|  CrazyHorace | Jun 6, 2006 1:35am | SnapStream Beyond TV 4 Hands-On Review
I
am a TV junkie. I've tried to fight it, but alas, it's far easier to
cave in and numb my mind than to fight the urges. I'm also out of the
house a lot and in the past, I used to recycle VHS tapes (remember
those) on 3 different VCRs to keep up with all of my favorite shows.
When TiVo came out - I adopted early and haven't looked back. Recently,
I've switched to a Media Center 2005 PC because of dual-tuner support
and more recently, support for Over-the-Air HDTV signals. However, in
the midst of building my Home Theater PC (HTPC), I heard about a
company called SnapStream and their product, Beyond TV. Users were
enthusiastic about it and there seemed to be a good reason. With the
recent release of Beyond TV 4, SnapStream has created a viable solution
for us TV junkies. Read on for the final verdict.
My Hardware
Before we get into the review, here's a quick summary of the computer I
tested Beyond TV 4 with.
- AMD Athlon 64 3000+
- 1GB RAM
- 300GB 7200 RPM, 8MB Cache Hard drive
- 2 - Hauppauge WinTV PVR150 TV Tuners
- 1 - DviCO FusionHDTV5 USB Gold OTA HDTV Tuner
- eVGA Geforce FX5900 128MB Video Card with DVI support
- Microsoft Media Center Remote Control
- Panasonic 42" HDTV Plasma
Look
for a series of articles in the upcoming months that cover my
experiences in building my "connected" home, including the construction
of the aforementioned HTPC.
Installation and Setup
If
any product is going to compete in the HTPC market, they must make
installation and setup easy for the average user. In this area,
SnapStream shines. The installation detected the 2 Hauppauge PVR150
cards I had and recognized that the drivers were out of date. It took
me to a site to download the updates before continuing with the
installation. After getting the updates, the installation was painless.
The setup wizard showed me all of the tuners I had on the system and
helped me configure each one. Additionally, you got visual and audio
confirmation by use of a small window showing the video feed from each
tuner. The setup for the HDTV tuner was just as easy. Beyond TV4
recognized my DViCO FusionHDTV5 USB Gold instantly and began scanning
OTA digital signals within seconds. After finding the strongest signals
and doing test recordings, it added those stations that worked and I
finished the wizard. Very high marks for easy installation.
Features
In
the previous incarnation of Beyond TV, you had support for 2 tuners
with the standard purchase. If you wanted to support more than 2, you
had to pay an additional fee per tuner. With Beyond TV 4, you can put
as many tuners as will fit under the general license. So, feel free to
buy 4 Hauppauge PVR500s so that you can record 8 simultaneous stations.
Also, Beyond TV 4 finally added support for OTA HDTV tuners like the
ATI HDTV Wonder or the highly recommended
DViCO FusionHDTV5 USB Gold. SnapStream has bundles on their website
that include tuners, software and the Firefly remote control. Visit snapstream.com [snapstream.com]
for more details.
One
of the really unique features included with Beyond TV 4 - and one that
I fell in love with immediately - is what they call ShowSqueeze. This
feature allows you to convert any show and compress it into Divx or WMV
format; saving you a lot of space while maintaining video quality. This
feature is sadly absent from Media Center 2005 and is quite possibly
reason enough to buy Beyond TV 4. Additionally, you can schedule
ShowSqueeze to take place while the system is not recording, to keep it
from interfering with other recordings.
Beyond
TV 4 compares well with Media Center 2005 in scheduling shows and
adjusting the settings. You can specify a host of various options to
ensure your favorite shows are recorded. You can specify first-run,
re-run or both when deciding which episodes to record. You can also
specify buffers around the show that will ensure you don't start or
stop recording too late. Smartly, Beyond TV4 will recognize potential
overlaps and end the recording on-time in order to facilitate the
second recording. So, you can specify the buffer without worry of not
taping one of your other shows. Most of the recording options are also
found in MCE 2005, so where SnapStream may not have created anything
completely new, you won't be selling yourself short either.
Beyond
TV also features SmartSkip, which indexes your shows at major scene
changes so that you can easily skip through commercials. The chapter
points marked were fairly accurate, although having used TiVo and MCE
30 second jumps for so long, I found that I spent more time jumping
than skipping.
SnapStream, knowing that their users would
likely be Internet savvy, included support for setting up show
recordings and settings over the web, ala TiVo. You can login at snapstream.net [snapstream.net]
to configure your HTPC recordings and settings.
One
of the nicer features of Beyond TV 4 is the ability to specify the
number of cells you want in your Television Guide grid. If you have a
larger TV, you may want 10 horizontal lines displayed instead of 5. In
fact, the level of customization in Beyond TV 4 is far better than
anything in MCE. From customizing your Guide grid, to picking your
audio and video decoders, Beyond TV 4 gives you a good bit of control
over your experience.
One
of the only complaints I have is in the default visuals. Whereas MCE
2005 has nice animated visuals with soft colors, Beyond TV 4 had a
somewhat rigid interface. Navigation was fine, but the colors and
animations are somewhat lacking. There is, however, a strong user
community that constantly updates with new "Skins" for Beyond TV 4 that
can really spice up the interface. |
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Sponsor |  c3 | Jun 9, 2006 12:47pm | Update: Beyond Tv 4.3 is Here!
Beyond TV 4 Free Trial
(Version 4.3, 30 MB)
The SnapStream folks are very busy today it seems... with an update to
their
BeyondTV
PVR Software to version 4.3.
They sent us this snippet describing what's new:
"Some of the new things inBeyond
TV 4.3 are:
* Enhanced HDTV support: We now support ShowSqueeze for HDTV
recordings, so you can save more HDTV recordings without loss of
quality. HDTV recordings can be ShowSqueeze'd to either DivX or Windows
Media formats. We also now strip out extra sub-channel information so
recordings are up to 50% smaller. Disk fragmentation has been reduced,
which makes a big difference to huge HD recordings. And finally
SmartSkip (our commercial detection feature) is way faster on HDTV
recordings now.
* DivX 6.1 Support (with Intel Optimizations):
Beyond TV 4.3 is the first DVR to support DivX 6.1. This brings Intel
optimizations to Beyond TV that can result in up to 300% faster
encoding and even smaller file sizes. ATI Theater 650
support: We're also the first to support the ATI Theater 650 -- you'll
start to see these cards commerically hit the market in the next couple
of weeks. They are great, because they combine analog TV tuning (w/
hardware encoder) and ATSC/HDTV support in one card. There's no other
TV tuner card that combines these two things together on a single chip.
* ...And more: There are quite a number of other updates to Beyond TV
4.3. See more in the press releases linked below"
Beyond
TV 4.3 and Beyond TV Buzz Launch
Beyond TV 4.3 is First DVR to Support DivX 6.1 w/Intel
Optimizations
BTv4 TIP:
FOR WEB Administration and program Tweaking Point your browser to:
after instal: localhost:8129 [localhost:8129]
More On The Upcomming "Theater 650 Chip" Here: tinyurl.com/ehg5a [tinyurl.com/ehg5a]
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| | CrazyBastard | Jun 9, 2006 6:20pm | HOME THEATER PC (HTPC)
Reasons For a HTPC
A Home Theater Personal Computer (HTPC)
is the bridge between your home theater and your home network. Why
would you need a HTPC? .... here are just a few reasons:
- DVD Player - an HTPC's DVD player can
upscale, reduce blur, and sharpen comparably to any $500 DVD player on
the market.
- Digital Video Recorder (DVR) - record
high definition or standard definition broadcasts with a large amount
of storage space for saving video. Tivo
like capabilities such as pause / rewind live TV .
- Personal Digital Jukebox - play all
your iTunes and MP3s using your home theater speakers or distributed
audio speakers.
- Internet Radio
- with thousands of free online stations, why would you pay for
satellite radio? Listen to internet radio using your home theater and
distributed audio speakers.
- Ultimate Game Machine - play all the
top PC games on the big screen with surround sound. The only true
Hi-def game system besides Xbox 360 and PS3.
- DVD Burner - use to save your, family
videos, music, video recordings, pictures, or other important data.
- Digital Photo Album
- have a new digital camera, but don't have a good way of showing your
pictures? What better way to show them then the big screen using the
HTPC.
- Central Location For All Data
- Save all your music, family videos, pictures, and data files in one
convenient location if you have multiple computers, laptops, or PDAs.
- Camera Video Security
- attach USB or firewire video cameras and use your big screen to watch
live video of who is at the front door, or check if the kids are
playing naughty or nice. Also, a HTPC can record camera video for
security purposes.
- Camera Memory Interface
- has Compact Flash, Memory Stick, Standard Digital, Firewire, and USB
interfaces. There's no need to spend extra money on a HDTV with all the
above interfaces when have them on your HTPC.
- Stream Video
- use to stream video to other computers in your home network or
outside to the internet. If your at your hotel because your traveling,
stream your recorded shows or local sports to your laptop. Or stream
family videos to your relatives. Also perfect to check your home
security cameras. 
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Sponsor | |
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|  Mojo513 | Jun 10, 2006 1:04pm | OMG! Is this your TV (media center) at home? Its awesome! You have invested some major moola into your entertainment center!
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Sponsor | | c3 | Jun 10, 2006 6:25pm | lol No I got this from Ken Sharp's Article: (I am a Poor Man)
Free TiVo: Build a Better DVR out of an Old
PC
Build a combination Digital Video Recorder (DVR), music server, and
game machine out of an old computer. It does far more than a commercial
TiVo, and there's no monthly fee.
by Ken Sharp; April 25, 2005
The
final installation of my DVR PC: Note the PC on the left, which is
concealable behind a cabinet door, the Playstation controllers on the
top shelf, and the keyboard, which is barely visible under the cabinet.
Here's how I did it.
SET UP:
You'll need:
- Windows machine with at least 256MB of RAM (512MB is
better), plenty of hard drive space, and a good video card.
- TV and receiver presumably from your existing home theater
system).
- TV card I used a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-250 card, $149 at hauppauge.com.
- PC DVR software I used BeyondTV, which was bundled with
the Hauppauge card, but is available from SnapStream separately for $70
at snapstream.com.
- WinDVD I already had an old copy of this from my video
card, but it's $50 from
intervideo.com.
- Winamp The standard Windows MP3 player, free at winamp.com.
- VNC Remote PC access software, free at realvnc.com
- SlimServer Lets your server stream music remotely through
the internet, free at slimdevices.com.
- Various game emulators Run console game ROMs, many free
ones listed at zophar.net.
- Playstation or Nintendo game controllers These work much
better than PC gamepads for the price, and are available lots of places
for $15 and up.
- PSX/N64 to USB converter Lets you use console gamepads on
the PC, $13 each at lik-sang.com.
- Girder Automation software, $20 at promixis.com
- Cygwin and server software Linux-like operating system,
free at cygwin.com.
- Dynamic DNS service
Lets you connect to your home server using a fixed domain name if your
broadband account allocates your IP address dynamically. I got this
from dyndns.org.
MAKE IT:
The basic sequence of steps is:
- Build the PC
- Install the TV and receiver
- Install the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-250 card and BeyondTV4
- Install video, music, and game utilities
- Install PSX/N64 to USB converters
- Install and configure Girder
- Install Cygwin and server software
- Set up firewall and dynamic DNS service
More Here:Free TiVo: Build a Better DVR out of an Old
PC
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| | CrazyHorace | Jun 13, 2006 11:00am |
edit
As it stands, Beyond TV 4 gets a very impressive 9 out of 10.
One
of the nicer features of Beyond TV 4 is the ability to specify the
number of cells you want in your Television Guide grid. If you have a
larger TV, you may want 10 horizontal lines displayed instead of 5. In
fact, the level of customization in Beyond TV 4 is far better than
anything in MCE. From customizing your Guide grid, to picking your
audio and video decoders, Beyond TV 4 gives you a good bit of control
over your experience.
One
of the only complaints I have is in the default visuals. Whereas MCE
2005 has nice animated visuals with soft colors, Beyond TV 4 had a
somewhat rigid interface. Navigation was fine, but the colors and
animations are somewhat lacking. There is, however, a strong user
community that constantly updates with new "Skins" for Beyond TV 4 that
can really spice up the interface. This community also provides add-ons
that can greatly enhance your experience with Beyond TV 4. Be sure to
check out the
forums at Snapstream to see what is available.
Performance
Beyond
TV 4 does a great job of balancing system resources and not
over-stressing the system. I tested several scenarios and came away
impressed with the performance. The first scenario involved recording
one show (standard tuner) while watching live TV from another. The
video playback was smooth and did not stutter once. The recorded show
later played back without any problems. In the second scenario, I had
two shows recording simultaneously (standard tuner) while watching a
previously recorded show. Amazingly, playback was smooth and I didn't
notice any stuttering or performance problems. The hard disk was
definitely audible at this point, but the video performed perfectly.
The third scenario involved recording one HDTV stream, recording
another show simultaneously on a standard tuner and watching a
previously recorded program. Again, Beyond TV 4 was up to the task with
video playback remaining stable and stutter free. The fourth scenario
proved to be the only potential problem. I was recording shows on both
standard tuners and the OTA HDTV tuner while watching a previously
recorded program. The video playback seemed to stutter at times, though
it was watchable. Please keep in mind, with 3 tuners recording and one
playing back, the limitation is more dependent on the hardware than on
the software. If I had a RAID hard drive setup, these problems would
likely have not existed. Beyond TV 4 kept a good schedule, starting and
stopping shows on-time with none of my recordings suffering from being
cut off too early.
Verdict
If you're currently
considering building your own HTPC, I would highly recommend Beyond TV
4 for your TV recording functionality. With features like SmartSkip and
the very helpful ShowSqueeze, SnapStream has integrated features that
help Beyond TV stand-out from the crowd. Excellent performance and
strong customization options make Beyond TV 4 a worthy investment.
Support for OTA HDTV tuners and more than 2 standard tuners rounds out
an impressive package. SnapStream has a lot to be proud of in their
latest release; let's hope that future versions show equal amounts of
promise delivered.
Please note: Beyond TV 4 is not a complete replacement for Media
Center 2005, however. SnapStream has another product, Beyond
Media,
which rounds out the functionality you find in MCE 2005. We'll have our
review of Beyond Media in the upcoming weeks. So, if you're currently
using MCE 2005, you may want to wait to see what our verdict is for
Beyond Media before abandoning Media Center completely.
As it stands, Beyond TV 4 gets a very impressive 9 out of 10.
Disclosure:
SnapStream provided eHomeUpgrade with full versions of the software so
that a full evaluation could be done. SnapStream had no say in the
final verdict and did not attempt to sway the writer in any way. The
review is the sole opinion of the writer without influence.
Discuss
[27 Posts]
   ehomeupgrade.com/entry/1858/snapstream_beyond_tv [ehomeupgrade.com/entry/1858/snapstream_beyond_tv]" target="_blank"> 
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Sponsor | | c3 | Jun 14, 2006 8:27pm | i-hacked.com/content/view/102/40/ [i-hacked.com/content/view/102/40/]
Saturday, 05 February 2005
The following is an complete tutorial from the book "Hardware Hacking: Have Fun While Voiding Your Warranty" by Syngress Publishing.
An oversimplified definition of a home theater PC (HTPC) is a customized computer that connects to your entertainment system and is used to play video and audio information. A more complete definition could include discussions about specific functions, such as DVD playback, video capture, CD ripping, and many others. We cover these functions in this chapter, but for now let's just say that there are as many different types of HTPCs as there are HTPC builders. Examples of commercial, pre-built HTPCs include TiVo, ReplayTV, and networked DVD players. So if you don't see exactly what you're looking for among the examples in this article, fear not. A little ingenuity and a lot of research can show you the way.
This article covers a slightly different kind of hacking than many of the other chapters in this book. Other hacks in this book cover ways to make a piece of hardware less restrictive than originally intended or to modify a product to make it do something it wasn't intended to do. To be sure, some HTPC hacks have those aspects, depending on what you are doing. However, if you turn into a full-blown HTPC enthusiast, chances are excellent that you will not be saving money over what you would buy off-the-shelf to perform similar functions. If you'd like to go the inexpensive route, there are ways to do so, but that's less often what HTPC builders are after.
Hacks in this Chapter...
* Before you Begin: Research and Plan
* The Components of an HTPC Project
* Building a Windows HTPC
* Building a Linux HTPC
* Further Hacking and Advanced Topics
he HTPC hackers who are after control are typically concerned with flexibility. Maybe they want more hard disk space than can be bought in a stock unit. Maybe they are concerned that they won't be able to play newer video files when the formats are updated. Whatever the concern is, HTPC control hackers have a goal of creating an HTPC that incorporates the desired functions they want and that those functions work the way they want them to.
i-hacked.com/content/view/102/40/ [i-hacked.com/content/view/102/40/]
azylook is what you get when you use the remote control.
Across the top of the remote are several buttons: TV, DVD, Web,
Library, and
Screen grab. When you're in regular desktop mode, pressing TV, DVD, or
Library
will launch Eazylook (Figure 6.10).
Figure
6.10 The
Eazylook Welcome Screen
The various text elements are sized appropriately for
television display. For example, Figure 6.11 displays what the small
library of
shows I have captured to my local PC looks like on-screen.
Figure
6.11 Eazylook
Text on Screen Text Layout
The DVD and TV functions show the appropriate video
and overlay
the status information as needed. The menus that pop up over the video
are
partially transparent, and the overall look is fairly nice. All the
functions
you need while watching TV are available from the remote.
· Using
the Launcher
ATI also provides a program called Launchpad, which
allows you
access to all the major functions. It can function as a menu or a
floating
toolbar (Figures 6.12 and 6.13).
Figure
6.12 ATI
Launchpad
Figure
6.13 Launchpad
(floating)
Alternatively, if you prefer to not give up the
screen real
estate, by default ATI leaves an app running in the Taskbar (Figure
6.14). If
you right-click it, you can access the programs that way.
Figure
6.14 ATI
Taskbar Program
And, of course, you can get at them via the Start
button, in
the ATI Multimedia Center program group. When launched this way, they
look like
normal Windows desktop apps.
· Using
Guide Plus+
Finally, there's Guide Plus+, which is a program
guide and
scheduling application. The Welcome screen for Guide + is shown in
Figure 6.15.
Figure
6.15 The
Guide Plus+ Welcome Screen
You can right-click any of the listings (shown in
Figure 6.16)
and schedule a program to be recorded. If the program is playing now,
you can
click it, and your device will start showing that channel. You can even
schedule it to "watch" so it comes on in the future, if that is useful
to you.
There is also a search function, so you can look for all the showings
of your
favorite show and schedule those to record. You have a choice of
several
recording qualities, with the requisite size/quality tradeoffs. These
days,
Guide Plus+ provides functionality closest to an off-the-shelf TiVo.
Figure
6.16 Guide
Plus+ Main Screen
We won't cover WMP usage here, since most of you are
probably
already familiar with it and it is quite easy to use. If you buy an MP3
encoder
module for it, it will make MP3s for you, as well. Instead, we will
briefly
cover two free software packages: CDex and FairUse.
· CDex
CDex is my favorite all-around Windows CD ripper
(Figure
6.17). CDex is capable of digital ripping. It can also rip to a variety
of
other file formats, including uncompressed WAV, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, and
others. It
integrates with the CDDB to get track titles for you, and it works the
way you
would expect. You can download CDex from the following location:
cdexos.sourceforge.net [cdexos.sourceforge.net].
Figure
6.17 The
CDex Main Interface Page
When you install CDex, you simply set your
preferences
(directory to rip to, compression type, rate, and so forth) and pop in
a disc.
CDex will find the album on the CDDB (unless you've got something
pretty
obscure) and fill in the track names. Then you simply start it up, and
it goes
to work ripping CDs at lightning speeds.
· FairUse
FairUse (FU) is billed as DVD backup software
(Figure 6.18).
FU is free of charge and comparable in functionality to CDex--it works
just as
well. You can download FairUse from the following location:
fairuse.sourceforge.net [fairuse.sourceforge.net].
Figure
6.18 The
FairUse Wizard Welcome Screen
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| 
Sponsor | | ChicagoDad | Jun 15, 2006 1:53pm | A home theater PC (HTPC)
forums.snapstream.com/vb/showthread.php [forums.snapstream.com/vb/showthread.php]
personal computer that replaces
components in a home theater
system. The general goal in a HTPC is usually to combine most (or all
depending on the setup) of a home theater setup into one box. There are
many advantages to this type of
Good Stuff/Automation
Having all home theater components in one box allows for a much
higher degree of automation between different devices. For example,
(using the right components) a
motion detector might be set up to look
for motion only during DVD or TV
playback. If motion is detected it might automatically pause the
movie/TV, turn up the lights, and play intermission music until the
person returns from the latrine.
Another example is if the phone rings to automatically pause the
DVD/TV, turn the lights up, and display the caller's details on the
screen. This degree of automation is not easily attainable with most
normal home theater setups.
Quality
Video output from a HTPC is a much higher resolution than common
standard definition home theater components. Upsampling DVDs to 720p
for display on a connected HDTV
will give a picture that rivals far more expensive dedicated home
theater equipment. Depending on the equipment used, audio can also
experience a noticeable quality improvement.
Computer-based TiVo-like
software that enables the PC to record video from the television signal
generally has no monthly subscription fees. Television shows can
generally be set to record on your HTPC from any computer in the world
with an Internet connection or even your mobile phone. Recording space
can easily be upgraded, and/or shows can be burned to DVD.
One media location
HTPCs often include online storage of music and movies, usually
"ripped" from the original media onto hard disks. This allows more
convenient access to the content, as well as searching by artist,
genre, director, etc. This can be located in a media server that the
HTPC connects to.
Other common features of a HTPC might include digital photo albums,
weather information, news headlines, whole house lighting/appliance
control, caller ID, and the ability to use your current remote for all
your HTPC devices.
Bad Stuff/Noise
If not built properly a HTPC can be quite noisy. Most of the noise
is produced from the fans that are needed to cool the heat-producing
parts of the computer. The balance between noise and operational
temperature needs to be considered to avoid noise or operational
problems. Fortunately there are many products designed with quiet
operation as a priority, such as low db fans and heatsinks.
Setup/maintenance
Because HTPCs are far from mainstream, a lot of the commonly used
software is not user friendly in respect to the average computer user
(difficult to set up, not necessarily difficult to use). Generally,
setting up HTPC software seems to be geared for people who are already
very comfortable behind a computer. As HTPCs become more commonplace in
the home, software companies will probably pay closer attention to this
issue. If one is not comfortable taking a computer apart, editing XML
files, and digging through the registry, then setting up a HTPC might
be a bit overwhelming. However, once properly set up, they can be
easier to use than most component home theatre setups.
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| I am Very Impressed With beyond TV 4
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Its about that time to start Recording our
480063
