The latter is conducive to mousing and preserving screen real estate for other aspects of the program. This means fonts are larger, the number of options is lower and the menu system is screen oriented, not task bar oriented.
SageTV is designed to the full screen and the text assumes a low resolution TV screen since HDTVs are still relatively new. You notice the difference between the SageTV interface and a PC-based PVR system almost immediately.
All functions are available via the remote control as well using arrow keys and the select/enter button. Running the user interface provides a menu that is easily readable on a television screen at a distance.
The remote control to be used with the main PC and TV cards in the PC are also specified via the wizard. You need to specify your location again and the type of channels (cable, over-air, etc.) and which channels are to be displayed. It also uses an Internet connection to access TV schedule information. The wizard asks for your location so it can grab weather information off the Internet. SageTV supports plug-ins but only the weather status is included with the package. The first thing the program does is walk through the setup wizard. Installing the main SageTV application was uneventful. This is ideal for large multimedia files but less efficient for smaller document files. Recording works with any disk but it is more efficient if you have a hard disk with a 64Kbyte block size. You can mix and match client and server platforms as well. The user interface and system functionality is the same across platforms. The latter version tends to be targeted at OEMs and more savvy Linux users. SageTV runs on everything from Windows 98 through Windows XP as well as Linux. From a SageTV user standpoint, the user interface is identical. Any experienced Linux user will have no trouble but a Linux novice will want to check out the online forums for tips and assistance. This is available for both Windows and Linux although the latter is designed for an OEM.
I started out with the main SageTV application (see Figure 3). It is also the only commercial package I found that can handle multiple TV boards. It works with a range of TV boards including ATI’s and with a number of remote devices like the Media MVP (see Figure 2). SageTV is relatively inexpensive and you can download an eval version to check it out. The server support works well on a home media center that is designed to run continuously versus the typical PC that gets turned on and off. It also allows these remote systems to initiate scheduled recordings. SageTV can act as a video server delivering content to other PCs or media delivery vehicles like Hauppauge’s Media MVP (see “Making More Of Your PC’s Video,” ED Online 11736). Wireless remote controls are supported as well. Features like instant replay and TV schedules are available from all client platforms. SageTV can also handle multiple TV cards from a range of vendors for simultaneous recording of multiple programs. It can operate in a client/server mode (see Figure 1) so scheduled recording and playback can be initiated from a remote machine.
SageTV is essentially a professional PVR (personal video recorder) software platform that runs on Windows and Linux. I found SageTV to be just the package I needed to complete the home media system since it was part of a larger home network rather than being the center of it. It has a great interface that you may want to use it even in a stand-alone mode. Add another PC to the network that you would like to utilize the TV services of the media center PC and you will definitely want to check out SageTV.
The ATI TV Wonder Pro and HDTV Wonder come with some great video and PVR software but it tends to be oriented towards a PC user.