USB 2.0 TV Tuner ?

[Batistuta]

A USB 2.0 TV Tuner

Does anyone now where to buy one, and which products exist ?
Would also like to hear about experience with usb 2.0 tuner - like; what kind of CPU usage when timeshifting/recording to harddrive ?

I only know of this product Yuan DVD Encoder - USB 2.0 TV Pro, and don't know where to buy it + price.

All feedback much appreciated.

B.

 

[MWink]

I don't know about USB 2.0 TV Tuners but would you consider a USB 1.1 TV Tuner? I have the ATI TV Wonder USB and I was quite surprised at how well it works given the very limited bandwidth it has to work with. It basically looks like a 320x240 slightly compressed video file. CPU usage is normally 30-50% when watching TV and about 50-60% when capturing video. This is on a Pentium 4-M 1.4GHz. Hope this helps.

 

[Batistuta]

Thanks for the info.
The reason I want USB 2.0 is to have enough bandwidth for recording (and viewing) in a good quality - at least 1024x768.
By the way; I guess USB 2.0 is as cpu-hungry as 1.1 ? Given the different architecture of Firewire, would such a solution (if it ever comes into existence) be easier on my cpu ? System is 2.4GHz P4 with 512mb ram...but anyway

B.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: MWink
I don't know about USB 2.0 TV Tuners but would you consider a USB 1.1 TV Tuner? I have the ATI TV Wonder USB and I was quite surprised at how well it works given the very limited bandwidth it has to work with. It basically looks like a 320x240 slightly compressed video file. CPU usage is normally 30-50% when watching TV and about 50-60% when capturing video. This is on a Pentium 4-M 1.4GHz. Hope this helps.

USB 1 tv tuners suck, and that is a fact. Why would you buy one? Is PCI too hard to install?

 

[MWink]

The reason I want USB 2.0 is to have enough bandwidth for recording (and viewing) in a good quality - at least 1024x768.
By the way; I guess USB 2.0 is as cpu-hungry as 1.1 ? Given the different architecture of Firewire, would such a solution (if it ever comes into existence) be easier on my cpu ? System is 2.4GHz P4 with 512mb ram...but anyway

I don't think any TV tuner can capture at 1024x768. The highest I've ever seen (on a PCI TV tuner) is 640x480 which doesn't even look too good because it's interlaced. A Firewire solution would be great but I doubt anyone will make one.

USB 1 tv tuners suck, and that is a fact. Why would you buy one? Is PCI too hard to install?

If that is a "fact" where is your proof? Have you ever even used a USB 1.1 TV tuner? In my experience they are not really that bad. In some cases PCI is not really an option. I'll give you $1000 if you can install a PCI TV tuner in my Dell Inspiron 8200!

 

[m1ke101]

Originally posted by: Jellomancer

Originally posted by: MWink I don't know about USB 2.0 TV Tuners but would you consider a USB 1.1 TV Tuner? I have the ATI TV Wonder USB and I was quite surprised at how well it works given the very limited bandwidth it has to work with. It basically looks like a 320x240 slightly compressed video file. CPU usage is normally 30-50% when watching TV and about 50-60% when capturing video. This is on a Pentium 4-M 1.4GHz. Hope this helps.

USB 1 tv tuners suck, and that is a fact. Why would you buy one? Is PCI too hard to install?

my friend has a laptop, and he only has usb ports.....is that good enough reason to buy one?

 

[madthumbs]

Out of 5 pci slots, mine are all full so I'm interested in a USB 2 version also.

 

[putzman]

Quote

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USB 1 tv tuners suck, and that is a fact. Why would you buy one? Is PCI too hard to install?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



If that is a "fact" where is your proof? Have you ever even used a USB 1.1 TV tuner? In my experience they are not really that bad. In some cases PCI is not really an option. I'll give you $1000 if you can install a PCI TV tuner in my Dell Inspiron 8200!

All I can say is I own a Hauppage Wintv USB and it blows very hard rocks. I do understand the need for a usb tv tuner (I had all my pci slots filled at the time of purchase), but I think Jellomancer's "fact" should not be totally disregarded in the sense I think it was intended (as a warning to anybody intending on purchasing one)... The possibility of a USB 2.0 tuner gets me very excited, especially if they can pump all the sound through USB, instead of some ghetto linein cable... Then again, don't most pci tuners still utilize the 'linein' method?

 

[cliftonite]

Originally posted by: putzman

Quote

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
USB 1 tv tuners suck, and that is a fact. Why would you buy one? Is PCI too hard to install?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



If that is a "fact" where is your proof? Have you ever even used a USB 1.1 TV tuner? In my experience they are not really that bad. In some cases PCI is not really an option. I'll give you $1000 if you can install a PCI TV tuner in my Dell Inspiron 8200!

All I can say is I own a Hauppage Wintv USB and it blows very hard rocks. I do understand the need for a usb tv tuner (I had all my pci slots filled at the time of purchase), but I think Jellomancer's "fact" should not be totally disregarded in the sense I think it was intended (as a warning to anybody intending on purchasing one)... The possibility of a USB 2.0 tuner gets me very excited, especially if they can pump all the sound through USB, instead of some ghetto linein cable... Then again, don't most pci tuners still utilize the 'linein' method?

I have that card too and it sucks for several reasons. Crappy resolution, bad video quality, and everything else

 

[aka1nas]

For the laptop user: Don't they make PCMCIA TV Tuners that would perform better? I coulda sworn I've seen one before.

 

[MWink]

Originally posted by: putzman

Quote

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
USB 1 tv tuners suck, and that is a fact. Why would you buy one? Is PCI too hard to install?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



If that is a "fact" where is your proof? Have you ever even used a USB 1.1 TV tuner? In my experience they are not really that bad. In some cases PCI is not really an option. I'll give you $1000 if you can install a PCI TV tuner in my Dell Inspiron 8200!

All I can say is I own a Hauppage Wintv USB and it blows very hard rocks. I do understand the need for a usb tv tuner (I had all my pci slots filled at the time of purchase), but I think Jellomancer's "fact" should not be totally disregarded in the sense I think it was intended (as a warning to anybody intending on purchasing one)... The possibility of a USB 2.0 tuner gets me very excited, especially if they can pump all the sound through USB, instead of some ghetto linein cable... Then again, don't most pci tuners still utilize the 'linein' method?

Just because that ONE USB TV tuner is junk does not make ALL USB TV tuners junk. IMO the ATI TV Wonder USB works quite well. Also it sends the sound along with the video over the USB cable. It does not use a line-in on the sound card.

For the laptop user: Don't they make PCMCIA TV Tuners that would perform better? I coulda sworn I've seen one before.

I looked into that and they haven't made PCMCIA TV Tuners in years. The only ones I could find were designed to run on low end Pentium laptops. I wouldn't count on it working any better than a USB TV Tuner. Also I doubt their are Windows XP drivers for them.