Based upon latest video demo it looks impressive. What is the cost compared to Tablo?
Based upon latest video demo it looks impressive. What is the cost compared to Tablo?
Cost varies depending on set-up.
Basic:
EPG Subscription - $30/yr
SD HDHomeRun Tuner - $25+ used / $75+ new
Use you’re own Mac or PC for the recording.
You can also add a NAS instead of using your PC if you prefer $100+
Add extra tuners as you wish
Quite Cheap.
So SD HDHR DVR is basically half price of Tablo? Ability to run on NAS is a big plus as is recordings saved in standard format. Will be interesting to see how their app performs compared to Tablo on a client although its pretty easy to guess. I hope Tablo starts delivering on some of the features provided by forum members in the long “roadmap” wishlist.
From my understanding, this is not going to do any transcoding of OTA streams…which will greatly limit the variety and number of potential clients, and make viewing outside of the home unlikely due to the bandwidth requirements.
I think this is still geared very much towards the HTPC niche.
Or am I missing something?
You are correct regarding transcoding which does enable broad device support although it comes at the price of performance. Because Tablo transcodes everything to h.264 1080p/720p, there is a long lag which will likely not exist with the HDHR DVR.
I know this may be upsetting to some here but the real “niche” market is OTA streaming to Tablets, mobile devices and remote access. The number of people who prioritize a good home DVR is far higher which was also supported in Tablo’s own poll. I personally like having remote access and ability to watch on my phone but forcing transcoding is killing Tablo’s performance for regular TV viewing and has a significant impact on the PQ of sports. Giving the end user the ablity to turn off transcoding would allow Tablo to compete on even ground. Roku is a fantastic streaming device but at some point people have to realize that its lack of support for 1080i mpeg2 makes it less than an optimal DVR client. Its time for Tablo to take off the gloves as serious competition is coming.
DIdn't SD make simple.tv's gen 2 device? If so, I hope they learned from that whopper of a mistake
Sadly yes…
I do enjoy accessing Tablo while away, but Plex does that as well. Is there a Plex SD channel? Roku is no biggie to me; I’m just as happy with Chromecast. I only have Roku because I have an older HDTV that only has component input, so I have a Roku to connected via S-video. If I ever talk my wife into a new plasma unit with HDMI Roku is gone.
Decided to back HDHR’s DVR project for $30 (1-year sub). The benefits I see over Tablo are capturing original mpeg2 streams and DD5.1.
You are correct regarding transcoding which does enable broad device support although it comes at the price of performance. Because Tablo transcodes everything to h.264 1080p/720p, there is a long lag which will likely not exist with the HDHR DVR.I'm gonna have to disagree. What makes Tablo unique in this space is the transcoding that enables very lightweight frontends such as Roku and FTV. It makes remote viewing possible and also far easier to stream internal to your LAN on wireless. Wireless streaming of live MPEG2 is problematic.
I know this may be upsetting to some here but the real "niche" market is OTA streaming to Tablets, mobile devices and remote access. The number of people who prioritize a good home DVR is far higher which was also supported in Tablo's own poll. I personally like having remote access and ability to watch on my phone but forcing transcoding is killing Tablo's performance for regular TV viewing and has a significant impact on the PQ of sports. Giving the end user the ablity to turn off transcoding would allow Tablo to compete on even ground. Roku is a fantastic streaming device but at some point people have to realize that its lack of support for 1080i mpeg2 makes it less than an optimal DVR client. Its time for Tablo to take off the gloves as serious competition is coming.
I still think this is primarily geared towards those with HTPCs and maybe those with XB1s and PS4s. Very heavy frontends. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing…but I think there are several other already established MPEG2 recording /streaming options out there. Tivo, of course, which is probably price-competitive with this in many use scenarios when all of the hardware is factored in.
Which sells more units each month, HDHR or Tablo?
Being “unique” doesn’t eliminate a product as being niche. My main point is that the primary function which people purchase Tablo for is to use with a TV. I make that statement based upon Tablo’s own user poll. Being able to stream to wireless devices is nice, but prioritizing streaming OTA to wireless devices defines the word niche
I agree there will be people setting up PCs to use HDHR DVR software but aren’t you ignoring the fact that it will be able to run on a NAS and work with cablecards? SiliconDust already has Android apps and I would fully expect they to support FireTV. Seems like their potential customer base is going to be a lot larger.
Frankly, I don’t know which sells more…and that’s irrelevant. We’re talking about future functionality for a product that doesn’t exist. Tablo’s poll was what people use tablo on the MOST…not what their reason for purchase was. That’s like saying that people prefer to buy two-wheel drive trucks because those with 4wd capable trucks still use 2wd most of the time. Flexibility and capabilities are selling points…even when they aren’t used most of the time.
At least 90% of my tablo use is on the TV, but it was the flexibility of place shifting and usage of light front ends that sold me. NAS usage is great, but NAS units are about as niche as it gets. The vast majority of consumers don’t even know what a NAS is…much less already own one.
Cable-card usage is also nice…but irrelevant when talking about OTA solutions. If all I wanted was OTA on a TV or two, I would buy a Tivo, not this SD system. If I want Mobil devices and light front ends, I would still buy Tablo, not SD. In both of these generalized use cases… I don’t see this as being the best solution.
I don’t see the advantage of MPEG-2. It is much less efficient than h.264. Sony originally used MPEG-2 on Blu-Ray and eventually had to admit that it was inferior.
As far as capturing to a NAS? I have a NAS here and never use it. It is faster and easier to use USB, so I doubt that there will be people in significant numbers that will prefer a NAS to USB.
Regarding the Roku and 1080i? Does anyone even make TV’s that are 1080i capable without being 1080p capable anymore? 1080i will (IMO) go the way of the dinosaur, so I doubt Roku will EVER support it. I would rather watch 720p than 1080i just because of the scan lines.
The advantage of using MPEG-2 is that you are not re-encoding the video. That is the native format it is broadcasted in, so in theory no loss of video quality.
DIdn’t SD make simple.tv’s gen 2 device? If so, I hope they learned from that whopper of a mistake
Much of the problem with the STV2 was on the software side which SD wasn’t involved in. There is a SD branded version of the STV2 which was the STV was based on. The SD branded version is almost exactly the same inside include most circuits, fan etc and there haven’t been the same issues with fan noise, heat, etc. This leads me to think it was the case STV decided to use as well as the add on circuits. I’ve got both the SD branded and STV branded versions of the STV2 design and have no issues with the SD one.
The biggest problem in my recollection was the overheating of the simple v2 coupled with the jet-engine volume of the fan. Much of the crashing/freezing was attributable to that overheating. That’s hardware.
The biggest problem in my recollection was the overheating of the simple v2 coupled with the jet-engine volume of the fan. Much of the crashing/freezing was attributable to that overheating. That's hardware.
I hear you but my point was that both the SD branded and STV branded use the same “main” board and fan. There is no problem with the SD branded. The difference is the STV case and the STV “daughter” board. The STV designed case and STV daughter board tacked on my STV to the SD board caused the overheating and jet engine noise. I have had both at home running 24/7 for a year now. That includes several versions of the STV2 (IE case redesign). Having had both of them apart and on my bench it strongly feels like STV modification were to blame, not SD design.
There were other indicators as I’ve spoken to several STV techs over the last year. The STV1 and STV2 used different hardware, and even had config’s where say STV1 would be First > Last and STV2 would be Last > First. They had to modify there systems to support both which caused problems and STV keep working with SD to further modify the (quite stable) SD designed HW and FW to fix issues on STV side for them. STV should have never tried to wedge the completely different STV2 into the STV1 eco system, espoecially so fast.
I do enjoy accessing Tablo while away, but Plex does that as well. Is there a Plex SD channel? Roku is no biggie to me; I'm just as happy with Chromecast. I only have Roku because I have an older HDTV that only has component input, so I have a Roku to connected via S-video. If I ever talk my wife into a new plasma unit with HDMI Roku is gone.
@oldmike Your not going to get a current model Plasma TV. Both LG and Samsung have stopped making them.
I do enjoy accessing Tablo while away, but Plex does that as well. Is there a Plex SD channel?
Yes, there is.
The problem I have with it, is that Broadcast MP2 at 720p is around 19Mb a second. h.264 on Roku at 720p is less than 4Mb per second. That means that The same video would be about 5 times the size using MP2. I guess if you have unlimited storage then MP2 might work for you, but I think most folks are going to want that efficiency over whatever minimal loss there might be in converting to h.264.