[mythtv-users] Beginner Question
Joseph A. Caputo
jcaputo1 at comcast.net
Mon Dec 20 15:54:32 UTC 2004
On Sunday 19 December 2004 16:21, Gerald S wrote:
> JAC, awesome info...it is really helping. But theoretically, a
> solution that used an analog HD capture solution would get around the
> encrypted channel issue, correct? I know the firewire connection
> would have better quality, reamaining digital, but likely be
> encrypted.
>
> I would think that as HD PVR gets more popular, more cable companies
> will start encyrpting the signal. So the work around would be using
> the analog HD signal to do the recording, right? Most people talk
> about firewire coming out (digital), and not component video
> (analog), what direction do you think it is heading? Being with Time
> Warner, I know that they probably have (or will have) every channel
> encypted (and only unencrypt the commercials:) so the hope of using
> firewire for me will be small.
Again, AFAIK, there is no consumer-level HD analog capture solution.
You can't capture HD over composite or S-Video, and a component video
capture card would cost > $USD 1000. So, *theoretically*, yes, an HD
component video capture solution would get around the encryption issue,
in the same way that composite/svideo capture currently gets around the
encryption issue for SD (NTSC) digital cable content. However, an
analog HD capture solution would require that your PC (or capture card)
re-encode the raw analog video frames into a digital form, which would
require some serious horsepower. Think about it: it takes a 2-3 GHz P4
just to *decode* HD content for playback; to *encode* it in real time
would take quite a bit more than that. A hardware encoder card that
would handle HD content would like be several thousand dollars. It's
just not likely to be a viable or cost-effective solution any time
soon.
-JAC
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