Possible to watch HD DirecTV satellite on htpc via WMC 7?

[ojpimpson]

Hi, I'm doing some research and it appears that it's not possible to setup a HTPC for HD DirecTV with a TV tuner card, only cable. Is this correct? I have a DirecTV HD-DVR, but I'd like to setup a gaming HTPC, to act as the DVR, watch live TV, and play games on the big screen TV. Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[rwpritchett]

The only way that I am aware of to set up satellite to record on an HTPC is to use an IR blaster with a capture card. Something like the Hauppauge Colossus or HDPVR. Basically, the HTPC uses a blaster to change channels and captures the image and sound over RCA analog. Quite a bit of trouble... easier to just rent a DVR from the satellite company.

 

[rwpritchett]

Oh, one more thing: DirectTV does have a program called directv2pc that lets you stream from your DVR to your computer. I couldn't get it to work (I have DirecTV too) because it doesn't think my video card is good enough (HD6950).

 

[ojpimpson]

Oh, one more thing: DirectTV does have a program called directv2pc that lets you stream from your DVR to your computer. I couldn't get it to work (I have DirecTV too) because it doesn't think my video card is good enough (HD6950).

Okay thanks. I was reading a thread on avsforums and it appears the Colossus is the answer. I will read more about it when I get the time, but it looks like it's going to be a lot of work. BTW, I already have a HD-DVR through DirecTV, but I figured it would be more "seamless" if I used the HTPC to do everything, including the live/recorded TV aspect. We'll see...

 

[ojpimpson]

Best answer selected by ojpimpson.