Mailing List Archive: MythTV: Users

HDTV question for newbie

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rgoodkin at zaius1

Nov 24, 2003, 9:22 PM

Post #1 of 4 (708 views)
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HDTV question for newbie

Hello all,

You all have been very helpful here, and I guess I have a couple of
questions.

1.) Is there a tuner card out there that will decode digital signals?
Do the cable/satellite companies follow a standard for digital
programming? It seems the only way to do it is have the set top box
decode the digital signals and have myth just externally control the
tuner?

2.) Is it possible to get HDTV broadcasts that are done over DIGITAL
means to decode on the PC? I guess I don't know how this setup works in
the real world. Does the set top box just spit out a signal that is
equivilant to a broadcast HDTV ATSC? What capture card do I need to get
these resolutions?

Thanks

jbuehl0001 at yahoo

Nov 24, 2003, 10:24 PM

Post #2 of 4 (701 views)
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Re: HDTV question for newbie [In reply to]

North American cable and satellite operators all use
MPEG for digital programming, however the conditional
access (scrambling) varies. It would not be
technically difficult to build a card that would
demodulate and decode the video, however there is no
way that the operators would allow anyone to build
something that could decrypt it. That's the main
reason for needing the cable/satellite box.

There are devices becoming available called CableCards
which are pcmcia cards that perform the decryption and
are designed to plug into a digital TV. You will be
able to buy a DTV and your cable company will provide
you with one of these in lieu of a set top.
Unfortunately the studios and content providers have
required that these can only work with "approved" TVs
and other devices that don't have a digital output.
This means you won't be able to get a card for a PC
that works.

HDTV is worse. HD set tops either have RGB component
outputs or DVI which is about 180Mb/sec of
uncompressed video, and, like CableCard, the DVI
interface only works with approved devices. And it
will be extremely difficult to hack. You can get HD
tuner cards (I think someone is working on MythTV
support for these) for off-air TV stations, but the
FCC just passed a ruling that requires devices that
receive HD signals to not allow copying.

Basically the studios and cable operators are trying
their damnnest to keep people like us from acquiring
their bits. About the best we're going to be able to
hope for is a standard def S-video signal.

--- rgoodkin [at] zaius1 wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> You all have been very helpful here, and I guess I
> have a couple of
> questions.
>
> 1.) Is there a tuner card out there that will
> decode digital signals?
> Do the cable/satellite companies follow a standard
> for digital
> programming? It seems the only way to do it is have
> the set top box
> decode the digital signals and have myth just
> externally control the
> tuner?
>
> 2.) Is it possible to get HDTV broadcasts that are
> done over DIGITAL
> means to decode on the PC? I guess I don't know how
> this setup works in
> the real world. Does the set top box just spit out
> a signal that is
> equivilant to a broadcast HDTV ATSC? What capture
> card do I need to get
> these resolutions?
>
> Thanks
> > _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
>
http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>

__________________________________
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http://companion.yahoo.com/

audin at okb-1

Nov 25, 2003, 12:09 PM

Post #3 of 4 (689 views)
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Re: HDTV question for newbie [In reply to]

On Mon, Nov 24, 2003 at 09:22:43PM -0700, rgoodkin [at] zaius1 wrote:
> 1.) Is there a tuner card out there that will decode digital signals?
> Do the cable/satellite companies follow a standard for digital
> programming? It seems the only way to do it is have the set top box
> decode the digital signals and have myth just externally control the
> tuner?
>
> 2.) Is it possible to get HDTV broadcasts that are done over DIGITAL
> means to decode on the PC? I guess I don't know how this setup works in
> the real world. Does the set top box just spit out a signal that is
> equivilant to a broadcast HDTV ATSC? What capture card do I need to get
> these resolutions?

I think you might want to be a little more careful in your use of the
term 'digital'. DirecTV-like satellite, 'digital-cable', and over-the-air
ATSC are all digital signals.

I believe you are out of luck in terms of receiving either of the
first two directly. You'll need a tuner/decryptor which are only generally
available from the companies involved.

OTA ATSC signals, on the other hand, are totally in the clear. The
HD-2000/pcHDTV card at http://www.pchdtv.com/ seems to work quite well. It
just dumps the raw MPEG-TS stream.

It is my understanding that OTA ATSC signals are not slated to change
format for the foreseeable future, so a similar card should continue to work
indefinitely. (Of course, the MPAA will do all they can to change that...)

--
Audin Malmin - audin [at] okb-1

jbuehl0001 at yahoo

Nov 25, 2003, 8:54 PM

Post #4 of 4 (694 views)
Permalink

Re: HDTV question for newbie [In reply to]

Do a Google search on "hdtv broadcast flag". There's
a bunch of articles on how the MPAA is trying to come
up a way of controlling OTA HDTV. I think it's kind
of toothless unless the signals are encrypted, and
there's currently a prohibition against doing that.
But that could change.

--- audin [at] okb-1 wrote:
> On Mon, Nov 24, 2003 at 09:22:43PM -0700,
> rgoodkin [at] zaius1 wrote:
> > 1.) Is there a tuner card out there that will
> decode digital signals?
> > Do the cable/satellite companies follow a standard
> for digital
> > programming? It seems the only way to do it is
> have the set top box
> > decode the digital signals and have myth just
> externally control the
> > tuner?
> >
> > 2.) Is it possible to get HDTV broadcasts that
> are done over DIGITAL
> > means to decode on the PC? I guess I don't know
> how this setup works in
> > the real world. Does the set top box just spit
> out a signal that is
> > equivilant to a broadcast HDTV ATSC? What capture
> card do I need to get
> > these resolutions?
>
> I think you might want to be a little more careful
> in your use of the
> term 'digital'. DirecTV-like satellite,
> 'digital-cable', and over-the-air
> ATSC are all digital signals.
>
> I believe you are out of luck in terms of receiving
> either of the
> first two directly. You'll need a tuner/decryptor
> which are only generally
> available from the companies involved.
>
> OTA ATSC signals, on the other hand, are totally in
> the clear. The
> HD-2000/pcHDTV card at http://www.pchdtv.com/ seems
> to work quite well. It
> just dumps the raw MPEG-TS stream.
>
> It is my understanding that OTA ATSC signals are
> not slated to change
> format for the foreseeable future, so a similar card
> should continue to work
> indefinitely. (Of course, the MPAA will do all they
> can to change that...)
>
> --
> Audin
> Malmin - audin [at] okb-1
>
>
> > _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
>
http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now
http://companion.yahoo.com/

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