I am looking into buying a FTA receiver. Will the upcoming HD change over be a good reason to buy a HD receiver now, or will a standard box work for a few years without a need to upgrade? Thanks!
Should I purchase a HD FTA box?
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There is no "upcoming HD change" for satellite. Local Broadcasters (OTA) will have to upgrade / change their equipment so that they can broadcast in digital by Febuary 2009.
That means that they only have to broadcast in digital, there is no requirement that they broadcast in HD
For satellite there is no requirement, it is nice to have some type of receiver that can pick up 4:2:2 and HD but most STB with those capabilities are very expensive.
I recommend a PC DVB Tuner since you will be able to pickup HD and 4:2:2 as long as your computer is fairly recent, and PC Tuners are much cheaper.
The only downside for a PC tuner is that you will need another receiver to blind search for signals.
That means that they only have to broadcast in digital, there is no requirement that they broadcast in HD
For satellite there is no requirement, it is nice to have some type of receiver that can pick up 4:2:2 and HD but most STB with those capabilities are very expensive.
I recommend a PC DVB Tuner since you will be able to pickup HD and 4:2:2 as long as your computer is fairly recent, and PC Tuners are much cheaper.
The only downside for a PC tuner is that you will need another receiver to blind search for signals.
There are a couple of misconceptions here in your posting, if I understand what you're referring to.
1) There is not upcoming HD change over (at least not that I've heard of).
2) There is an upcoming requirement to switch terrestrial broadcasting from analog to digital. This requirement does not affect satellite broadcasts, and is only analog/digital and has nothing to do with HD or SD broadcasts.
3) Most satellite receivers that you'd buy these days would already be digital anyhow.
4) It'd be a tough decision to buy an HD satellite receiver as a first receiver, at least for me. Since there is no "does it all' HD receiver, and since the HD standards seem to be up in the air (8psk, whatever else, yadda yadda yadda), I'd start my FTA investment with something a bit cheaper and more solid in the SD arena.
Edit: oops.. too slow and qwert1515 beat me to the punch!
To add to qwert1515's comments - You may find the skywalker 2.3 pci satellite card that will also blindscan for you.
couple notes
The changeover is to digital, NOT HD and its only for analog OTA reception. Most of FTA is already digital so any box will work fine
The HD boxes can be spendy but if you like sports, its well worth it
The changeover is to digital, NOT HD and its only for analog OTA reception. Most of FTA is already digital so any box will work fine
The HD boxes can be spendy but if you like sports, its well worth it
some of us got a simple HD box for under 100 bucks
I am including 4:2:2 to the requirement (since it is useful to have a receiver that can decode it)
(I don't think your HD receiver does that? )
Right here, I think: http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/118131-anyone-viewsat-9000-hd.html (Look for Iceberg's posts)
well this is good news for me! Thanks for the help, I really did not want to spend too much on my first FTA receiver just to upgrade in a year or so. And you are right, I was mixed up with the OTA digital change... It makes more much sense now. So do these new HDTV FTA receivers decode the digital OTA signals as well as 4:2:2?
interesting... I've been trolling the "less than $25" range for SD receivers.. guess I need to expand my horizons a bit.
Haven't found a STB yet that does 4.2.2, except that "Quali-TV" box from Europe that sells for $700. There's sev computer-cards though that will do the 4.2.2 format if you have a good fast computer. Better HD boxes are coming, I think, if we wait a few more weeks.
Could always build a cheapie HTPC. Just need a DVB PCI card, cheapie mobo/cpu combo, spare HHD, ram and a vid card that has dvi or hdmi output.
Then you can get 4:2:0, 4:2:2, SD, HD, and if you have enough processing power h.264 channels. All ITC channels ofcourse.
Then you can get 4:2:0, 4:2:2, SD, HD, and if you have enough processing power h.264 channels. All ITC channels ofcourse.
Is there any box that will also do QAM? Google shows the CaptiveWorks 3000HD but it seems more like a computer with DVB cards rather than a STB.
Ok so adding an FTA card to comp is an option, although blind scan looks like something I want to have. But lets say I do get a PCI card for my computer, does anyone have experience doing this with Linux or FreeBSD?
I have a Twinhan 1020a DVB-S card and USB IR remote.
I've played around a bit with MythTV for linux. The wife wasn't interested in me playing too much over the holidays and wanted something she could use.
Now I'm using DVBDream 1.4h on XP x64. Works great, at least for me. Previous versions were so unstable I just couldn't use it.
I tried out MyTheatre but the trial was unstable for me too. I had read that the registered version was much more stable. The shareware version has a one hour time limit (then you have to re-run the program.) I found myself wondering why anyone would spend money on it when the shareware version didn't work well.
Then there's MediaPortal. It's free. Works with Windows, and free. Worked alright for me except that it didn't support uncommited, diseqc 1.1 switches. That for me was a pain considering that MythTV, DVBDream, and MyTheatre all supported 1.1.
MediaPortal (and Myth for linux) both will allow you to view TV on other computers on a network and provide DVR functionality. DVBDream will allow you to stream video as well both to a single computer and to many computers on a subnet. YMMV.
I've played around a bit with MythTV for linux. The wife wasn't interested in me playing too much over the holidays and wanted something she could use.
Now I'm using DVBDream 1.4h on XP x64. Works great, at least for me. Previous versions were so unstable I just couldn't use it.
I tried out MyTheatre but the trial was unstable for me too. I had read that the registered version was much more stable. The shareware version has a one hour time limit (then you have to re-run the program.) I found myself wondering why anyone would spend money on it when the shareware version didn't work well.
Then there's MediaPortal. It's free. Works with Windows, and free. Worked alright for me except that it didn't support uncommited, diseqc 1.1 switches. That for me was a pain considering that MythTV, DVBDream, and MyTheatre all supported 1.1.
MediaPortal (and Myth for linux) both will allow you to view TV on other computers on a network and provide DVR functionality. DVBDream will allow you to stream video as well both to a single computer and to many computers on a subnet. YMMV.
Here's my view as of 1/11/08:
Things have changed at the house. I acquired a HD-Ready TV for grandma. It's 37 inches, lead-crystal picture tube, 720p Hi-def with no tuner. It's an old Daewoo TV. One of the 1st few Hi-defs that came out back in the day.
I'm now desiring more than ever to have an HD OTA/FTA/PVR receiver. I can then tune all OTAs, FTAs, record shows and it's ALL there!
Before....it wasn't much of a big deal. Now it's becoming a bigger deal.
Things have changed at the house. I acquired a HD-Ready TV for grandma. It's 37 inches, lead-crystal picture tube, 720p Hi-def with no tuner. It's an old Daewoo TV. One of the 1st few Hi-defs that came out back in the day.
I'm now desiring more than ever to have an HD OTA/FTA/PVR receiver. I can then tune all OTAs, FTAs, record shows and it's ALL there!
Before....it wasn't much of a big deal. Now it's becoming a bigger deal.
You don't even really need hd for atsc reception... sd works just as good for most signals that are ota. ... and if you signed up for the coupon converter boxes, Uncle Sam will treat you to up to two 40.00 off coupons! That's awesome for a product that's supposed to be out in February/March Timeframe and cost 50-70 bucks.
I googled on the 7100S and looked at a British site selling the box. Doesn't look like 4:2:2, and without that , an FTA guy would be crazy to spend a lot .
If we could get 4:2:2 support, we'd probably more than double the "good looking" channel selection. There ARE cheap HD boxes available ( like Iceberg's latest ) for just the HD selections , which are pretty few.
I think what we'd all like is a solid performer like the Merc II, combined with HD and 4:2:2 support. Of course, then , SOMEBODY would have to have a PVR too, included. I don't think we're ever going to be happy !!
Brent
If we could get 4:2:2 support, we'd probably more than double the "good looking" channel selection. There ARE cheap HD boxes available ( like Iceberg's latest ) for just the HD selections , which are pretty few.
I think what we'd all like is a solid performer like the Merc II, combined with HD and 4:2:2 support. Of course, then , SOMEBODY would have to have a PVR too, included. I don't think we're ever going to be happy !!
Brent
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