Hi, first post here, I've already searched the forums on this subject about Foxtel digital stb going through these cards, but I couldnt quite find what I was looking for, so I joined.

I do not have any HDTV pc tuner YET, nor have I ever used one previously, so please excuse me if I sound like I dont know what I'm talking about, because, honestly, I dont really, I'm very new to all this and have only recently been researching.


My first question is, Can I watch my Foxtel Digital IQ on my pc by connecting the set top box to my HDTV tuner?


If so, basically, I have a Dell 24 inch 2405fpw monitor, with native resolution of 1920x1200..... will the connected Foxtel/payTV put out the same quality as the free to air channels I get straight from the card?
What kind of resolution/quality will I see?
(Foxtel digital is the same thing as HDTV right? as in, they should put out the same resolutions? I'm thinking the connection wont allow that though?)

AND, can I record Foxtel programs onto my PC through the card?


People who do have have their foxtel/payTV set top box connected through any HDTV card, could you please provide me with screenshots of foxtel on your pc monitor and also pictures of how its connected?

thanks

As far as I'm aware, no digital terrestrial (DVB-T) card will capture any output from a Foxtel box except analog. And not all cards will do that. Most (all?) of those that do offer only composite in, not componant.

You may be able to find another sort of card that will capture digital video via HDMI, DVI or similar, (I don't know wha the iQ has) but I'm almost certain no DVB-T cards have that capability. Apparently standalone cards for that purpose cost $US1000+, and there's all sorts of copyright flag issues. An analog componant capture card or box would be cheaper, offer pretty good results and have no *practical* copyright issues.

The ideal thing is for capturing Foxtel directly would be a DVB-S or DVB-C card with a Newscrypt CAM, which to my knowledge, don't exist. In the short term, I think a DVB-S card with an Irdeto 2 CAM and a legal Austar card will work, though Irdeto is constantly rumoured to be phased out.

It may be possible to open the iQ and read the harddrive in another computer. Such feats have been done with some PVRs.

The HDTV tuner really has nothing to do with it. You simply need some form of Analog video capture, Composite or SVideo. Some HDTV tuner cards do also have such video inputs.

If so, basically, I have a Dell 24 inch 2405fpw monitor, with native resolution of 1920x1200..... will the connected Foxtel/payTV put out the same quality as the free to air channels I get straight from the card?
No Foxtel consists of heavily compressed SD channels. AFAIK they don't transmit any HD...

Sure within the limits discussed above

99.99% sure that any content would be encrypted on disk...

You can do it with a DNTV Live card that has analogue inputs. Just be aware that most analogue capture cards get the line capture timing wrong. The latest CX288x drivers (for almost any CX based card you care to mention) only return 688 samples from a nominal 720. If you capture 720 x 576, you have to scale the captured file down to 688 x 576 and then pad it back up to 720 (or 704 if preferred) to get the correct aspect.

'BT' cards aren't much more reliable in terms of correct line timing either.

Philips based capture cards usually get it right.