Pros and cons of cable cards?

[borntworide]

I am looking to make the right choice for my pc. The card i like is the Ceton InfiniTV 4 Digital Cable Quad-tuner Card PCIe. My other choice is the Hauppauge WinTV-DCR-2650 (CableCARD TV Tuner) 1450 USB 2.0 Interface .
What problem occur with both, support desk, ect will be really helpful.. I am lacking the knowledge that is why i am asking for help.. I can provide information if needed.. Pro of usb verses card inside pc. Thanks B2R

[newfiend]

I have both Ceton tuners one USB one PCIe, both have been awesome and work very well. I prefer the PCIe simply because of cosmetic reasons. It nice to have it all inside the case. Less clutter. However the USB unit works every bit as good as the internal unit for me. Some have had small issues with the external USB unit but I believe most if those issues have been resolved. Their support is also top notch. I have had the pci version since the first batch of cards hit here and the USB unit for roughly 2 weeks. No complaints.

Sent from my WP7 using Board Express

[erkotz]

Obviously I am biased, but I prefer the Ceton InfiniTV. I personally prefer the PCIe unit as it's one less power brick/external unit.

[richard1980]

Until recently I would have heavily praised the InfiniTV. Unfortunately, there are currently two issues with the product, both of which are affecting many people, and although neither of the issues are a deal killer IMO, I think any buyer should be aware of the issues before making a purchase decision. First, there is a problem with InfiniTVs crashing and rebooting. Second, there is a strange pixelation problem where you can occasionally get a single line of strange pixels going across the screen. Neither of these issues would make me want to switch to a different product though. IMO, even with these two issues, the InfiniTV is the way to go. I also prefer the PCIe due to the cleaner look.

[barnabas1969]

I was hesitant to reply to the OP's question, due to what Richard wrote above. I'm not affected by the crash/reboot issue... or, if I am, I don't notice it. However, I get the random pixelation problem A LOT. And I've been screaming on these forums for Ceton to fix the problem as they've known about it, and replicated it five months ago.

You may not be affected by either of these problems... and if you get the pixelation problem, you may not care about it either... as it affects only a small portion of the screen for a split second every 10 minutes or so... and only on certain channels.

However, that being said... the Ceton tuners give you four tuners for $199, compared to the HD HomeRun Prime's 3 tuners, and the Hauppauge's 2 tuners.

Ceton is the only company who is producing an internal tuner. So, if you value having everything inside one box... and you are not building a Mini ITX system, where there isn't enough room for the Ceton card... then you may want the Ceton PCIe.

If you want an external tuner... the Ceton USB gives you 4 tuners, and doesn't take any space inside your PC case.

The Silicon Dust HD HomeRun Prime gives you 3 tuners that you can locate just about anywhere in your house because it is a network tuner. If you want to hide it in a closet, this one is the best choice for that.

The Hauppauge dual tuner USB would be my LAST choice, compared to all of the above... because it only has 2 tuners, connects via USB (like the Ceton USB), and it costs about the same as the Ceton USB.

Overall, Ceton's support has been very good. I just wish they would hurry up and fix the pixelation issue. I've read that Silicon Dust also has very good support (they make the HD HomeRun Prime). I have not heard any good things about Hauppauge's support.

[richard1980]

So, if you value having everything inside one box... and you are not building a Mini ITX system, where there isn't enough room for the Ceton card... then you may want the Ceton PCIe.

There's plenty of room for my PCIe InfiniTV in my mini-ITX system....

[newfiend]

I also randomly get the pixelation issue as well. It's pretty rare though and only happens from time to time for me. It's not a deal killer for me but I do wish they would fix this as well. With all the options on the market at this time I would still pick the ceton products. I am hoping a firmware update will fix the random crashing issue some are reporting as well as the pixelation issues we all seem to have. I would say that for me 98-99% of the time the picture is just fine..How often are you guys getting this issue?
newfiend~

[joevulture]

I also randomly get the pixelation issue as well. It's pretty rare though and only happens from time to time for me. It's not a deal killer for me but I do wish they would fix this as well. With all the options on the market at this time I would still pick the ceton products. I am hoping a firmware update will fix the random crashing issue some are reporting as well as the pixelation issues we all seem to have. I would say that for me 98-99% of the time the picture is just fine..How often are you guys getting this issue?
newfiend~

I see the pixelation quite frequenty; on average, I'd say every 5-10 minutes or so.

I'd say that the problem is that Brighthouse marks every channel as copy-once, except for the locals; the problem supposedly happens only on copy protected channels.

I know that it's a firmware update that will fix it, since it was a firmware update that broke it, I wish that they'd get it out.

-- Joe

[Beradon]

I'm also pretty happy with the Ceton PCIe version, in fact today I returned my old cable box DVR to Time Warner because the Ceton has been stable enough for our use since I put it in a bit over a week ago.

I do have the black line/pixelation issue, it happens about every 30 seconds to 5 minutes on all forms of TV, but it doesnt really bother me all that much. Having such granular control of my TV experience has been a delight, and I'm slowly increasing my GAF from it. When I update my primary PC I'll put the SSDs in it in my HTPC then the GAF will increase exponentially.

I'm technically not using the Ceton a 'supported' manner (its installed in my WHS2011 box because of space concerns in my HTPC) but the only issue I've experienced was basically one of my own causing. The WHS2011 box rebooted after the HTPC from Windows Update and it caused the HTPC to think there was no tuner. I switched the order so that the server will reboot for Windows Updates, then the HTPC will reboot for Windows Updates therefore restoring connectivity. This wouldn't be a concern for someone using the tuner in the same box that is accessing it.

I just wish TimeWarner didnt mark every channel except locals as Copy Once... I think my way around it will be to get a slingbox and connect it to my XBox 360, since the only reason I DVR things is so I can watch them from work later. But again, this isnt something wrong with the Ceton, its TWC's fault.

[barnabas1969]

Richard, when I was talking about a Mini ITX, I was talking about an extremely small form factor case. I suppose if you put a Mini ITX in a case large enough for a low profile expansion card, you would be OK.

To the others... I see it anywhere from every 10 seconds, to never... it just depends on what channel I'm watching. CNN is the worst one... and my wife watches CNN a lot. Plus, my Clear QAM channels all get tuned by my other tuners (Hauppauge WinTV HVR tuners)... so I don't see it on those at all.

To Beradon... not sure what Firefox has to do with it.

[newfiend]

I also randomly get the pixelation issue as well. It's pretty rare though and only happens from time to time for me. It's not a deal killer for me but I do wish they would fix this as well. With all the options on the market at this time I would still pick the ceton products. I am hoping a firmware update will fix the random crashing issue some are reporting as well as the pixelation issues we all seem to have. I would say that for me 98-99% of the time the picture is just fine..How often are you guys getting this issue?
newfiend~

I see the pixelation quite frequenty; on average, I'd say every 5-10 minutes or so.

I'd say that the problem is that Brighthouse marks every channel as copy-once, except for the locals; the problem supposedly happens only on copy protected channels.

I know that it's a firmware update that will fix it, since it was a firmware update that broke it, I wish that they'd get it out.

-- Joe

Wow, thats pretty frequent for you. I never have the issue that frequently. It has been quite some time since the last driver update. They did push out a new firmware update not too long ago. I hope that they get the crashing tuner issue sorted and this pixelation issue you guys are having under control. It's been pretty much a non issue for me as it happens pretty rare for me. Wonder if Ceton is looking into why this happens and if it's in the works for a fix in an updated firmware soon..? Maybe erkotz could shed some light on why this happens...and if it's on the list of fixes for the ceton InfiniTV.

[richard1980]

I know that it's a firmware update that will fix it, since it was a firmware update that broke it, I wish that they'd get it out.

If a firmware update broke it, why can't we all just roll back to the old firmware? Does anyone have any firmware links?

I also see the issue quite frequently on many channels. I've never timed it, but I would say every 5-10 minutes is a fair estimate. It only lasts a few seconds and doesn't affect much of the picture. And it only happens on some content, not all content. The mention of copy protection got me thinking...I don't think I've ever seen it on any copy freely channels. But then again I haven't really paid a lot of attention to it. To me it's just an annoyance, no big deal, but I would like to see it fixed.

[borntworide]

Thanks for all the great information!!!
I do have another question. I am leaning towards the ceton card. The question is With four tuners I am looking to stream to another pc or extender is this possible? I am looking to centralize this one pc and stream out to two other thoughout home.
Is this is possible . Maybe a link or help on how too? Thank you B2R

[barnabas1969]

Here's what it looks like. I just caught this on the most recent episode of The Daily Show with Jon Steward (Comedy Central HD):

[newfiend]

Here's what it looks like. I just caught this on the most recent episode of The Daily Show with Jon Steward (Comedy Central HD):

nice frame capture!
I get the same thing as the rest of you and it looks just like that.. a flash then gone and all is fine again.

To answer the OP's second question. Yes the tuner(s) can be shared on extenders. My HTPC sits in the Livingroom and I have an XBOX and a DMA-2100 in the bedrooms The extenders grab a tuner off my Ceton and display Live HDTV on the extenders just fine. It works great for sharing HDTV through out your home. My Xbox and DMA-2100 are on my network via Powerline adapters with wired connections to those. Works well for me but others have had a little better experience with using MoCA adapters in place of the Powerline adapters. Ceton is also building an extender called the Echo that hopefully will be out this year that will have MoCA adapters that attach to it/on it. These are the next gen extender and I am very excited to see how good they work! The Ceton card is a good tuner even with the pixelation issue (which should get fixed) its been a very solid product. The Tuners can also be shared on your network with other PC's as well. More info on that here: http://www.missingremote.com/guide/ceto ... ltiple-pcs
HTH,
newfiend~

[borntworide]

Newfiend Thank you. I am gathering any recorded material can be played over network? Or is it locked to original pc ? Thanks you b2r

[newfiend]

Newfiend Thank you. I am gathering any recorded material can be played over network? Or is it locked to original pc ? Thanks you b2r

Anything recorded on the HTPC can be played on an extender including Copy Protected content. The Recorded TV is shared between any extender and can be watched anywhere in your home on your network. You can also set recordings from your extender in the guide and the HTPC will record it. I can set up a series recording or a single recording from my XBOX (bedroom) and the HTPC in the livingroom records the show.. works great!
newfiend~

[barnabas1969]

Well, just to clarify the OP's question... With the Ceton tuners or the HD Home Run Prime, you can share tuners across the network to other PC's. However, if you record copy-protected shows, they can only be watched on the PC where they were recorded, or on any extender. So, I believe that extenders are your best bet.

Here's another screen shot from The Colbert Report. Maybe I should just post these images everywhere... maybe that would get Ceton's attention?

[barnabas1969]

And this one, from February 18, 2012, Showtime HD, "Knowing":

[newfiend]

And this one, from February 18, 2012, Showtime HD, "Knowing":

have you been collecting screen shots of this for some time? You seem to have quite a few..lol. Wonder what is causing that, some sort of decoding issue of the content stream I would suppose but is it a problem with the tuner or CC?
newfiend~