DVB-S2 HDTV PCI Card - Favorite features

[Sadoun]

What are your favorite features (or features you would like to see) in a DVB-S2 HDTV FTA PCI Card?

 

[rv1pop]

Blind scan... If one had that I would have to get a new computer to handle it!

 

[Smith P.]

That's software feature.

The card should support QPSK, 8PSK, 16APSK, 32APSK; wide bandwidh mode (40 Mhz at least), SR: 1 to 80 Mbps; input: -72...-20 dBm; input freq: 250...2200 Mhz; support DSS-3 mode ( DTV Ka sats).

 

[starman345]

Number 1 feature has to be hardware blind scan, several of the dvb applications out there now have a blind scan feature but through software its too slow. We need a card that can do a fast dvb-s2 blind scan similar to the speed the Skystar 2.3 could blind scan dvb-s signals.
I like loop throughs on cards also, makes it easier to have many cards hooked up at once. Seems manufacturers are getting away from them for some reason.

 

[cbpa]

I agree - a card with a chipset that includes autosymbolratedetect so we can write a reasonable blind scan for it.

 

[vfrjim]

I think we all want the same thing, Blind Scan capable and a MPEG decoder chip on-board that can handle hardware 4:2:2 HD decoding. Having an ASI output would be a bonus so that it could feed an external Dolby E decoder, but I think that is asking too much

Even adding $100 to the retail of the board to have MPEG2/4 decoding would still be a deal since the PC could be a wimpy one, saving the cost of having a top of the line PC needed for deinterlacing of the video.

 

[updatelee]

Number #1 is tsreader support, if it don't got it, work with rod to get it

Its gota support the high bitrate feeds.

Hardware blindscan would be nice but I just don't see it happening.

ASI support would be nice, but I just don't see it happening.

Btw imo usb would be nicer.

 

[dhubsith]

Please consider PCIe instead of PCI. PCI is old technology, many motherboard manufacturers are only putting 1 or 2 PCI slots on their new boards, but there are usually more PCIe slots. Also bus speed for PCIe is much faster.

Also, with the rush to digital from analog, many DVB cards are dropping composite and S-video input, but you still need an analog input if you have a VCR and a lot of old videotapes (who doesn't?)

My Kworld DVB-S 100 has been a very good card, no complaints, but I am starting to think about getting a DVB-S2 card soon, so your question is timely.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I too am out of PCI slots, so I would like to see something USB 2.0 compatable. (With Blind Scan!)

 

[Smith P.]

No, not USB - high rate is tough for it and poor implementation in PC some USB Hubs/chipsets, additional cost, etc;
PCI is OK, if PCIe is no feasible.

 

[funkypc]

Not USB. Enough of those on the market. PCIe - maybe, although most systems still dont have a spare PCIe slot yet.
It would be nice if it could blindscan DVB-S2 (and DVB-S) I would definitely build a media center PC around it.

I almost forgot - Trellis would be nice

 

[Sadoun]

These are great inputs. This is your chance to add your wish-list.

I see people leaning towards USB and others only PCI(e)

 

[starman345]

Pci-e for me, throughput is better for those high bitrate feeds. Dvbworld has a new pci-e dvb-s2 model as well as TBS 6920, pci-e also.....looks like its the coming thing.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I still argue in favor of USB, mainly because out of my 10 machines only 1 of them is a desktop. All other machines are laptops and netbooks.

I know I am not the only one moving in this direction.

 

[vfrjim]

PCI-e is also a good option when running out of PCI slots. USB is OK, but has too many issues IMO.

 

[goaliebob99]

For me... Blindscan and 4:2:2 decoding, IF we could blindscan s2 and dvbs with that type of decoding, i would be like a kid in a candy store. Im pritty sure if the dream card came out, We all could gang up on Rod and have TSReader support in a resonable amount of time.

I vote for PCI / PCIE. On my HTCP I have only one PCI, the rest are PCIE x1 and I have one PCIe x 16 video card slot. Remember there is a diffrence between Video PCIE x 16 (the long slot) and PCIE X 1PCIE (the short slot.) I vote for the short slot.

 

[Larry1]

A lot of good suggestions, but I would also like to see multiple, very sensitive tuners on the card along with an ATSC OTA tuner as well. I don't know if the bus speed could keep up with all that data.

 

[updatelee]

Video cards with tv out are better then dvb cards with tv out. If you use a video card that costs 50 you can decode 4:2:2 and mpeg4. To get those on a dvb card would cost hundreds of dollars more

Using my skywalker I've tuned 50mbps feeds no problem using windows xp running in vmware in osx. This is far from efficient. How high are these feeds your having usb issues with?

 

[brentb636]

And , this past spring, when I still had a TT s2-3600, it successfully decoded a 61 Mbps YES Network baseball game ( mpeg4, 4:2:2, 1920x1080i DVB-S2 8psk) , using Tsreader/VLC and the old WDM drivers for the TechnoTrend box. USB2 is probably capable enough , if the cpu power of the pc can handle the load.

 

[emuman100]

And , this past spring, when I still had a TT s2-3600, it successfully decoded a 61 Mbps YES Network baseball game ( mpeg4, 4:2:2, 1920x1080i DVB-S2 8psk) , using Tsreader/VLC and the old WDM drivers for the TechnoTrend box. USB2 is probably capable enough , if the cpu power of the pc can handle the load.

I know of the DCII mux of YES network on AMC 1, it has YES HD, but I don't know if it's mpeg2 or mpeg4. Was this a wild feed?