Hauppauge Colossus: HD PVR with HDMI Support
by Andrew Van Til on April 14, 2011 5:40 PM EST- Posted in
- HTPC
- Home Theater
- Hauppauge
Final Thoughts
Obviously the Colossus still has some rough edges. Ideally, all HTPC and technology in general would work without issue, but unfortunately that’s not the case, particularly in this market. In context, it is regrettably normal for early drivers on devices like the Colossus to have problems, including much greater stability issues than observed with this device. Even the 8.3% recording fail rate is well below what I experienced with the original HD PVR during the first months of use.
Clearly Hauppauge has work to do, both in improving recording quality and driver stability under extreme duress. However, component (YPbPr) + S/PDIF (TOSLINK) and HDMI capture options, alongside greater reliability than even the original HD PVR can currently provide, makes the Colossus is a worthy successor in this space.
If you’re after hardware that just works, you might want to hold off a few more months to let the drivers (and the HTPC community) work out some of the remaining kinks. If you’re part of that community, or just an A/V enthusiast, the Colossus is a nice option to add to the list.
Pros:
- Native resolution capture for 480i, 720p and 1080i with Dolby Digital 5.1
- HDMI support for those with STB that do not use HDCP
- PCIe format
- Component (YPbPr) and S/PDIF (TOSLINK) pass-through
Cons:
- Not all recordings are watchable
- Software/hardware bundle adds unnecessary cost with not additional value for DVR use
- No HDMI pass-through
- BSOD when continuously recording for more than sixteen hours
- Full height card leaves low-profile HTPC users out
Thanks to Hauppauge for providing the review sample.
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Anthony Toste - Friday, April 15, 2011 - link
Frist your cable need be copy-freely flags good luck that not going to last long and MCE is use less any way with all DRM junk it has."extender functionality, you're willing to use an Xbox 360"
Don't you still have buy the Membership for that work beside there no PC MCE Client that why SageTV Rule's and SageTV Extender Rules for NoN Console user.
babgvant - Friday, April 15, 2011 - link
I don't agree with that. Ceton got Cable Labs to clarify/change the rules on Copy Freely content specifically to enable that scenario. Obviously they know about the use case, and opted to do the right thing for end users (I know it's strange :)).Anthony Toste - Friday, April 15, 2011 - link
Your forget that it not up to Cable Labs it the Studio and some of the Distributed that got the rigths to shows or moive that have the final say so.babgvant - Friday, April 15, 2011 - link
Cable Labs owns the DRI specification; content producers have a say, but only cursorily - currently it is up to the Cable company to mark/not mark content.It would be one thing to exploit a loop hole but the use case is known, and has an explicit OK from Cable Labs. I don't see how you (or anyone) can make statements like "good luck that not going to last long".
glugglug - Friday, April 15, 2011 - link
There's no membership needed for using an XBOX as an extender. And the DRM won't limit your extender use. The Ceton with MCE really is by far the best option out there.babgvant - Wednesday, April 20, 2011 - link
The 360 is a good extender device for TV based content, but once you move beyond that its support for other formats (DVD, BD, MKV, etc.) is very limited.glugglug - Friday, April 15, 2011 - link
Actually, FIOS is even better for it than cable for most CableCARDS. Unlike TWC, they don't require a truck roll to deliver the cablecard (you can pick it up at a payment center), nothing but premium channels ends up with DRM in the recordings, and in most areas the CableCARD from FIOS doesn't even need to be paired, so you can move it between devices without a phone call.jonp - Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - link
I think your point on cablecard is well taken. Since all HD content on cable requires a cablecard (I think--yes?), what good is a tuner without cablecard capability for the 60% or so of TVs connected to cable?Macoy - Thursday, April 14, 2011 - link
Can this do streaming captures? I used to have a K-World SD tv tuner, and I would be able to select it in my ustream flash options, and stream it live.babgvant - Thursday, April 14, 2011 - link
Can you explain this use case a bit more? I'm leaning towards "no"; the device only takes external input AFAIK it does not expose the capture filter for internal input.