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Old 17-Sep-2011, 5:24 AM   #44
MisterMe
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: USA Gulf South
Posts: 231
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheEmrys View Post
If you click on the details tab within the page I linked, you can scroll down and see this:

Technically speaking:
For ATSC and QAM digital TV, all 18 ATSC formats including 1080i can be watched or recorded to disk as a MPEG-2 Program Stream. The NXP 7164 contains two highly integrated MPEG-1/2 hardware encoders for recording analog cable TV to disk. The playback of the recorded ATSC and QAM digital TV and MPEG-2 encoded analog programs are done through a software MPEG-2 player.

What are you looking for specifically? If it hits all 18 formats, that includes their native resolutions, up to and including 1080i.
Seen this, read this. What you have are a couple of paragraphs that go into the inputs that the tuner can accept. This is silent on the outputs. MPEG-2 is a video compression format. It supports a wide variety of resolutions from less than standard resolution to high-definition.

Quote:
Originally Posted by GroundUrMast View Post
@ MisterMe, Your caution is valid. There are plenty of pitfalls available when building a high performance PC such as a HTPC. However, there is a considerable pool of experience with HTPC technology available. I'm not inclined to discourage people from venturing into HTPC technology. ...
Thank you very much for your input. Understand that I am not trying to discourage anyone from venturing into anything. However, I am a firm believer that you should research and understand what you are buying before you buy it. I also firmly believe that primary sources are the most important sources. This is not to discount other information, however.

I frequent several computer-oriented forums. Far too many of the posters come to ask about this product or that after they have already made their purchase. Others come to get help with a product that cannot satisfy their needs or otherwise does not meet their expectations. These examples all betray a lack of research prior to purchase.

In the case of this thread, Rich expressed an interest in a DVR. TheEmrys suggested the Hauppage card as a less expensive alternative to a $300 DVR set top box. He gave a link to a retailer's website rather than to the primary source of information about the card. I took it upon myself to see what Hauppage had to say. Hauppage was the source of the retailer's information. Even the reviews on seemingly disinterested websites were regurgitations of Hauppage's limited information. Hauppage's downloadable owner's manuals were no more illuminating.

Let me be clear. There are competing products that support all 18 ATSC formats and Clear QAM but do not permit digital streaming of recorded digital content. Nothing in Hauppage's documentation assured me that it is different than these competitors in this respect.

What do you do? If I were considering the Hauppage card, then I would phone a technical person at Hauppage, NewEgg, or some other retailer and ask him about this issue. NewEgg and Hauppage are both reputable companies. I am perfectly willing to accept the word of one of their employees. However, I am unwilling to assume that its merchandize satisfies my needs without doing my own research first.
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