BlackMagic Intensity vs Hauppauge HD-PVR?

[duderdude2]

Hey guys, so in reading the posts on this forum, I've seen both of these devices recommended for general capture. I was curious what exactly the distinctions between them are?

As I posted in another thread, I'll primarily be using either device to capture video game footage in HD. So what are the pros and cons of either device? I know the Blackmagic doesn't support 480p, for instance. Any other caveats?

Oh, and does anyone know if I can capture footage natively in Vegas with the BlackMagic?

Thanks!

[jagabo]

BlackMagic Intensity captures uncompressed video from an HDMI port (the port most be free of HDCP encryption -- so no capturing from Blu-ray players, cable/sat TV boxes, etc). You'll need a RAID array to save uncompressed HD video to a file. You can elect to compress in software while capturing but doing so requires a hefty CPU. (Your computer description, "1.6 GHz CPU", doesn't sound like it can handle it.) The "Pro" version also has component video inputs for HD. I don't know if it responds to the do-not-copy flag that can be embedded into the component video. Editing the captured files is very easy.

The Hauppauge HD PVR has component inputs for HD. It has a hardware h.264 encoder chip. Everything you capture will be h.264 encoded; no uncompressed video capture. Everything you capture will have compression artifacts (minimal at high bitrates). Hardware requirements for capture are minimal. To view what your capturing requires a dual core CPU for software decoding, or a graphics card with hardware h.264 decoding. Editing the captured files can be difficult because many editing programs do not handle h.264 compressed HD video well. The video you see on the computer monitor will be delayed by about half a second. You cannot play action games with this delay, maybe chess if you're careful. You have to use the component video passthrough from the HD PVR to a HDTV or monitor.

[Seraphic-]

jagabo, about summed it up.
But if you are interested in a BlackMagic Intensity Pro, send me a PM.
Looking to sell mine

[duderdude2]

Jagabo--thanks so much for the in-depth response. That was very thorough! It sounds like the Hauppauge HD-PVR is the way to go for me.

Speaking of which, I want to get a new computer to edit high-def video with Sony Vegas. Do you guys have any recommendations for a rig that should do the trick? I'd like to keep it at $1,000 or less, if possible. Any recommendations or specs I should be looking for?