Possible PVR Solutions for PC

[0nRay]

Hi guys,

 

I wasn't sure where to post this. Moderators, if it needs to be moved just point me in the correct direction or move it where you feel it's most suiting.

 

I want to start Recording my favorite TV shows but my family takes up all the Shaw PVR space with brutal and pointless Oiler games where they're getting slaughtered anyway lol or silly reruns of Top Gear and CSI. So I want to take matters into my own hands, problem is I don't know what tuner card I need for my PC or if these cards even work with new Shaw digital boxes.

 

My goal simply put is to record my shows in the original HD quality they were broadcasted in (or at the very least 720P) to a storage media of my control, i.e. if I need more space I can just throw another HDD at it instead of having to beg my family to delete these old programs. In case it matters I have a PCI-E 2.0 - 4X slot I can use or a PCI slot, many onboard SATA ports are available on my mobo for future HDDs as well. I know Hauppauge has been in the game for a while but are they any good? Any other brands to look at?

 

What ideas have you guys got? I'd love to hear!

 

Cheers

[0nRay]

Does anybody have some info?

[TJStamp]

Whatever tuner you use there are lots of options... Myth (linux based) is the most popular but there are some good windows options too... check out NextPVR for the best of the free ones I've used it in the past to record raw Freeview HD broadcasts, can handle EPG program guides, scheduled series recordings etc, does pretty much exactly what you ask

[0nRay]

Cool man, just to clarify. The signal coming out of my shaw box isn't in some way encrypted so I can't capture it with a tuner car? Also why don't tuner cards come with HDMI inputs, how do they record in 1080P without one? Lastly I know that some programs aren't allowed to be recorded on my shaw box because of copyright laws and what not, but can NextPVR combined with a tuner card get around this problem? I remember faintly when I had a standard definition box that if some shows wouldn't record on my pc because of said copyright issues.

[TJStamp]

Ah you're on Shaw... I feel for you. Shaw encrypt all their cable channels so sadly a cablecard won't work for recording onto a PC   Shaw do allow you to add additional TVs though, you could just get a second HD PVR

[0nRay]

Aww crap, do you know of how I can decrypt the signal? Can I pull the smart card out of the TV and some how solder a connection on it to output the TV content to my PC? I've read online that some people have "hacked" the smart card, but what does that mean exactly?

[TJStamp]

The deocders are soldered onto the boards of the Shaw set top boxes and cannot be removed, there are a couple of options for just recording the output of the set top box but thats less than ideal. Cable encryption in Canada is restrictive and there is pretty much no way at all to get third party hardware to decode it

 

You might want to consider the free OTA (over the air) channels though, not sure what's available in Canada but these are unencrypted generally, provide some HD content and are easy to view/record on a PC with the right tuner card. To see what channels you can get in your area try this link: http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29

[0nRay]

Damn, well thanks for the help and information anyway. Cheers!