tv tuner card questions

[BuffaloBillBrunson]

Hi, I would like to get a tvtuner capture card. Don't
know much about them. I would like to just use windows xp, I would
like to capture the files in avi format ( is this possible) Also my
dvd player says it will read mpg4 files, Will any of these cards
allow me to play an avi file directly to a television. I have tried
using my video card for this but it doesn't want to do it. I would
guess that software will allow me to make different quality ouput
files to keep file size down. Is this true? I would like to keep the
cost for the card under a $100 , I see some really cheap. Is there a
great advantage to cards over a $100, also I see some that say they
only have media center driver, does this mean they won't work on
plain old xp? thanks for any help on this.

 

[JAD]

Do not purchase a 'Sabrent' product. Drivers and software are terrible.

 

[Paul]

Hi, I would like to get a tvtuner capture card. Don't
know much about them. I would like to just use windows xp, I would
like to capture the files in avi format ( is this possible) Also my
dvd player says it will read mpg4 files, Will any of these cards
allow me to play an avi file directly to a television. I have tried
using my video card for this but it doesn't want to do it. I would
guess that software will allow me to make different quality ouput
files to keep file size down. Is this true? I would like to keep the
cost for the card under a $100 , I see some really cheap. Is there a
great advantage to cards over a $100, also I see some that say they
only have media center driver, does this mean they won't work on
plain old xp? thanks for any help on this.

Whether it is worth it to get a TV tuner/capture card, really depends
on what quality TV signal you've got. I have a TV tuner card but I
don't use it, because the results look so poor. The only source in
my house, with acceptable quality, is playback of a pre-recorded
VHS tape.

Maybe that would change with digital TV transmission, but as far
as I know, there isn't any in my city.

Expensive cards add compression features, which may be an advantage or
it may not, depending on what you're doing. A cheap card does achieve
the objective of getting the data onto your hard drive. Drivers and
user software are all-important - see the customer reviews on Newegg,
to get some warning about what you get with some products.

Paul

 

[Andy]

Take a look at <http://www.videohelp.com/capture>.

 

[Rod Speed]

Whether it is worth it to get a TV tuner/capture card, really depends
on what quality TV signal you've got. I have a TV tuner card but I
don't use it, because the results look so poor. The only source in
my house, with acceptable quality, is playback of a pre-recorded
VHS tape.

Maybe that would change with digital TV transmission,

No maybe about it.

but as far as I know, there isn't any in my city.

Unlikely if its a major city.

Expensive cards add compression features, which may be an advantage or it may not, depending on
what you're doing. A cheap card does achieve the objective of getting the data onto your hard
drive.

And essentially just stream the digital stream to the hard drive, with
some selection of the individual streams from what is transmitted.

Drivers and user software are all-important

Nope, quite a few cards are generic now in the sense that
you dont have to use what comes with the card anymore.

 

[T Shadow]

Hi, I would like to get a tvtuner capture card. Don't
know much about them. I would like to just use windows xp, I would
like to capture the files in avi format ( is this possible) Also my
dvd player says it will read mpg4 files, Will any of these cards
allow me to play an avi file directly to a television. I have tried
using my video card for this but it doesn't want to do it. I would
guess that software will allow me to make different quality ouput
files to keep file size down. Is this true? I would like to keep the
cost for the card under a $100 , I see some really cheap. Is there a
great advantage to cards over a $100, also I see some that say they
only have media center driver, does this mean they won't work on
plain old xp? thanks for any help on this.

The capture card has nothing to do with what you can display other than
possibly supplying a codecs so you can work with a particular format. If
you can play an MPG4 file on your monitor but not the TV you have it set
incorrectly. IIRC on an ATI card you'd set it to "theater" mode. Ask in a
newsgroup for your video card.

You can get a very good tuner card for <$100. For that price you can get a
card with a hardware encoder to lower CPU usage. AFAIK most if not all
encode to MPG2 so you'd have to transcode to MPG4. This takes time and
reduces quality at least a little. Some newer DVD players will play MPG4 but
most players do not so if you want to share you'd have to transcode back to
MPG2, again taking extra time and losing a little quality.

I have an ATI AIW and HDTV Wonder. They use software encoders. Can capture
to MPG4 but I don't. Large hard drives and DVD discs(~$.15) are just too
cheap to mess with the incompatibility for me. If you want to make files for
something like an Ipod that would be different. YMMV

I'd avoid anything that said it only had media center drivers. That would
probably mean it doesn't have any software either. Start by looking at cards
from Hauppauge and ATI. Someone gave you a good link, I like this one as
well: digitafaq.com.

Would be better to ask capture questions in a DVD-R newsgroup. For example,
MPG4 is a format, AVI is a container file. Some AVI files are not
compressed.

Good luck

 

[Squibbly]

well i dont think anything would be as worse as Hauppauge though, they think
they have cornered the market, and their drivers and software is terrible by
comparison

 

[JAD]

I haven't used a Haup for so long now, that I forgot they actually exist....

 

[Larc]

| well i dont think anything would be as worse as Hauppauge though, they think
| they have cornered the market, and their drivers and software is terrible by
| comparison

I second that! But I finally gave up on tuner cards and bought a Panasonic DVD
recorder. It will do everything I want that a tuner card claims to do (but
often won't) . It was somewhat more than $100, but easily worth much more than
any tuner card I've ever used.

Larc



§§§ - Change planet to earth to reply by email - §§§

 

[Rod Speed]

I second that! But I finally gave up on tuner cards and bought a
Panasonic DVD recorder. It will do everything I want that a tuner
card claims to do (but often won't) . It was somewhat more than
$100, but easily worth much more than any tuner card I've ever used.

My tuner cards work fine and give you a lot more flexibility
with multiple tuner cards per PVR, being able to record the
radio channels as well as the digital TV channels, and a lot
more programming flexibility on what you choose to record
etc including using the integrated program guide channels
and getting that stuff off the net etc.

Dont need anything special hardware wise either, just a discarded
PC that used to be the main system, 900MHz etc is fine.

 

[Conor]

My tuner cards work fine and give you a lot more flexibility
with multiple tuner cards per PVR, being able to record the
radio channels as well as the digital TV channels, and a lot
more programming flexibility on what you choose to record
etc including using the integrated program guide channels
and getting that stuff off the net etc.

Been using a dual tuner DVB Hauppauge card with Windows Vista RC2 and
with the Windows Media Center, it's an excellent bit of kit.

 

[johns]

I recommend the ATI Theater 550 Pro pci-e X1 card.
The software that comes with it works fine, and is
easy to setup. Also it requires a pci-e X1 slot, and
that makes it fast ... unlike the Hauppauge cards
which are just pci, and have sync problems. I
capture cableTV to mpg2 or mpg4 all the time,
and at high resolution for a good picture ... about
7 gigs per hour. I can burn that to DVD with NERO,
but I find that I really enjoy watching the mpg on
my 20 inch LCD widescreen video monitor. Wife
and I sit back in the computer room and watch
TV there, about as much as we do on the regular
set in the living room. My favorite playback software
for the captured mpgs is WinMedia Player 10 or 11.

johns

 

[VanShania]

Any tv tuner card will work with any version of XP.I have used MSI, and ATI
products, though I would recommend getting the MSI 550 pro tuner as its
software isn't encumbered with DRM like ATI's stuff. I did use a Hauppuage
150 but the picture and software were trouble some and I returned it for a
9600XT All-in-Wonder. The tuner card should have a hardware encoder, so
cheapy tuners will not be wanted. It will affect picture quality.
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MSI 550 Pro, X-Fi, Pioneer 110D, 111D
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[T Shadow]

Any tv tuner card will work with any version of XP.I have used MSI, and ATI
products, though I would recommend getting the MSI 550 pro tuner as its
software isn't encumbered with DRM like ATI's stuff. I did use a Hauppuage
150 but the picture and software were trouble some and I returned it for a
9600XT All-in-Wonder. The tuner card should have a hardware encoder, so
cheapy tuners will not be wanted. It will affect picture quality.
--

Are you saying the MSI ignores Macrovision? Have 3 ATI cards. Don't recall
any other issues related to capture/tuner cards.

 

[Oak7]

I recommend the ATI Theater 550 Pro pci-e X1 card.
The software that comes with it works fine, and is
easy to setup. Also it requires a pci-e X1 slot, and
that makes it fast ... unlike the Hauppauge cards
which are just pci, and have sync problems. I
capture cableTV to mpg2 or mpg4 all the time,
and at high resolution for a good picture ... about
7 gigs per hour. I can burn that to DVD with NERO,
but I find that I really enjoy watching the mpg on
my 20 inch LCD widescreen video monitor. Wife
and I sit back in the computer room and watch
TV there, about as much as we do on the regular
set in the living room. My favorite playback software
for the captured mpgs is WinMedia Player 10 or 11.

johns

MS Media Player 11? Whenever I try to watch a movie with this software in
full screen mode, it bounces back to a window about every 10 minutes or
so--very irritating.

 

[JAD]

MS Media Player 11? Whenever I try to watch a movie with this software in
full screen mode, it bounces back to a window about every 10 minutes or
so--very irritating.

bad codec