Need a way to use my PC to stream content

[DisgruntledVirus]

I have cable, and am looking to pickup a tuner card, network tuner (HD Homerun), or some other device that takes my cable box and hooks it into the PC. Then the PC works as the "server" and allows me to watch any channel/show/DVR'ed program on any computer OR TV (that is hooked up with a Roku type box to pull from the MCE server system that's running it).

So, how can I have:
Cable into the house>cable box (so that all the channels I pay for are decoded)>some device>any tv or pc in my house. I realize that I won't be able to watch something different on everything simultaneously, and that is not my goal (neither is it to pirate stuff). I just want to be able to watch the cable tv I pay for on any tv or pc I own.

Anybody have any ideas on how this can be done?

 

[The-Noid]

Yes.

1.) Get a Hauppauge HD-PVR. May be OOS at most places supposedly a new version coming. This is the only device that will work with a cable box to pick up HD, others will only download ClearQAM channels.
2.) Purchase SAGETV which is a great program.
3.) Purchase a SageTV extender which you can use to extend the fee anywhere in the house and also view any video you have recorded and such.

 

[vi edit]

Xbox 360 + Vista/Windows 7 media center

 

[kalrith]

Xbox 360 + Vista/Windows 7 media center

I'd do this plus a cable card and skip the cable box entirely.

 

[The-Noid]

That works but the cable card boxes are as expensive as a hauppauge hd-pvr without all the hassle.

 

[kalrith]

That works but the cable card boxes are as expensive as a hauppauge hd-pvr without all the hassle.

With a cable card would he get dual-tuner capability? I always saw the inability to record two shows at once as a major limitation of the Hauppauge HD PVR. Of course, he could buy two, but that's getting pretty expensive. Also, would the cable bill be any cheaper with a cable card instead of a cable box?

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Yes.

1.) Get a Hauppauge HD-PVR. May be OOS at most places supposedly a new version coming. This is the only device that will work with a cable box to pick up HD, others will only download ClearQAM channels.
2.) Purchase SAGETV which is a great program.
3.) Purchase a SageTV extender which you can use to extend the fee anywhere in the house and also view any video you have recorded and such.

The issue with the Hauppauge HD-PVR (as somebody mentioned) is the inability to record two shows at once (or watch one while another is being recorded). I regularly have 2 shows recording (namely on Monday nights, not that it's relevant), so I need the ability to record 2 shows at the same time at minimum.

It appears as though SageTV is the program/hardware I'm looking for. Now I just need to figure out the tuner card. I'd like an external one, but can do internal as well (just will need to pick up a new mobo for my system that will be recording which isn't a big deal). I do have Windows 7, and it will be the OS running on this PC.

As for the cable card stuff. That would be awesome to use, but unfortunately with TWC they aren't very supportive of them. So, while I love the cable card stuff, they appear to still be more hassle then they are worth as of now.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

I see that SageTV supports network tuners, so what about using the HD Homerun instead of a tuner attached to a specific PC?

 

[slackerinabox]

The issue with the Hauppauge HD-PVR (as somebody mentioned) is the inability to record two shows at once (or watch one while another is being recorded). I regularly have 2 shows recording (namely on Monday nights, not that it's relevant), so I need the ability to record 2 shows at the same time at minimum.

It appears as though SageTV is the program/hardware I'm looking for. Now I just need to figure out the tuner card. I'd like an external one, but can do internal as well (just will need to pick up a new mobo for my system that will be recording which isn't a big deal). I do have Windows 7, and it will be the OS running on this PC.

As for the cable card stuff. That would be awesome to use, but unfortunately with TWC they aren't very supportive of them. So, while I love the cable card stuff, they appear to still be more hassle then they are worth as of now.

Then be prepared to only receive your locals plus a few funky unencrypted channels. Unless you get a cable card pci-e thingie.. Are you ok with only getting a fraction of the channels you pay for?

 

[kalrith]

Then be prepared to only receive your locals plus a few funky unencrypted channels. Unless you get a cable card pci-e thingie.. Are you ok with only getting a fraction of the channels you pay for?

Put in a nicer way, tuner cards (i.e. HD Homerun, Sage TV tuners, etc.) only receive unencrypted channels, which are typically just the locals plus maybe 1-5 others. If you want to receive all your channels, you have two options: cable card and capture device + cable box.

A cable card would work just like your cable box to access all the encrypted channels. I'm not sure if a cable card is capable of receiving two inputs. If not, then you'd need two cable cards. I believe that you pay a monthly fee for the cable card and don't have to purchase it, much like with a cable box.

The Hauppauge HD PVR is the best option for an HD capture device. This will connect to your cable box and be able to capture what it's playing right then. You can set it up so that the PVR controls the cable box, so it will change channels on the cable box when it's supposed to record something. These definitely only record one input at a time, and you'd need two of them to record two things at once.

Edit: Depending on your situation, you might be better served with an HDMI switch serving the cable-box signal to all TVs and using an IR repeater to feed the remote signal from the other rooms to the cable box.

Here's another thought I just had. You mentioned that you won't be able to watch different things on the different TVs, and that's not entirely true. Going with the PC + cable card setup, you should be able to watch two different live shows on different TVs, and you'd be able to watch different recorded shows on different TVs. Obviously this wouldn't be the case if you went the HDMI-splitter route.

 

[Modelworks]

You really do not need a tuner if you are going to use the cable box. Does the cable box have a firewire port ? Some do and if it is enabled you can get video from that.

Another option if you are willing to view the content at 720x480 is to get a standard svideo capture card for about $25 and use that.

Tuners are not advised if you use the box because what they expect it to be clear QAM on the input, then they simply down sample that and save it to the drive, saving the video takes little cpu power on the card. Cards that accept things like component or hdmi cost about $200 becuase they have to digitize the input , convert it , then save it.

 

[s44]

Win7 + cablecard tuner + DLNA device (e.g. PS3)

 

[jdjbuffalo]

Xbox 360 + Vista/Windows 7 media center

This plus the new Ceton PCI-Express cable card tuner (http://www.cetoncorp.com/).

It will be released March 31st. You can tune 4 cable channels at once with one cable card that all cable companies have. No need for a separate box and you get access to all the channels you pay for. The only exception is PPV shows.

 

[Modelworks]

This plus the new Ceton PCI-Express cable card tuner (http://www.cetoncorp.com/).

It will be released March 31st. You can tune 4 cable channels at once with one cable card that all cable companies have. No need for a separate box and you get access to all the channels you pay for. The only exception is PPV shows.

$400 for the card alone ? You would be better to buy a dvr with cable card support.

 

[jdjbuffalo]

Yeah, the first ones are $400. That is cheap compared to what it would cost for 4 tuners with any other solution.

They will be coming out with a 2 tuner version but they haven't announced when. It will probably be $199 - $249.

 

[slackerinabox]

Wait, do you just want to split your signal so all tvs in your house watches the same tv show? Heck, get a coax splitter and some wires

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

First off, thanks for all the responses. I've not had much luck in my searching AVS/here/google for answers in any meaningful form.

Put in a nicer way, tuner cards (i.e. HD Homerun, Sage TV tuners, etc.) only receive unencrypted channels, which are typically just the locals plus maybe 1-5 others. If you want to receive all your channels, you have two options: cable card and capture device + cable box.

A cable card would work just like your cable box to access all the encrypted channels. I'm not sure if a cable card is capable of receiving two inputs. If not, then you'd need two cable cards. I believe that you pay a monthly fee for the cable card and don't have to purchase it, much like with a cable box.

The Hauppauge HD PVR is the best option for an HD capture device. This will connect to your cable box and be able to capture what it's playing right then. You can set it up so that the PVR controls the cable box, so it will change channels on the cable box when it's supposed to record something. These definitely only record one input at a time, and you'd need two of them to record two things at once.

Edit: Depending on your situation, you might be better served with an HDMI switch serving the cable-box signal to all TVs and using an IR repeater to feed the remote signal from the other rooms to the cable box.

Here's another thought I just had. You mentioned that you won't be able to watch different things on the different TVs, and that's not entirely true. Going with the PC + cable card setup, you should be able to watch two different live shows on different TVs, and you'd be able to watch different recorded shows on different TVs. Obviously this wouldn't be the case if you went the HDMI-splitter route.

Currently, I have one cable box. I have thought about CableCards, but have had a really hard time finding any pci/pcie cards that support them (or external USB versions). So, I was thinking I would keep the cable box to get all the channels I get with it, just send that to the win7 MCE box instead of the TV/receiver.

The Hauppage HD DVR is nice, but I need the ability to record/watch 2 shows simultaneously. I don't care to get a second cable box if I can avoid it (let alone a second HD DVR).

The HDMI switch I had thought about, but as you mention I could only watch the same thing on all TV's. That means I couldn't change the channel when I'm in another room (unless I get an RF remote and such) unless I go back into the main room.

The CableCard appears to be the best option, but I don't see many choices on how to get them in a usable form for a MCE box.

You really do not need a tuner if you are going to use the cable box. Does the cable box have a firewire port ? Some do and if it is enabled you can get video from that.

Another option if you are willing to view the content at 720x480 is to get a standard svideo capture card for about $25 and use that.

Tuners are not advised if you use the box because what they expect it to be clear QAM on the input, then they simply down sample that and save it to the drive, saving the video takes little cpu power on the card. Cards that accept things like component or hdmi cost about $200 becuase they have to digitize the input , convert it , then save it.

I have a Scientific Atlanta 8420 HDC. It appears to have 2x firewire ports. I don't know if it's enabled though, anybody know off hand?

I have the ability to use traditional svideo/composite cables, but want to get 720P resolution (although I could use svideo/composite in the mean time).

So, either get cards that take HDMI input from the cable box, go the CableCard route, or deal with SDTV basically?

This plus the new Ceton PCI-Express cable card tuner (http://www.cetoncorp.com/).

It will be released March 31st. You can tune 4 cable channels at once with one cable card that all cable companies have. No need for a separate box and you get access to all the channels you pay for. The only exception is PPV shows.

I do like this thing. A LOT.

$400 for the card alone ? You would be better to buy a dvr with cable card support.

For $400 that's not bad IMHO. Although if I could do the same thing with a DVR with cable card support for cheaper that would be nice. Have any links to DVRs that can do this?

Wait, do you just want to split your signal so all tvs in your house watches the same tv show? Heck, get a coax splitter and some wires

Haha, yeah thought about that already. It's not what I want to do though. I need to have any TV and/or computer be able to watch any cable channel (or recorded show) I can currently watch on my tv that is connected to the cable box. Oh, and 2 different live feeds can be viewed/recorded at once.

 

[wiretap]

Another vote for CableCARD..

But, the quad tuner by Ceton just announced it WILL be on sale by March 31st with a suggested retail price of $399.

I'd go for one or two of these HDHomeRun CableCARD tuners:
http://hd.engadget.com/2010/01/07/hdhomeruns-cablecard-implementation-lives-up-to-the-brand/

It's going to be networkable. Plug your coax into it, then plug it into your router/switch on your network. Any of your HTPC's can access the two tuners. One can watch live TV while the other records, or both can watch at the same time, or one HTPC can use two at once as the other uses none. I'm sure it will be released sometime around when the Ceton is going to be released because they'll want to have a chance at grabbing the marketshare too.

PS.. internal CableCARD tuner if you were looking for just a single that is available now:
http://www.cyberestore.com/hdtv-tv-...r-digital-cable-tuner-cablecard-internal.html

 

[Modelworks]

One caveat about the CableCard. Call your local cable company first. some areas do not have them in stock or a very limited amount of them. It really varies. I know one guy said his city has 30+ in stock while another from a different city, same company, said they were not getting any for 6 months.

Also check with your cable company about the cost on renting a box. Here I can rent an HD DVR for $7 a month. It takes over 3 years before you would equal the cost of something you bought.

 

[wiretap]

They have to provide you with a CableCARD upon request, per FCC guidelines.

 

[Modelworks]

They have to provide you with a CableCARD upon request, per FCC guidelines.

Only if they have them in stock.
CableCard won't be around much longer so I wouldn't put a whole lot of money into the devices that use the technology. Devices are moving to access cards like those used for satellite receivers. Cheaper and easier for everyone.

 

[wiretap]

CableCARD is being revitalized right now. If they were to do away with in in lieu of access cards, they would need to retool their entire system, both on the server side and everyone's client boxes. That costs them far more than providing already existing cablecards.