My mind is completely muddled with all the info I've been trying to gather, and I'm hoping that folks experienced in these matters could help me just...straighten out some of this stuff, because it's incredibly confusing and I'm having a hard time figuring out where to start.

I had a Knoppmyth setup that was (mostly) working with a basic SD DirectTV STB (lookee, I learned some acronyms!). I lucked out and got a Samsung 32" LCD LN-S3241D, with all the right connectors and built-in HDTV tuner. My confusion now is about how to get a Knoppmyth setup that will work with HDTV.

I know there are links of HD hardware specs that work well, but they mostly seem to deal with getting OTA signals. I have DirectTV, and I can purchase a receiver to get my local HD channels as well as the HD package they offer, so OTA is not where I want to go. If I understand correctly, cable/satellite providers encrypt their content using something called QAM (?) and you need to have an HD tuner card capable of decrypting this, right? So long as I have one of these cards, I can run my HD signal from my STB to my PC to my HDTV, correct? And I assume that channels not broadcast in HD are just processed through the same method?

I would appreciate it if someone could just tell me if my understanding of this so far is going in the right direction. I don't want to start purchasing parts (I'm mainly going to base it on the Dragon specs) to find out that I can only use it to get OTA channels or something, especially once I'm paying for the DirecTV HD package.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Dragon spec is the way to go for playback, but you will be using a different capture card, I think. Search for DirectTV. You won't have any HD without upgrading your DirectTV equipment, BTW. I think. For starters, you're not pointed at the right satellite. I think you need a new STB (that can handle HD). Then you need something to capture it. So see what others with DirectTV HD are using.

I know this is not what you want to hear, but you cannot record hd from sat. On cable systems you can sometimes get it through unencrypted QAM and usually through firewire. Also you can get it OTA. The problem is that the FCC requires cable companies to have "functional" firewire ports on any hdtv STB, however these rules do not apply to Sat companies, and none that I know of have active firewire ports. and there are no reasonably priced consumer devices that will encode hdtv on the fly from component. Basically on Sat systems if you want to record hdtv you are stuck using their pvr system.

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Have a question search the forum and have a look at the KnoppMythWiki.

Xsecrets

Just to clarify: QAM encoding is the way the signals are modulated on digital cable. This is a different system then is used for broadcast ATSC. Broadcast uses 8-vsb modulation. Both of these systems are different from what satellite uses. They use one of the DVB-S modulation types.

In Europe there are many unencrypted DVB-S signals available and also DVB-T (terrestrial). But in the US DVB-S signals are encrypted so even if you get a DVB-S tuner you can't get the service you have paid for. You have to use the provider's decoders which have very limited control and output options.

Isn't it great that companies can hold us hostage like that?

Yes it is. I think the posts above mine clearly articulate the reasons why.

Yep! With a dual-tuner HD Myth box, you can easily record more OTA HD than you can ever watch. We get all major networks in HD OTA, and don't miss cable a bit. We don't miss TiVo either.

Great, thanks for the replies. Now that I know I can't record HDTV from my sat company (using Myth), one last set of questions:

Is it at all possible to have the best of both worlds: record/watch SDTV from my stb as I currently do and also record/watch OTA HDTV channels using an antenna? If it is, what kind of setup am I looking at: 1xHauppauge PVR-250 (what I currently have) for the stb and something like the Fusion or MyHD for the antenna? Or can one card handle both via multiple inputs (both sources connected to the same card)?

Thanks again. Sorry in advance if this was answered in one of the previous posts and I'm too thick-skulled to see it. It honestly took me forever to get any kind of hold on setting up a basic system like I have now; this may break me, but I'd like to try.

Just add an HDTV tuner, and you're good to go. You'll record the SD/Sat stuff on the existing card, and the HD/OTA stuff on the new card. The Kworld card is now working on R5E50 (see the thread for that - minor fix needed to one of the files) and the Air2PC 5000 and PCHD5500 cards work well too.
I mention the KWorld card because it was a great deal two weeks ago. Sold out now on buy.com but it may come back around again. It was $32 AR if you picked the econo shipping and used google checkout.

Yes
Your PVR-250 could be hooked up to your SD sat STB and recording SD and you could have a HD card such as pcHDTV HD-3000 or AirStar-HD5000 hooked up to OTA HD antenna and recording in the same system.

You can always call your sat provider too and bitch they don't have firewire like the cable providers and threaten to drop them.

Thanks all. That helps a lot. Guess I'll start gathering parts. Thanks again!