauppauge scheduler is not user-friendly and something like
Sage is a big improvement over it (may have something to do with
Hauppauge's catering to OEMs like Sage). The TitanTV site also
has an OK "favorites" section but it only supports hits in the
next 48 hours (they do support themselves with advertising, so
it's somewhat understandable that they want to increase visits).
It was not too difficult to write a VB program to fetch the
favorites compilation and organize it somewhat more to my liking
than Titan has. And, one nice thing about web based info is
that HTML filters almost entirely eliminate the undesirable
portions of such pages!
Add to this "The Futon Critic" a great site for what's new in
future prime time - worth a monthly visit to see what might be
of interest in coming months. I've scheduled programs predicted
by TFC months in advance and most recorded as planned (NBC is
unpredictable as they try desperately and ineffectively to dig
themselves out of their last place hole - hell they cancel shows
at the twitch of an eyebrow of right-wing, red state, red-neck
viewers;-0). But I digress.
My system is perhaps more techie to schedule but certainly not
to set up nor run - truly plug-n-play, if one is networking PCs
anyway. Hell, using wireless keyboards, even female visitors
can select a recording from the network and play it on the TV
they're looking at'-0) Sorry ladies, I could not resist! I'm
recommending three failed Marys to a four hour father as a
penance.
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