AVS › AVS Forum › HDTV › HDTV Recorders › Nextcom R5000-HD (For Satellite and OTA HD Recording)
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Nextcom R5000-HD (For Satellite and OTA HD Recording) - Page 10

post #271 of 1609
6/20/04 at 5:27pm
HDTVFanAtic--

It sounds like you have MyHD's desktop preview overlay window active during your capture. With a 3+GHz system, you should see a lot lower CPU use if you turn off the overlay to give a more apples-to-apples comparison with CapDVHS, etc.
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #272 of 1609
6/20/04 at 6:27pm
Don't get me wrong - I understand the card is in the computer on the main bus so I know it's going to be higher than having a firewire feed from the outside....or I would hope so.

I am really not trying to get comparison of MyHD - only to find out what type of CPU this option usually takes up.
Reply
Reply
post #273 of 1609
6/20/04 at 6:39pm
Capturing plus writing to HDD with MyHD should take only a few percent of CPU using typical current hardware--iff the overlay is off.
Reply
Reply
post #274 of 1609
6/21/04 at 12:49am
Does the R5000-HD modification contain an IR emitter port & IR emitter cable that changes channels on the STB in accordance with the program scheduled for recording through Zap2it.com on the PC?

If so, is the code able to address Dish 6000 IR code addresses 1-9?

Murray
Reply
Reply
post #275 of 1609
6/21/04 at 5:11am
What are the effects to the captured stream when you change from one HD channel to another while recording? I'd hate to ruin a recording if I changed channels by accident.
Reply
Reply
post #276 of 1609
6/21/04 at 6:06am
Is it possible to allow all of us to download clips? John
Reply
Reply
post #277 of 1609
6/21/04 at 1:12pm
Thread Starter 
I guess its time to answer a few questions...

Quote:


Originally posted by HDTVFanAtic
Out of curiosity, what kind of cpu usage do you see on your system when using the R5000-HD to capture a stream and which processor/ram are you using?

I am using a P4, 1.8G, 640MB. The R5000 alone uses about 25-30% cpu usage. Starting MyHD to timeshift (playback while recording at the same time) makes the total 40-50% usage (overlay off) or 91-100% (overlay on). No data loss was evident through the 100% usage peaks.

Quote:


Originally posted by mkerdman
Does the R5000-HD modification contain an IR emitter port & IR emitter cable that changes channels on the STB in accordance with the program scheduled for recording through Zap2it.com on the PC?

If so, is the code able to address Dish 6000 IR code addresses 1-9?

Murray

The R5000-HD has ir sending and receiving capability. It will be integrated into the STB (no external IR diode or detector). The R5000 will respond to events scheduled on the STB or from zap2it via the "rec" links. A separate PVR app will hadle the zap2it requests and will be available soon for beta. We will be supporting the multiple remote address codes as well.


Quote:


Originally posted by taz291819
What are the effects to the captured stream when you change from one HD channel to another while recording? I'd hate to ruin a recording if I changed channels by accident.

The re-muxing sw should recover and restart the stream. However, playback will most likely be broken (several second black hole). This is an unpredictable situation and different decoders will respond to it in different ways. You should avoid doing this!


Quote:


Originally posted by ctdish
Is it possible to allow all of us to download clips? John

That is up to the owner of that server. We do not currently maintain a server for this purpose.
Reply
Reply
post #278 of 1609
6/21/04 at 1:23pm
Quote:


Originally posted by ctdish
Is it possible to allow all of us to download clips? John

John, I just sent you a PM with the info on downloading the sample clips. I don't want to post the site info publicly. If anyone else wants to download the sample clips, just send me a PM.

kevin
Reply
Reply
post #279 of 1609
6/21/04 at 2:08pm
Quote:


Originally posted by R5000-HD
I guess its time to answer a few questions...

I am using a P4, 1.8G, 640MB. The R5000 alone uses about 25-30% cpu usage. Starting MyHD to timeshift (playback while recording at the same time) makes the total 40-50% usage (overlay off) or 91-100% (overlay on). No data loss was evident through the 100% usage peaks.


-R

Are Atholon XP 2500+ processors and Motherboards with VIA chip sets likely to work as trouble free host PC's for the R5000-HD application and USB connection?
Reply
Reply
post #280 of 1609
6/21/04 at 4:33pm
Quote:


Originally posted by TPeterson
Capturing plus writing to HDD with MyHD should take only a few percent of CPU using typical current hardware--iff the overlay is off.

The comparison for throughput requirements I like to use now is the new HD-TIVO.

It has dual sat and OTA tuners.

The drive in it is a 5400 Maxtor 250 GB drive. It uses a Mips processor but I do not know the speed but it certainly is nothing like the P4 3 Ghz CPU cause the fastest MIPS processor gets smoked by the P4 in single CPU benchmarks.


The HD-TIVO can simultaneosly record 2 High Def def shows AND playback a pre-recorded one. Except for the red record light being on, you can not tell that it is doing all 3 things at the same time.
Reply
Reply
post #281 of 1609
6/21/04 at 4:49pm
Quote:


Originally posted by R5000-HD
I guess its time to answer a few questions...




Before I start down the path of 'allowing' my HD-TIVO to do the same thing as your modified STB (Which I can do for around $100 but invalidates the warranty), have you settled on a price for avsforum memebrs?

I have almostall the required stuff - PC,MYHD,MITS D-VHS,firewire and 2 spare leads on the Directv dish so I am only talking about the price for what YOU will be selling.

I know this has been answered but this thread has grown too long to find it so 1) who supplies the STB and 2) which Directv STB is the recommended one?

Joe
Reply
Reply
post #282 of 1609
6/21/04 at 6:05pm
Quote:


Originally posted by Joe Q
I know this has been answered but this thread has grown too long to find it so 1) who supplies the STB and 2) which Directv STB is the recommended one?

Joe

First post.
Reply
Reply
post #283 of 1609
6/21/04 at 9:37pm
Quote:


Originally posted by R5000-HD
I guess its time to answer a few questions...



I am using a P4, 1.8G, 640MB. The R5000 alone uses about 25-30% cpu usage. Starting MyHD to timeshift (playback while recording at the same time) makes the total 40-50% usage (overlay off) or 91-100% (overlay on). No data loss was evident through the 100% usage peaks.



Thanks - is it running that high due to error trapping in the beta software or do you expect the R5000 to use that much overall in the final release?
Reply
Reply
post #284 of 1609
6/22/04 at 7:30am
Thread Starter 
Quote:


Originally posted by HDTVFanAtic
Thanks - is it running that high due to error trapping in the beta software or do you expect the R5000 to use that much overall in the final release?

I don't think that is very high. We were very happy to see it averaging below 30%. Code optimized for final release will probably run a little cooler, but not by a lot.
Reply
Reply
post #285 of 1609
6/22/04 at 11:12am
I have a question.

What is the life expectancy of the receivers listed on the first page, I mean what is preventing Dish or Directv from shutting those receivers down in a year?
Reply
Reply
post #286 of 1609
6/22/04 at 11:17am
With respect to DirecTV, I have not heard of them shutting down any of the early receivers. If someone else has better information, please let us know.
Reply
Reply
post #287 of 1609
6/22/04 at 12:44pm
Here is a question: Since you are able to change channels and receive a stream from this modification, have you considered writing a BDA driver (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...interfaces.asp) for the interface? That would allow it to plug directly into applications like Windows Media Center edition, which would be amazingly cool.

Short of a full BDA driver wrapper, are there DirectShow interaces for the MPEG stream?
Reply
Reply
post #288 of 1609
6/22/04 at 11:21pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:


Originally posted by stgdz
I have a question.

What is the life expectancy of the receivers listed on the first page, I mean what is preventing Dish or Directv from shutting those receivers down in a year?

Short answer: absolutely nothing. Long answer: E* swithced over their modulation scheme recently to get more bandwidth so they should be set for quite a while. Any change for them at this point would require a major (and unecessary) $$ outlay. D* is not using 8PSK so if they run out of room on their transponders they may contemplate changing modulation. However, their customer base is much larger than E* and while it is possible for D* to have been shipping boxes capable of demodulating 8PSK for the last 6+ months, that still leaves millions of older STBs that would need to be swapped out. If they do it, I would think it would have to be phased-in or co-exist (they may add new HD channels that are 8PSK, but it wouldn't be easy to just switch everything over).
Reply
Reply
post #289 of 1609
6/22/04 at 11:35pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:


Originally posted by jamesmil
Here is a question: Since you are able to change channels and receive a stream from this modification, have you considered writing a BDA driver (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...interfaces.asp) for the interface? That would allow it to plug directly into applications like Windows Media Center edition, which would be amazingly cool.

Short of a full BDA driver wrapper, are there DirectShow interaces for the MPEG stream?

We have thought about DirectShow /DirectX interfacing. I am not familiar with the "BDA" terminology but it seems like they both offer similar results (allowing other apps to access the R5000, e.g. like a tuner/capture card). It is on our list but is probably further down the road in terms of development. PVR functionality and other things that a lot of folks have asked for are getting higher priority.
Reply
Reply
post #290 of 1609
6/23/04 at 8:31am
Quote:


We have thought about DirectShow /DirectX interfacing. I am not familiar with the "BDA" terminology but it seems like they both offer similar results (allowing other apps to access the R5000, e.g. like a tuner/capture card). It is on our list but is probably further down the road in terms of development. PVR functionality and other things that a lot of folks have asked for are getting higher priority.

The thing is, allowing Directshow interfacing means that other people can do the work of getting other apps to access it and interfacing with it like a capture card. Once it has Directshow capability, it should be much less work to get it working with SageTV, BeyondTV, etc.

Please don't build an independant stand alone PVR application. This is the route most of the OTA HD capture cards have taken, and the results in my mind are suboptimal. Allowing other applications (such as the above) to interface with it means your card can leverage the significant development these companies have put into their software. As a bonus, the consumer gets to have one application control HD, SD, DVD, etc.. It's the Holy Grail of HTPCs as far as I'm concerned.
Reply
Reply
post #291 of 1609
6/23/04 at 9:16am
Quote:


Originally posted by jjarmoc
The thing is, allowing Directshow interfacing means that other people can do the work of getting other apps to access it and interfacing with it like a capture card. Once it has Directshow capability, it should be much less work to get it working with SageTV, BeyondTV, etc.

Please don't build an independant stand alone PVR application. This is the route most of the OTA HD capture cards have taken, and the results in my mind are suboptimal. Allowing other applications (such as the above) to interface with it means your card can leverage the significant development these companies have put into their software. As a bonus, the consumer gets to have one application control HD, SD, DVD, etc.. It's the Holy Grail of HTPCs as far as I'm concerned.

I don't use SageTV, BeyondTV, or any of those, but I see your point, it would be nice to allow Directshow interfacing.

Unless of course they are working on something with MIT and the MyHD software, though I'm biased since I have a MyHD card. Hopefully Cliff or Kei can pursade the guys at MIT to incorporate the PVR functions.
Reply
Reply
post #292 of 1609
6/23/04 at 10:08am
Quote:


Originally posted by taz291819
I don't use SageTV, BeyondTV, or any of those, but I see your point, it would be nice to allow Directshow interfacing.

If Nextcom makes the R5000-HD accessible for development and porting to other PVR front-end software/hardware and EPG services, they would be wise to do so in an agnostic way so that many such products/services (i.e. MyHD, accessDTV, SageTV, BeyondTV) could be made to be R5000-HD enabled.
Reply
Reply
post #293 of 1609
6/23/04 at 10:46am
Quote:


Originally posted by mkerdman
If Nextcom makes the R5000-HD accessible for development and porting to other PVR front-end software/hardware and EPG services, they would be wise to do so in agnostic way so that many such products/services (i.e. MyHD, accessDTV, SageTV, BeyondTV) could be made to be R5000-HD enabled.

Agreed.
Reply
Reply
post #294 of 1609
6/23/04 at 11:36am
Quote:


Originally posted by mkerdman
If Nextcom makes the R5000-HD accessible for development and porting to other PVR front-end software/hardware and EPG services, they would be wise to do so in agnostic way so that many such products/services (i.e. MyHD, accessDTV, SageTV, BeyondTV) could be made to be R5000-HD enabled.

second'd

This would definately be a great thing for the HTPC.
Reply
Reply
post #295 of 1609
6/23/04 at 1:10pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:


Originally posted by jjarmoc
The thing is, allowing Directshow interfacing means that other people can do the work of getting other apps to access it and interfacing with it like a capture card. Once it has Directshow capability, it should be much less work to get it working with SageTV, BeyondTV, etc.

Please don't build an independant stand alone PVR application. This is the route most of the OTA HD capture cards have taken, and the results in my mind are suboptimal. Allowing other applications (such as the above) to interface with it means your card can leverage the significant development these companies have put into their software. As a bonus, the consumer gets to have one application control HD, SD, DVD, etc.. It's the Holy Grail of HTPCs as far as I'm concerned.

Too late! But if you think about it from a developers point of view it makes sense NOT to build in a Directshow i/f, at least not initially. You want to have a platform with as few layers as possible so that it is robust, easy to test and debug. With Directshow you have to specify that the user has the proper Windows components & version installed in addition to one of the apps you mentioned. With our stand-alone app the requirements are much simpler. For beta testing it would spell disaster - are the problems coming from improperly installed DirectX components, incompatabilities with SageTV, etc, etc. More things must work successfully in concert. So, that's why we have left Directshow development for later. IMHO I think our stand alone app is pretty good -It may not look fancy but its easy to use and does what its supposed to! But by no means are we closing the door to using Directshow. We do hope to be supporting it at some point...
Reply
Reply
post #296 of 1609
6/23/04 at 1:31pm
R5000-HD:

Any idea as to when you will have your Website up and running?
Reply
Reply
post #297 of 1609
6/23/04 at 1:35pm
Quote:


Originally posted by R5000-HD
You want to have a platform with as few layers as possible so that it is robust, easy to test and debug. With Directshow you have to specify that the user has the proper Windows components & version installed in addition to one of the apps you mentioned. With our stand-alone app the requirements are much simpler.

-R

I have to agree.

As much as I would like options described above, I would vastly prefer the reliability of a single-purpose Linux-like appliance when scheduling and firing a string of back-to-back recording events, which is essentially what the D* DirecTivo and E* DVR's are.

Having multiple front-end schedulers is far less important that having rock solid predictable scheduled recording execution.

Simple, reliable, every time.

The emphasis on file compatibility makes the possibility of a wide variety of the R5000-HD's transport streams playback and archival alternatives on all industry standardized software/hardware.
Reply
Reply
post #298 of 1609
6/23/04 at 11:01pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:


Originally posted by RickD_99
R5000-HD:

Any idea as to when you will have your Website up and running?

Could have something up near the end of next week. Anything specific I can help you with in the mean time? If not something you wanna share, send me a pm.

-R
Reply
Reply
post #299 of 1609
6/24/04 at 1:56am
Just to let people know about the playback of the recorded files, the two I tried played great. I'm not a beta tester for the R5000, but I wanted to see for myself the playback of the recorded streams. I dl'ed the EmpireDirecTv file (since I watched it on HDNetMovies) and the HBODirectv6.15 file. As I said, both played back just fine on my MDP-100 MyHD card.

I'm really looking forward to this solution, just in time for NFL season.

Edit:
BTW, FWIW, last month I dl'ed one of the HBO (DirecTv) files recorded with the 169Time solution and it would not playback via my MDP-100.
Reply
Reply
post #300 of 1609
6/24/04 at 8:51am
Quote:


Originally posted by R5000-HD
Short answer: absolutely nothing. Long answer: E* swithced over their modulation scheme recently to get more bandwidth so they should be set for quite a while. Any change for them at this point would require a major (and unecessary) $$ outlay. D* is not using 8PSK so if they run out of room on their transponders they may contemplate changing modulation. However, their customer base is much larger than E* and while it is possible for D* to have been shipping boxes capable of demodulating 8PSK for the last 6+ months, that still leaves millions of older STBs that would need to be swapped out. If they do it,

I would think it would have to be phased-in or co-exist (they may add new HD channels that are 8PSK, but it wouldn't be easy to just switch everything over).

D* could certainly do exactly what E* did and change all current HD as well as new HD to 8PSK. Their installed HD base is probably pretty small like E*'s is. They probably could not care less if every one of their HD customers left, just like E*.

I'm glad I have E* and a couple of 6000's. I can't wait for the R5000-HD!

Mark
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: HDTV Recorders

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › HDTV › HDTV Recorders › Nextcom R5000-HD (For Satellite and OTA HD Recording)