Questions about MyHD MDP-130.

Denithor

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2004
6,298
23
81
I have several questions here. I am trying to set up a system to timeshift and/or record HD (OTA or through cable) and it looks like the best option is going to be the MyHD MDP-130 card. What I need to know is how you connect this to the TV. It will be used with an HDTV with the standard Y/Pb/Pr inputs. I plan to use a 6800GS video card that has these outputs onboard, what I don't understand is does the MyHD card have to connect directly to the TV (and if so, do I need the DVI daughterboard?) or can it capture the signal and then I view it through the 6800GS output?

I would really appreciate some input from people who have used this HD tuner card.

Thanks!
Matt
 

dug777

Lifer
Oct 13, 2004
24,778
4
0
Synth has one iirc.

I can't see the point of them with CPU's being as powerful as they are today, and DXVA assist on modern GPUS. Get a DVICO Fusion5.

You then just use the tv-out on the gfx card as normal, no daughterboards, none of that messing about...
 
Mar 19, 2003
18,289
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Yes, I do have one. You do not need the DVI daughtercard to use Component outputs, the standard VGA connection on the card (through a breakout cable) can be set to output YPbPr signals instead of RGB (and then you can use a simple VGA->Component breakout cable to convert the signal, I got one free with my tuner). I've never tried it myself, but it should be quite easy to set up. The MyHD card does its own hardware MPEG2 decoding, and uses its own video outputs, as you mentioned. This can be either an advantage or disadvantage depending on your situation. It is also worth mentioning that there is an overlay window you can use, but it's 480p at the most. For full-resolution HD on the MyHD card, you have to use its own video output. I have the DVI daughtercard, and have for almost a year now, so I did end up spending kinda a lot of money on the cards, but I'm happy with my purchase overall. I've not had any real issues with the software at all.

Dug does make a good point though - with any reasonably modern CPU/GPU, MPEG2 decoding in software is no big deal. So you don't "need" the MyHD card's hardware decoder chip. Plus one advantage of the cards like the DVICO FusionHDTV 5(/Lite) is that they don't have their own video outputs and go through the video card (though again, this could be a disadvantage in some cases, but it sounds like you just want one connection). I've spent a little time playing with a Fusion 5 Lite and I wasn't terribly impressed with the software; I did get a crash or two and there are a few issues like the timeshifting of cable channels apparently not working. This may or may not be an issue in your case, and my brother seems happy enough with his Fusion 5 Lite. (Edit: I should also mention that I've seen an issue more than once where my brother - or another DVICO user - cannot pick up a channel at all. This is over cable, so signal strength should be just fine. I could pick up these channels just fine, so it seems the DVICO software still has a few issues with QAM tuning. If you do not plan to get your HD channels over cable, this shouldn't affect you.)

Overall, I'm very happy with my MDP-130 and DVI daughtercard (though I kinda wish they'd been cheaper;)), but in general I'd lean towards recommending the DVICO cards. They will give you 90% of the functionality of the MyHD card, performance should still be a non-issue, and you can simplify your cabling by only needing to use your video card's output instead of a separate one for the tuner.

If you have any more questions about this stuff, feel free to send me a PM (I can't guarantee that I'll remember to come back and check this thread :p)