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AutumnWave / OnAir USB HDTV Tuners - Page 5

post #121 of 2947
8/21/06 at 8:33pm
I am interested in the GT tuner, is Vista support available yet or forthcoming?
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post #122 of 2947
8/21/06 at 9:16pm
Ryan,

I've started backing up some VHS tapes using HDTV Creator and have a couple of questions on the audio encoder.

I haven't found a setting for audio sample rate and bitrate, are there such settings? Out of three tapes I recorded at 352x480 via the Video In, two audio streams were captured at Layer-2/44.1KHz/384Kbps, and one was captured at Layer-1/48KHz/256Kbps, as shown using VideoReDo... Also, is it possible to record PCM audio (useful for converting to AC3 before buring a DVD)?

It seems that the recorded volume is somewhat high compared to hearing the source volume when monitoring/recording. Not sure if it's high enough to introduce distortion though. Is there a record volume level control?

Thanks,
CP
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post #123 of 2947
8/22/06 at 1:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jgenemans View Post

.... I also request that volume also be independant of each channel ...

YES! Individual volume trims for each channel is sorely needed since the broadcasters refuse to properly calibrate their DT station's audio level.
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post #124 of 2947
8/23/06 at 9:42am
Mac, you can adjust the volume control per each audio channel, however, it is a global change.

options->dec/encoder-> click on "audio" radio button near top left ; in Advanced section, check "enable" then click on "config".

Nvidia audio decoder applet opens. On audio tab, click on "calibrate" button near center/right. On Calibrate window, five vertical sliders will bee on right side to adjust the five channels +/- 10dB.

enjoy!
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post #125 of 2947
8/23/06 at 10:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rpertusio View Post


The OnAir HDTV Program that comes with the OnAir GT is a feature-rich program . Looking at this thread, you may see that a new version of the program is churned out by our talented developers about once a month (or so.) The other devices either have poor quality proprietary software, or bundled with 3rd party applications. The OnAir GT already works with SageTV & BeyondTV (and we're working on adding support for even more.)

Ryan,

Can OnAir GT produce 19.4Mbps constant bit rate raw transport steam data files which can be played with hardware decoder cards such as HiDTV and MyHD?

Thanks.
DonP
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post #126 of 2947
8/23/06 at 12:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince Vlad View Post

Mac, you can adjust the volume control per each audio channel, however, it is a global change.

options->dec/encoder-> click on "audio" radio button near top left ; in Advanced section, check "enable" then click on "config".

Nvidia audio decoder applet opens. On audio tab, click on "calibrate" button near center/right. On Calibrate window, five vertical sliders will bee on right side to adjust the five channels +/- 10dB.

enjoy!

I guess I didn't make it clear that I meant TV channels not left, right, center, etc channels.

Around here, CBS is at least 10db louder than all the other channels and NBC is another 3db softer than ABC and Fox. This makes channel surfing a royal PITA since you pretty much have to lower the volume at least 10db before changing channels or risk hearing and speaker damage.

However, the differences are consistant. So if there was a volume trim for each TV channel I could get fairly close to a steady volume level when channel surfing.
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post #127 of 2947
8/23/06 at 1:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HiDefDon View Post

Ryan,

Can OnAir GT produce 19.4Mbps constant bit rate raw transport steam data files which can be played with hardware decoder cards such as HiDTV and MyHD?

Thanks.
DonP

The MYHD card can play back the ONAir files without any problem, weather or not they are constant bit rate.
If the recordings are made of the the whole transport stream from an ATSC signal they will be constant bit rate. John
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post #128 of 2947
8/23/06 at 2:34pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ctdish View Post

At least one switch that always causes the lost video is to switch from ABC to NBC which is probably a switch from a 720p to a 1080i video source.

John (ctdish),
Could you verify (with TSReader Lite, or other) that the problem is indeed 720p to 1080i? I have tried to reproduce this while switching channels (720p to 1080i), and have not been successful. Any other identifiable characteristics?

Quote:
Originally Posted by ctdish View Post

can't finnd any way to display the EPG info except for the current program that is overlayed on the video

John, using the remote control, use the Up/Down/Left/Right arrows to browse EPG information for other channels. (Note that you may not have EPG information on those channels if you've never tuned to them.)

Quote:
Originally Posted by jgenemans View Post

I request that perspective be independant for each digital channel 16:9, 4:3, Pan-Scan, User.

jgenemans,
Often each channel will broadcast different aspect ratios throughout the day. (For instance... 1920x1080 during Primetime, and 720x480 during the evening news.) I would like some feedback from other members here to see if this is a must have feature.

Quote:
Originally Posted by emiburke View Post

I am interested in the GT tuner, is Vista support available yet or forthcomin

emiburke,
We don't have Vista drivers, but you may be able to use the XP drivers with Vista. When significant numbers of people move to Vista, then I think we'll see full Vista support. I will add that you can install our Program using the 'compatibility' feature in Vista, and you should get the program to work properly.

Quote:
Originally Posted by myHTPC View Post

I haven't found a setting for audio sample rate and bitrate, are there such settings?

myHTPC,
At this time, these settings/options are not available. I will inquire as to whether the hardware MPEG2 encoder in the Creator can actually support these. (There may be a hardware limitation that prevents this from happening.)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac The Knife View Post

So if there was a volume trim for each TV channel I could get fairly close to a steady volume level when channel surfing

Mac The Knife,
While I pass this suggestion on to the software developers, you may want to talk to the chief engineer at your local station and let them know your experience. If it truly is 10dB as you say, that sounds (no pun) unnacceptable.

Quote:
Originally Posted by HiDefDon View Post

Can OnAir GT produce 19.4Mbps constant bit rate raw transport steam data files

HiDefDon,
It is difficult to find a full 19.4Mbps transport stream, as many broadcasters and cable companies will divide up the bandwidth for subchannels.
  • If you want to record all subchannels of a particular physical channel, turn on the option that we added to our newer software revisions.
  • If you already have a channel, where all Audio/Video is being passed into a single 'subchannel', then just hit the Record button.

As John (ctdish) pointed out, your cards with hardware decoders should be able to handle streams, even if they are less than 19.4Mbps.

Hint: You can go into the Options >> Remote Control tab, and set one of the function keys (F1, F2, F3... etc) to "Stream Information (Bitrate/SNR)". Then once you are tuned to a channel ATSC antenna, or Digital Cable (QAM)... you can see what bitrate the stream is in.

Thanks,
- Ryan Pertusio
AutumnWave Technical Support
OnAir Solution North America
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post #129 of 2947
8/23/06 at 8:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rpertusio View Post

HiDefDon,
It is difficult to find a full 19.4Mbps transport stream, as many broadcasters and cable companies will divide up the bandwidth for subchannels.
  • If you want to record all subchannels of a particular physical channel, turn on the option that we added to our newer software revisions.
  • If you already have a channel, where all Audio/Video is being passed into a single 'subchannel', then just hit the Record button.

To clarify, I want to record the full OTA ATSC transport stream with no modifications, and nothing stripped out -- including all subchannels and all null packets at 19.4Mbps constant data rate. Will that work?
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post #130 of 2947
8/24/06 at 9:12am
Thread Starter 
HiDefDon,
Our program records the Audio/Video related PIDs and does strip out some non-essential data. However, you should be able to use any BDA-compliant program to do so. For instance, TSReader has the ability to record a stream, including null packets. You may be aware of other BDA compliant programs that will record the full stream unmodified.

EDIT: By selecting the option "Record all CHs of one physical CH for DTV mode", you will record all PIDs without stripping data. Our software engineer has corrected me on this issue.

Thanks,

- Ryan Pertusio
AutumnWave Technical Support
OnAir Solution North America
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post #131 of 2947
8/24/06 at 9:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rpertusio
John (ctdish),
Could you verify (with TSReader Lite, or other) that the problem is indeed 720p to 1080i? I have tried to reproduce this while switching channels (720p to 1080i), and have not been successful. Any other identifiable characteristics?


John, using the remote control, use the Up/Down/Left/Right arrows to browse EPG information for other channels. (Note that you may not have EPG information on those channels if you've never tuned to them.)

Thanks,
- Ryan Pertusio
The video problem does seem to be caused by a switch from 720 to 1080 line video. It occurs when I switch from WLNE or WNAC which are ABC and FOX to any 1080 line channel.
TSReader info from WLNE: MPEG Video: Bitrate 13.940 Mbps Resolution 1280 x 720p
TSReader info from WNAC: MPEG Video: Bitrate 19.000 Mbps Resolution 1280 x 720p
I don't consider this a big problem since there is a two click work around.

The only thing I get with the up and down arrows is no EPG data displayed. Do I have to set something somewhere? I have attached two TSReader reports from two of the channels I had tuned in and they seem to have EPG data in them.
John

 

WJAR.doc 53.5k . file

 

WLNE.doc 48k . file
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post #132 of 2947
8/24/06 at 1:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rpertusio View Post

John (ctdish),

..., you may want to talk to the chief engineer at your local station and let them know your experience. If it truly is 10dB as you say, that sounds (no pun) unnacceptable.

...Thanks,
- Ryan Pertusio
AutumnWave Technical Support
OnAir Solution North America

Unfortunately, after several calls, their response is basically, "Go away kid, you're bothering me." (apologies to W.C. Fields)

They've made it very clear that they aren't interested in spending any time on their DT signals since "they aren't a revenue source at this time."
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post #133 of 2947
8/24/06 at 5:39pm
I have put together a comparison of several ATSC digital receivers here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...92#post8279292
The AutumnWave did well.
John
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post #134 of 2947
8/25/06 at 7:07am
Commendable Support

I have been tinkering around with various tuners for a while now (and sending them back when they don't perform-multipath specifically!) and I must say that the support and hardware for OnAir HDTV seems to be the best I have found. The folks at Autumnwave are friendly and very helpful whereas other products may have you either waiting on hold for many minutes or strictly using email options, then to find that the person whom you are communicating with has limited knowledge at best.

I appreciate the support that is offered by Ryan on this forum and the folks over at Autumnwave.

Ryan- I may have a question or two down the road for you, but at least I have confidence that it will be attended to.

Steve
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post #135 of 2947
8/25/06 at 12:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kbs55 View Post

Now I must decide which one to buy, the GT or Creator. Since I'll be sticking with XP, it seems that unless I plan on converting a lot of old home videos or other analog sourced material to DVDs, the GT is the way to go.

I am looking at that as well. The GT can be used portable if you needed it to be, but use software encoding for ANALOG inputs/signals. The Creator needs 110vac and does hardware encoding on ANALOG inputs/signals.

So it looks like the extra $70 would be a waste if you are only going to use it for HDTV (either OTA or QAM) only.

It is curious that the minimum system specs seem to be the same for both devices, but I think recording analog via the tuner or inputs on the GT would use a lot more CPU power than the Creator.

The next question is where can we get a deal on them ?

Dennis
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post #136 of 2947
8/26/06 at 10:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dwynne View Post


The next question is where can we get a deal on them ?

Dennis

well, the Cupric Rectanguloid will be glad to assist you there
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post #137 of 2947
8/26/06 at 12:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince Vlad View Post

well, the Cupric Rectanguloid will be glad to assist you there

That only saves $16 or so off of the direct price - we want real savings

What is with the possum anyway?

Dennis
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post #138 of 2947
8/26/06 at 6:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rpertusio View Post


jgenemans,
Often each channel will broadcast different aspect ratios throughout the day. (For instance... 1920x1080 during Primetime, and 720x480 during the evening news.) I would like some feedback from other members here to see if this is a must have feature.

[...]

Thanks,
- Ryan Pertusio
AutumnWave Technical Support
OnAir Solution North America

The channels that I watch are continious that size day, night, morning, and insomnia times as well as prime-time. the SD digital channels are 4:3 ratio only, whereas the HD channels are either Pan-Scan (to give a 4:3 image) or 16:9 when broadcasting in that format. Since you have already implimented the analog channels at a different volume and aspect ratio, I figured that it would be comparatively easy to impliment the same for each digital channel since color settings are already independant for each channel.

Here in New Orleans there is one channel broadcasting 3 different networks for four different resolutions and three different perspectives on each of its sub-channels since several other digital transmitters were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

PAX/i, ABC, WB, & Worship (part of PAX) on digital channel 49 having 4:3, 16:9, pan-scan and 4:3 ratios respectively -- makes it a pain to make the image full screen in the proper aspect ratio when surfing through each of the channels/sub-channels. Pre-Hurricane Katrina, ABC & WB were East and West coast feeds of PAX so it didn't matter to me that much, but as I watch both ABC & WB it does.

Does anyone else experience OTA channel aspect ratios and would like this -- I've already seen a few agree with the volume issue between channels, I would think aspect ratio would almost be as important as that.

Anyone else care to comment?
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post #139 of 2947
8/26/06 at 11:45pm
I have an extremely basic newbie question, but doesn't seem to be covered by the faq.

I got a HDTV creater. I installed the driver dl'ed from the autumnwave site. I plug the creater in and it says something to the effect of detected USB Hdtv 1.3 and went to look for drivers, but couldn't find it and failed install. what should I do?
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post #140 of 2947
8/27/06 at 9:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by auroragb View Post

I got a HDTV creater... went to look for drivers, but couldn't find it and failed install. what should I do?

When the USB HDTV Creator is detected then manually choose the location where the driver extracted; on mine it's C:\\OnAirSolution\\USBHDTV-CR\\Drivers\\etc.
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post #141 of 2947
8/28/06 at 6:38am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rpertusio View Post

HiDefDon,
Our program records the Audio/Video related PIDs and does strip out some non-essential data.

EDIT: By selecting the option "Record all CHs of one physical CH for DTV mode", you will record all PIDs without stripping data. Our software engineer has corrected me on this issue, and I apologize for the mis-information.

Thanks,

- Ryan Pertusio
AutumnWave Technical Support
OnAir Solution North America
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post #142 of 2947
8/28/06 at 6:51am
Thread Starter 
The GT has now been featured today on Yahoo! Tech & Forbes!
  1. Tune Into HD: New Device Turns Your Laptop Into an HDTV (by Robin Raskin at Yahoo! Tech)
  2. HDTV On PCs (by Louis Hau at Forbes)

Thanks,
- Ryan Pertusio

AutumnWave Technical Support
OnAir Solution North America
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post #143 of 2947
8/28/06 at 7:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by myHTPC View Post

When the USB HDTV Creator is detected then manually choose the location where the driver extracted; on mine it's C:\\OnAirSolution\\USBHDTV-CR\\Drivers\\etc.

Thanks, now things are installed.

But it seems that I get no over the air HD channels , I have to try plugging the cable in. So, should I split the signal that comes out of the cable box, right?
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post #144 of 2947
8/28/06 at 7:37am
Thread Starter 
Check out AntennaWeb.org and see what Over-The-Air stations you *should* be receiving... and the direction/distance the broadcast towers are from you.

Split the cable *before* the cable box. You want to connect the OnAir GT/Creator directly to the wall outlet.

Thanks,
- Ryan Pertusio

AutumnWave Technical Support
OnAir Solution North America
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post #145 of 2947
8/28/06 at 7:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rpertusio View Post

Check out AntennaWeb and see what Over-The-Air stations you *should* be receiving... and the direction/distance the broadcast towers are from you.

hehe, I'm getting maybe a 10th of those stations. but then, I'm using a regular indoor antenna, maybe I'll play with the orientation a bit before giving up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rpertusio View Post

Split the cable *before* the cable box. You want to connect the OnAir GT/Creator directly to the wall outlet.

But isn't the signal scrambled before the cable box?
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post #146 of 2947
8/28/06 at 7:56am
Thread Starter 
Try tuning some Analog TV stations. Adjust the antenna orientation so that they come in best, then flip over to DTV and see if your results improve. (It is likely that the Analog TV towers are located in the same area as the Digital TV towers.)

If you are trying to view 'unencrypted' Digital channels, you need to place it *before* the cable box. (You should at least have the locals unencrypted!) If you connect the GT from the Cable box, you'll only be able to tune Standard Definition. (Tune the GT to ch 3 or 4, like you would for your TV.... if you connect from the cable box.)

Thanks,
- Ryan Pertusio

AutumnWave Technical Support
OnAir Solution North America
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post #147 of 2947
8/28/06 at 8:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by auroragb View Post

But isn't the signal scrambled before the cable box?

A lot (most?) of the cable companies carry the locals in HD in clear QAM so you should be able to pick those up. Since so few folks have QAM tuners, they usually have quite a number of other interesting channels in the clear as well. So hook up direct to the cable and see what digital channels are available.

Dennis
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post #148 of 2947
8/28/06 at 9:34am
In what situations is the nVidia PureVideo decoder used? How can I confirm that it is installed and being used correctly?
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post #149 of 2947
8/28/06 at 8:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by fl_dba View Post

In what situations is the nVidia PureVideo decoder used? How can I confirm that it is installed and being used correctly?

A nVidia icon appears in the system tray when watching DTV or analog TV (HDTV Creator here) or playing back a recorded file via the OnAir Program. I also found that PureVideo is associated with MediaPlayer 9 and will launch when using MP9 for playing back a DTV transport stream or mpeg/DVD, where if you double-click on the nVidia icon (or right-click > Properties) then there are various options available for changing stuff like deinterlace mode, aspect ratio, audio delay, etc. (basically stuff that you could adjust from within the OnAir Program to begin with). PureVideo should lower your CPU usage -- my 1.4GHz PIII is ~40% when watching or recording DTV. I noticed that the PureVideo mpeg-2 DVD decompressor uses ~20% CPU vs. ~45% with PowerDVD but video appears richer with the latter. So it looks like PureVideo is the default DTV transport stream decompressor when installed and you'll have a choice whether or not to use it for playing back ordinary mpeg. The DTV transport stream is also mpeg-2 and PureVideo apparently allows ordinary CPUs (with DXVA video cards) to decode the HD resolutions, bitrates, and AC-3 audio.

You'll see PureVideo in Add/Remove Programs if installed. There's also an update from nVidia and user guide available for download (Nvidia > Download Drivers > Multimedia Software > PureVideo Decoder > OEM Bundles) although unsure what improvement, if any, there is over the bundled version for OnAir HDTV device owners. (I'm a n00b and can't paste links until I have 5 or more posts)
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post #150 of 2947
8/29/06 at 9:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jgenemans View Post

Does anyone else experience OTA channel aspect ratios and would like this -- I've already seen a few agree with the volume issue between channels, I would think aspect ratio would almost be as important as that.

Anyone else care to comment?

This would be a nice feature. In order of importance, I would like to see:

1. Titan TV Integration (or other 3rd-party listing programs, e.g. XMLTV)
2. Better compatibility with 3rd-party software (especially the free options, Media Center, GB-PVR, ...)
3. Independent ratio/volume settings
4. "Prettier" UI

I'm really happy with the product overall. I dislike having to look up program schedules and set things up manually. The bulit-in EPG may work for OTA/ATSC, but it has been worthless on the two QAM system's I've used it on. Any ETA on TitanTV support? What features are being worked on at present?
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