PVRs and MBs

[equant]

Can anyone tell me how many minutes per megabyte one can expect from a FTA Receiver with a PVR?

Thanks.

 

[USDownlink]

It depends on the data rate and encoding/encapsulation method of the video in question, and any translation thereof your receiver might do in order to save to it's storage device.

 

[Anole]

tmi

Just as a reference, consider 1gb to 2gb per hour of Standard Def.
It'll get you in the general neighborhood.

As for Hi Def, well . . . you're on your own. -


With a 60gb drive, my SD PVR was pleasant and useful, so long as I did housekeeping on the hard drive.
Now that I have a 500gb drive on it, I can be irresponsible, and carefree.

However, if you want to maintain a library, there is no such thing as "big enough".
That's why I offload "keepers" to DVD.
You want (okay then, "I want") a PVR which writes in a format that can be read by your computer.
Tools like VideoReDo can be used to edit out commercials, and make multi-show DVDs.
I also use DVD Labs Pro for making fancy DVDs with semi-professional menus.

So, now I have a pile of hundreds of DVDs that I never watch, instead of thousands of gigabytes of hard drive that I never watch! -

 

[B.J.]

Just as a reference, consider 1gb to 2gb per hour of Standard Def.
It'll get you in the general neighborhood.

As for Hi Def, well . . . you're on your own. -

That's for sure.... HD recordings can vary from around 6GB/hr up through somewhere around 20GB/hr. I've used up 60GB recording an NFL game.

.........
So, now I have a pile of hundreds of DVDs that I never watch, instead of thousands of gigabytes of hard drive that I never watch! -

Yes, but with HD, you can't put most programs on a DVD, since they're too big. I have a stack of old hard drives that I've filled up with assorted HD video. To play them, I plug them into one of those USB-IDE converter things, which just sits on my desk with no enclosure. Not real convenient. For a while, I was keeping track of what was on these disks, but I've lost track now, and I'll probably never play them back again.
With the way the price of those little solid state cards and the USB thumb drives are coming down, I think that they are replacing DVDs as a way of saving HD content. Not as cheap per GB as a hard drive, but a LOT more convenient to use.

 

[Anole]

Yes, but with HD, you can't put most programs on a DVD, since they're too big.

I've run some experiments with DivX, and you can make a very nice quality 1½ or 2 hour show onto 4.5gb DVD.
. . . or split some things to two discs . . .
The down-side? You've just spent several hours making a DVD you'll never watch. -

With the way the price of those little solid state cards and the USB thumb drives are coming down, I think that they are replacing DVDs as a way of saving HD content. Not as cheap per GB as a hard drive, but a LOT more convenient to use.

Naw. Who needs a shoebox full of those, full of stuff you'll never watch.?. - -

 

[equant]

Thanks for the advice Anole, very helpful.

I verified that I can watch my Visionsat's files using xine, but don't have anything bigger than the very small thumbdrive that came with it yet. I was curious what would be the equivalent of a single 'tape' to pop in to record an hour, so it looks like a 2GB thumbdrive should do the trick. Maybe I'll spring for a 4GB. I've seen them on woot cheap enough.

Thanks for the help.