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DrgnRebrn

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Switched HDMI Port on a PC?

I built a HTPC in 2009 with the following specs:

Motherboard - Gigabyte - GA-MA785GM-US2H - Not exactly sure on the revision, purchased 11/2009
CPU - AMD - Athlon II X2 240 2.8GHz
Video - Sapphire - Vapor-X 100283VXL Radeon HD 5770
RAM - Kingston - HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800 Dual Channel Kit - KHX6400D2LLK2/4GR
System Drive - Kingston - SSDNow V-Series 64GB SATA2 - SNV125-S2BD/64GB
Storage Drive - Western Digital - Caviar Green WD10EADS 1TB SATA 3Gb/s - External
Optical Drive - LG - CH08LS10 Blu-Ray/DVD Combo
Tuner - AVerMedia - AVerTV Combo G2
Sound - Integrated - ALC889A
Power Supply - Corsair - CMPSU-450VX
NIC - Integrated - Realtek 8111C 10/100/1000 Mbit
OS - Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Monitor - Insignia - 42" 1080P 60Hz LCD HDTV - NS-LCD42HD-09
Router - Linksys - E3000 Dual Band Gigabit Wireless Router
Internet - Connected Lyfe - 50Mb/s through Utopia Fiber-Optic Network
TV - Over-the-air & Satellite through DirecTV (Choice XTra package with HD Receiver, no DVR)

That is quite a complete list of more than hardware components, but I wanted to make sure you had all possible information about my setup and situation that you may need in order to accurately answer my question.  My question is:

Is there a way to change one of the HDMI ports on my computer to accept an incoming signal from an external HDMI source, such as my satellite HD receiver?

If this is not possible, is there any hardware expansion card out there that will allow me to add this to my computer?

If neither of these scenarios are possible, is there any possible way to run my satellite tv through my computer so I can utilize my HTPC as a DVR for my satellite TV service?
Avatar of bcdudley
bcdudley
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You cannot use the hdmi port of a video card as an input.

Look at Hauppauge TV Tuner cards for running satellite tv through your computer.

You may also want to look at GBPVR.com for tuning the stations and recording them.
Here is your answer.  No you can't use your current hardware to do this.

For your answer there are HDMI input cards but they are fairly expensive.

Not knowing your Sat provider I can't answer your question.  There are some TV Tuner cards that support sat cards and will allow a HTPC act as a DVR.  You just have to look at compatibility at that point.
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bcdudley
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Nice card, but you got to get it out of Aussieland tho...
Ah, sorry. It is the only card I could find that would do HDMI input as well as over the air. I did not see that on their web site, but I have all the scripts and ads blocked, so it may have been hidden from me.
Avatar of Rob Knight
Hi,

Take a look at these products:

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/intensity/

Please be aware that Copy Protected content isn't supported (undertsndably!).

Regards,


RobMobility.
Avatar of DrgnRebrn
DrgnRebrn

ASKER

So it appears that there is currently no such thing as an expansion card that will add an HDCP compliant HDMI input to a HTPC.  Would, or should, I be able to connect my satellite HD receiver using component cables?  That should bypass HDCP encryption, right?
There is an Expansion HDMI Input card.  
http://www.amazon.com/Avertv-Definition-Analog-Capture-MTVHDDVRR/dp/B002SQE1O0 is an example

However I would recommend a TVTuner card that accepts your sat configuration.  

Yes you can also use analog connections that should bypass your issue as well, but they make tuner cards specifically for your choice just google tv tuner card for your sat provider.
It basically accepts the input form the sat and has a place for the card to be added to work with Encryption.
If you are interested in recording shows automatically, you need to look up something like the IR Blaster as well. The IR Blaster is a small infrared buld you place in front of the satellite receiver. Whatever software you are using will then be able to change the channel to whatever channel the show you need to record is on.

The software I mentioned earlier, gbpvr, is a excellent and free software package that is capable of doing almost anything you will need for a home theater.
Hi,

According to the specs, this does support HDCP on the input:

http://www.avermedia.com/avertv/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?Id=523&device=4

Regards,


RobMobility.
That hardware looks to be exactly what I need!  I believe that it is only available outside of the US though.  I've never purchased anything from AU or the UK, is this something that can be done?
I never received a sufficient answer that addressed my issue.  I therefore do not consider this question to have been completely answered.  I have not been able to actively monitor the question because of my personal time constraints with a new job.  Regardless, I am ending my free trial with Experts-Exchange.  I did not find the information available here to be anything above and beyond what I either already knew, or am able to find elsewhere on the internet for free.
The solution was incomplete in my opinion.  I asked later in the thread if there would be an issue with me purchasing something from Australia out of the US and never received a response.
In the event of there being no answer, the answer would be just that.

I was new to EE, and did not know all of the options available to me, otherwise I would have better utilized my trial period.  It's too bad that I am not finding this out until the very last day of my trial.
Hi,

I provided the detaills of a card which matched the requestor's requirement based on the tech specs from Avermedia.

The card can be purchased in US$ from here:

http://www.dougswarehouse.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=&products_id=12856

Based in St. Louis, US.

Regards,


RobMobility.
Hi,

Amazon.com sells the 'accepted' card - try google.com if US based?

http://www.amazon.com/Avertv-Definition-Analog-Capture-MTVHDDVRR/dp/B002SQE1O0

Regards,


RobMobility.