Digital Home Thoughts: SnapStream Media's Beyond TV 4

Getting The Signal
No signal, no noise. No joy either. So the first thing you have to do when considering a PVR is decide on how to get the signal from the air into your PC. SnapStream does sell hardware to help with this cause, and in the case of this review we are using a couple of different configurations.

First up was HD recording, or rather an attempt thereof. It wasn't that Beyond TV failed in this respect, but that my available signal and processing power was limited. Using a FusionHDTV Lite card (Figure 1) and a HD compatible antenna (Figure 2), I was able to pick up a couple of channels, but without a heavy-duty processor and video card, everything was choppy. What bits that weren't 'lagged out' looked fantastic. Beyond TV 4 does not support direct encoding of satellite or cable HD signals at this time, but are working to add support for unencrypted QAM.


Figure 1: HD recording is also available, assuming you have the correct card (such as this FusionHDTV Lite).


Figure 2: Since HD recording direct from the Satellite is not supported at this time, you need a separate source.

Since I was using my Shuttle PC, the next test had me removing the FusionHDTV card and replacing it with a Hauppauge 150 tuner (Figure 3). Note that every time you add or remove hardware, you have to shut down Beyond TV (BTV) and rerun the configuration app. This only takes a few minutes after the first time, and was pretty painless after I got used to the routine (and the wait for BTV to shutdown).


Figure 3: The backside of my Shuttle box with the Hauppauge 150 card installed and connected.

But if you aren't using an OTA (over the air) signal, you need a way to control your receiver. Since I'm using DirecTV (specifically the R15 PVR) signal, an IR repeater is my best option (Figure 4). Yes, this does cause a small delay when changing channels, but one can configure Beyond TV to allow for this delay (using the padding option).


Figure 4: A close-up of the IR repeater used to control the DirecTV receiver.

In all cases we were using the Firefly remote (available separately), and something that I would say that you really can't be without (Figures 5 and 6). Even using a mouse to navigate isn't nearly as intuitive when trying to watch TV. It comes with a basic version of Beyond Media (so you can stream audio and images) and can be customized to fit your PVR needs.


Figure 5: The Firefly receiver waiting for signal.


Figure 6: Add a remote and you are ready to control the televised world.