Sky+ downloading
Discussion
It uses MPEG 2 audio/video encoding.
It's very handy being in MPEG2 format as this can very easily be converted to DVD
Although any Capture card can be used to save to PC.
Some technical stuff here - www.satcomm20.co.uk/skyplus.htm
It's very handy being in MPEG2 format as this can very easily be converted to DVD
Although any Capture card can be used to save to PC.
Some technical stuff here - www.satcomm20.co.uk/skyplus.htm
RS232? Ah I see where you're going. You won't be able to stream the data straight off the Sky+ HD because the disk data format (directory and file structures) is not compatible with any commercial (PC) operating system. All channels except the truly free ones (such as Sky News) the raw datastream is encrypted (scrambled) using the Videoguard encryption system. To decrypt this stream you would need a Videoguard decryption module, only available inside of a Sky Digibox. This would presumably also need a valid Sky card. The movie channels further add Macrovision protection to the videostream.
The only option really is to stream the analogue video content (ideally from the SVHS or RGB outputs, as these provide better video quality) from the Sky+ to a suitable video capture card or device on your PC.
Or feed the analogue signal to a suitable input on a Digital Video (DV) cameras (which has an AV-IN port) and then streaming that via firewire to your PC. This is essentially the same as above, with the potential advantage that the firewire interface and supporting software are better suited to handle, format, compress, and potentially edit the incoming stream.
The only option really is to stream the analogue video content (ideally from the SVHS or RGB outputs, as these provide better video quality) from the Sky+ to a suitable video capture card or device on your PC.
Or feed the analogue signal to a suitable input on a Digital Video (DV) cameras (which has an AV-IN port) and then streaming that via firewire to your PC. This is essentially the same as above, with the potential advantage that the firewire interface and supporting software are better suited to handle, format, compress, and potentially edit the incoming stream.
fatsteve said:
Prices for a capture card?
That opens a HUGE can of worms!
They start very cheaply, and go up to stupid values.
Make sure your capture card supports 720x576 at 25 frames per second. (Normal TV quality)
More importantly, make sure your PC spec is high enough to cope with high quality video capture.
meeja said:
Prices for a capture card?
That opens a HUGE can of worms!
They start very cheaply, and go up to stupid values.
Make sure your capture card supports 720x576 at 25 frames per second. (Normal TV quality)
More importantly, make sure your PC spec is high enough to cope with high quality video capture.
Cheers, will look into it.
Steve
Hauppauge (www.hauppauge.co.uk) do a few digital TV bits and bobs for PCs, including a nifty USB decoder box - essentially a Freeview box for your PC/laptop. You can record straight to your HDD from this...but it ain't much use if you want to record/playback non-free-to-air channels.
loaf said:
Hauppauge (www.hauppauge.co.uk) do a few digital TV bits and bobs for PCs, including a nifty USB decoder box - essentially a Freeview box for your PC/laptop. You can record straight to your HDD from this...but it ain't much use if you want to record/playback non-free-to-air channels.
I have a the DEC2000 which allows freewive to be saved to disk via USB. Also have an ATI AIW 8500 in lounge which connect to SVID out of SKY+. TBH the DEC 2000 gives better images and smaller filesize. Streams at 6Mbit max I believe. Was useful to capture the 'first' three Starwars films when on ITV.
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