My understanding is that you can only get HD channels either via over-the-air, or via the cable company using a digital cable box.  Well if you're running your cable line into a TV Tuner card in the computer, how can you pick up the HD channels, or even say HBO if you subscribe to such a thing?

The only way to get premium channels is with a cable card. I've got one, and they work great. My other tuners are all clear QAM, so I get all other unencrypted digital channels in HD that are available.

 What does that mean?  So you're saying you can still get channels like FoodNetwork HD just using your TV Tuner Card?  So you only need a cable card if you want channels like HBO.

As Foxer said, your best bet is a cablecard tuner. This will give you your full cable tv line-up complete with HBO or Showtime. You get a schedule and Media Center provides a DVR service on your computer. But here are your options in the USA.

1. Over the Air with an ATSC tuner card. A good antenna and you'll get all the ATSC channels in your area. Media Center will provide a schedule and recording services.

2. Cable Box using compoenent output to a HD-PVR along with their recording software. The HD-PVR provides a MPEG4 signal so it transcodes the incoming HD signal.

3. Clear QAM with a tuner card that can receive clear QAM cable channels. Many cable cos transmit some of their line-up in the clear. It's still digital and a clear QAM tuner will receive the signal and provide a MPEG2 signal that Media Center will record. Many tuners are available from internal to external and the popular Silicon Dust HD Homerun. The drawback to this is many cable cos only provide the over the air re-transmissions on clear  QAM and everything else like HBO and Discovery HD Theatre, National Geographic etc are encrypted. Also you have to do your own channel line-up and number assignment and guide listing attachment for many of the channels. Time Warner here only gives you the OTA in the clear with call signs and self mapping,but there are a few other HD channels available that you have to "find" and set listings for. (The SD Homerun can tune either clear QAM or ATSC as can most current tv tuner cards).

4. Cablecard tuner. Currently only the ATI DCT soon to be replaced by the Ceton. The ATI DCT is a single tuner and each one requires a cablecard. You get your full cable line-up and guide and if they mess with the channel line-up you'll never know because the channel tables are updated by the cable co in the cablecard. There is one thing you need to be aware of: Switched Digital Video. Many cablecos are rolling out SDV which saves them bandwidth. What happens is you tune to a SDV channel and the STB or Tuning Adapter sends a request to the cable headend and then the cableco starts the program down the cable to you.  Currently Win7 and the ATI DCT support SDV (it's not supported in Vista) and the cable company usually gives you a tuning adapter that connects to the cable coax and your computer via USB. Then when a tuning request is made the ATI DCT (and the Ceton as well) send the request to the tuning adapter that sends the request upstream by it's cable modem and gets the frequency to send to the tuner to use for that transmission. (Silicon Dust has shown a dual cablecard tuner that's a network device that is expected to be available either late this year or early next year).

You still can't get on demand or pay per view.

There are certain copy restricitions with some cable companies and some channels. However, in any event any program recorded by your Media Center can be played on that machine and on any extender (which is now pretty much the xbox) connected to that computer.  Anything not protected can be played on any computer that can play .wtv files.

John

bgaviator:

 What does that mean?  So you're saying you can still get channels like FoodNetwork HD just using your TV Tuner Card?  So you only need a cable card if you want channels like HBO.

That depends on your service provider, but most likely not. No HD content except for over the air and a scant few are availabe on Time Warner here (so far FXHD is for some reason if you now  where it is).

But in most cases to get the cable line-up you'll need a cablecard tuner.

John

 I assume a company like Time Warner charges a monthly fee for this, or do you buy it outright?

You rent it, just like a STB.  Mine is maybe 4 bucks a month.  You will have access to all of the channels that you subscribe to, including HBO, etc.  No more, no less, than you would have on a STB.  Search for any of our blogs here concerning ATI or Ceton cablecard tuners to learn more.

Nice summary John.

Hopefully on option two (the HD-PVR has a IR blaster) Hauppauge will be able to get it integrated more easily into Media Center. I think that you be a great solution, you still have you existing set top box and then media center, via HD-PVR just drives it.

The only problem I have with the HD-PVR is that you have to have the STB decode to analog and provide stereo to the HD-PVR that then has to encode it to MPEG4 with stereo sound. So you loose the 5.1 audio and you go through the decode/analog/encode with the associated problems.

I remember an SMPTE meeting way back in the early 1980s with a Sony engineer showing multiple encode/decode for editing with MPEG2 studio profile on D-1 tape (the best we had at the time) and showing us all the problems by second/third pass. Now editing takes multiple passes and dealing with this on a home level without the major dollar encoders, it leaves something to be desired.

The cablecard overcomes this, but the problem of the CCI copy once. Now if we could just get the restriction changed to play only in HOMEGROUP, then we've have a much better system. We should then be able to edit commercials and trim start and stop of programs.

John

JohnW248:

The only problem I have with the HD-PVR is that you have to have the STB decode to analog and provide stereo to the HD-PVR that then has to encode it to MPEG4 with stereo sound. So you loose the 5.1 audio and you go through the decode/analog/encode with the associated problems.

I remember an SMPTE meeting way back in the early 1980s with a Sony engineer showing multiple encode/decode for editing with MPEG2 studio profile on D-1 tape (the best we had at the time) and showing us all the problems by second/third pass. Now editing takes multiple passes and dealing with this on a home level without the major dollar encoders, it leaves something to be desired.

The cablecard overcomes this, but the problem of the CCI copy once. Now if we could just get the restriction changed to play only in HOMEGROUP, then we've have a much better system. We should then be able to edit commercials and trim start and stop of programs.

John

The HDPVR has Toslink input, so you don't sacrifice the 5.1 sound. The HDPVR-STB Setup I have is rock-solid stable.

 Wow, trying to run your cable through your computer/media center sounds more complicated than I thought it would be.  Sounds like if you just have a standard cable subscription (no cable box) then it's fairly easy to run into your computer's TV tuner card.....but if you want to be able to watch all of the HD channels the cable company offers, then it gets much more difficult. 

bgaviator:

 Wow, trying to run your cable through your computer/media center sounds more complicated than I thought it would be.  Sounds like if you just have a standard cable subscription (no cable box) then it's fairly easy to run into your computer's TV tuner card.....but if you want to be able to watch all of the HD channels the cable company offers, then it gets much more difficult. 

It's really not that complicated.  Comments in this thread, distilled:
- standard cable (your cableco is running an analog/digital system):  use analog tuner(s) to watch/record the regular cable channels; optionally, add ClearQAM tuners to watch/record any clear digital channels you may get.  You'll always get your local OTA channels in HD (this is required by FCC mandate); anything else is gravy.
- digital cable package (your provider is running an analog/digital system):  same as above, for channels <100.  Anything above that (the digital package) requires either an STB connected to an analog tuner (this downgrades all digital channels to SD quality), or connecting an STB to an HD-PVR (not the most stable thing in the world), or purchase of a DCT (either the currently-available ATI Digital Cable Wonder, or the soon-to-be-released Ceton 4-tuner CableCARD tuner.)
- cable provider that has switched over to all-digital service:  Use HD-PVR, or DCT (ATI or Ceton.)

For you:  analog tuner(s) for your analog channels (your 'basic subscription'); add DCT(s) later when you upgrade your package.  I'd highly recommend holding out on this for Ceton's release.  The economy-of-tuners (ATI:  $250, single tuner; Ceton:  $399, 4 tuners) is much better for the Ceton board.
Or, simply hold off on TV functionality until Ceton ships product.  Get a Ceton tuner at that point, and upgrade your sub to the digital package at that point.