TV Tuner cards

[Marciff]

I have narrowed my choices down between a couple TV Tuner cards.

The Hauppauge WinTV Theatre / Hauppage WinTV Radio (difference is dolby surround sound)

and

Pinnacle PCTV Pro.

What would you guys recommend? I want quality picture and sound. Can I even use Dolby surround sound with cable tv?

 

[4Ryan6]

Whatever you decide to go with, be absolutely positive it has stereo audio capability, or you'll only be able to record in MONO, Bummer!

 

[Joeman]

I have used a stereo Hauppauge and PCtv pro card and they are both ok, but.....there's a big BUT...I now have the Terratec Cinergy 400 (stereo) card, and let me tell you right away that this card is a lot better. It's not based off the Bt848*** chip but a phillips chip that gives you a better picture! More importantly is that with the older cards you can only capture video in 320X200, but with the Terratec Cinergy 400 or 600 (Radio) card you can capture video in 720X500 something...in dvd, svcd etc format and through the tv software automatically record into DivX format or any other codec you have installed!!! Please do yourself a favor and don't buy PC Tv PRO or Hauppauge cards!

AMD gives you most bang for your bucks!!<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Joeman on 08/16/02 12:25 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[aykh]

MAY I ASK WHERE DID U BUY THIS "Terratec Cinergy 400" ?
I WANT ONE DEFINITELY!
I WANT TO RECORD INTO DIVX OR OTHER FORMAT, NOT JUST MEG1/2, IN 720X5XX !

 

[gwallen4]

Aykh:

As far as I know, their is no video capture card that will capture Mpeg4 (Divx). You have to capture mpeg2 then use software to convert to Divx.

Sandman

 

[sjgore]

The Pinnacle PCTV has incredible picture quality, particularly through the composite or S-Video inputs. I have always thought that the picture quality looked superior to my brother's Happauge WinTV card.

If you have sound card with a free line-in audio socket, then it does not matter whether or not the tv capture card is mono or stereo. I have got a Pinnacle PCTV Rave (Mono) which is exactly the same capture hardware as a Pinnacle PCTV Pro (just without the stereo capability). The sound input is through one of the audio-in sockets on my Videologic Sonicfury soundcard, therefore bypassing the tv capture card and providing stereo video capture at a fraction of the cost.

Steve.

 

[VTHobbes]

I think the point was more that if you don't have a stereo tuner, you can't watch/record TV in stereo (without of course a VCR or something doing the tuning for you).

 

[MadCarrot]

I currently use an Aims Labs InstantTV. This is an external box which means I can watch TV on my monitor without having to turn the PC on. The quality is also much better that the Hauppage WinTV I tried a while back. You may want to consider the AverMedia Joy TV.


MC

 

[Ram1959]

Hi

Recently I installed Pinnacle PC TV RAVE TV Tuner card in my
computer. The drivers are not getting installe properly. After repeated
attempts I succeeded somehow, but still I am uable to to get video and audio. I installed WINDVR 3.0 and WinDVD Recorder 5. With this software I am able to get only video signals, no audio.
I have 845GLLY original Intel Motherboard, 1.5Ghz Intel Processor, 256MB SDRAM.
I also installed WDM drivers for Btx848 boards, patch for WINXP SP2,
and audio patch for WinXP. I use both WINMe and WinXP SP2. I tried in both operating systems.
I tried Christv 4.80. It plays both audio and video. But I am not in a position to buy that software.
Sugget me what to do?

Ramesh.

ram.pgr@gmail.com

 

[BitFiSH]

Sapphire's TheatriX($94 CAD) is pretty much an exact duplicate of ATI's TV Wonder Elite($141 CAD). I've been satisfied ever since.

BTW... If you use ATI's Multi-Media Center you do have the option to record w/ Mpeg-4 (doesn't have to be DivX)

 

[dorion]

My cheap little Kworld tuner can capture in MPEG4 as long as you give it a plugin, but it is a cheap little tuner and thats about all it can do.