# Is there a way to copy DVR recordings to a PC?



## tmarsh151 (Sep 27, 2007)

Hi, 

I have the HR20 networked via my DSL modem. Is there a way to copy recordings from the DVR to a PC so that I can burn them to DVD?

Any help would be appreciated.

Tom


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## Michael D'Angelo (Oct 21, 2006)

no


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## MountainMan10 (Jan 31, 2008)

Goto www.myhava.com The Hava will take video out from the DVR and broadcast it over the network. You can record the stream on a PC.

There is also a device called the Slingbox and Sony has a similar box.

It does not copy it directly to the PC, but you can play a show and record it on the PC, much like recording to a VCR.


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## tmarsh151 (Sep 27, 2007)

MountainMan10 said:


> The Hava will take video out from the DVR and broadcast it over the network. You can record the stream on a PC.
> 
> There is also a device called the Slingbox and Sony has a similar box.
> 
> It does not copy it directly to the PC, but you can play a show and record it on the PC, much like recording to a VCR.


Thanks for the information!


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## jhillestad (Jan 13, 2007)

Easiest way to make a dvd is just buy a stand alone dvd recorder and hook it to your dvr via S-Video and your done.


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## Dirac (Apr 24, 2007)

Similarly, if you have a PC with a video-in video-out (VIVO) capability, you can connect the receiver's S-Video output to your video card, and use capture software to save the video.


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## ansky (Oct 11, 2005)

Dirac said:


> Similarly, if you have a PC with a video-in video-out (VIVO) capability, you can connect the receiver's S-Video output to your video card, and use capture software to save the video.


That's what I do and it works pretty well. I bought a TV tuner card for my laptop on Ebay for about $30. It came with video capture software. So I just ran an S-video line out of the HR20 along with audio cables and connected them to the tuner card. The only downside is even short video clips take up a tremendous amount of hard drive space if you want decent quality.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Standalone DVD recorder works pretty well when combined with a DVD ripping program, and Pinnacle makes a device that does video capture directly to the PC. However, these are both SD-only solutions. An HD solution would be prohibitively expensive. 

At CES DIRECTV showed two things: PC playback, which gives you direct access to your playlist on your PC, and HDPC which is a DIRECTV receiver solution that connects to Windows Media Center. When released, both might satisfiy your requirements.


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## dyker (Feb 27, 2008)

Many of us are eagerly awaiting the Hauppauge HD Recorder. In fact, I considered keeping my Sage home-built and using these (once they are available) but thought I'd give the HR21s a try instead. But once available I can back up the HD content to DVD, Blue Ray, or whatever.

Maybe once available the Sage homebuilt will become forefront in the entertainment rack again.


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## bhelton71 (Mar 8, 2007)

dyker said:


> Many of us are eagerly awaiting the Hauppauge HD Recorder. In fact, I considered keeping my Sage home-built and using these (once they are available) but thought I'd give the HR21s a try instead. But once available I can back up the HD content to DVD, Blue Ray, or whatever.
> 
> Maybe once available the Sage homebuilt will become forefront in the entertainment rack again.


That should be interesting - there are a lot of thoughts that come to mind about that.

I have always heard it takes a quad-core processor to handle transcoding MPEG2 to h264 in realtime.

If it actually makes it out into production at a recommended price of 249 - thats kind of cheap. So what kind of quality will you get ?

And lastly - does anyone really know if it will work with a satellite settop ? There are a lot of competing ways to block the analog hole - who knows how many exist in the box already ?


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## ulbonado (Nov 29, 2007)

bhelton71 said:


> I have always heard it takes a quad-core processor to handle transcoding MPEG2 to h264 in realtime.


With a general purpose processor doing the encoding in software that may be true. But the Hauppauge unit will have a dedicated H.264 encoder in hardware, which should make it a lot faster.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

bhelton71 said:


> I have always heard it takes a quad-core processor to handle transcoding MPEG2 to h264 in realtime.
> If it actually makes it out into production at a recommended price of 249 - thats kind of cheap. So what kind of quality will you get ?
> And lastly - does anyone really know if it will work with a satellite settop ? There are a lot of competing ways to block the analog hole - who knows how many exist in the box already ?


This wouldn't be transcoding MPEG-2 to MPEG-4, since the input would be uncompressed analog. I've used a 3 GHZ dual core to render MPEG-2 after editing and it does it in 1:1 time. Perhaps MPEG-4 would take longer [unknown].
Next would be the question how it deals with Macrovision [or not].


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## bhelton71 (Mar 8, 2007)

ulbonado said:


> With a general purpose processor doing the encoding in software that may be true. But the Hauppauge unit will have a dedicated H.264 encoder in hardware, which should make it a lot faster.


I wonder what it will be - is the press announcement all that exists ?

These guys only show 8 cores - 
http://www.us.design-reuse.com/news/sip-H264+AVC+Encoder.html

And of those they all appear to be Mainline or Baseline - no High Profile.


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## bhelton71 (Mar 8, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> This wouldn't be transcoding MPEG-2 to MPEG-4, since the input would be uncompressed analog. I've used a 3 GHZ dual core to render MPEG-2 after editing and it does it in 1:1 time. Perhaps MPEG-4 would take longer [unknown].
> Next would be the question how it deals with Macrovision [or not].


You are absolutely right (as usual) - I guess I was thinking it was decoding for a second. Which makes this little devices life a lot harder in theory - at least MPEG2 [email protected] is bitrate limited to 60Mbps (granted they lock down ATSC to under 20 of course - but the MPEG spec allows for up to 60 and boy do I bet that would look good).

But analog HD - I have no idea how much data that is but it has to be quite a bit more than any encoded video. I just don't see how a <$300 box can compare to the capture devices that already exist in excess of $1000 - and thats just to capture with no re-encoding.


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## dyker (Feb 27, 2008)

Yeah, I don't know what might be on the Component (macrovision or something else?) but the product looks promising and I'm guessing (hoping) would just strip it out. It's based on a chip from a company called Ambarella (http://www.ambarella.com/)

Review Link
Sage Discussion Link
Update on the device... shipping end of March 2008
Link to the Sage Forums discussion on the Product

So if the HR21-700 PVR doesn't get multi-room viewing soon, or some of the other features that I've grown accustomed to using Replay or Sage, I can just put the HR21 on the headless Sage in the basement and distribute through the house that way. That's pretty much what I did before the HR21s with my prior D* receiver (non HD non PVR).


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## bhelton71 (Mar 8, 2007)

dyker said:


> Yeah, I don't know what might be on the Component (macrovision or something else?) but the product looks promising and I'm guessing (hoping) would just strip it out. It's based on a chip from a company called Ambarella (http://www.ambarella.com/)
> 
> Review Link
> Sage Discussion Link
> ...


From brentevans


> Includes Hauppauge's IR blaster with code library
> It accepts component video up to 1080p
> The hardware is "basically done" and simply waiting for the final case design!
> It's based on a chip from Ambarella
> ...


No big surprise on the PC specs - although I ran across a rumor from a while back that Apple was going to put on-board AVC decoders into Macs ?

I looked at Ambarellas site -

There is some clues in there that point to AVC HP (same stuff DirecTV and BluRay are using) - didn't realize someone had an HP encoder totally in H/W



> "1/4 Pixel" motion compensation
> Multiple motion compensation block sizes
> Advanced intra-prediction
> Normative de-blocking filter
> ...


CABAC is in MP and HP but not BP
1/4 Pixel mocomp is only in HP 
Intra prediction is most likely HP - just because there are several sub profiles that are intra only - but the kicker is Intra-Only precludes CABAC so maybe it does HP and MP.


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## uscboy (Sep 5, 2006)

This is useful for a few different things, but if macrovision is enabled on the 
Component outputs of the HRXX model DVRs then it's far less useful. And given 
the current culture towards fair use rights, I have a feeling if the industry even 
sneezes DirecTV will flip the switch to on.


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## NCLou (Nov 14, 2003)

For those of you capturing the video through a TV card, do you use any software to create a DVD you can play in a standalone DVD player?

I capture AVIs with Virtualdub, but I am having a lot of trouble burning them to a DVD I can play in a standalone. Ideally I'd like to be able to put two or three on a DVD and have a simple menu.

Thanks.


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## uscboy (Sep 5, 2006)

Ulead DVD MovieFactory 6 is what I've used - very user friendly and a better 
MPEG encoder than other programs like VideoStudio.


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