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accessDTV Version 2006.0.0.2 Beta Software Thread - Page 2

post #31 of 152
9/13/06 at 9:05pm
Well, the recording I had set for 10:30 just finished and I pulled the file up in Nero Showtime and it started playing great with picture and sound!

But when it was recording the sound and picture did not show up on accessdtv screen? When it was finished the picture and sound came back on instantly on the accessdtv screen. I guess I cannot watch while recording? And since no other tuner I can not watch another channel, right?

When I hit the record button on the remote on screen, I can still watch the program as it records.
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post #32 of 152
9/14/06 at 5:08am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrtbig View Post

Well, the recording I had set for 10:30 just finished and I pulled the file up in Nero Showtime and it started playing great with picture and sound!

But when it was recording the sound and picture did not show up on accessdtv screen? When it was finished the picture and sound came back on instantly on the accessdtv screen. I guess I cannot watch while recording? And since no other tuner I can not watch another channel, right?

When I hit the record button on the remote on screen, I can still watch the program as it records.

If "Enable Background Recording" is UNCHECKED, you should be able to watch on the overlay window and hear the audio while recording. If "Enable Background Recording" is CHECKED, the overlay window and sound going to the PC's sound card is shut off while recording - hence "background" with the idea being that you can use your PC for other stuff while a recording is in progress.

How do you have things connected? Are you only watching video from the accessDTV card from your video card (and therefore in the overlay window)? If so, you aren't seeing the best picture the card has to offer - the only way to get real HD output from the accessDTV card is to use the HD video output on the card.

The HD video output from the accessDTV card is always enabled while recording.
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post #33 of 152
9/14/06 at 11:52am
Ok, I did another recording and unchecked the box and was able to watch while recorded. The recording also played back fine as well.

I have connected to my monitor on secondary VGA input from the accessdtv card hd vga connection and also just through my video card. Yes, the picture on the VGA input is a lot better but I need to adjust the settings. Since presently, I have connected 2 ways but on same monitor, I cannot see remote, so there is no way to control it if I just watch the VGA input?

If I put another monitor beside mine and connect from the card hd to monitor vga, I assume I just use my pc screen to control things, right?

For your info, my present monitor is 1920x1080 and if I put a second on it would be a crt.
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post #34 of 152
9/14/06 at 3:48pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrtbig View Post

Ok, I did another recording and unchecked the box and was able to watch while recorded. The recording also played back fine as well.

Good, sounds like you're all set there.

Quote:


Since presently, I have connected 2 ways but on same monitor, I cannot see remote, so there is no way to control it if I just watch the VGA input?

If I put another monitor beside mine and connect from the card hd to monitor vga, I assume I just use my pc screen to control things, right?

When watching the accessDTV output with a single monitor, you're correct that you can't see the accessDTV remote window. However, as long as it is the foreground application (house keyboard focus), all the keyboard shortcuts (see the release notes for a complete list) will work just fine. If you have the OSD enabled (see the Setup -> OSD dialog), you can also see what is scheduled to record, choose a previously recorded show to watch, adjust the picture settings, see status information, etc. (CTRL-M brings up a main menu, CTRL-O brings up the list of recorded shows, CTRL-B brings up bookmarks for the current file you're playing, CTRL-I shows the current status, CTRL-J brings up the scheduled events list, etc.). I hope to have an OSD version of the program guide at some point, but that isn't available yet.

If you want to get a bit more clever, you can install Girder or something similar and combine it with a 3rd party remote control, such as the Streamzap, to control the accessDTV software. Someone mentioned earlier in this thread or the old thread that they wrote a plug-in for the ATI remote.

If it's easy enough, I'd also consider adding support for a remote control or 2 directly in the accessDTV software, but someone would probably need to supply me with a remote to use for testing. I have a Crestron control system that goes through Girder to control accessDTV on my HTPC and just use the keyboard and mouse on my other systems.
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post #35 of 152
9/20/06 at 5:38pm
What is the current state of the ADTV software? I have an old card just getting older that I never could get to work adequately.

Last I checked there was no OSD and and grid listing support was pretty sketchy. How far have things come?
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post #36 of 152
9/20/06 at 6:33pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Noah View Post

What is the current state of the ADTV software? I have an old card just getting older that I never could get to work adequately.

Last I checked there was no OSD and and grid listing support was pretty sketchy. How far have things come?

Not to be rude, but if you bothered to read the release notes that I've taken lots of time to write up or any of the relatively recent threads, such as this one you would find the answers to those questions and much more. I might also suggest that you download and install the latest software and drivers and see for yourself.
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post #37 of 152
9/21/06 at 10:00am
Just installed the new software and everything works great! Thanks again Geoffrey.

I thought I'd add this info from the release notes in case some users are just noticing that Guide Remote is no longer providing guide data:

Quote:


To use the Zap2it feed, you need to create an account at http://labs.zap2it.com. Click on the "New User? Sign-Up" link to create an account using certificate code ACCX-TGWL-PMKM. This service is free, but requires you to fill out a reasonable survey every several months to keep the account active. Once you have an account, run accessDTV and go into the Setup -> Providers tab. Select Zap2it DataDirect in the Available Providers list and click the Configure button. Follow the instructions on the page - and make sure you don't forget to save your settings. Next time your guide updates, you will get the Zap2it data.

I just set up the Zap2it feed and it works great except for one minor issue. In the Providers tab, in the top box where it says "check one or more providers" I've got two entries for Zap2it, one analog and one digital. Both are checked. I want to remove the analog entry so I uncheck it and hit okay but when I go back to the Providers tab, it is still checked. Not a huge deal but I'm trying to reduce the amount of data I download from Zap2it since they were having bandwidth problems for a while.
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post #38 of 152
9/21/06 at 3:18pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by JamesC View Post

Just installed the new software and everything works great! Thanks again Geoffrey.

Another satisfied customer .

Quote:


I just set up the Zap2it feed and it works great except for one minor issue. In the Providers tab, in the top box where it says "check one or more providers" I've got two entries for Zap2it, one analog and one digital. Both are checked. I want to remove the analog entry so I uncheck it and hit okay but when I go back to the Providers tab, it is still checked. Not a huge deal but I'm trying to reduce the amount of data I download from Zap2it since they were having bandwidth problems for a while.

The ability to uncheck providers is something that hasn't worked for as long as I can remember and has been low on my priority radar. It will do nothing to reduce what gets downloaded - IIRC, it only controls which data the guide shows, not what gets downloaded and/or put into the accessDTV guide database. If you want to keep the Zap2it download size down (and I encourage people to do this), the only way is to trim down your channel lineup at Zap2it to contain only what you need.
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post #39 of 152
9/22/06 at 12:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gsr View Post

Another satisfied customer .

You got that right!

Quote:
Originally Posted by gsr View Post

The ability to uncheck providers is something that hasn't worked for as long as I can remember and has been low on my priority radar.

I can understand it being a low priority. Is there a workaround on my end? Perhaps a file I can edit to remove the analog listings? Again, no biggie if it's not really doable.
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post #40 of 152
9/24/06 at 11:34am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by JamesC View Post

I can understand it being a low priority. Is there a workaround on my end? Perhaps a file I can edit to remove the analog listings? Again, no biggie if it's not really doable.

For now, the only workaround on your end is to deselect those channels in your Zap2it channel lineup.
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post #41 of 152
9/25/06 at 3:12pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by JamesC View Post

I just set up the Zap2it feed and it works great except for one minor issue. In the Providers tab, in the top box where it says "check one or more providers" I've got two entries for Zap2it, one analog and one digital. Both are checked. I want to remove the analog entry so I uncheck it and hit okay but when I go back to the Providers tab, it is still checked. Not a huge deal but I'm trying to reduce the amount of data I download from Zap2it since they were having bandwidth problems for a while.

I previously said that fixing the ability to uncheck providers was a low priority. Well, I decided to take a quick look at it and fixing it turned out to be a trivial single line of code change, so this will be in the next release. Like I said in my previous reply, this only affects what the guide displays, not what is downloaded from Zap2it or what gets stored in the accessDTV guide database.
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post #42 of 152
9/25/06 at 5:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gsr View Post

I previously said that fixing the ability to uncheck providers was a low priority. Well, I decided to take a quick look at it and fixing it turned out to be a trivial single line of code change, so this will be in the next release. Like I said in my previous reply, this only affects what the guide displays, not what is downloaded from Zap2it or what gets stored in the accessDTV guide database.

Thanks a lot Geoff! Please let us know if there ever comes a time where we can compensate you for all this work.
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post #43 of 152
11/10/06 at 3:02pm
After going to Windows Vista information page and performing a scan, Windows Vista upgrade advisor apparently does not like either of the access dtv drivers. The scan listed lots of drivers on my computer that needed to be updated, as should be expected, but simply said that the Saa7146, WDM Video Capture and the Janus, WDM Video Capture devices will not work with Windows Vista. Can you shed any light on this? If this is the case, I will not upgrade to Vista, which may be a good thing anyway. Another question I have is about sub channels. I watch PBS HD programming which is shown on sub channel 3 here in WA. The old releases had this channel display sub channel 5. (don't know why the difference) Now It displays .12 or sometimes .012. Is there a way to select the number of the sub channel to display as we did for the regular channels? I personally don't care what is displayed, but the recorder gets confused. Thank you for all your work on this card. I have a card in each of two PC's and the wonderful picture and recording capabilities have made my wife actually embrace my computer hobby. Thanks, Steve
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post #44 of 152
11/10/06 at 6:51pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bellbuoy View Post

After going to Windows Vista information page and performing a scan, Windows Vista upgrade advisor apparently does not like either of the access dtv drivers. The scan listed lots of drivers on my computer that needed to be updated, as should be expected, but simply said that the Saa7146, WDM Video Capture and the Janus, WDM Video Capture devices will not work with Windows Vista. Can you shed any light on this?

Not really - I haven't even tried installing Vista on any of my systems yet. No promises that the accessDTV drivers and software will ever work on Vista, especially if driver changes are required.

Quote:


Another question I have is about sub channels. I watch PBS HD programming which is shown on sub channel 3 here in WA. The old releases had this channel display sub channel 5. (don't know why the difference) Now It displays .12 or sometimes .012. Is there a way to select the number of the sub channel to display as we did for the regular channels? I personally don't care what is displayed, but the recorder gets confused. Thank you for all your work on this card. I have a card in each of two PC's and the wonderful picture and recording capabilities have made my wife actually embrace my computer hobby. Thanks, Steve

The old software showed the index into the list of subchannels, while the new software shows the PSIP subchannel number. There isn't currently a way to change what's displayed, but what is displayed doesn't affect what is going on in terms of what you're watching.

What do you mean by the recorded gets confused? As long as you record the correct major channel number (the left side of the decimal point), you get all subchannels contained within that physical channel.
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post #45 of 152
11/17/06 at 6:14pm
Thread Starter 
FYI:

Zap2it has been having some issues lately, including problems connecting to their site to get guide data.

I found tonight that they have also managed to screw up lineup data for some (all?) people. When I checked my lineup, all my digital stations were gone. I had to remove the existing lineup and re-create it (I tried to modify my existing lineup, but the digital stations where still missing).

After I modified my lineup, I downloaded the guide data and it's close buy not quite right. The subchannel numbers are missing from the channel lineup and accessDTV uses these to figure out if a station is analog (subchannel = 0) or digital (subchannel > 0). I believe this can be fixed by making use of the channel mapping feature, but I'm too tired tonight to play around with it. I'll look into this in the morning.
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post #46 of 152
11/22/06 at 9:50am
Geoffrey,

Did you determine if there is a work-around for this problem? I finally got around to fixing the Zap2it lineup information, but as you said recording doesn't work because of the apparent sub-channel issues with the guide information.


Dave
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post #47 of 152
11/22/06 at 10:51am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Brown View Post

Geoffrey,

Did you determine if there is a work-around for this problem? I finally got around to fixing the Zap2it lineup information, but as you said recording doesn't work because of the apparent sub-channel issues with the guide information.


Dave

Sorry for the delay - I did figure out a fix over the weekend, but it required changes to the Zap2itDataDirect executable. I'm going to go out on a bit of a limb and assume that I can distribute that on my own as it doesn't contain any code that uses any of the proprietary accessDTV drivers or reference code, etc. that would be a concern under the distribution NDA agreements. A new version of Zap2itDataDirect.exe along with a sample ini file that contains the channel mappings for the Boston area can be found here. Just overwrite your current copy of Zap2itDataDirect.exe and edit your channel mappings to suit your local channel listings and you should be back in business. If I had tested the channel mapping code before releasing it, this code change would have been done a while ago, but until now there was no need to use the feature with Zap2it.

In case it's not entirely clear what's going on, here are the mappings for the Boston area, followed by an explanation:

Code:
[Channels]
19|WGBHDT=19,2,1
19|WGBHDT2=19,2,2
20|WCVBDT=20,5,1
20|WCVBDT2=20,5,2
23|WUTFDT=23,66,1
30|WBZDT=30,4,1
31|WFXTDT=31,25,1
32|WBPXDT3=32,68,3
32|WBPXDT5=32,68,5
39|WSBKDT=39,38,1
41|WLVIDT=41,56,1
41|WLVIDT2=41,56,2
42|WHDHDT=42,7,1
42|WHDHDT2=42,7,2
43|WGBXDT=43,44,1
43|WGBXDT2=43,44,2
43|WGBXDT3=43,44,3
43|WGBXDT4=43,44,4
  • 19|WGBHDT - This is the channel number and call sign that comes down from Zap2it for a given channel. Note that the channel number is currently the RF channel number, not the PSIP or familiar channel number that we're all used to. The relevant Zap2it XML looks like this:
    Code:
    
  
    WGBHDT2 
    WGBHDT2 (WGBH-DT2) 
    19 
    PBS Affiliate
    This field is simply used as a lookup to match the Zap2it data to the mapping entry in the ini file.
  • 19,2,1 - This is in the form RF Channel #, PSIP Channel #, subchannel # and is used so that you get the right data showing up in the right place in the guide.

I can't fathom why Zap2it changed the format of the channel data and haven't seen any explanation of it on their forums. Sure, the service is free, but it would be nice if they would let people know when they're going to make a change of this nature.
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post #48 of 152
11/23/06 at 11:12am
Geoffrey

I just got things working after following your instructions ... I thought
that one of us should let you know.

I also found that the lineup that Zap2it provides for my login was messed up
... I had to delete the lineup and start over ... it would not allow me to
update the messed up lineup.

Tom
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post #49 of 152
11/23/06 at 5:54pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tjs View Post

Geoffrey

I just got things working after following your instructions ... I thought
that one of us should let you know.

I also found that the lineup that Zap2it provides for my login was messed up
... I had to delete the lineup and start over ... it would not allow me to
update the messed up lineup.

Tom

Thanks - it's working fine for me on all 4 systems, but it's good to hear that my instructions made sense . I went through the same thing with my lineup - I had to delete mine and start over to get the digital channels to show up again. Seems like they're having multiple problems.
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post #50 of 152
11/28/06 at 9:49pm
I usually just wait for posts from other users that bring up issues that they have encountered to fix any problems I may be having, but I must be the only one still having problems with what I believe may be Zap 2it and it's listings. Several posts back I mentioned that the recorder gets confused. At that time it was primarily sub channels. Now I have had to go to Zap 2it's website to delete my old lineup so I could start over with a new, fresh one. That just made matters worse. First I selected the proper digital channels then downloaded the guide data with no mapping as I had done successfully in the past but I got duplicates of the channels and their analog counterparts. I then mapped the channels as explained in the "configure" dialog box but got the same result. I mapped them again but this time with the call letters exactly as they appear on the Zap 2it line up. This time I got channel designations that were a combination of the digital and analog channels put together. For example, digital channel 39 which is analog channel 7 showed up in the guide as 39.7. The listings were correct but when you highlighted the channel and hit "view" you went to channel 39 on the analog part of access dtv (which, of course, is a noisy bunch of static) I tried deleting and rebuilding the Zap 2it ini file, deleting and reinstalling Access dtv, and anything else I could think of but with no luck. I then tried it on my other system with an Access DTV card in it but got the same results. This was an older system so I decided to do a fresh install of XP and start over. The results were the same (but the computer was faster). Knowing that the previous version worked well I uninstalled 2006.0.0.2 and cleaned up the registry prior to installing the previous version. To my surprise the previous version now does the same thing, that is send you over to analog when a digital station is selected in the Guide. I notice that in the "Choose one or more subscribed providers to display" box on the "providers" tab of setup it indicates "Zap 2it Data Direct : analog (11channels)" Of course I have rechecked my line up at Zap 2it and it only has digital channels selected. Am I the only one experiencing this problem? What do you suggest as a next step? Thanks, Steve
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post #51 of 152
11/29/06 at 7:23am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bellbuoy View Post

I usually just wait for posts from other users that bring up issues that they have encountered to fix any problems I may be having, but I must be the only one still having problems with what I believe may be Zap 2it and it's listings. Several posts back I mentioned that the recorder gets confused. At that time it was primarily sub channels. Now I have had to go to Zap 2it's website to delete my old lineup so I could start over with a new, fresh one. That just made matters worse. First I selected the proper digital channels then downloaded the guide data with no mapping as I had done successfully in the past but I got duplicates of the channels and their analog counterparts. I then mapped the channels as explained in the "configure" dialog box but got the same result. I mapped them again but this time with the call letters exactly as they appear on the Zap 2it line up. This time I got channel designations that were a combination of the digital and analog channels put together. For example, digital channel 39 which is analog channel 7 showed up in the guide as 39.7. The listings were correct but when you highlighted the channel and hit "view" you went to channel 39 on the analog part of access dtv (which, of course, is a noisy bunch of static) I tried deleting and rebuilding the Zap 2it ini file, deleting and reinstalling Access dtv, and anything else I could think of but with no luck. I then tried it on my other system with an Access DTV card in it but got the same results. This was an older system so I decided to do a fresh install of XP and start over. The results were the same (but the computer was faster). Knowing that the previous version worked well I uninstalled 2006.0.0.2 and cleaned up the registry prior to installing the previous version. To my surprise the previous version now does the same thing, that is send you over to analog when a digital station is selected in the Guide. I notice that in the "Choose one or more subscribed providers to display" box on the "providers" tab of setup it indicates "Zap 2it Data Direct : analog (11channels)" Of course I have rechecked my line up at Zap 2it and it only has digital channels selected. Am I the only one experiencing this problem? What do you suggest as a next step? Thanks, Steve

With the changes Zap2it made to their listings, I don't think you have much hope of getting an older version of accessDTV to work with Zap2it.

Did you install the new version of Zap2itDataDirect.exe that I linked to a few posts back (post #47)? If not that would explain the problem you're having getting the mappings to work. If you follow my instructions exactly, I think you'll find that it works - it's working fine for me on all 4 of my systems.
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post #52 of 152
12/2/06 at 7:52am
Thread Starter 
Zap2it just fixed their listings (subchannels are back) in the last day or so. That's the good news.

The bad news is that the Zap2it channel lineups got reset again, so you have to go to Zap2it, remove your lineup, and then add it back.

If you added channel mappings within the accessDTV Zap2itDataDirect configuration, you should be able to remove those. There's also no harm in leaving them there - your choice.
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post #53 of 152
12/3/06 at 4:25pm
As always, thanks for your fix Geoff!
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post #54 of 152
1/16/07 at 9:44am
I'm baaack

Geoffrey, way back in 2005 I indicated there was a problem with soundcard selection. Your last post on the topic was here

I just checked the release notes for the current version and didn't see mention of any fixes in this area. Did you make any progress on solving this?

Thanks!
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post #55 of 152
1/16/07 at 3:50pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by plughplover View Post

I'm baaack

Geoffrey, way back in 2005 I indicated there was a problem with soundcard selection. Your last post on the topic was here

I just checked the release notes for the current version and didn't see mention of any fixes in this area. Did you make any progress on solving this?

Thanks!

I haven't been able to reproduce the problem and you're the only one reporting a problem, so no progress has been made and I had quite honestly forgotten all about this. I have replaced my HTPC with a new system and IIRC I have the motherboard audio enabled along with a RME DigiPad 96 sound card, so I might be able to test this on that system.
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post #56 of 152
1/16/07 at 3:57pm
Cool! Assuming your bios lets you enable onboard at the same time (some bios's disable onboard if add-on audio is detected, regardless of what you do in setup), the test is simple.

Point 'system default' (Audio tab of Sounds control panel) at one, and adtv at the other.

If your bios won't cooperate, you'll need to use one of those USB audio gizmos.

(I want to use one gives both analog and optical out - $30 - looks like a flash thumb drive)
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post #57 of 152
1/16/07 at 5:51pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by plughplover View Post

Cool! Assuming your bios lets you enable onboard at the same time (some bios's disable onboard if add-on audio is detected, regardless of what you do in setup), the test is simple.

Point 'system default' (Audio tab of Sounds control panel) at one, and adtv at the other.

If your bios won't cooperate, you'll need to use one of those USB audio gizmos.

(I want to use one gives both analog and optical out - $30 - looks like a flash thumb drive)

I know HOW to test it - it's largely a matter of having a system that I don't have to reconfigure to do the test. If I'm wrong and the bios sound is not enabled on that system, then I'm afraid you're out of luck unless you're willing to supply a USB audio card for me to work with. I don't get paid to do this, so I'm not on board to spend money to diagnose problems that only one person is experiencing unless that person happens to be me . No promises that I'll be able to fix it even if I can reproduce the problem, but I'll take a stab at it.
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post #58 of 152
1/18/07 at 12:48am
So, will your system allow you to test this, or do I need to get you one of the usb audio gizmos? If the latter, PM me your mailing address...
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post #59 of 152
1/18/07 at 1:07pm
Geoffrey, I want to thank you for all of the work that you've done on this. I haven't used it much since getting a tv with a built-in tuner. I never used the recording portion very much because I already had one PC running 24/7 with BTV recording and that room gets hot enough without having another computer running in there. I tried to see if your software and BTV would play nice together on the same computer but they wouldn't.

Now that BTV has HD support I've ordered 2 HD cards that are supported by the software. I'm also going to bypass the JVC HDPro that I've been using and connect the computer directly to my TV and use BTV's interface for both SD and HD playback.

Anyways, before I left the "camp" I wanted to say thank you.

BTW, I'm thinking about putting my card and the HDPro on ebay if my new setup will play the Super Bowl between the Pats and Panthers that I recorded. If the new setup can't play it back (BTV uses a different extension than .ts) then I might keep the card just for that. I know what to expect for the HDPro but does anyone know what the AccessDTV card should go for now?
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post #60 of 152
1/19/07 at 7:46pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by plughplover View Post

So, will your system allow you to test this, or do I need to get you one of the usb audio gizmos? If the latter, PM me your mailing address...

I'm pretty sure it will. I've been pretty busy lately with some higher priority projects around the house, but will try to at least test this sooner than later.
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