PVR which goes from Scart to USB?
Community Forums/General Help/PVR which goes from Scart to USB?
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| This seemed like it would be a simple task, but apparently not. Most PVRs are not able to encode content, so they cannot process anything via a a scart* socket. Apparently some DVRs (which are subtly different from PVRs) do, but info is thin on the ground. Then some PVRs and DVRs seem to have USB connectivity but no ability to tranfer recordings. Which seems kinda pointless, but there you go. I'm not trying to move HD content, and the content is not encrypted. It's not from Sky Movies or Sky Sports or anything like that. Basically, I just want the convenience of being able to record programs on the basic channels and watch them back in another room. The TV in the bedroom has a USB input, so if I could record them via Scart onto a DVR and then shunt it onto a USB stick or external HD, that would be perfect. It's not HD content so the crappy RGB quality won't bother me. I've been using a DVD recorder up until now but it's a drag fiddling with discs and the DVD player in the bedroom ain't that reliable anyway. You try to skip through the ads and it resets to the beginning of the program. Any suggestions? I've got a budget of ~ £250. *If you're not European and don't know what scart is, it's basically a Europe-only RGB variant. |
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| The only USB ports I've seen on DVR's have either been for 'maintenance' (private use by the manufacturer), or the ability to connect an external HDD for additional storage, typically encrypted. (On top of that, for the dish Network DVR's the company charges you a one-time activation fee to enable the usage of external USB storage) The biggest problem seems to be the content providers lobbying big time to prevent the device manufacturers from exposing the data to the end user. Anyway -- the *easiest* way of accomplishing what you want is probably to forego a physical DVR, and instead use a PC with TV capture card instead: With those you can record pretty much any unprotected content, which will be fully accessible by the (or any) PC. |
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| That would be ideal, but I don't have room for even a laptop anywhere near the set top box. What about this with an external hard drive plugged in the USB? Then I can just take the external hard drive from room to room? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hauppauge-Capture-Definition-Hardware-Encoders/dp/B001M0MY10/ EDIT: Disregard. I see now that the Hauppauge still expects to be connected to a PC. I don't really see the purpose of a set top box that requires a PC. Might just as well use a capture card. |
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| I decided it'll be easier to chuck out the set top box and buy a more full-featured generic linux PVR instead. The VU+ Solo2 seems to be a good choice. It allows me to plug a SATA 2.5 hd internally, and connect external flash/hdd if I want, but it's got gigabit ethernet, so there's no real need for anything other than an internal hard drive because I can pull it over the network any time I want. It's twin-tuner and is apparently one of the fastest receivers around. It's going to push my budget up closer to £400 by the time I throw in the cost of a 1tb drive, but my original plan was to drop my Sky subscription and keep all of the FTA channels along with recording functionality (something which Freesat tries to prevent) so I'll save enough money to justify buying a nice box. |
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