Are there any REAL MPEG1/2 encoding video capture/TV Tuners for PCMCIA/laptops?

[CZroe]

Just wondering. Watching TV at work or while waiting in the parking lot without some crappy USB POS would be really usefull. I had an original desktop All-in-Wonder back in the day and it was HORRIBLE. My friend's AIW Radeon is just as bad. USB tuners are crap. I want something that will double as a high-quality capture card for other uses. Perhaps something modern can even use a laptop's integrated wireless 802.11b/Bluetooth antennas?

 

[CZroe]

Bump...

 

[CZroe]

Bump again.

 

[CZroe]

Oh yeah, does the All-In-Wonder Radeon 8500DV have better quality tuning than the old AIW Radeon?

 

[Cat]

www.avsforum.com

 

[Chadder007]

Well sorta...here is a USB version. I don't think they make PCMCIA encoders.
http://www.hauppauge.com/html/wintvpvrusb_datasheet.htm

BTW....this is NOT a BAD USB tuner. Also keep in mind that TV will never look as good on a monitor or LCD while still using analog TV signals. Once HDTV comes into play a bit more, things will start looking better for people who want to use the PC as a TV.

 

[CZroe]

The original ATI AIW had two modes. One was a full-speed video overlay that was extremely "out of focus" looking. The other mode was some digital but interlaced mode with a low frame rate (A flashing cursor in a video game would look solid or invisible because it would drop every other frame). My friend's AIW Radeon has only one mode: The foggy "out of focus" mode. My original AIW would only record the sharp but interlaced slow frame rate mode & I bet it's recordings look the same way. dScaler and other deinterlacers can only get rid of the jaggy horizontal lines but not the 1/2 frame rate (Which I don't think PCI could do much better uncompressed). With a USB device, I'd expect worse. It would have to be compressed before transmission for something better than a web-cam That compression will add artifacts and lose even more quality when stored in a different format. A dedicated capture card chip with a tuner added would be a much better option

 

[ericboo]

I read a very nice review of the ATI All-in-wonder 7500 VE over at Hardocp. Supposedly has top notch onboard Mpeg decoder but is only PCI. I was thinking of getting it to replace my Wintv board that I know I will never get back from my brother.

Just don't have the funds now, but I was thinking of getting a PCI vga card anyway for dual monitors adding a 5.6" LCD for chats and viewing Directv.

I play PS2 through a Wintv card and it comes out nice.

This is all off topic, I will stop rambling now.

 

[rbV5]

My friend's AIW Radeon has only one mode: The foggy "out of focus" mode

Interesting, I've had several AIW Radeons...none have a foggy out of focus mode. All have had excellent picture, and look great on my PC's. My AIW 9700 did have some trouble with the channels 1-6, but a signal booster took care of that.

Bottom line, If the picture from the AIW Radeon looks poor, its probably not because of the card/tuner.