DirecTV-2-PC Public Beta

[darrencp22]

Then you might want to look into your network connection or whatelse on your system is using resources. I have a 1.6Ghz AMD laptop and no problem with SD content even using my 802.11g connection.

Everything else works fine. I stream via Tversity all the time to my 360. Shouldnt have to figure this out.. should be brainless.

 

[rad]

I find it hilarious that in the day and age of tv we are in, people would be happy about sitting in their home next to an HDTV and watching this on a PC, sorry.

Looks like jessshaun in the post right after yours disagrees with your assesment of the product.

 

[rad]

Everything else works fine. I stream via Tversity all the time to my 360. Shouldnt have to figure this out.. should be brainless.

OK, you're talking about your PC being a server to your 360, where the 360 has to do most of the processing and the PC is just passing data. How is this the same as your PC needing to decode and display the MPEG4 data being passed from your HR2X?, this looks like two totally different applications.

I have an old P4 1.8 that runs WMPV11 and no problem streaming data to my PS3 but then again all it's doing is reading data from the harddrive and passing it to the NIC, the PS3's doing all the leg work.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Would I have preferred that they worked on MRV then this, you bet. Someone at D* must have though that this would be a feature that would differentiate their product from other providers. As I said, some people have said they liked it, you don't, to each their own.

Like I said, this is a feature 99% of us will never use, or we'll try it once and say "hmmm, nice, not."

Not to each their own, common sense. This is probably something they sank plenty of time in to, and even after realizing it was a waste, they pushed it through as to not admit failure. Kinda like a government subsidy program.

Generally, I like everything D* does, but this is a farce and a complete waste of time.

Ill get off my soap box and let you guys enjoy HDTV on your PC :tux:

 

[GeorgeLV]

:down'

a big failure to DirectTV on this.

My pc is about 1 year old. 2 gigs of memory. 3mghz processor. Pentium 4.

I dont pass what is required. There are a TON more people out there with lesser PCs than this one. This is hardly a piece of junk.

Great job developing a product not accessible to the masses.

Your PC is a piece of junk as far as mpeg4 decoding goes.

It's very conspicuous that you did not mention a graphics card specification. I'll assume you have Intel "Extreme" Graphics (what a joke) or some similar integrated entry level graphics processor.

The mpeg4 avc algorithm is very complex and processor intensive. A single core processor, even at 3ghz, can not decode it at HD resolutions without hardware acceleration from the graphics card.

My modest self-built PC (<$400 build cost), has no problem running DirecTV2PC.

My specs:

Athlon 64 X2 5200+ (2 cores @ 2.7ghz)
2 GB DDR2-800 RAM
GeForce 9600GT

The playback advisor detected that my graphics card supported hardware acceleration, and judging from the smooth playback of HD content it works great.

Edit-
I noticed you posted later:

yup.. and dont say it cant be done.. cuz i've watched HD through my PC withotu any issues. The programming is sloppy and inefficient.

I'm saying it literally can't be done. Mpeg2 is a much simpler algorithm than mpeg4 and additional many more graphics processors (even integrated ones) support basic iDCT acceleration for mpeg2. WMV HD and the streaming "HD" from network websites use proprietary algorithms that are less processor intensive. Try watching a 1080p AVC clip from QuickTime on you computer, is Apple's programming "sloppy and inefficient" as well?

 

[JAG72]

:down'

a big failure to DirectTV on this.

My pc is about 1 year old. 2 gigs of memory. 3mghz processor. Pentium 4.

I dont pass what is required. There are a TON more people out there with lesser PCs than this one. This is hardly a piece of junk.

Great job developing a product not accessible to the masses.

Sorry to say darren but with purchasing this only 1 year ago it was already out dated when it was bought. I had a P4 2.8GHz PC about 4 to 5 years ago and finally threw it away this past weekend.

 

[charper1]

FYI to all, the PC's build spec is hardly the end all, be all in the functionality of an application like this.

 

[Gimpy McFarlan]

:down'

I dont pass what is required. There are a TON more people out there with lesser PCs than this one. This is hardly a piece of junk.

+1

My 2 year old Dell does meet the qualifications. I realize it is no spring chicken of computers but it surely should be able to play video even if it isn't HD.

 

[Bob Nielsen]

I just downloaded it and did the advisor and my graphics card fails because I have a Nvidia 6150Se not a 7600 or above. Doe that mean I cant even try this out or use the program??

I have a built-in 6150SE on my motherboard. The advisor program failed on this, but I went ahead and downloaded the program anyway. It runs just fine (Athlon 64X2 5000+, 3 MB RAM).

 

[goaliebob99]

Pass with flying colors here

 

[dfergie]

I've watched 1920x1080i 19 mbs video on both of the pc's that will not show live stuff... with no problems...

 

[meStevo]

+1

My 2 year old Dell does meet the qualifications. I realize it is no spring chicken of computers but it surely should be able to play video even if it isn't HD.

Problem being your 2 year old Dell has a graphics card that is 4 years old: ATI Radeon X600 PCI-Express (Video Cards: ATI PCI-Express) by ATI -- FiringSquad Hardware Info & Web Reviews

And a processor that is 5 years old: Intel 3GHz 800MHz FSB PCSTATS Review - Fast processor, high price...

While your dell can 'play video' it will certainly struggle to do the legwork to view this video, with the bandwidth it can get from your wireless connection.

I'd still try it, but just wanted to clear that up. Many computers, especially from the big box retailers/builders, are built using some pretty old parts that are passable for their time, but just that, passable. My computer is 1.5 years old and I have an e6600, 4gb of RAM, Vista, and a 8800 GTS. Granted it probably cost 3x what your Dell did ($1200), I'll get 2x-3x the life out of it.

 

[daverp]

This program is a disappointment. Runs great, completely smooth, only about 35 -40 % processor utilization. Great PQ. Only problem is I have to turn off one of my monitors. Great error message "DirecTv2PC does not support multiple monitors"

Why not support multiple monitors when you only have to display on one at time. I'm guessing this is DRM run a muck.

 

[charper1]

Well I finally got home and installed; and both SD and HD run fine. All the DVR options I have on my set-top DVR (FFW, REV, 30sec skip, etc) all work fine with a tad of a delay which is expected being network relayed commands back to the home unit.


Here are the specs of made hand-built and very dated PC:

AMD Athlon 64 FX-57
PCIe x16 ATI Radeon HD 3870 w/ 1GB of dedicated RAM (Catalyst Driver v8.530.0)
3GB of System RAM (DDR2 400MHz CL2)
Windows XP Pro / SP3 w/only necessary processes running.
Gigabit Ethernet on Mobo w/all latest firmware installed.
CAT6e hardwired Network


Until I can off-load my DVR recordings to my PC to archive to DVD, I am not sure how much I will actually use this, but it work for me and works fine.

 

[Big Dawg 23]

Laptop passed with no issues Desktop failed DHCP content(AMD 64 X2 5200+). Wonder why advisor says my Laptop has 2GB of memory when it has 3GB. Based on HD play on video without Core Duo or higher this will not work very smoothly. Can't wait to try this out. Wireless G with MIMO should be find.

 

[darrencp22]

Your PC is a piece of junk as far as mpeg4 decoding goes.

It's very conspicuous that you did not mention a graphics card specification. I'll assume you have Intel "Extreme" Graphics (what a joke) or some similar integrated entry level graphics processor.

The mpeg4 avc algorithm is very complex and processor intensive. A single core processor, even at 3ghz, can not decode it at HD resolutions without hardware acceleration from the graphics card.

My modest self-built PC (<$400 build cost), has no problem running DirecTV2PC.

My specs:

Athlon 64 X2 5200+ (2 cores @ 2.7ghz)
2 GB DDR2-800 RAM
GeForce 9600GT

The playback advisor detected that my graphics card supported hardware acceleration, and judging from the smooth playback of HD content it works great.

Edit-
I noticed you posted later:



I'm saying it literally can't be done. Mpeg2 is a much simpler algorithm than mpeg4 and additional many more graphics processors (even integrated ones) support basic iDCT acceleration for mpeg2. WMV HD and the streaming "HD" from network websites use proprietary algorithms that are less processor intensive. Try watching a 1080p AVC clip from QuickTime on you computer, is Apple's programming "sloppy and inefficient" as well?

Well then they created a product that will be used maninly by the geek community, those like yourself and not the average customer. I love geeks as yourself talking about graphic cards specs, etc... the average consumer wants to know that they can install a program on their PC and it works... not fiddle around with cards etc... this is why i dumped PC gaming.. it became a nightmare. This should be able to work on virtually any newer PC. There's a way to do it.. just like there's a way to build a HD-DVR thats doesnt perform sluggishly. DirecTV, go back to the drawing board.

 

[slinger]

This feature is poop, sorry.

If you could access content from say a hotel while travelling, its one thing. Accessing dvr content in HD on your pc while sitting in the SAME house with a nice HDTV is crap.

This will be like the new toy at Christmas, people will drool over it for a month, then realize its a gimmick.

If you set up a VPN at your house, then you'll be able to watch programs remotely.

 

[Blurayfan]

Still no keys here, I now have requested them to 5 different addresses.

Scott

Cyberlink seems to be holding the activation key email for the e-mail address submitted until a successful download or redownload for each key requested.

 

[schneid]

Sorry to say darren but with purchasing this only 1 year ago it was already out dated when it was bought. I had a P4 2.8GHz PC about 4 to 5 years ago and finally threw it away this past weekend.

Don't knock these old P4's. I built one out of my parts bin to stream Netflix. It green lights all the tests while my year old main PC won't. I did upgrade to a P4 3.2ghz bought on eBay and overclocked it to 3.6. Upped the memory to 2gb which was probably unnecessary as XP doesn't require it. Bought in mid-range Radeon HD3650 AGP for $80 that was HDCP. Best thing is that the old Asus MB has on board digital audio out that will pass DD 5.1 without messing with it.

To test old iron download and run BD Advisor from the Cyberlink site. If it will do Blu-ray it will do most anything. The biggest snags are getting a video card that really is HDCP. Lot's of Nvidia's claim they are but they aren't. I went through three before switching to ATI. The next snag is getting a DD 5.1 or greater sound card with digital out for your amp (or an HDMI video card that passes audio). Lot's say they are but downcode 5.1 to 2 channel stereo. I don't know if DirecTV2PC does 5.1 anyway.

The next big issue is an HDCP display and so far the jury here is out here on whether that is really required for DirecTV2PC.

 

[schneid]

If you set up a VPN at your house, then you'll be able to watch programs remotely.

A Slingbox is easier.