[mythtv-users] HD3000 and High-Def

[Zak]

Like Mr. Smolka, I don't have either of those cards - I have the MyHD, 
though.

Both the 2000 and 3000 take a raw HD signal and simply save the stream.  
There are two ways to get an HD signal via a PC card - OTA (over the 
air) and QAM (cable). 

If you plug in a UHF antenna to either the 2000 or 3000, you should be 
able to record any OTA signals you receive in your area.

As far as QAM, I don't know if the 2000 supports it.  If you have the 
3000, I believe it supports QAM, which means you can plug the cable 
straight into the card and receive any clear signals.  Typically, 
however, that is limited to networks (at least in the US).  That means 
you can't get HBO-HD on your 3000.


Dewey Smolka wrote:

>I don't have an HD card, and don't even have cable, so please take
>whatever I say with a huge grain of salt.
>
>As I understand it, HD requires a digital signal, which means a
>digital cable box. But just because you have a digital box doesn't
>necessarily mean HD. My folks upgraded to digital cable (Comcast) not
>too long ago, but I haven't had a chance yet to really look at the
>box. However, I don't recall seeing a digital output from the box, or
>any output capable of HD. IIRC, it's got coax, S-vid, RCA audio, and a
>serial port. It may have component outs (capable of HD) but I don't
>remember. It may also have a DVI port for HD displays, but I don't
>know of any card capable of capturing a DVI signal.
>
>With an HD*000 card, you should be able to capture OTA HD channels
>with an HD-compatible antenna. Going through a cable box, however, it
>is irrelevant how well the box can decode HD if it's only putting out
>an SD signal.
>
>Supposedly cable companies are required to provide a box with firewire
>or other data dumping for HD cannels (which allows you to capture the
>raw HD stream without the need for an encoder card), but how well this
>works in practice is anyone's guess. Also, the cable companies don't
>send all the HD channels through the firewire port. I've heard here
>that the OTA channels are generally fine, but cable-only HD is not
>available. Also HD files are absolutely enourmous.
>
>The other thing is that to use the cable decoder, you need some way to
>control it from MythTV, which means using the serial port (at least
>that's what I think it's for), or an IR blaster. With analog cable
>channels, you just plug the line straight into your card and off you
>go. With the digital channels (SD or HD), you need the decoder box,
>meaning more things to set up and more possible points of failure.
>
>There's plenty of discussion here on the ins and outs of getting HD
>into Myth, but for me, I'd rather wait until it's a bit easier,
>there's more channels available, and neccessary equipment (not just
>the card, but CPU, HDDs, display, etc) comes way, way down in price.
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