Quote
EyeTV FAQ
No EyeTV product can receive HDTV from an external receiver, like a cable box or satellite receiver.

Well... that's a bummer.

I want a Mac attached to an LCD HDTV, running 1620x1080 on the TV as a computer monitor:
1. running Front Row for access to stuff on the Mac and
2. for occasional computer use with a BT keyboard and mouse

But I also want access to HDTV content off a cable DVR. And I'd like to get DVR stuff to the Mac.

I was hoping to use an EyeTV Hybrid or 250 to go between a cable DVR and a Mac Home Theater setup to be able to get output from the cable DVR to the Mac and then to the TV The Hybrid seemed like a great solution. Cable DVR to EyeTV Hybrid to Mac to TV. But only for non HDTV. That sucks.

So as of now, the best solution seems to be:

1. Mac to LCD HDTV via VGA. I can't find an LCD TV that will take a 1620x1080 computer output as a digital input. Select VGA from the TV to get access to Mac sources

2. Cable DVR to TV via HDMI. Or maybe an alternate connection; e.g. component.

But this does not allow for moving output from the DVR to the Mac.

Am I missing other options?

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Don't ask who the bell's for, dude. It's you.

Ask your provider if they offer a Motorola cable box with FireWire out --- that's the only thing I've ever heard of that'll send HD from cable to a computer for recording.

Right, I believe the FCC ruled that any HD cable box must, at the request of the customer (if not by default), be equipped with Firewire out ports. There is an Apple developer utility that allows you to record from that output onto your mac, full HD. It does require lots of processing power, and hard drive space, but it can be done.

That's it; I'd forgotten the rest! Thanks, Mike.

sscutchen, here's a little light reading for you ... (these links not vetted for relevancy/accuracy)

[www.anandtech.com]

[jpicune.wordpress.com]

[macteens.com]

[www.macosxhints.com]

[www.avsforum.com]

Thanks. I'll plow through.

I found a post to AVS where a guy went out from his cable DVR via S-video and composite audio, through a box into his PC. I've got a Canopus box, but it can only do SDTV.

This guy also tried the firewire out of the DVR, but it didn't work.

The cable box was a Scientific Atlanta 8300, which it what I think TW uses in my area. Folks replying to him said that SA had probably not activated the FW port, that a firmware mod would be needed. So maybe the FCC requires the port, but there may not be firmware supporting it, depending on the cable company.

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Don't ask who the bell's for, dude. It's you.

S-Video can't support HD resolutions, so if that's your goal just beware.

Pretty sure it had to be a fully functional port, so if it doesn't work on the cable box it's the cable co's fault.

If you are just looking to dub HD content from your PVR, and can't get a tuner box with a functional firewire port for the VirtualDVHS hack, then you might look at this card

[www.decklink.com]

Which also supports HDMI output.

The captured files will be huge, though.

There are also DVI-D to HDMI cables available for connecting a PC to an HDMI equipped monitor.

As for LCD TVs that support "1620x1080 computer output as a digital input", have you looked at the Westinghouse LCD HD monitors? 1080P and they come equipped with two DVI-D inputs, as well as HDMI, VGA, component, etc.

Quote
x-uri
There are also DVI-D to HDMI cables available for connecting a PC to an HDMI equipped monitor.

Yes... the cabling is not the problem. The problem seems to be on the TV end. Pretty much every 1620x1080 LCD TV that I've investigated has not been capable of pixel to pixel mapping of DVI input from a computer at 1080. There are scattered reports of Sony XBRs working and I saw one report of a newer Sharp working.

Quote
x-uri
As for LCD TVs that support "1620x1080 computer output as a digital input", have you looked at the Westinghouse LCD HD monitors? 1080P and they come equipped with two DVI-D inputs, as well as HDMI, VGA, component, etc.

I've seen this as well. The Westy monitor by all accounts works as a 1620x1080 monitor using digital input and mapping pixel to pixel. But folks don't seem to care for it as a TV monitor.

What I'm looking at right now, from a physical size and performance standpoint is the Samsung 4695. Sammy also makes the 4696, which has CableCard, but this seems to be something folks say is not worth the price. The communication is one way, so you can't talk back to the cable company for things like selecting movies and stuff. So it will probably die as a device, to be replaced by something that is bidirectional.

Quote
mikebw
S-Video can't support HD resolutions, so if that's your goal just beware.

Pretty sure it had to be a fully functional port, so if it doesn't work on the cable box it's the cable co's fault.

I've read accounts of folks taking HD through S-video output... Seems like if RF can do it, S-video should as well. As long as the device it is going to can display it. I think it is the 780p/1080i variety, though, like OTA stuff... not 1080p.

On the FW port, yes... I've read it is the cable companies that have disabled the port in firmware.

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Don't ask who the bell's for, dude. It's you.

They MUST, by law, provide a functional FW port by request. Doesn't mean it won't always work, or that every type of box they offer has to include it (DVR boxes might have it absent or disabled) some content you'd not expect to be encrypted might be, etc. etc.

Give 'em a call, and know that you'll probably have to repeat over and over to them these three letters: F C C, until they "remember."

By-the-by, it's the Scientific Atlanta boxes (not sure if it's the 8300) that's giving the Slingbox Mac beta problems.

I hate it when that happens.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

Quote
sscutchen
I've read accounts of folks taking HD through S-video output... Seems like if RF can do it, S-video should as well. As long as the device it is going to can display it. I think it is the 780p/1080i variety, though, like OTA stuff... not 1080p.

The only reason HD can be carried through RF / coax cable is because the signal is encoded/compressed. Your HD cable box decodes it then passes it to your TV. At that point you have to use HD cables. S-video is pretty good, but I haven't ever heard of it being able to carry full HD bandwidth. It might look pretty good though, and if it's good enough for you then go for it.

I have the 42" Westinghouse monitor. It is a very good TV. Analog TV, over the S-video port, looks a little grainy, but HDTV (satellite) is remarkable -- and even the SD analog stuff looks very good from more than 8 feet away.

I have an old G3 hooked up to one of the DVI ports. It works well enough as a monitor, but I don't use it that much (the Home Entertainment G3 is mostly for playing iTunes these days, and I only use it when we have a party).

More research... the problem with the FW port on the 8300 is that it is encoded with 5C protection. The local stations that would be available OTA are not encoded. But everything else is even if it is no a premium channel.

You can output 5c encoded material to a D-VHS that is also 5C compliant. But you cannot get it into a computer. And you cannot get it out from the D-VHS either... which is what 5C compliant means.

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Don't ask who the bell's for, dude. It's you.