K
Kenny
Considering buying one of these with inbuilt Freeview.
Is it difficult to get video from there to a PC?
Is it difficult to get video from there to a PC?
P
Paul
Kenny said:
Wouldn't it be easier to just get a Freeview tuner card
for the PC, and be done with it ?
I downloaded a DVD/HDD recorder manual from panasonic.co.uk,
and it had no provision for connection to a PC. I've heard
that some people remove the HDD from their recording device,
and take it to a PC, for data transfer. You could certainly
burn a DVD via the burner in the recorder, and transfer that
to the PC. But that is not why people buy appliances, to do
monkey-work.
I expect all of this, is as an aid to the "copy protection"
status transmitted with the content. The device doesn't have
a USB, Firewire, or network connection, to make it easier to
keep certain kinds of content from being copied. This is
from the glossary of the DVD recorder manual:
"CPRM (Content Protection for Recordable Media)
CPRM is technology used to protect broadcasts that are allowed
to be recorded only once. Such broadcasts can be recorded
only with CPRM-compatible recorders and discs."
A rough translation of that section suggests that certain content
may be recorded on the HDD, but not transferred to a DVD. Or
via any of the other (missing) PC I/O standards.
If you just get a tuner card for the PC, that may make it easier
to do what you want. There are various recording packages (both
free and commercial) that come with the ability to use "TV guide"
data, that can do unattended recording. What you need, is to find
a combination of Freeview Tuner PCI card, that is supported by
one of the commercial packages. While I experimented with MythTV,
I'm not sure it could deal with just any tuner. MythTV runs
on Linux, and for better integration with the rest of the things
you may want to do with the content, you may want a package that
runs under Windows.
Paul
K
Kenny
Thanks for the reply.
May consider a Freeview adapter or card for the PC but what software would I
need for timer recordings or will there be software supplied with it?
May consider a Freeview adapter or card for the PC but what software would I
need for timer recordings or will there be software supplied with it?
P
Paul
Kenny said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Video_Recorder
In the Windows section, I see "GB-PVR", "SageTV", "BeyondTV". You could
start by checking those out. I'm not familiar (haven't heard of) the other
ones listed there. Specifically, what you're looking for, is that
the tuner card you have selected, is on their support list.
It is always possible that a nice package is bundled with the tuner
card, but the commercial packages may have a more comprehensive and
useful feature set. For example, the ability to use guide data from
the Internet, may make the thing more useful than just operating the
software manually.
The TV Guide data is available two ways. In the past, there was the odd
free service, that would provide guide data. Most likely, you'll need to
subscribe to a commercial service now, to get reliable guide data. Guide
data is only necessary, if you wanted to say, "record every broadcast
of Coronation Street". Guide data can automate the tracking and recording
of your favorite shows, without having to figure out what time slot the
show has been moved to.
For free, you can always blindly get the PVR (personal video recorder) software
to record at a specific time and on a specific channel. That way, no guide
data is needed. That is what I experimented with, when I tried out MythTV.
The only reason I tried out MythTV, was to try to answer a question about
subtitles and TV recordings. While I was able to get subtitles (useful
for deaf people) to appear on the screen, and be recorded, I was unable
to manipulate the video files after the fact, and change from the
proprietary recording format. It was fun to play with, for about a
week, but I blew away the whole mess when I needed the hard drive
for something else.
My tuner card is not fancy enough, to consider wasting money on
a commercial package
Paul
M
M.I.5¾
Kenny said:
The easiest way is usually to record onto a DVD and then use a suitable
package to import the video to PC (something like Powerproducer which
usually comes bundled with LG's DVD burners)).