Recording from Tata Sky

[Raghav]

Is there any way to record video using Tata Sky+ or Tata Sky permanently on ext HDD?

1. Using Tata Sky HD can we use the HDMI input to record directly onto a computer using some capture device?

2. Using Tata Sky+ HD can we somehow transfer the recorded media?

Thanks
Raghav

 

[baijuxavior]

I think an HD TV Tuner can help you here.

 

[Raghav]

That is something that went completely over my head.

Is it the tuner that is part of my HDTV or an external device? How do I use it?

I think an HD TV Tuner can help you here.

 

[baijuxavior]

You will need to connect the TV tuner to your PC and use the accompanying software to do the capture. I also read that some HD media players can record videos to a HDD.

 

[Raghav]

The TV has no tuner/video output connection.

Is there a way to connect the Tata Sky STB straight to the PC.

You will need to connect the TV tuner to your PC and use the accompanying software to do the capture. I also read that some HD media players can record videos to a HDD.

 

[baijuxavior]

The TV tuner I'm talking about is a device that you connect to the PC. It is usually known as 'TV Tuner card'. These are available in internal and external models. In the first case you fit it inside the pc. Second model can be connected to USB port. These tuners have inputs to which you can connect cable TV, AV out from a DVD player etc. Most probably, HD tuner cards will have HDMI inputs, so you can connect the HDMI output from Tata Sky to it. Please see this thread.

http://www.hifivision.com/what-should-i-buy/19321-tv-tuner-capture-video-recommend-pliz.html

 

[prankey]

The TV tuner I'm talking about is a device that you connect to the PC. It is usually known as 'TV Tuner card'. These are available in internal and external models. In the first case you fit it inside the pc. Second model can be connected to USB port. These tuners have inputs to which you can connect cable TV, AV out from a DVD player etc. Most probably, HD tuner cards will have HDMI inputs, so you can connect the HDMI output from Tata Sky to it. Please see this thread.

http://www.hifivision.com/what-should-i-buy/19321-tv-tuner-capture-video-recommend-pliz.html

Using HD TV Tuner will not help as TS RF output is NOT HD. We would need a capture card or a media player which could also record in HD through Component/HDMI inputs.

 

[khanmadari]

Using HD TV Tuner will not help as TS RF output is NOT HD. We would need a capture card or a media player which could also record in HD through Component/HDMI inputs.

Prankey..

Yes you are right using HD tuner/capture card with HDMI input will be good only when you have always on HTPC - TV combination.

or another option is to use HDMI switch between TV and HD tuner / Capture card.

Still I am not sure if one would be able to capture multi-channel audio for HD channels through this setup.

Rajesh

 

[Raghav]

One ease is that the setup need not be always on. Since I have a Tata Sky+ HD, the recording can be done on the STB itself. Then the recordings need to be transferred to a Computer.

Thus the recording setup need not be configured all the time. Once a month would be sufficient for back up of recorded media.

So far I understand is that we need a HDMI capture card. The only question now is whether the quality of video/audio captured is deteriorated or not.

Also can we transfer straight from STB to a DVR or media player having ext HDD attached.

Prankey..

Yes you are right using HD tuner/capture card with HDMI input will be good only when you have always on HTPC - TV combination.

or another option is to use HDMI switch between TV and HD tuner / Capture card.

Still I am not sure if one would be able to capture multi-channel audio for HD channels through this setup.

Rajesh

 

[eshwar13]

Is there any way to record video using Tata Sky+ or Tata Sky permanently on ext HDD?

1. Using Tata Sky HD can we use the HDMI input to record directly onto a computer using some capture device?

2. Using Tata Sky+ HD can we somehow transfer the recorded media?

Thanks
Raghav

To answer your question, (quoting from another forum )

Yes you can copy the recorded media from Tata Sky+ to your computer. The only catch is the format used to record file is .str and converting them to one of the open source formats will be a big pain.

Also the harddisc used in a Tata Sky+ box is a normal esata 320 HDD. So if u can replace it with a 1 TB HDD, then vola you get 5X Storage (bcos of the 320GB, 160 is preserved for Buffering - rewind feature of the TV and the other 160 is used to record programs)

You can learn a lot more in this link - Tata SKY+ New DVR STB split wide open (The inside with photos - Page 2

 

[ontherocks]

1. Using Tata Sky HD can we use the HDMI input to record directly onto a computer using some capture device?

Yes you can, using a capture card that has HDMI Input. There are very few of them in the market and are expensive. See the list here HDMI Input Capture Card

 

[prankey]

Yes you can, using a capture card that has HDMI Input. There are very few of them in the market and are expensive. See the list here HDMI Input Capture Card

If the content is HDCP encoded through HDMI output of TS HD box, you can't record it. Next best option is to use Component and SPDIF output (anyway HDMI currently disables DD audio).

 

[prankey]

So far I understand is that we need a HDMI capture card. The only question now is whether the quality of video/audio captured is deteriorated or not.

Also can we transfer straight from STB to a DVR or media player having ext HDD attached.

Quality will definitely be compromised as HDMI sends uncompressed audio and video (audio as Stereo PCM as DD5.1 is currently not working). So if you use SPDIF output for DD5.1 sound, you could store them unadulterated on the recorded content (its another story that TS themselves are doing all sort of BUTCHERING ADULTERATION most of us are not even bothered about!).

However Video quality will always suffer more as it is practically not feasible to keep uncompressed video from HDMI especially HD Video. So you would have to recompress the video YET AGAIN (as again, TS ALWAYS do such recompression of video before broadcasting primarily to put TS Logo and reduce bitrate). Thankfully such recompression do not happen on TS+HD during ripping to internal HDD.

You can copy those recorded content, however currently we are unaware of anyway of extracting or converting those original broadcasted content to a watchable video as the content is encrypted. If we could find a way of decrypting the video, there will be no further loss of quality from what we receive through our STB.

To answer your question, (quoting from another forum )

Yes you can copy the recorded media from Tata Sky+ to your computer. The only catch is the format used to record file is .str and converting them to one of the open source formats will be a big pain.

Also the harddisc used in a Tata Sky+ box is a normal esata 320 HDD. So if u can replace it with a 1 TB HDD, then vola you get 5X Storage (bcos of the 320GB, 160 is preserved for Buffering - rewind feature of the TV and the other 160 is used to record programs)

You can learn a lot more in this link - Tata SKY+ New DVR STB split wide open (The inside with photos - Page 2

Please don't BLINDLY copy from other sources. Please THINK before posting. This statement is INCORRECT - "Also the harddisc used in a Tata Sky+ box is a normal esata 320 HDD. So if u can replace it with a 1 TB HDD, then vola you get 5X Storage (bcos of the 320GB, 160 is preserved for Buffering - rewind feature of the TV and the other 160 is used to record programs)"

TS+ use 160 GB HDD out of which 80GB is used for recording AND buffering and rest of 80GB is used for TVoD services. TS+HD use 500GB out of which 160GB is used for TVoD and 340GB is used for Recording and buffering. We might be able to upgrade the HDD if we are able to copy the disk layout PROPERLY to the new HDD and TS+HD box is able to recognize such HDD. Its not tested till date so we are unaware of the outcome.

You defy logic when you say a WHOPPING 160GB of HDD space is reserved for a MAX of 90 mins of TEMPORARY buffer! In other way you are trying to say that the HDD on TS can only record upto 90 mins of content as you are saying that the other HALF is used for recording??? What was that dude?

Sorry for my strong words. Was shedding some frustration on TS and ignorance of some of us.

 

[eshwar13]

Sorry for my strong words. Was shedding some frustration on TS and ignorance of some of us.

No need to apologize. I am sure all your anger is towards TS+

Also the entire point of having forums is to share our ignorance and get clarity. So getting pissed off for the ignorance of ppl in this forum is totally defeating the purpose of forums - IMHO

 

[prankey]

No need to apologize. I am sure all your anger is towards TS+

Also the entire point of having forums is to share our ignorance and get clarity. So getting pissed off for the ignorance of ppl in this forum is totally defeating the purpose of forums - IMHO

I agree dude. I was certainly not pissed off on anyone for their ignorance, but my frustration was towards service providers (like here TS) for encashing on subscriber's ignorance (like MONO sound on several channels which most of us do not observe) Thanks for understanding You are most welcome to ask ANY type of question.

Nevertheless I enjoyed pulling your leg on that 50:50 approach you suggested for recording and buffer Hope you wouldn't mind me having some lighter moments thru such leg pulling :yahoo:

 

[ValueBuyer]

Sorry for my strong words. Was shedding some frustration on TS and ignorance of some of us.

I think few members are expecting Benz,Bmw ... class performance from maruti kind of company.In old time more than 90% people bought maruti 800 kind of car only.Only few percent was importing cars and paying 300% plus tax and cursing the government policy.The last 10 years only we have been using other brands and luxury cars like Benz,Bmw ...But not in the price band of maruti 800 (Though we can't compare automobile with electronics,We are expecting 2 year old baby(HD DTH) to run like an adult).

So we can't expect blu-ray kind of quality overnight.Our expectation is high so DTH service providers are trying to divert us for time being with gimmick like upscaled content,pseudo 5.1 audio ...

:lol:

 

[prankey]

I think few members are expecting Benz,Bmw ... class performance from maruti kind of company.In old time more than 90% people bought maruti 800 kind of car only.Only few percent was importing cars and paying 300% plus tax and cursing the government policy.The last 10 years only we have been using other brands and luxury cars like Benz,Bmw ...But not in the price band of maruti 800 (Though we can't compare automobile with electronics,We are expecting 2 year old baby(HD DTH) to run like an adult).

So we can't expect blu-ray kind of quality overnight.Our expectation is high so DTH service providers are trying to divert us for time being with gimmick like upscaled content,pseudo 5.1 audio ...

:lol:

Hehe, I don't have any such kind of expectation! I only expect them to pass original audio without doing any audio processing. I am neither expecting Benz or BMW kind of performance. Only the LOWEST LEVEL content without any adulteration like we see on Star HD channels. Am I over expecting if my only expectation from them is to STOP audio processing of Stereo or 5.1 channel sound like other DTH operators do? I am only asking them to DISINVEST those FANCY equipment which ONLY they seems to be using to spoil the audio many folds. Dynamic Range Compression happens all the time in Studios especially for TV broadcasts. We can't expect such processing from a DTH operator which makes it tough to even understand what the other person is saying, forget about ambient sound and consistent volume levels.

My earlier one of the lowest standard DTH did not "bother" to do any such processing and had far superior video quality on SD and HD channels. I am not even expecting such quality levels from Tatasky, however expect them to pass what they get even if they have to reencode them to lower the quality (bitrate) like what they are currently doing. And I expect them NOT to scale down Stereo Audio to Mono and STILL CALL it Stereo by not accepting such conversion.

 

[ValueBuyer]

Hehe, I don't have any such kind of expectation! I only expect them to pass original audio without doing any audio processing. I am neither expecting Benz or BMW kind of performance. Only the LOWEST LEVEL content without any adulteration like we see on Star HD channels. Am I over expecting if my only expectation from them is to STOP audio processing of Stereo or 5.1 channel sound like other DTH operators do? I am only asking them to DISINVEST those FANCY equipment which ONLY they seems to be using to spoil the audio many folds. Dynamic Range Compression happens all the time in Studios especially for TV broadcasts. We can't expect such processing from a DTH operator which makes it tough to even understand what the other person is saying, forget about ambient sound and consistent volume levels.

My earlier one of the lowest standard DTH did not "bother" to do any such processing and had far superior video quality on SD and HD channels. I am not even expecting such quality levels from Tatasky, however expect them to pass what they get even if they have to reencode them to lower the quality (bitrate) like what they are currently doing. And I expect them NOT to scale down Stereo Audio to Mono and STILL CALL it Stereo by not accepting such conversion.

Service providers are now focusing on quantity (more number of HD & SD channels) rather than quality (higher bitrate audio & video).Because average customers understand 5.1 and HD rather than upscaled & pseudo audio so companies could sell more by telling magic words 5.1 audio and HD rather than stereo or mono and upscaled content like that. In other point of view most of the computer users with lcd monitors and basic home theater users (onkyo 3400,sony,Logitech ) are the easy target of hd dth (monitors,basic home theaters dont have upscaling capability)

 

[prankey]

Service providers are now focusing on quantity (more number of HD & SD channels) rather than quality (higher bitrate audio & video).Because average customers understand 5.1 and HD rather than upscaled & pseudo audio so companies could sell more by telling magic words 5.1 audio and HD rather than stereo or mono and upscaled content like that. In other point of view most of the computer users with lcd monitors and basic home theater users (onkyo 3400,sony,Logitech ) are the easy target of hd dth (monitors,basic home theaters dont have upscaling capability)

I agree, however like on SD channels and 2 HD channels, when they do Dynamic Range Compression, they are not gaining ANYTHING even in terms of marketing! Converting Stereo to 5.1 or MONO is one thing, doing dynamic range compression is another. If they just do the conversion, we would atleast get close to original sound instead of something unbearable where music do not sound like music, foreground loud voices become almost inaudible and background voices become louder and so forth. Some sounds and voices are not even recognizable when DRC pitches in. Infact, when I used Dish TV, I felt their service and quality is worst, however I realized it was a blessing in disguise after shifting to TS (primarily for quality as at the time when I shifted, Dish TV had all the common HD channels though without 5.1 with max number of SD channels). I could have never imagined some operator will do such silly butchering of audio and despite escalations till CEO and COO don't want to disable it!

These are the reasons which makes me very furious as even a low bitrate audio and video can be more bearable if we do not compare with better quality content. However, changing volume levels, inaudible voices, roaming sound is something they are doing unnecessarily as it neither improve compression efficiency or the quality. Infact such processing is making the audio almost inaudible and uncomparable to the original audio (not in terms of MPEG/DD compression, but DRC). I am keeping it solely for Star HD channels, however will NEVER leave them for such butchering of audio despite us tolerating other issues like low bitrates and lower number of channels.

For me quality is ALWAYS more important and that was the reason I choose TS with least number of channels, but they have done everything to destroy that as well

 

[Prashant_Jindal]

I agree, however like on SD channels and 2 HD channels, when they do Dynamic Range Compression, they are not gaining ANYTHING even in terms of marketing! Converting Stereo to 5.1 or MONO is one thing, doing dynamic range compression is another. If they just do the conversion, we would atleast get close to original sound instead of something unbearable where music do not sound like music, foreground loud voices become almost inaudible and background voices become louder and so forth. Some sounds and voices are not even recognizable when DRC pitches in. Infact, when I used Dish TV, I felt their service and quality is worst, however I realized it was a blessing in disguise after shifting to TS (primarily for quality as at the time when I shifted, Dish TV had all the common HD channels though without 5.1 with max number of SD channels). I could have never imagined some operator will do such silly butchering of audio and despite escalations till CEO and COO don't want to disable it!

These are the reasons which makes me very furious as even a low bitrate audio and video can be more bearable if we do not compare with better quality content. However, changing volume levels, inaudible voices, roaming sound is something they are doing unnecessarily as it neither improve compression efficiency or the quality. Infact such processing is making the audio almost inaudible and uncomparable to the original audio (not in terms of MPEG/DD compression, but DRC). I am keeping it solely for Star HD channels, however will NEVER leave them for such butchering of audio despite us tolerating other issues like low bitrates and lower number of channels.

For me quality is ALWAYS more important and that was the reason I choose TS with least number of channels, but they have done everything to destroy that as well

But right now all other DTH operators are same. Unless govt comes up with a regulatory body for DTH, this thing will continue.

I am getting 40% signal strength in my Airtel DVR, Their executive tells me this is good enough. In absolute terms, signal strength is 136. When he was doing installation, I asked him what will be signal stength, He told me 160-200 but when he finished doing it, strength was merely 136. I asked him to rectify this. He then told me 136 is good enough as signal quality is 100%. What could I have done there? I had the same signal strength issue in my non-HD box. I used to get 195 only where as my frds used to get 235 around. May be this is due to the location.

Due to this low strength, I am pretty sure it will not work even if there is a hint of rain.

I just hope low signal strength do not impact PQ too much.