SA 8300 HD with DVI & DVR - Page 7

You can use the "Copy To VCR" feature in more interesting ways than just archiving. e.g. I have my 2nd output on the 8300HD going to an ATI all-in-wonder card on my PC, which then streams video to any other PC in the house (including wireless to notebook). Now if I want to watch something on the main tv and the kids want to watch a PVRd show at the same time in the office they can. Just start the "Copy to VCR" on the show they want to watch (which gets streamed to office PC) and then resume doing whatever you want on the main tv.

2nd minor point - if you need to do a long run between the PVR and your 2nd TV (or PC), the RF output on the 8300HD also supports the "Copy to VCR". Quality isn't great but it works.

Minor inconvenience is that they can't control the 8300HD output but they can use ATI's built in PVR features to pause if they want to.

-Adam

Anybody in this thread/forum have the 8300HD in the Columbia, SC T-W market? Thanks!

Vidguy,

Most people have reported 20 hrs HD recording on either the 8000HD or 8300HD. I wonder if you need a larger sample (record more HD programs). Another thought is that perhaps Cox is using a higher data rate (less compression) than other cable systems.

Good morning everyone,
for my first post I thought I'd dive right in with a doozy. I have kind of an odd off beat question that I figured if anyone could tackle it would be y'all.

Does this unit have any other video outs other than the HDMI or Component? If not here's the follow up question how does "digital cable" (that being SD non HD) look through component. Can non HD or SD be viewed through component and still be viewable on a NON HDTV? Is this question making sense?

Let me explain-I'm close to making the HD plunge ($ willing sooner than later) however, in the meantime my biggest gripe with TW has been their lack of broadcasting in DD 5.1. Now as I understand it I can get 5.1 through this new HD 8300 DVR as it has an optical out (yay!). I've already worked with the folks at Time Warner who have been very helpful in saying they will swap my current DVR box to this new one so I can get the 5.1. However, I have yet to determine through the Technical support if there are any other video outs (S video perhpas?) or if I can watch non HD/SD programing through a compoenet connection to a NON HDTV and have the picture be okay.

I know evvery unusual request and yes the easy thing to do is just get and HDTV and be done with it. Tell that to my wallet (LOL).

Have I made sense here? Thanks in advance
Alex

Alex,

I'll take an initial "stab" at your question, though others may expand/correct it a bit.

First of all, I suspect that the issue on 5.1 is not that Time Warner is not "broadcasting it" (they are), but that the Digital Box that you have currently does not have an digital audio output. I'm in Rochester, NY and Time Warner here carries lots of stuff (on the Digital Tier) with 5.1 - even the HBO/Showtime "On-Demand" channels. Of course, the original source needs to have 5.1.

The 8000HD/8300HD boxes do have "other" video outputs. They both do have S-Video outputs connections. Unfortunately, how the S-Video outputs work are dependent on the operating system used on the box. This depends on the particular cable system. Someplaces the S-Video is active on any SD channel and in other places it is only active in Picture in Picture or "Copy to VCR" operations.

But the great news for your situation is that these HD DVRs can be setup to primarily output SD (480i). Then the S-Video IS active at all times and you can get composite on the "Y" component output. So you can get the unit now and use it with your SD TV. The only problem is that some cable systems will not provide a HD DVR to customers unless they actually have a HD-Ready TV.

Another "heads up" is that some current users of the 8300HD have reported that when HDMI is used that 5.1 is turned off. I am not sure if this has yet been resolved anywhere. I should also note that these DVRs also have both optical and coax digital audio outputs.

A HA! Thanks Dave that's what I wanted to see. I've got the HDbox situation without having HDTV worked out already. It's amazing what happens when a Time Warner retail manager overhears a conversation that a sales guy with CC and I were having about me switching back to DTV b/c I can no longer live without 5.1.

I never would have left DTV in the first place but I'm in an area that was covered by Pegasus. Don't know if you know about that wholde deal but let's just say Pegasus failed to meet my needs. Now they are gone and I could go back to DTV if I wanted. All of this was by chance that the TW guy just happned to be in the store, heard he was about to lose a customer, and attakced-as a sales guy myself, I was impressed he spoke up.

So back to the point here....I connect from the 8300DVR via S Video out for video directly into the TV. Then connect the sound via coaxial or optical the receiver and viola I finally have TW cable with 5.1? I may shed a tear I'm so happy. I've been waiting for this moment since 1999. Oh, and yes I know not all shows are broadcast in 5.1. The frustrating part was not getting the ones that were due to cable boxes that didn't have the digital output!

Texas_Longhorns:

I have a SARA 8300HD and the SD output is active ALL THE TIME. This is not the case with the 8000HD. I got rid of the 8000 because of this limitation and replaced it with the 8300.

If you connect either optical or digital out to your receiver, there's no reason you won't get DD 5.1 when it's being broadcast.

2/2 batting .1000! Thanks guys that's exactly what I wanted to see.
Alex

Make that 3/3, the S-Video is also active on my 8300 here in Phoenix running SARA 1.85.14.1 software. I never had an 8000, but IMO this 8300 is one nice unit. The HD PQ seems a tad brighter than on my old 3270, analog colors seem more robust though the image is slightly grainier, and digital PQ seems about the same. All in all I had absolutely no qualms about returning my 3270. I'm just glad I was able to turn my $500 purchase into a $10 rental way back when.

Not all content is the same size or bitrate, therefore "xx Hours of recording time" is varible based on the channel content and broadcaster.
Look at This Thread For a better understanding of the concept.

vegggas

vegggas,

FWIW, I did a quick check when I had approximately 6 hours recorded taking 34% and I computed a 17.7 hour capacity usingmy fuzzy math. I think VidGuy knows program sizes will vary, but I don't know what hour of programming he recorded for his test. If he happened to select one of the larger sized programs, that would certainly skew his computation. Since he is a member of our local forum, I gave him some of my numbers from the DVR HDD Info screen just to make sure his are similar. I'll have to try the technique from the link you posted sometime to see how hard it is to catch the file size.

Apparently, this issue has been resolved by some people (see post #140 earlier in this thread)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...01#post4611601

Some users have reported not seeing the necessary option in the user menu. Seems that you need a more recent firmware.

Ross

For the record, the San Diego feed at full bitrate from Cox, will fill my drive with only about 19 hours of content. HBO, on the other hand, will hold about 26 hours of content easily. Starz HD programming will hold even more, depending on content.
You should also consider that the percentage of drive space used is just an estimate based on the closest whole number to the total remaining space of the drive, including the space of the buffers.
As an example, if you calculated your drive space total (100%) divided by space used (34%) = 2.94 and multiply that by your hours used (6), you get your value of 17.7 hours of total estimated space.
In reality, you should be multiplying by the TOTAL amount of hours stored including the 1 hour of buffer time. 2.94 x 7 = 20.5 hours of estimated HD recording space.
That's not to say the 1 hour buffer is included in your total recording time, but if you base your estimated recording time on remaining space available, then it has to be factored in as a variable to the equation.
Confused yet? I have filled my drive many times to see what happens and it does hold roughly 20 hours of HD content, give or take some time, depending on the source material.

vegggas

edit: if you ever do fill your drive, it will go to 99% and then have buffer problems. Once that happens, you have to delete some content to make space available. Then you MUST power off the box, pull the AC plug for 30 seconds, then while holding the power button, insert the power plug while it reboots and resets the software.
v

vegggas, do you spend all your waking hours testing this stuff? Thanks for the info.

I still haven't tested an 8300 yet, but SA follows a series of models throughout a product's history, so it gets to be easy after a while. And yes, I do spend a lot of time testing this stuff. Who needs sleep anyway?

vegggas

Quick question what us the digital out on this box? Digital Coaxial or Optical?
Thanks,
Alex

Both.

thanks

Were the issues with Samsung DLPs and HDMI ever resolved?

Hi, I just got an 8300HD PVR about two weeks ago, and I can't figure out how to match the remote to my Amp. I tried searching for a remote guide on TW & SA websites, but no match for the remote they gave me. All the prior remotes say to press and hold Select + AUX and it will blink twice. Mine doesn't blink twice. Any ideas? My remote looks just like all the previous generations, except it has an Audio button as well as AUX on the top. 5 total.

I've got SA looking at an unusual condition on my 8300HD. The mute does not work on Digital audio out. The display says mute but it isn't silenced at the 8300. The display at the STB says 00 output level but still talking. In other audio out selected the mute works. Last night I tested all outputs and digitals don't mute but stereo pair and modulated RF audio content do mute. Anybody else?

TerryB

Yup. Same here. Noticed it a couple of weeks ago. (SARA TWC)

TerryB - are you testing the SA8300HD for TWC - Houston or is it now available to regular customers?

When I hit either volume up/down or mute on my remote, it seems to default to the "TV" button (TV lights up, not cable).

I'm still looking for anyone who has had success hooking this DVR up via the HDMI to a Toshiba 57H83 (or any Toshiba) DVI port.

Anyone....?

JFR0317,
As far as I know they are not yet released. The only new issue is the mute problem I have seen but so far no verification on another rig. Maybe specific hardware problem. On the otherhand, mute works on "other" but not DD. Would you believe the SA tech couldn't test Fiber output?

TerryB

I though I read somewhere that the Volume Button does not control digital audio outs, that has to be controlled by your receiver or whatever you have them connected to.

I believe volume controls have no effect on digital outputs. This has been the case with every SA SARA digital box I've ever seen, including old ones going back 5 years. Maybe Passport is different, but I doubt it.

That's been my experience. (SARA, TWC)

David

Pradeep,
You need to program the remote to use the receiver volume. Digital out only switches off at a certain low point but does not vary between on and off. Back in the manual for the remote it tells you how to move the volume control to which ever device should be in charge without loosing the other control functions of the STB.

TerryB