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Will Hauppauge HVR 850 usb stick work on a smart tv?

3K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  stampeder 
#1 ·
Hi, I am trying to find out if anyone has used this USB Stick on a SmartTV. I have a Samsung SmartTv and this USB looks like a nice product but not sure if it works with a USB connection on my Smart TV. I also have an Android box as well and if this would work with that, thanks.
 
#2 ·
That is an ATSC tuner for a PC. The recording functions are done using PC software and the PC hard drive.

You shouldn't need this for a smart TV since most smart TVs have a built-in ATSC tuner, which will allow you to watch over-the-air (OTA) channels live with an antenna.

If you want recording capability, you will need an ATSC tuner like this with a PC, or a different external ATSC tuner with a hard drive.
 
#3 ·
I know my SmartTV has a built in tuner but most TV's including mine does not have certain features that external Tuners have. My TV tuner scans channels but doesn't save the channels when I rescan and doesn't have signal meter along with other features that's why I asked.
 
#4 ·
If I was looking for a new PC based USB tuner, I would get the Newest model, Hauppauge 955Q. It just came out in 2015, and performs really well. In addition it has pretty accurate signal strength reporting (in dBm), not just SNR (in dB). At least the linux driver does.
It also seems pretty resilient to strong signals and multipath.
An 850 Sounds pretty old. Never seen it before. But yeah they are all designed to be used with a PC. Not your TV directly.
Though your PC could then be connected to your TV, via HDMI, assuming your PC has an HDMI output.
 
#5 ·
I have an older Samsung TV and there is a signal meter in the help menu under self-diagnosis. Unfortunately, Samsung has a lot of different interfaces so if your TV has a signal meter it may be in a different location. I think I found mine by exploring every single menu item since it wasn't documented.

My Samsung also has the problem of clearing the channel list when I do a rescan. Once I have my channel list I don't rescan. I think I can tune to a specific channel manually and add that channel to my list, but I don't know if your TV can do that.

If you have to rescan frequently, you can take a look at these external tuners with an HDMI output to see if they save the channel list:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/81-...806-atsc-dvr-pvr-recorders-other-than-cm.html (Homeworx seems popular.)

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/81-...television/95820-channel-master-dvrs-ota.html

This might work with your Android box:
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/81-...levision/191274-hdhomerun-ota-discussion.html
 
#6 ·
Thanks Dave for your input. I do have a signal strength on my Samsung TV but its not the same as you would find one on a External Tuner and I can not do a manual scan on my TV. The tuner on my Samsung isn't bad, it just doesn't have the stuff I am looking for. I have a Channel Master 7001 but there are a few things that Im not too happy with, Picture quality is not that great, channel switch is really slow and no PVR. I have tried most Satellite Receivers that have the ATSC tuners and they all seem to have issues with the Amplifiers, I get tons of freezing. I was looking at the PHD-VX? receivers which look really nice but I cant seem to find much feedback on these units. Tried their website and doesn't really have any reviews.
 
#7 ·
It is highly unlikely that it will work with a smart TV USB port or an Android box USB port.

The answer to your question is on the hauppauge wintv hvr 850 system requirements page. As you can see, it requires a fairly powerful PC and Windows. I believe it will also work on a PC with MythTV and Linux. It is possible to use a PC with TV server software (such as WMC or NextPVR) to stream the signals to a smart TV or an Android box.

Another option would be a HDHomeRun EXTEND. It directly streams signals on the LAN to other devices. Not sure if it will work with a smart TV. With an paid app it will work on Android and it has a free signal meter Android app. It also works with WMC and NextPVR.
 
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