Hauppauge HD-PVR shows itself, pre-order said to be coming soon

We'd already heard it was delayed, but that apparently hasn't stopped some pics of Hauppauge's much-anticipated HD-PVR from landing in the hands of a moderator of the SageTV forums, who has kindly posted them for all to see. As you can see, however, it isn't exactly much to look at, but the promised real-time H.264 compression of 1080i video from a component video source should be more enough to make up for any design quibbles. What's more, if that same SageTV moderator is to be believed, Hauppauge should be starting to take pre-orders for the device relatively soon, possibly as early as today (it's still expected to set you back about $250).

[Via TV Squad]

[feffrey @ Apr 4th 2008 1:40PM]

When I first read the headline I thought it said
"Hauppauge HD-PVR pre-order itself..."
Yea I need sleep

[phanbouy @ Apr 4th 2008 1:41PM]

only in Russia

[UKNigel @ Apr 4th 2008 2:39PM]

Mother Russia, that is.

[Flashpoint @ Apr 4th 2008 1:43PM]

I've bought Hauppauge products before.

Though the software/hardware they make is excellen, i'm dissapointed that they make finding driver updates a painfully long chore.

[trongod @ Apr 4th 2008 1:48PM]

Once again, no HDMI, no DVI, no digital inputs at all. Worthless!

[y3k.nik @ Apr 4th 2008 2:11PM]

I was going to say the same thing.

Whats the point of an HD anything without an HDMI?
My understanding was that you can get only upto 1080i and no true dolby with component.

Why the sacrifice?

[TimmyT00 @ Apr 7th 2008 1:54PM]

You totally missed the point of this device.

[Fastman @ Apr 4th 2008 1:49PM]

Oooohh.. Bluray riped to MKV will be much easier now..

[Big Sam @ Apr 4th 2008 1:53PM]

You don't get it...

[Big Sam @ Apr 4th 2008 1:54PM]

You don't get it...

[joey_gti @ Apr 4th 2008 1:54PM]

@trongod
i guess you miss the point of this device? using it with an htpc and basically adding a component input to the computer from an hd stb, whereas we've been stuck only with coax/composite inputs in terms of tuners or being able to record

[Big Sam @ Apr 4th 2008 1:54PM]

I guess reply is broken. I was trying to reply to 'trongod'

[Richard @ Apr 4th 2008 1:55PM]

Soviet Russia that is.

[steve @ Apr 4th 2008 1:57PM]

Well...

I have purched thier hardware befor to use with SnapStream. Since SnapStream re-sells the cards I figured all the parts would work together correctly. So I setup a serious video server using them. I have had 2 of the 500 series dual tuner cards fail (one under warrenty one after) and have had 2 of the USB external boxes fail. (one under warrenty and one after). Contrast that to the HD cards (2) and USB boxes (1) from Divco which have performed without failure.

So forgive me if I am not all that excited about thier hardware.

[Richard @ Apr 4th 2008 1:59PM]

Well, that should have been a reply to phanbouy. Oh well. Can this accept digital cable?

[Anonymoose @ Apr 4th 2008 2:13PM]

i don't think digital cable is going to help the reply system out any. wait, what are you talking about?

[TIMMAH! @ Apr 4th 2008 2:01PM]

So this is strictly a HD video recorder with no tuner built in?

[Mike G @ Apr 4th 2008 2:03PM]

Actually just the opposite. With digital connections comes DRM, this device exploits the "analog hole" for HD content. As long as the cable and satellite companies continue to send signals to both digital and analog HD connectors on their STBs we can use digital for primary viewing and analog for recording.

[LordJohnWhorfin @ Apr 4th 2008 2:03PM]

Crappauge.

[xtremesniper @ Apr 4th 2008 2:16PM]

If this records HD, and if it works close enough to current PVRs, and if it won't be bothered by the lame broadcast flags, then I'm all for it.

I've been wondering for a while now why nobody makes an HD PVR, even if its just component input.

[MadMike @ Apr 4th 2008 2:28PM]

Its probably PC only... *sigh* I thought I saw fiber optic audio input on the picture.

HDMI/DVI has too many HDCP problems. Component is easier as its not HDCP supported. and TECHNICALLY component can handle 1920x1200 so it shouldn't have a problem with 1080p just no sources will output 1080p over component because of the HDCP shit. But its meant for a cable box anyway. Most HDTV cable is 720p or 1080i anyway. If you wanna rip blu-ray, Get a BLU-RAY drive.

[phanbouy @ Apr 4th 2008 2:31PM]

maybe i'm in the minority here, but the one plus of my living in a small urban apartment is that it's forced me to consolidate my entertainment system with my computer. plus i hate TV anyway, so renting, buying, and downloading content works for all my A/V needs. hell, even this $50 xbox HD DVD drive is enough to tide me over for now, and I can always back up my HD flix with megui/x264. talk about on-demand! all i need is my big monitor and a couple external HDDs.

[MadMike @ Apr 4th 2008 2:45PM]

@Phanbouy:
I used to have an apartment in the city, but I'm getting married in September so I bought a house in the suburbs. Funny thing is, a mortgage payment for a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath 2700 sq ft house with 15% down is less than my rent on my 1500 sq ft apartment in Philly. Granted I was in the yuppy section with all the my-daddy-bought-my-bimmer popped-collared 25yr old shits but It was a bachelor pad and I lived within walking distance of my favorite bar. I like the suburbs better, more people my age. Of course I had to get rid of the projector unless I finish my basement - but I'm financially impotent for the next few months.

[happy_penguin @ Apr 4th 2008 4:06PM]

Let's hope for the future wife's sake that said impotence is limited to the finances...

[jrog @ Apr 4th 2008 2:47PM]

A little thing called HDCP. And this device is supposed to be able to handle 1080p component, though very few devices output at that level.

There are HDMI capture cards out there, but they are so limiting, you can't actually use them for DVRs. This device leverages the analog hole so that Cable/Satellite HD boxes can be recorded like they used to be, and nothing on those is higher than 1080i anyways. I plan to do all my recording at 720p, as my TVs are all only 720p.

[Draconis2941 @ Apr 4th 2008 2:50PM]

The point of no HDMI is so you can actually record stuff. The HDCP on HDMI would likely prevent this from getting much of anything from a cable/sattelite box.

[JerkyChew @ Apr 4th 2008 3:07PM]

I don't think anbody really understands how paradigm-changing this is. For those of us who have felt the pain of trying to capture HD we know how big this is, but I'll explain to those that don't know:

Right now capturing HD to a DVR other than a Cablecard Tivo or the mythical CableCard equipped Windows MCE box is a step above impossible. You can either capture clear QAM via a QAM tuner or HDHomerun, or attempt to capture via your cable box's Firewire port. The problem with Firewire capture is that you're at the mercy of your local cable operator. They are only required to allow access to channels that are already available over clear QAM. Some cable companies enable the no copy flag, some don't. Some boxes work with firewire while others are problematic. Try to tune to an encrypted channel over firewire from your MythTV box and you're lucky if you don't get a segfault.

What this box does is sit between your cable box and your DVR, acting as a capture card of sorts. It takes the component-in feed, converts it to H.264-encoded video (at least that's what I'm told), and outputs it to your DVD via USB. That's it. There's no tuner built in, and it requires your cable box to operate. But if this works it's what we've been waiting for for years - a box truly capable of capturing all HD content from cable or satellite and storing it on a DVR.

[phanbouy @ Apr 4th 2008 3:47PM]

it still sounds like a PITA if ya ask me. but then again i'm bored to tears by television.

[Doug @ Apr 4th 2008 3:12PM]

Woohoo! Hometown represent! Any other Hauppauge-ians out there?

[Videophile @ Apr 4th 2008 3:15PM]

Uhh, something's weird here. Do you guys know how much bandwidth is needed to record 1080i analog data? Even H.264 compression in real-time would require a huge amount of processing power. How does this connect to the PC? USB? WTF?

[Beau @ Apr 4th 2008 3:32PM]

This device has on board dedicated processing and usb has the band with to transfer the files, if usb can transfer hd mpeg2 from over the air it can transfer the smaller h264 with no problem.

[AlexL @ Apr 4th 2008 3:48PM]

You aren't missing much. Anything interesting that's being output via HDMI or DVI is HDCP-encrypted anyway. Component is really the best we've got.

[dosguy @ Apr 4th 2008 3:53PM]

If I can put .mkv BluRay files on this thing & play them on my TV, I want one.

[FreeRange @ Apr 4th 2008 3:54PM]

There should be a vote for "what?" (+) (-) (!) (?)

I don't disagree with what you said. Don't feel it was great or bad. I just feel like saying, "What?"

[Alex @ Apr 4th 2008 3:59PM]

Thank you for finally providing a insightful comment on this product. The majority of the comments so far demonstrate a complete lack of comprehension.

[Al @ Apr 4th 2008 4:03PM]

With HDMI, you'd have to deal with encryption, so it severely limits your options for home-brew PVR stuff. This is a useful step for getting your cable HD channels onto a MythTV box or similar, and most people can't tell the diff between component and HDMI anyway.

[Alex @ Apr 4th 2008 4:04PM]

YES!

[Anthony @ Apr 4th 2008 4:06PM]

Donald next time look I run www.shspvr.com yes I'm a moderator at SageTV and have been for as long as SageTV frist start a forum.

[scorpachie @ Apr 4th 2008 4:21PM]

No HDMI?

[brian @ Apr 4th 2008 4:24PM]

hauppauge, new york? im near there

[Anthony @ Apr 4th 2008 5:28PM]

It's called a TiVoHD or even a Series 3.

[Anthony @ Apr 4th 2008 5:29PM]

Stupid reply is still broken. Can someone get an admin up in this mother?

[Anthony @ Apr 4th 2008 5:31PM]

What???

[Gene @ Apr 4th 2008 6:34PM]

y3k.nik:

From the great sage known as Wikipedia:

"Component video is capable of carrying signals such as 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p, although many TVs do not support 1080p through component video."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Component_video

[Stan @ Apr 4th 2008 6:43PM]

This exploits the "analog hole" you've probably heard so much about. They can't reliably take an HDMI (digital) input and record it due to HDCP. But since most devices will output analog 1080i over the component outputs, this device can convert it to MPEG4 and you can record it. I'm just hoping that it completely ignores CGMS-A flags, or else the benefits will be greatly reduces.

[Alex @ Apr 4th 2008 7:40PM]

I wonder if there are any legal repercussions for ignoring the analogue hole.

[Matt @ Apr 4th 2008 11:47PM]

You lack a keen understanding of this devices purpose.

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[HdDvdNet @ Apr 16th 2008 3:08PM]

All I know is I want to be able to archieve/record some sports games that are in high def without losing any quality before the dvr runs out of space!!!

You would think that a simple request wouldnt need expensive hardware thats not even out yet in order to record at its present video quality.

I even have a friggin BR burner (although never used) on my PC but alot of good it does if I cant get the HD content from the DVR to the PC.

If BR burners have been out for a half year now, whats so damn hard about putting out a stand alone recording player....