Digital Home Thoughts: Record All Your TV With the Hauppauge HD-PVR

"After more than a week with my HD-PVR I can now say that my excitement has not waned. This thing brings all the channels: HD, digital, SD – everything to the HTPC user without needing to worry about CableCard, broadcast flags or other DRM issues. I’m still working out the final details for my complete review of the device, but had a few points I wanted to mention to the readers on the HD-PVR. I just watched the movie: “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” this week so bear with me as I follow that theme…"

Those of you with media centers should be well aware of the ugly problems that DRM can cause. From incorrectly set broadcast flags preventing you from saving your favourite TV show to problems with CableCard, DRM and related technologies make it difficult for those who want to benefit from what media center software can offer. GeekTonic has posted a workaround that uses the Hauppauge HD-PVR to circumvent all these problems through use of the analog hole. It works by taking the digital signal, converting it to a purely analog signal, and then re-encoded into a digital format. The process pretty much strips the video of any DRM and with this hack, the apparent loss in quality is minimal, letting you record and enjoy anything from your cable box, satellite tv, etc. without any worries of that ugly message telling you can you can't record, or even worse, finding your recorded tv shows folder empty!