Monday, November 21, 2005
I Continue to Be Pleased With BeyondTV-4
I continue to be pleased with BeyondTV-4 and it's HD DVR capabilities and performance. I don't know if I mentioned it, but The BeyondTV package included the Snapstream "Firefly" remote control. It's a remote whose receiver plugs into a usb port on the pc then can be used to control several media-based applications. Specifically, I use it to control BeyondTV (I initially used the wireless mouse to control it, but that was somewhat cumbersome). The Firefly works great with the application, making control very easy and intuitive.
The audio/video sync issue that I previously is still with me, but is intermittant - making trouble-shooting difficult. I'm convinced that I'll get it resolved, but it may take a while
Overall, I'm very happy with the solution.
The audio/video sync issue that I previously is still with me, but is intermittant - making trouble-shooting difficult. I'm convinced that I'll get it resolved, but it may take a while
Overall, I'm very happy with the solution.
Monday, November 14, 2005
Beyond TV 4 -- The Solution
I'm becoming more and more convinced that Beyond TV 4 is the software solution that allows me to easily record and playback High Definition content on the HTPC. It just works and almost "out-of-the-box". Little tweaking was required.
I'm learning more about it as I go and continue to be impressed.
One neat new feature that I think is pretty cool is "Remote Recording". The program guide is actually a web-based Snapstream.net service and is downloaded periodically to the PC. Being web-based, you can access your Snapstream program guide from any browser, anywhere. Not only can you access the guide, but you can schedule a recording. Once you have scheduled the recording from a browser - the recording request is downloaded to the PC just as the guide updates are downloaded. I tested this feature along with locally scheduled recording and both work like a charm.
I'm still running into some intermittant audio drop-out, but have learned how to quickly resolve that. Over time, I'm sure I can eliminate this quirk permanently.
Once again, I think this project is nearing completion.
I'm learning more about it as I go and continue to be impressed.
One neat new feature that I think is pretty cool is "Remote Recording". The program guide is actually a web-based Snapstream.net service and is downloaded periodically to the PC. Being web-based, you can access your Snapstream program guide from any browser, anywhere. Not only can you access the guide, but you can schedule a recording. Once you have scheduled the recording from a browser - the recording request is downloaded to the PC just as the guide updates are downloaded. I tested this feature along with locally scheduled recording and both work like a charm.
I'm still running into some intermittant audio drop-out, but have learned how to quickly resolve that. Over time, I'm sure I can eliminate this quirk permanently.
Once again, I think this project is nearing completion.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Maybe - A Break-Through - Maybe
In the previous post, I mentioned that SageTV was selling and obviously supporting the AverMedia 180 HDTV capture card; and that I also ordered one.
I installed the new card --- and gained exactly nothing.
It functions (doesn't) just as the Fusion 5 card. I'm now convinced it's in the Front-End software.
To date, I've not been successful at getting either card to work with Meedio or SageTV. While not ready to give it up, I was getting pretty frustrated.
One of the blogs I follow is: HD Beat and they recently had a post announcing the release of Beyond TV 4 from Snapstream - SnapStream . Beyond TV 4 had received PC Magazine's Editors choice award, and according to the product specs - supported both the Fusion 5 Card and the Avermedia 180 card. So, what the heck - I downloaded a twenty one day free trial of Beyond TV 4.
The darn thing works, with both cards - wow. I set it up on both cards, and found that the Fusion 5 card indicated the best signal strength, so I'm using that card as the default tuner/capture card.
I still need to play with it some more to understand how all the features and functions work.
I'm seeing some inconsistency in audio, but that may be corrected by trying alternate drivers.
So far, I like the interface, the guide is nice, and once I work out a few kinks, I think I may have an HD Tivo-like capability.
I installed the new card --- and gained exactly nothing.
It functions (doesn't) just as the Fusion 5 card. I'm now convinced it's in the Front-End software.
To date, I've not been successful at getting either card to work with Meedio or SageTV. While not ready to give it up, I was getting pretty frustrated.
One of the blogs I follow is: HD Beat and they recently had a post announcing the release of Beyond TV 4 from Snapstream - SnapStream . Beyond TV 4 had received PC Magazine's Editors choice award, and according to the product specs - supported both the Fusion 5 Card and the Avermedia 180 card. So, what the heck - I downloaded a twenty one day free trial of Beyond TV 4.
The darn thing works, with both cards - wow. I set it up on both cards, and found that the Fusion 5 card indicated the best signal strength, so I'm using that card as the default tuner/capture card.
I still need to play with it some more to understand how all the features and functions work.
I'm seeing some inconsistency in audio, but that may be corrected by trying alternate drivers.
So far, I like the interface, the guide is nice, and once I work out a few kinks, I think I may have an HD Tivo-like capability.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Recording HD Sounds so Easy .... But!
Like I mentioned before, I've successfully recorded and played back HD content using the Fusion card and the Fusion software --- but, it's very cumbersome.
Meedio ( my current media front-end of choice) now supports HD recording and play-back and supposedly supports the Fusion 5 Gold Plus card. I've really tried to make it work, but to no avail. I've even uninstalled both Meedio and Fusion and re-installed them several times. I just can't get it to work.
SageTV, another well know front-end software package has had their "HD supporting" software in beta for some time and have just released it to production. Sage has a very nice interface, and supposedly(again) will work with the Fusion5 card. I have downloaded the released version, and once again -- I just can't make it work.
SageTV actually sells an HD Capture card -- the AverMedia AC180, PCI capture card. It sell for $89 -- so I ordered one. My assumption is that it should work with the new SageTV if they are selling the card.
I've made several incorrect assumptions previously -- so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Members of a number of technical forums have suggested that I re-install the OS, but that seems to be a pretty drastic measure to me. No can explain why they think that might solve the problem -- sounds a little like black-magic to me.
I'll try the new card when it comes in and go from there. I won't rule out the OS re-install, but it'll be a last resort
Meedio ( my current media front-end of choice) now supports HD recording and play-back and supposedly supports the Fusion 5 Gold Plus card. I've really tried to make it work, but to no avail. I've even uninstalled both Meedio and Fusion and re-installed them several times. I just can't get it to work.
SageTV, another well know front-end software package has had their "HD supporting" software in beta for some time and have just released it to production. Sage has a very nice interface, and supposedly(again) will work with the Fusion5 card. I have downloaded the released version, and once again -- I just can't make it work.
SageTV actually sells an HD Capture card -- the AverMedia AC180, PCI capture card. It sell for $89 -- so I ordered one. My assumption is that it should work with the new SageTV if they are selling the card.
I've made several incorrect assumptions previously -- so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Members of a number of technical forums have suggested that I re-install the OS, but that seems to be a pretty drastic measure to me. No can explain why they think that might solve the problem -- sounds a little like black-magic to me.
I'll try the new card when it comes in and go from there. I won't rule out the OS re-install, but it'll be a last resort
