tv tuner choice?

[hahher]

you said you had leadtek and now have 250/350. how would you compare capture quality (what codec & resolution were you capturing with leadtek)?

you can edit mpeg2 captures off your 250 without re-encoding right? also, is it difficult to convert 250 captures to divx? (i had problems converting mpeg2 captures off leadtek tuner) Can you simply open the file in vdub-mpeg2 and convert?

 

[Spearhawk]

Originally posted by: hahher
you can edit mpeg2 captures off your 250 without re-encoding right? also, is it difficult to convert 250 captures to divx? (i had problems converting mpeg2 captures off leadtek tuner) Can you simply open the file in vdub-mpeg2 and convert?

Um, shouldn't be anny diffrence betwen mpeg created with the PVR 250 and the leadtek. I have a 250 and I simply open virtual dub, cut away the scenes I don't want (like comercials and such), load the conversion settings from a file and then saves it as a avi file (divx).
All is very simply done, all this takes perhaps 5 min for a full lenght movie (with pretty much all of the time spent cuting away the comercials). But then of course the actual conversion process takes about 3 hours.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: hahher
you said you had leadtek and now have 250/350. how would you compare capture quality (what codec & resolution were you capturing with leadtek)?

For capture quality, I would rate the 250 a good deal higher than the Leadtek. I'm on a somewhat "dirty" cable system, and the 250 + MPEG encoder cleans up the picture a lot better than the Leadtek did, even with its software MPEG encoder. As far as general capturing went, I used MPEG2@640x480 for anything I would watch, and Huffyuv@640x480 for anything I would encode(more on that in a second).

you can edit mpeg2 captures off your 250 without re-encoding right? also, is it difficult to convert 250 captures to divx? (i had problems converting mpeg2 captures off leadtek tuner) Can you simply open the file in vdub-mpeg2 and convert?

The software MPEG2 encoder included with the Leadtek is sort of "odd", in that it produces what I've now learned is a "DVD stream" type video stream, instead of a "program stream" type stream. The former is designed for effeciency(I guess), but when you try to chop it up with Vdub(or similar tools), the audio goes out of sync. So, when I wanted to record something that I wanted to encode, I did the initial recording using the Huffyuv codec, which is lossless.

With the 250 set to program stream(DVD stream is also an option here), I can easily do Divx/Xvid encodes in Vdub. As for just doing edits, I've never tried to do just an edit in Vdub, but I don't think it can be done with just that tool, since Vdub needs to write out a new file, and it can't write MPEG2 files.

 

[hahher]

so tempting.


how far can you push it? can you do just about anything while capturing and not lose quality (browse, burn cd, game)

 

[ViRGE]

I haven't tried pushing it too hard(I mostly use it for recording stuff while I'm gone, after all), but as long as I don't do things that try to kill the hard drive, it seems to run fine. CPU usage isn't even 2% for BeyondTV when recording like that.

 

[pcernovice]

Hi Folks,

done a bit more reading and I now appreciate how useful a hardware encoder is. Some more questions:-

1. The pvr cards come in several flavours i.e. pcr?, mce, t-nova? etc what is basically the difference?

2. I understand that the pvr 250/350 can accept analogue and cable but NOT satellite...is there a card that can do all of these? How important is it a feature to future proof your card?

3. Are there other cards apart from Hauppage that have encoders i.e. ATI home wonder that are worth considering (and less expensive)?

4. Finally I have found a site that is offering the pvr350 on special (Is this due to the card being replaced in the near future?). During this period it is £20 ($34) more than the pvr 250, is it better to pay the extra for the pvr, and what else do i get for my money (apart from an FM radio)?

Thanks for your advice/help....i'm soon going to get my pc playing tv!

 

[tweeve2002]

you can only run analogue though a TV card....Most the time thought they have an S-video input or some component Video input along wiht the normal cable input...so if you use satellite you need the satellite box to change chanels. the same is with digital cable you need to change chanels with the cable box.

 

[pcernovice]

Thanks Tweeve,

so if I bought the pvr250 it doesnt mean that I couldnt have satellite....I would just need the box right?

Also if I was able to get the ms mce software I could get an rf remote to control everything right?


So a few other questions:-

The pvr250 comes in two flavours (that both use the coolern newer 16 chip), the standard model with a remote and the pvr250MCE with the FM radio

1. Would I be better getting the MCE (hoping one day that ms would release the software), and run it on the standard software supplied OR am I better going for the standard version?...I would prefer to have a radio rather than a remote

2. Are there any other differences between these two versions of the 250?

3. Can I get the pvr 250MCE in the UK

Finally am i right in believing that the pvr 350 has the older 15 chip that runs hotter (needing a cooler/heatsink)? if so would this be a problem in a Shuttle sn45g xpc where space is limited (especially between the pci/agp slots and there is little space for coolong fans?

Thanks for any help/advice...please add anything else that you feel might help me before I part with my ££££'s.

 

[pcernovice]

Hi Virge,

heres a link to what I was talking about:

http://www.gta-ltd.co.uk/

1. Does the DVB (digital) means that you can only record/view digital signals (via cable or dish?), and cannot receive/record analogue?....

2. Is this the way the technology will begoing in the future so am I better getting this sort of card?

3. Would I be able to receive any signal (digital or analogue) with an analogue card, and could this be via a standard ariel/cable or dish?

Basically what is the most flexible way to go, and best for future proofing.

Please see my other questions below and feel free to comment (anybody).

Thanks in advance for any advice given.

 

[pcernovice]

Come on guys,

somebody must have some answers (or opinions!).