DVBLink for HDPVR
Connect your HDPVR to Windows Media Center
Product description
DVBLink for HDPVR allows watching prime HDTV in Windows Media Center with a regular set-top-box’s.
The Hauppauge HD PVR box allows you to get your set-top-box HD output and bring it into a computer, thus allowing you to build a PC-based Personal Video Recorder. While there are a few software packages compatible with the HD PVR box out there, up until now there was no way to bring that HD feed into Windows Media Center.
DVBLink for HDPVR does just that! It is a product based on the dvblink framework that acts as a bridge between the HD PVR box and Windows Media Center. It gives you SD/HD video playback with AC3 5.1 surround sound. Here is a list of features supported by DVBLink for HDPVR:
- High-Definition H.264 Video with AC3 5.1 Dolby Digital Sound
- Native set-top-box control using:
- HD PVR’s integrated IR Blaster
- Any MCE-compatible IR blaster
- Firestb (x86 only)
- Set-top-box remote control key learning (requires a MCE-Compatible IR Receiver)
- Full Media Center TV Guide support
- UPNP Server to stream live TV to UPNP-enabled clients
- Supports Windows Media Center Extenders
- All the goods that Windows Media Center has to offer… DRM free!
Anxious to give it a try? Press the download button!
Supported Environment
- Windows Vista Media Center with TV Pack
- Windows 7 Media Center
- Any Windows Media Center Extenders supporting h.264
How does it work
The DVBLink framework installs virtual BDA drivers, which are used by Windows Media Center and other programs to perform digital video capture. The virtual drivers are registered as DVB-S tuners that can feed a wide selection of video formats, including MPEG-2 and MPEG-4.
The HDPVRBridge component of DVBLink for HDPVR then gets the data feed from the Hauppauge HD PVR and relay it through the virtual drivers, thus sending it to Windows Media Center.
For Media Center to listen on the virtual tuners feed, you have to setup the DVBLink virtual tuners as dummy Satellite tuners. Thereafter, the DVBLink Media Center add-in can override the satellite channel list with the HD PVR channel list.
Finally, when DVBLink for HDPVR receives a channel change request from Windows Media Center, it relays that request out to the set-top-box using one of the set-top-box control options.
Wish List
For your convenience, here is the wish list on our drawing boards. We make no promises as to when they will be implemented, but they are there staring at us and making us feel bad not to work on them.
- Option to transcode, at run-time, HD PVR H.264 stream into a MPEG2 stream, to enable support for Dlink extenders
- Option to stream a “dummy” feed while power-cycling the HD PVR or if acquisition is lost. So that show recordings are not aborted, but just show a short dummy screen.
- Change the licensing mechanism to get more flexibility, reliability and automated/fast licensing generation
- Find better ways around instability and/or pressure/get Hauppauge to fix/improve their software/hardware
- Implement internally a “software” power-cycle that does not require the use of switchable power outlets and/or writing hooks
- Windows 7 x64 support for Microsoft compatible IR Blasting remotes.
- Support for multiple HD PVR (available in 2.0 beta 1)
- Easier and simpler line-up editor (available in 2.0 beta 1)
- Support for external hooks for advanced customization (available in 2.0 beta 1)
- A hook to get “channel change” requests (available in 2.0 beta 1)
- A hook to get “needs manual power cycle” event (available in 2.0 beta 1)
- A hook to retrieve the XmvTv guide data (already there)
- A hook to get in/out of standby/sleep mode events (available in 2.0 beta 1)
- A hook to get in/out of idle mode events (available in 2.0 beta 1)
