building a hd media pc to receive and record freesat hd

[3sat]

Hi,
I've used the search function and have found loads of info, but nothing definitive.

I'm looking to end up with :

A machine that'll let me watch and record freesat in hd for the hd channels
Make use of an EPG with series recording preferably
Listen and record the numerous radio stations available
Play back 1080 and 720p encoded videos, most of the material I have is h264 in mkv containers, some rmvb and xvid.
Have a flexible slideshow for photos and videos (avi, mov)
be able to play mp3 and flacs

Something that has an interface that is similar or better than xbmc.

I have a sky minidish with a single lnb, don't want to pay Rupert Murdoch any more money, so I'm not too bothered about cams. I know I can fit a multi LNB. Are there any HD sat cards that have multi tuners ?

I have a core2duo 2.33Ghz, 2Gb ram, gigabyte GA-P35 DSR3, Ati Radeon 3450 with HDMI output. Sony KDL40V4000 tv.

Will the hardware be ok to decode 1080 stuff, or do I need to upgrade the gpu?
What happens to the sound ? Can I use the onboard HD sound ?
If I get an AV amp later, will I be able to pass the sound throught the HDMI? So it gets decoded downstream ?
I believe theres not enough bandwidth over the SPDIF port for full HD sound, is that right ??

I have come across Technisat Skystar HD and something called floppyDTV.

What I'm looking for is help on advice on which card and software to get and how it all hangs together. Also which OS to run this lot on, XP or Vista? Is Vista required for full visual and audio HD decoding ?

I would like a stable, reliable solution that is easy to maintain. I am technically minded, but I don't have the time or patience to spend time faffing about. So if theres a turnkey Linux system that will be ok, but I'm not going to be recompiling kernels.

If there is a wiki or faq or other post which I have missed, please point me in the right direction.

Cheers

[Springveldt]

My HTPC is a slightly lower spec than yours and it decodes both BBC HD and ITV HD with no problems at all (CPU around 10% if that)
I went for a motherboard with the AMD 780G chipset (onboard Radeon 3200), Athlon X2 (45W one, 2.1Ghz I think), 2GB ram and Vista x86. I did try Ubuntu first but couldn't get the ATI drivers to play nicely with HDMI.
As for the software I use DVB Viewer as I found it to be pretty stable and low cost at 15 euros. There are free ones you could try first like DVB Dream and if you go Linux then MythTV is supposed to be very good.
DVB Viewer now supports MKV as well and I'd imagine most of the other DVB software out there will as well.

The easiest solution for me (since I'm more Windows minded) would be to slap XP on there with DVB Viewer and a SkyStar HD2 (for future proofing as I believe nothing on FreeSat actually requires DVB-S2 just now). I'd imagine the BBC and ITV will go DVB-S2 sooner or later as well with their HD channel and Channel 4 if it ever becomes available on FreeSat.
As for the sound can't help you much I'm afraid as my surround sound kit is old and broken just now, so I just use the HDMI cable into my plasma TV and use the crappy TV speakers. You get used to it after a while.
I'm not aware of any dual DVB-S2 tuners just now but happy for someone to point me in the direction of one.

[milli260876]

I've a similar system to you mate, hd no problems... I run vista thought best for future proofing - dvbviewer skystarHD2 no problems once i got set-up.
If you already have XP you might wanna wait til windows7 which natively supports satelitte and HD

[3sat]

springveldt, milli, thanks for your replies

I'm downloading Windows beta 7 at the mo (legit from MS), it should be usable till August this year.

So far I've given Vista a miss on my pcs, I think I'll try Vista mkII as it is supposed to have better hd media support, though the drm bit worries me. I don't want the machine crippling my media .....

If I want to have a PVR solution, do I install 2 x DVB cards ? Is it as simple as that or are there complications ?

Is the SkyStar HD dvb card of choice ??

Cheers

[milli260876]

the hauppauge ones are well supported for tv pack 2008 driver-wise so should work well in win7.
I have a sshd2 and it's ok tho i have nothing to compare it to, i would assume it's the software that does all the work as the drivers are bda?? so the type of card shouldn't matter.
I've found technisat support to be basically sh*te

[Springveldt]

Originally Posted by 3sat

If I want to have a PVR solution, do I install 2 x DVB cards ? Is it as simple as that or are there complications ?

Aye, either 2 cards or a dual tuner card if you can find one.

[milli260876]

I would doubt that you'll ever get a dual tuner satellite card as they need seperate feeds unlike tv that can work from one...

[3sat]

Hi Guys

found one of these

Pinnacle 7010iX PCTV Dual Satellite TV Tuner DVB - USED on eBay, also TV Cards, Graphics, Video TV Cards, Desktop PC Components, Computing (end time 15-Jan-09 20:18:45 GMT)

Pinnacle 7010iX PCTV Dual Satellite TV Tuner DVB-S

Looks like it might do the job, for £18 + £3 p&p, I'm going to take a chance. I know its not DVB-S2, but it'll do for the moment.

It should be ok for SD and the radio channels.

Looks like I'll be looking for a quad LNB soon too. Is it worth getting one of those low noise ones ? I have a small sky dish at the moment.


What do you think?

[Springveldt]

Originally Posted by milli260876

I would doubt that you'll ever get a dual tuner satellite card as they need seperate feeds unlike tv that can work from one...

I'm sure there are dual tuner DVB-S cards out there, all you do is run 2 cables from a twin or better lnb into the card.

[Springveldt]

Originally Posted by 3sat

Hi Guys

found one of these

Pinnacle 7010iX PCTV Dual Satellite TV Tuner DVB - USED on eBay, also TV Cards, Graphics, Video TV Cards, Desktop PC Components, Computing (end time 15-Jan-09 20:18:45 GMT)

Pinnacle 7010iX PCTV Dual Satellite TV Tuner DVB-S

Looks like it might do the job, for £18 + £3 p&p, I'm going to take a chance. I know its not DVB-S2, but it'll do for the moment.

It should be ok for SD and the radio channels.

Looks like I'll be looking for a quad LNB soon too. Is it worth getting one of those low noise ones ? I have a small sky dish at the moment.


What do you think?

The lad that sits next to me has just pulled that card out of his drawer! Apparently he's on the MS Beta Test for Media Centre and thats the card MS sent him to use. It should do the job I think but I dunno if you can use both DVB-S tuners at the same time or if you need to use a DVB-S and a DVB-T.