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  1. I'm planning to capture recorded video from a cable box's DVR. I'm deciding which device to purchase. Right now I'm comparing the EzRecorder 130 from AVerMedia and the HD PVR Rocket, HD PVR 2, and Colossus 2 from Hauppauge. Those of you on the forum who have experience recording with any or all of these devices, or with other devices, how does the quality of recorded video compare between the various devices?

    I have used the AVerMedia HD EzRecorder Plus in the past, and I still own that device, but I'm interested in upgrading to a new device, especially if a new device will improve the quality of my recordings. At this point, I'm leaning toward getting the EzRecorder 130 and using an HDMI splitter. I like the fact that the EzRecorder 130 is a stand-alone device that does not need to be used with a computer.

    I will simply be recording various programs on my cable box's DVR, then later playing them back from the DVR and capturing the playback from whatever capture device I decide to use. I've given up on doing live recordings with a capture device and decided to rely on the DVR to do the initial recording and then capture from the DVR. One time, I recorded a live program with my HD EzRecorder Plus. It recorded the program fine, but when I stopped the recording and it began to save the recording, it encountered some kind of error and the recording became corrupted. I was never able to recover the recording. On the other hand, I've recorded hundreds of programs with my cable box's DVR and I've never had an issue with a program failing to record or save. My thought is that if I do the initial recording with the DVR, the program will be saved on the DVR and then if I encounter issues capturing the video from the DVR, I can simply try again, since the program will already be saved on the DVR.

    So my main question is about video quality of the various devices. I want whatever device will give me the best video quality of the captured video. I'm leaning toward the AVerMedia EzRecorder 130, but I will consider Hauppauge devices or Elgato or whatever else results in the best video quality. Those of you on the forum who have experience recording with any of the devices I've mentioned, or with other devices that I haven't mentioned, how does the quality of recorded video compare between the various devices? Which device results in the best quality recorded video?
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    If you want to record 1080i video as accurately as possible, take the Hauppauge HD PVR Rocket off your list. It records 1080i as 1080p by deinterlacing one field from each frame and discarding the other. This results in the loss of half the temporal resolution, causing fast movement to be less smooth than would be the case when playing the original video using a playback method that deinterlaces correctly.
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    Originally Posted by usually_quiet View Post
    If you want to record 1080i video as accurately as possible, take the Hauppauge HD PVR Rocket off your list. It records 1080i as 1080p by deinterlacing one field from each frame and discarding the other. This results in the loss of half the temporal resolution, causing fast movement to be less smooth than would be the case when playing the original video using a playback method that deinterlaces correctly.
    usually_quiet,
    Recording with HD PVR 2 or Colossus, do you know what is the max bitrate setting, variable or constant?

    Also, feeding the capture device with a ViewHD spliter via HDMI, is there a limitation bitrate?

    I couldnt find this specs in their web page.
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    Originally Posted by xara View Post
    Originally Posted by usually_quiet View Post
    If you want to record 1080i video as accurately as possible, take the Hauppauge HD PVR Rocket off your list. It records 1080i as 1080p by deinterlacing one field from each frame and discarding the other. This results in the loss of half the temporal resolution, causing fast movement to be less smooth than would be the case when playing the original video using a playback method that deinterlaces correctly.
    usually_quiet,
    Recording with HD PVR 2 or Colossus, do you know what is the max bitrate setting, variable or constant?

    Also, feeding the capture device with a ViewHD spliter via HDMI, is there a limitation bitrate?

    I couldnt find this specs in their web page.
    The maximum bit rate setting for the Colossus is 20 Mbps. I only used VBR 16Mbps at the upper limit and 12Mbps for the lower limit. I expect there wold be problems using 20 Mbps for the upper limit on VBR let alone CBR.

    The ViewHD 1X2MN3D has a bit rate limitation since it's an HDMI device. Nominally it is HDMI 1.3 (which is up to 10.2 Gbps). but the operating frequency in the device's Amazon listing is given as "up to 225MHz" which is less than the 340MHz for HDMI 1.3

    Going from memory, I think the HD-PVR 2 has a maximum bit rate of 15 or 16Mbps.
    Last edited by usually_quiet; 20th Sep 2015 at 12:22. Reason: correct typos
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    Originally Posted by usually_quiet View Post
    The maximum bit rate setting for the Colossus is 20 Mbps. I only used VBR 16Mbps at the upper limit and 12Mbps for the lower limit. I expect there wold be problems using Mbps for the upper limit on VBR let alone CBR.

    The ViewHD 1X2MN3D has a limitation bit rate since it's an HDMI device. Nominally it is HDNI 1,3 (which is up to 10,2 Gbps). but the operating frequency in the device's Amazon listing is given as "up to 225MHz" which is than the 340MHz for HDMI 1.3
    This was very enlightening.
    Thank you very much.
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    Xara, EZ130 is full 1080i.

    20Mb(1080p), 18Mb(1080i) and 15Mb(720p).

    The device has HDCP remove internal "switch. No need splitter to record protect content from SKY, BLURAY, PS3...

    Look here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTd-_S9p_IM

    Self editor is very easy and very good. Time record is so so.

    Quality image is very good.




    Claudio
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    Originally Posted by Cauptain View Post
    Xara, EZ130 is full 1080i.

    20Mb(1080p), 18Mb(1080i) and 15Mb(720p).

    The device has HDCP remove internal "switch. No need splitter to record protect content from SKY, BLURAY, PS3...

    Look here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTd-_S9p_IM

    Self editor is very easy and very good. Time record is so so.

    Quality image is very good.


    Claudio
    The narration for that YouTube video is in Portuguese. Since this is an English speaking forum, can you provide information about the type of jumper used to connect the two pins on the header?

    [Edit] No worries jagabo figured out what kind of jumper was used. See https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/373430-Loseless-Video-Capture-from-Virgin-Media-V-H...=1#post2410802
    Last edited by usually_quiet; 20th Sep 2015 at 14:04.
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    Originally Posted by usually_quiet View Post
    The narration for that YouTube video is in Portuguese. Since this is an English speaking forum, can you provide information about the type of jumper used to connect the two pins on the header?

    [Edit] No worries jagabo figured out what kind of jumper was used. See https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/373430-Loseless-Video-Capture-from-Virgin-Media-V-H...=1#post2410802
    Sorry UQ, I was sleeping. I would translate to english now but Jagabo make a great work in upload info about this config.




    Claudio
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    Claudio,

    The option you provide are interesting and certainly will fit the needs of ones.
    But I'm looking for more. I would like more options, like .ts video or AC3 audio formats.
    I dont know if the resulting MP4 encoded file is already discarding data that are valuable to me.
    Normally I do my editions removing starts, ends and commercials breaks sometimes. I think a Transport Stream format is less problematic to re-encode with this cuts.
    Last edited by xara; 20th Sep 2015 at 20:27.
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    Originally Posted by xara View Post
    Claudio,

    The option you provide are interesting and certainly will fit the needs of ones.
    But I'm looking for more. I would like more options, like .ts video or AC3 audio formats.
    I dont know if the resulting MP4 encoded file is already discarding data that are valuable to me.
    Normally I do my editions removing starts, ends and commercials sometimes. I think a Transport Stream format is less problematic to re-encode with this cuts.
    There is often confusion about how the Hauppauge Colossus and Hauppauge HD-PVR 2 handle audio input, so it might be a good idea to clarify what they do, just in case. They don't have the ability to encode AC3 audio. If analog stereo audio or PCM audio is received from the source it will be encoded as 2-channel AAC. They can capture AC3 audio as is, if they receive it from the source. Unfortunately, Hauppauge makes the only devices that I can recall seeing that have the ability to capture 5.1 AC3 audio. Also TS or MTS output does works better for these devices than MP4.
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    compare to AVerMedia & Hauppauge
    Hauppauge look better but need a pc to setup
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