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Buying Hauppauge PVR

Tags:
  • Tuner Cards
  • Video
  • Hauppauge
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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January 18, 2002 2:14:13 AM

I want to watch TV on my PC and also capture video from digital camera and VCR so that I could make my own VCDs. I am looking to purchase a TV tuner/video capture card for my new computer P4 1.8GHz, Win XP, GeForce3 Ti200.

I have done quite a bit of research about various cards that are available on the market today. I am particularly interested in the Hauppauge PVR (Personal Video Recorder) but I need some opinions before I make my decision. Is the card good as it sounds? There are three main features which I am interested in this card:

1) It's maximum resolution (for viewing TV/video) is 1600x1200. All TV cards from hauppauge have this resolution. No other card on the market (from popular makes like ATI, Pinnacle etc.) have got a resolution of higher than 768x576.

2) It can capture at a resolution of 768x576/MPEG1 and 768x576/MPEG2. No other <i>TV-tuner card</i> on the market can capture in MPEG2 unless they use another software to encode MPEG1 to MPEG2.

3) It's got a built-in hardware encoder on the mainboard, which is much faster than the software encoding and it also encodes to MPEG2 (Layer 2) with a compression ratio of 100:1.

There are also some drawbacks.

1) I quote this from a website which says the folowing in its conclusion for the Hauppauge PVR:

<i>"This is a good board if you mainly want to do time-shifting, your budget is limited, and you don't have a powerful enough CPU to run the ATI All-in-Wonder. If you're after high-quality video captures, the AIW is a far better product: with both boards the highest quality is obtained by capturing to AVI, then using a separate encoder. The AIW should also produce a somewhat better AVI, since it's a better-specified board, with fewer video problems as a rule than WinTV boards. And given a fast enough machine, the AIW will produce far better MPEG output than the PVR. The AIW is also a better overall value, unless you already have a good 3D card.

On the other hand, if you're willing to go beyond 3 Mbit/s for full-D1 video, the PVR might look better to you. Like any half-decent encoder, it can produce good video at 8 Mbit/s without trouble."</i>


Is it true that the AIW produces better Mpeg and AVI files than PVR? (Can anyone verify this?)

2) It doesn't have a video out! (well thats what I read anyway, can anyone verify this too?)


The ATI-AIW does look like a good card too but the problem is that it also has a built in graphics card. I already have one of the best graphics card on the market today, the nVidia GeForce3 Ti200. I simply want to watch TV on my PC, and capture video from digital camera and VCR so that I could make my own VCDs.


My friend has got a Pinnacle PCTV Rave and he always tells me all the wonderful things the card can do. I have considered this card too but it is quite basic, I want to do a bit more.

I once bought a Hauppauge WinTV Primio for my IBM Cyrix computer (ancient I know!), but due to a compatability problem, I had to return it back. I could never watch TV in full screen, but I did manage to watch it in a window although my computer used to freeze up at the same time. So I do have a good idea of how the picture quality of WinTV Primio is like when viewed in a window (which was very sharp). I also have a good idea of how the software is like that comes with Hauppauge TV Cards (I didn't like it that much). I heard that the PVR comes with a similar sort of software with not much else (verification please.)

PLease leave your comments.




<font color=green>When the cup is full, no more can be poured-
when you're full of your opinions, no more wisdom can enter</font color=green>

More about : buying hauppauge pvr

January 20, 2002 12:22:25 AM

Oh come on! No one has purchased or used this card before? I'm dissapointed :( 
Anonymous
January 20, 2002 1:57:41 AM

Well the card is pretty damn expensive if you ask me and not worth the purchase. I doubt many people have bought it. But everyone has their opinions man. I dunno if image quality is better or not, because I always find that every single person will have a different idea of what good IQ is. I'd get both and test em out. Which ever one you don't like, take it back.

Jack Burton is a great man...
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Anonymous
January 20, 2002 10:22:12 PM

Hi, cant help you much but this is what i do know !,,,,I have a packard bell(i know i got "belled" !!) & i have an intel r810-l onboard graphica card (port with 11MBs memory)
The hauppauge wintv card has a DRIVER CONTROLLED overlay & force primary draw switcher (for thoes that dont know :this means that the way that the picture is displayed) in "force primary" the pucture quality is good in "overlay" the picture can be better (depending on your graphics card) but is more relyable (dosen't crash the wintv app (applications). The wintv app interface (GUI) is very good & is easy to get to grips with. Then i got a VOODOO TV FM card cos the card has a remote & has stereo sound, the chip (the hardware that is used to display the picture) is the same as the wintv. the voodoo card is great & the image quality is not as good as the wintv card!. My wintv card has a good still capture size 1600*1200 & video up to 800*600 with avi only quality.

The other day i up-graded my pc with a "nvidia Riva TNT2" & the wintv card has stoped working in "overlay" mode but is a little jerkey in "force primary", So in other words i am haveing alot of problems (& we all know what this is like dont we !!! .) So then i put the voodoo tv fm card back in to the pci slot ("what ?" is he CRAZY ?" i hear you shout )to find that the tv tv card isnt working, so if that has confused you here it is again,
onboard graphics = wintv = good quality.
nvidia graphics = wintv = crap kinda works in force primary.
onboard graphics = voodoo = good but not as good as wintv.
nvidia graphics = voodoo = dosn't work at all.
so in conclution : if you are getting a wintv OR thinking of getting another make then make sure that the shop WILL ACCEPT it back for ANY reason.
In the future i am thinking of building a rig (pc system) & haveing a "wintv theater" installed witch has all of the voodoo & wintv features combined.

Well i hope that has helped you out, & if you or anybody can help me out with my problem then thanks.

I have tryed some of the advanced nvidia tweaking tools, such as !RIVATUNER" & "NVMAX" any they have some tv tools but yet have not solved the problem.

(ps :it would be good to know what you decide then i can get a idear that the card you are after is like)
January 20, 2002 11:23:45 PM

Buddwm, you're right that the card is a little expensive, but then, you get what you pay for. I don't just want to watch TV, I want to do more than that.

kbla, I've got nVidia GeForce3 Ti200 graphics card in my system. Tell me a bit more about your system, and maybe I could help you.

99% of the time, the problem lies with the drivers. So if you update your drivers to get the latest, I think you would be able to solve your problem. I had a similar "overlay" problem, but then I updated my drivers from nVidia's website, and everthing works fine now.

Wen the cup is ful,no more can be poured-
wen you'r ful of your opinions,no more wisdom can enter
!