[vdr] Re: Recomendations for DVB card

[Stefaan Coddé <stefaan.codde@pandora.be>]

Andrey Vlassov wrote:

>Now I would ask you question and hope that you can answers it. First of
all did you hear
>anything about "VisionPlus VP-DTV 1030 PCI SATELLITE CARD"? Some
description is available at next url
>It looks like it works under linux and should accept CI modules.
>But it is not completely clear "Is it has MPEG2 decoder or not?". Did
you heard anything about this card?

The Visionplus VP-DTV1030 uses software MPEG decoding. Don't let the
image fool ya, the two rather big
chips are the PCI bridge and the common slot controller.

>Now about satellites used here (North America) for reception. Check
next urls
>http://www.dvbcanada.com/usa/fta_by_language.html
>
>(it seems like 3 Russian channels available what is good for us here in
North America)

Check out http://www.satcodx.com/ for sat transponder frequenties/TV
channels.
Keep in mind that If you plan to use a DVB card that the transponder
uses DVB eg MPEG2
and that many channels are encrypted so you might need a cam module.

>(well lyngsat is most informative site around but I am very new to
understand everything on this page.
>well your help in understanding all this info would be greatly
appreciated)

Satcodx is the most known sourve regarding to sat transponder news.

>Well at the end of this month we move to our new home
>(well still have to pay off morgage for many years) and I will be able
start build VDR.

Oh, great.. keep in mind that the DVB scene in the US is far more
limited then in Europe.

>Previously some person from this mailing list share some ideas about
his choice
>of sat-tv-tuner card. As I understood WinTV DVB-S 1.3 has overheating
problems.
>And this guy said that his choice fall on WinTV DVB-S 1.6. By some
reason he rejected WinTV Nova.

The nova uses also a software Mpeg decoder so needs a faster system CPU.
Rev3 get's hot indeed but there is such thing as active cooling.
But: Cooling means, on your own risk.

>At the moment I found two companies who have DVB-S cards for reasonable
price
>http://www.dvbshop.tv/
>http://www.dvbcanada.com/
>Could you check and say your opinion about these companies
(products/service according their information).

I've ordered alot here in europe and a few times in the US and did not
have any problem yet.
A company can miss very angry customers... not good for their sales.
I have no clue on the two links tho.

>Now my other question "How do you watch Sat TV? Computer monitor? TV
Set?".
>I found that some cards do not have output connectors at all.

The technotrend designs Rev1.3 has a J2 connector that offers
sp-dif/S-VHS and RGB output.
There was a recent thread on RGB output regarding buffering of the
signal.
I've finished my buffer but it's still not what I want (ESD protected
8kV)

>I guess that in this case a card like DXR3 should be used or something
similar.

Yes, the DXR3 can decode the mpeg signal.

>I know  that most channels from satellite comes in resolution 544x???
and I believe DXR3 will handle it just fine.
>But what about HDTV channels? I heard that a few streams comes down in
HDTV (here comes some confusion as they have 
>1080i, 720p, 480p) format but which one of three formats? And is VDR
able handle all of them and in which configuration.

Well, DVB here uses 720x576 pixels in a matrix block of 16by16pixels.
HDTV is still something what we are waiting for here but I see some dark
clouds:
The key factor is the compression, HDTV needs more bandwidth so what are
they gonna do with the compression factor?
Eh, about the resolution.
A DVB receiver is magnificent, it can stretch the screen so that means
that TV stations can limit the horizontal
resolution and the receiver stretches it back to full screen.






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