What is Digg?98 Comments
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -8/+39Another reason my next computer will be a mac.
- coachmcguirk, on 10/10/2007, -3/+28Wow, I just got this working and the quality on it is amazing, why had I never heard of this before?
Nice find! - samadam, on 10/10/2007, -0/+15If you don't have a box like this You can get over the air programming with the eyetv hybrid. I am using it right now and it works great, almost as good as a Tivo.
- vans, on 10/10/2007, -0/+15Two comments. First, as of April 1, 2004 all cable companies are *required* to provide a STB with functional Firewire to customers who request one. That's the good part. The bad is that they are still free to apply the so-called 5C copy protection flag (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Transmission_ ... to any of their channels (which these days seems to mean all but the free OTA locals they carry), leaving solutions like this one in the cold because only a 5C-compliant device like a DHVS deck will be able to record and playback the encrypted streams. Your computer will dump a big fat slice of nothing to your HD on these protected channels. Similar to how HDMI and HDCP work, locking out regular DVI monitors when using an HDMI to DVI cable. I found all of this out back in 2004 while tinkering with my then brand-new MOT 6412 STB from Comcast, who quickly started to 5C-protect their premium channels as the weeks went by after the Firewire requirement took effect. DRM, ain't it grand.
- Acebo, on 10/10/2007, -1/+14Just head to http://developer.apple.com/sdk/ - It's all in the article
- carbonfree314, on 10/10/2007, -2/+15This actually is the reason why my current computer is a mac.
- insomniac8400, on 10/10/2007, -3/+16Windows tutorial: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?thre ...
- kuyman, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10Actually the USB port on most cable boxes is locked and not federally mandated to be open like the Firewire port is. So you're probably out of luck besides the fact that USB is horrible at changing speeds unpredictably.
You can do it on a PC with Firewire though :) - jwdav, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9Also, look for iRecord
http://www.ammesset.com/irecord/
which handles the scheduling part. There are also a few iCal shareware interfaces for this as well.
It's worth noting that you can *record* High Definition video to almost any Mac that can run OSX, but playing back HD Video requires a more modern machine. Firewire bus dumps straight to the drive, and doesn't need much processor, unlike USB.
Plus, if you're streaming using VLC on one machine to VLC on another machine, you will need a decent home network.
My own setup uses iRecord, Applescript and VLC on one machine to stream to any other VLC machine in the house. - AugieM2400, on 10/10/2007, -5/+13how can i get the sdk from apple... you have no idea how long ive been looking for something like this... great find... thank you
- JasonPenopolis, on 10/10/2007, -2/+9I had always wondered why this sort or thing wasn't possible right out of the box, turns out I just didn't try hard enough.
Great article Acebo! - AugieM2400, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7awesome... thanks... turns out i had to register to be a developer
- quomen, on 10/15/2007, -2/+8Another reason why I just torrent whatever I want.
- choy, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6yes you are missing something. He has a hd set top box an sd tv. Naturally the screen on his computer is higher RES and more suited to displaying hd. Try reading the article properly next time before you comment
- skoles, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Same here, but you need to be in an area that has OTA HD broadcasting and you need a good reception. I get about 15-20 channels, 8 of those are HD/Digital. But it's still an amazing picture.
- TheClone, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Marginally is a huge, huge understatement. The quality difference between watching a movie on HBO HD and straight off a DVD is gigantic. I don't have either HD-DVD or BluRay capable devices, but just compared to a normal DVD... there is a clear winner.
- ismith, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Old news, but a fantastic tip none-the-less! It's the only thing I've ever thanked Comcast for (a firewire enabled cable box)
- TridenTBoy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Well you remembered incorrectly, as standard DVDs only do 480P max unless you put your own content on a DVD.
- nace33, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4EyeTv Hybrid, get it, it works. This was an interesting read though.
- skunkman62, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4i guess i'm missing something too. why would anybody have a "hd set top box an[d] sd tv"?
- wafflez, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6hmm, I seem to have gotten lucky then. My motherboard has both firewire and usb, and both of them work with my cable box. Uh, protip when trying to view 1+ hd channels at the same time or recording, use the firewire port on your motherboard (if you have it), it's faster than usb.
- aacidusX, on 10/10/2007, -3/+7the first few comments sound like advertising..
and as far as: "Why did I need a $600+ HDTV screen to watch something that would generally look only marginally better than a DVD?"
Marginally is an understatement - juicebag, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3more like 90 degrees
- insomniac8400, on 10/15/2007, -4/+7It works with media center and you can even stream it to your xbox, but yea, using vlc on the mac IS WAY BETTER! ...............NOT!
- Acebo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Actually, yes, it can. Also, MythTV can work just as well on OS X, too. When I checked while doing this experiment, I found the OS X version to be in beta right now, though.
- zouhair, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Ok, First : Buy a Mac
... - smhTheory, on 10/15/2007, -6/+9if you have a hi-def tv you should be watching your computer on your tv, not the other way around. this was my inspiration to go hi-def in the first place.
- astrosmash, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Second: Bask in its glory.
- MacParrot, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Here's a clue, before calling people idiots, check your spelling and grammar.
- natenovs, on 10/10/2007, -7/+9but, i can do that with my windows machine over USB. i dont get it either.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3You gotta just love it how the HD channels that are actually available are filled with compression artifacts and macroblocks because the greedy broadcasters are squeezing about 4 times as many channels into the bandwidth.
- cbreaker, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I don't know. How could we possibly know why you DIDN'T know something? Maybe you didn't know what a FireWire port looked like? Maybe you never looked behind your cable box? Maybe you were never inquisitive enough to say "Hmm, I wonder..." and plug the cable box into the computer?
Any techie would have seen that FireWire port and done a Google, and would have seen that you can pull video from the cable box digitally using Windows, Linux, or MacOS. In fact, you've been able to do this for several years.
However, there's a problem. Most cable companies set the 5C flag (encryption) on almost all channels outside of the OTA channels. I've been lucky enough to SOMETIMES hit a pay channel when there's no 5C here and there, but more often then not it's just easier to use a damned antenna and a cheap HDTV card. - inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Eye TV Hybrid only does 'over the air' free hdtv, not from your cable box hdtv
- insomniac8400, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2You can even use mc for it.
- DarkFusion, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Most channels are encrypted, so whats the use?
- Acebo, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3My regular ol' cable box, with included PVR supports HD channels and output, I just don't own an HDTV
- Acebo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Well played, I do remember that from authoring DVDs. Thank you for the correction
- Acebo, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3I was just trying to give a screen grab of VLC, not of HD content. Thanks, though.
- davedekker, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2if its an older box you may need to request either an update or a new box that has more recent firmware on it so the firewire is turned on, they will be a$$munches about it if you give the cable company a reason.. so you might have to invent a lightning strike (Not that I condone that..lol..) I was amazed on the ability to simply plug in a firewire cable and get uncompressed digital TV with nothing more than free apple software and a firewire cable... good luck and let me know how it works out for you (I can maybe make lightning strike if you need....lol... )
http://trialsoftheswitch.com/firewire-sdk-tivo-kil ...
good luck,
DD - NeoRicen, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2EyeTV all the way thanks. Costs money but it's worth it
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2For all you in Canada, if you have a Rogers box, and live in Ontario & Quebec, the FW ports are disabled so this won't work, and if you live anywhere else in Canada you probably have the unlocked Motorola boxes, in which case this might work.
- davedekker, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2my bos has comcast so I will try and get over to his place and see what he has, I have Charter and it really does work great... keep an eye on my chessy ass site to see if I find anything out..
thanks,
DD - inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2OK, that first assertion is ridiculous. ABC, ESPN, and Fox are the only ones broadcasting in 720p. There is no 720i format.
You are right in that broadcast "HD" is pretty sad, delivered at a pitifully low data rate. The max possible is an already lame 19 megabits, and if I remember correctly, a Sound & Vision magazine test found that most broadcasters are only delivering around 10.
"HD" is a fraud, thanks once again to the FCC's failure to take a stand. The fact that interlacing is even allowed on digital TV tells you that the FCC has continued its long tradition of incompetence. - 2Stupid4Me, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1any way to get the recoded programs off my DVR? I got the tuner part working. I have a moxi dvr
- DarkFusion, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1MIght be the 5C encryption. Check to make sure its not encrypted.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1another jerk who doesn't get the whole picture. to view hdtv on a computer (not dvd's), you need to get the hd signal from your cable box (or over-the-air signal) to your computer. el gato / eyeTV does over-the-air but not hdtv from your cable box.
- adam84a, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1can't wait to get home and try this, I have been wanting to do this for a while.
- MagicCake, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2...And spend more on it than an HDTV, thus defeating the purpose for current PC owners. Hmm...
- robbiemuffin, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I predict 10000 diggs
- crackintosh, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Sure, I guess some people need o justify their "Display" costing more than their TV.
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