MyHD-120 goes PVR!

[picopir8]

I just downloaded the latest (beta 2) drivers/software for the MyHD120 last week.  These add the long awaited PVR functionality.  After playing with the new software, I must say I am very pleased.

The PVR functionality operates in two modes: on-demand and always on.  Always on mode always buffers the channel you are watching so you can pause and rewind live TV.  On-demand mode is offered as a means to allow users to pause TV w/o constantly caching to the hard drive (thus extending the hdd life).  In this mode, the software begins buffering when the user first hits the pause button.  Everything then operates just as it would in the always on mode. Caching can then be disabled by pushing stop on the remote.  There is a very minorl video glitch that occurs when cahching begins.  The glitch is minor and just looks as if a new channel has been tuned in.  The quality of a chached video feed is excellent and no noticable degridation was noticed as a result of the caching process. One downfall is that analog channels can not be accessed while caching live TV. PBS is the only channel that broadcasts different programming on it analog and digital channels so it is the only channel affected.

As always, the MyHD-120 can record analog and digital programs to the hard drive or a DVHS deck.  Free guide info is provided by titanTV, and an optional DVI daughter card is available.

Furture releases are supposed to bring the ability to pause and rewind a show that is being recorded (ie saved, not just buffered) and the ability to watch a previously recorded stream while recording a new stream.

While there are other cards available now that offer similar functionality (ie ATI), the MyHD120 is a very quality card that runs smothly on a wider range of PCs than most other cards.   Its worth a look for anyone who has had problems with other HD tuner cards.

[Joseph S]

If you're looking to timeshift and have a G5 get the eyeTV 500. Its tuner works much better than MyHD and HiPix in our local multipath plagued area. It does real PVR including pause, rewind, ff, and watch other programs while recording. I don't have the G5 but, record all HD on my Macs either with eyeTV or via the firewire port on my TWC box and playback with MyHD or TheaterTek/Zoom.

[Doug Mohr]

I just installed beta2 last night. Didn't seem to have any problems timeshifting Lost and The West Wing.

I like this card even more with every new update.

Doug

[Joseph S]

Apparently a MYHD-130 is on the way in 30 days. Hold off on the purchases if you don't own the 120 or 100 model, yet.

[Detritus]

Well, now the question would be whether the 130 enforces the broadcast flag. So you may or may not want to buy the 120 even once the 130 is out.

[Joseph S]

They say none released before 7/1/2005 will support the flag.

[Doug Mohr]

Isn't the 130 just the 120 with Dish support?

I'm only running over the air, so I have no need to upgrade unless there are more improvements in the 130

Doug

[Joseph S]

They're saying next gen tuner, QAM support, and Dual RF inputs. No multi cards/units though or editing features, which means it's still going to be a backup recording option, but it does make for a much improved live viewing solution in my case where the old tuner can't get all stations with the antenna in one spot presently.

If you can get all stations with ease with it and don't use QAM from Cable to get the others, then there doesn't seem to be a need to upgrade.

[Detritus]

Well, I'm guessing that they're not going to release a card that they can only sell for 6 months. So it's likely that broadcast flag support is at least possible with the card.

QAM support only for unencrypted? Can anybody tell me whether Milwaukee TWC has any unencrypted QAM? Do they at least offer NBC,CBS,ABC, etc unencrypted?

[Joseph S]

QAM support only for unencrypted? Can anybody tell me whether Milwaukee TWC has any unencrypted QAM? Do they at least offer NBC,CBS,ABC, etc unencrypted?

Yes. I get all of the above, plus all the PBS, Fox, and a bunch of promo channels with EyeTV's QAM. No HDNET, INHD, SHO, HBO, or Discovery.

[Snard]

Originally posted by Joseph S
Yes. I get all of the above, plus all the PBS, Fox, and a bunch of promo channels with EyeTV's QAM. No HDNET, INHD, SHO, HBO, or Discovery.

Are you including non-HD QAM channels in your list? I would like to know whether other digital cable channels (besides the HD ones) can be viewed via one of these tuners.

And on a tangentially related note - does anyone know whether there are any plans by any vendor(s) to make a cable card tuner for PC use? Or is that something that's never gonna happen, due to the lack of control of what happens to the data once it's inside your computer?

[Joseph S]

Are you including non-HD QAM channels in your list? I would like to know whether other digital cable channels (besides the HD ones) can be viewed via one of these tuners.

TWC and InDemand promo channels are non HD received via QAM. They are not included in the above list because they are not HD. The rest of the digital cable lineup is encrypted.

[picopir8]

Originally posted by Joseph S
They're saying next gen tuner, QAM support, and Dual RF inputs. No multi cards/units though or editing features, which means it's still going to be a backup recording option, but it does make for a much improved live viewing solution in my case where the old tuner can't get all stations with the antenna in one spot presently.

If you can get all stations with ease with it and don't use QAM from Cable to get the others, then there doesn't seem to be a need to upgrade.

So what exactly is new? The MyHD-120 card that I use has Dual input and QAM support.  AFAIK, the MyHD-100 is the same as well. I think the only differences were board redesigns that had not affected funtionality.  Im wondering if the 130 will be the same.  If a number of features are added, it may be worth the upgrade.  Do you know of anyplace that shows the specs/feature list?

[picopir8]

Sorry to reply to my own post.  But I guess the 120 does NOT support QAM. According to the reply i got from AVSform, despite having QAM support on the decoder chip, it does not have enough ram to support QAM.  For that you need the 130