Video Capture recommendations?

[J_T_C]

Looking for a video capture device that will allow analog A/V input from camcorder, VCR, etc. for burning to DVD, and offer TV tuning (coax in) and PVR functions, to network to existing Replay DVR (like a TiVo). I dont need HDTV ability.

I am ALSO in the market for a mid-level video card (128mb-ish). I'm a low-end occasional gamer, more into multimedia use.

First obvious question- any pros/cons to using a combo card like ATI All in Wonder, or eVGA Nvidia Personal Cinema?? Or is it better to get separate stand alone video card and capture device?

Second question- if you recommend a stand-alone capture device, would you use internal or external? I have one AGP 4x/8x slot, and 4 PCI slots. Dont have PCI express. If i go internal for both, which should use the AGP slot? If external, what interface is best?? USB2.0, firewire?

Any other considerations from someone who has networked a Tivo?

Much THANKS in advance!!

 

[bront]

Not sure if you can find an AGP All in Wonder that's decient anymore, but if you can, they're not bad.

I've been looking for a USB tuner myself, but have not gotten any responce in a week when asking for help

Internal - Tend to be cheaper, some say better quality too.

External - Easy to use on multiple computers, likely easier to move cables around to plug into.

Other than that, im as lost as you are.

 

[lcdguy]

don't get an all in wonder here's why. The tv capture encoder is SOFTWARE not HARDWARE like on the hauppage wintc pvr line. For analgue capture i would get one of the following TV Capture cards.

Hauppage WinTv PVR150, 250 or 350. I personally use the 350.

the 150 and 250 are basically the same card but the 350 has some added features such as FM Tuner and a TV-Out function.

or you could look into the Wintv MCE-550 it's designed to work with media center but should be fine with win xp pro but it has 2 Tv Tuner modules so you can record one show while watching another

for video cards in the agp line i would look at the nvidia 6600GT or 7300GT or that new GS that just came out.

i hope this helps with your search

 

[cowboytech]

Man I must be old, I had AIW 9800 agp card and I enjoyed recording tv to watch later!

 

[lcdguy]

right, but it was a software encoded not hardware encoded.

i am not saying software is bad what i am saying is that by using hardware encoding it doesn't use as much resources and then you also have hardware components dedicated to capture.

 

[cowboytech]

With some research it looks like for what he wants to do you have given him very good experienced advise

 

[lcdguy]

thanks, i knew my 5 years in this kinda of stuff would come in handy one day .

 

[bront]

Are those all internal cards?

Any good USB Adapters out there?

 

[lcdguy]

the ones i recommended are all internal since i personaly don't like usb that much. to much chance of getting intereferance. But i do believe there are some usb solutions that would be similar but i don't know what they are as i prefer internal solutions.

 

[Bootloader]

As far as I know, most of the cheaper USB devices just send a raw stream of video to the computer for everything to be done in software (audio still goes to the soundcard). I know because I have one and the video/audio sync is horrible and the FPS stays noticeably below the normal 24. I believe that the more expensive ones actually encode the video/audio in the box and then send the encoded data to the computer, much like a DV camcorder. However, you get what you pay for, so shop accordingly.

I also have an ATI TV wonder pro, which I highly DO NOT recommend. The ati software is terrible and even with most 3rd party software I have audio sync issues. This card also has a hardware flaw which causes problems with virtualdub's capturing quality, I can only capture at 320x240 using virtualdub. So for now I'm stuck using PowerVCR to record directly to MPEG2. This takes about 30% of my athlon 64 3500 to capture and encode.

Don't make my mistake and buy 2 bottom of the line capture devices.


www.videohelp.com is a great place to go for capture card help.

 

[lcdguy]

that is a good site, but for internal analgue capture i love my pvr 350. i get no stutter, not audio sync issues and can record at up to 740x408 or what ever the setting is. I love it to peices btu if you don;t neet the fm radio and tv out function save some cash by getting the pvr-250

 

[twall]

If you are not a heavy gamer, all in wonder x800 xt agp might do your job. Unlike most people, i love the drivers and the software of ati. Like, For Geforce's DVD software, you have to play extra money, but ati's multimedia software is free, and it has the dolby surround, digital and other stuff avaliable, which is also something you would pay for with other programs.

But I wouldn't pay 300 dollars for an agp video card, since i am more of gamer then multimedia aspect. If it was a pci express, knowing that i could upgrademy computer without changing my video card, i would spend 300 on that. Budget is also important. So, What i would do is buy an Nvidia 6600 GT, or 6800 GT, GS, whatever, then buy an tv tuner (pci slot, or usb, for me it doesn't matter). So if i was to get a 6600 series and a tv tuner, (since they cost as cheap as 30 dollars) I would save a lot of mney, and have a gpu about as fast as x800 xt. And If i buy a 6800 series, gpu probably would be better then x800xt, and it would still be cheaper, at most the same price.

But ati has been in the all in wonder business for so long now, i definitely would trust them about the quality and stuff, and x800 xt is nothing to look down at,, but the agp version for 300 dollars is little much for my taste.

 

[J_T_C]

Hi again- thanks to everyone for posting and replying. I have decided to go with an internal Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 with PCI interface. For graphics card I chose the ASUS EAX1300/TD/128M Radeon X1300 128MB DDR PCI Express x16. Of course first i had to shift gears and go with a socket 939 board with PCI express (and no AGP).

After researching, and reading your posts, i decided against the combined units- nvidia personal cinema just not new enough, and none for PCI exp. Decided against ATI AIW due to cost ($!) and lots of conflicting, love-it-or-hate-it reviews. I also decided against the USB video capture- thanks so much for the posts regarding audio sync, and transfer speeds. I think I made the right choices- we'll see when I get the parts and finish the build. (My first custom build). Thanks!!

 

[lcdguy]

sounds like a winning combonation. Just remember to get the via chipset drivers from hauppages website if your mobo has a via chipset (not sure why anyone would want it) if you get any capture issues.

 

[J_T_C]

Thanks- actually the mobo has Nvidia Nforce4 chipset... I've heard good things about it. And i'm excited to get my new monitor too-- AGNeovo 19" widescreen from Newegg (thought i'd share since i saw your user ID "lcd"...)

Should be fun. I could get into this PC-building thing...

 

[Bootloader]

Please let us know how it works out.
I'm going to be in the market for a new capture card within the next few months. I'm about fed up with my ATI TV wonder, even with powervcr, the audio sync still seems a little off.
Good luck!