Which is better quality capture- DVD recorder or Hauppauge WinTV USB stick?

[akalsha]

Hello,
I have a bunch of old VHS tapes that I want to capture and save as Mpg2 files. I have two options: I have a Samsung DVD recorder that was bought new a year ago. I also have the Hauppauge WinTV USB stick:
http://hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hvr950q.html

Which do you think is better quality in general? The Hauppauge saves to my PC as Mpg2 files. I do sometimes have problems with sync, which I don't seem to have with the DVD recorder. Do you think the DVD recorder is just as good if I record in the highest quality setting?

[edDV]

They should be roughly equivalent for VHS in. I don't have an HVR-950 but I've had no audio sync issues with the HVR-1600 or PVR-250/350 when recording MPeg2.

The WinTV software offers more control of bit rate.

The DVD recorder will max at one hour mode.

[jman98]

The DVD recorder may have sharpening filters and perhaps (possible but not necessarily likely) even a TBC if your tapes need that. The USB stick won't have that.

Your sync problems may be because you are doing other CPU intensive tasks on the computer while it is recording. Try just leaving the PC alone while it records.

Note that commercial VHS tapes may use Macrovision and you will likely find that neither solution is very good for dealing with that.

[lacywest]

I have no problems using a Pinnacle HDTV USB stick 800e ... I bought it at Best Buy back in 2006 ... works great and I record two HDTV Shows at once ... I also use a ATI 650 PCI card inside my PCs ... I record the shows with WIN 7 Media Center.

Both PCs have Dual Core CPUs but the one I record with the HDTV USB stick and the ATI 650 PCI card only has 2 gigs of DDR2 ram and it still records two HDTV shows just fine with no audio sync problems.

My PC in the garage also ... for awhile ... had the Pinnacle HDTV USB stick 800e in it and worked great but my wife has more needs for being able to record two shows at once then I do ... so she decides what gets recorded on the Dell PC ... using the WIN 7 x64 Media Center.

We use a Logitech USB wireless Keyboard and mouse [$40 bucks at Walmart] and I have a 15 foot USB 2.0 going under a throw rug in front of our bed and the Logitech Keyboard - Mouse Receiver is located between the bed mattress. My setup works great. The mouse is not picky ... I use the comforter on the bed to control the PC or the top of my chest ... I don't need a mouse pad.

[edDV]

I have no problems using a Pinnacle HDTV USB stick 800e ... I bought it at Best Buy back in 2006 ... works great and I record two HDTV Shows at once ... I also use a ATI 650 PCI card inside my PCs ... I record the shows with WIN 7 Media Center.

OP is trying to record SD composite analog VHS. My ATI 650 (USB) records SD to MPeg2.

[lacywest]

I have no problems using a Pinnacle HDTV USB stick 800e ... I bought it at Best Buy back in 2006 ... works great and I record two HDTV Shows at once ... I also use a ATI 650 PCI card inside my PCs ... I record the shows with WIN 7 Media Center.

OP is trying to record SD composite analog VHS. My ATI 650 (USB) records SD to MPeg2.

When it comes to trying to do what he is trying to do ... I use my Panasonic DVD Recorders ... I have a EH50 that is still working okay. And I use a Mitsubishi HS U748 Super VHS VCR ... works very well for playing my old VHS tapes.

He will probably have to settle with using the DVD Recorder that he has and copy his VHS tapes from his VCR and if he has macrovision problems he will need one of those ... copy guard devices to get clean recordings.

Webpage link >>> http://www.amazon.com/Sima-CT-2-Digital-Enhancer-Duplicator/dp/tags-on-product/B000AEFVVE

I have a Sima ... and I did not pay that much ... I bought mine at Best Buy ... a few years ago.

There are two on Ebay right now ... one for 46 bucks and another for 100 bucks.

[akalsha]

Thanks, everyone!

They should be roughly equivalent for VHS in. I don't have an HVR-950 but I've had no audio sync issues with the HVR-1600 or PVR-250/350 when recording MPeg2.

The WinTV software offers more control of bit rate.

The DVD recorder will max at one hour mode.

How do you control the bit rate with the WinTV software? The only setting I can find is to adjust the capture quality, and the settings are best, good, etc.

The sync problem doesn't have anything to do with me doing other things on the computer. I don't touch it when it's capturing. I think maybe it's because the tapes are degraded, and sometimes glitch. Would that throw off the sync? These are just store-bought blank tapes with stuff on them.

I'm a she.

thank you!

[hech54]

I bought this one a week or so ago:
http://hauppauge.com/site/products/data_usblive2.html
and it works fine so far. I also have a Hauppauge PVR-350 card so WinTV7 is having problems
with both devices attached to the computer. I never got WinTV7 to recognize the USB device.
I also happen to have Magix Movie Edit and I'm capturing with it....and VirtualDub(no MPEG2 though).

[GSP_87]

I don't have that particular Hauppauge, but have two different ones on two separate computers, and I think you can't have different versions of the WinTV software on the same computer. Both needed software updates, so I suggest checking the website or emailing them to point you in the right direction. One Hauppauge had lip sync & uncontrollable amplified sound, and both those problems were fixable by going into the registry and fiddling with specific settings I found on the web where others had the same problems. I'd say email Hauppauge tech support with the specific model, driver, etc. and asking them how to fix. It's really frustrating when you buy something and out of the box, it doesn't work right and you have to update the software, etc. I'm guessing the stick's software won't let you adjust contrast, color, brightness, but maybe one that has composite and s-video inputs might.

[lacywest]

Thanks, everyone!

They should be roughly equivalent for VHS in. I don't have an HVR-950 but I've had no audio sync issues with the HVR-1600 or PVR-250/350 when recording MPeg2.

The WinTV software offers more control of bit rate.

The DVD recorder will max at one hour mode.

How do you control the bit rate with the WinTV software? The only setting I can find is to adjust the capture quality, and the settings are best, good, etc.

The sync problem doesn't have anything to do with me doing other things on the computer. I don't touch it when it's capturing. I think maybe it's because the tapes are degraded, and sometimes glitch. Would that throw off the sync? These are just store-bought blank tapes with stuff on them.

I'm a she.

thank you!

The audio sync would not get out of whack when using a vcr ... audio and video are where they are on the tape ... they can't become located in a different area.

I recorded CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ... A Space Oddity [a spoof of the Star Trek TV Show] and I had a small glitch in the recording ... a hiccup to speak ... and it played okay within WIN 7 Media Center but if I tried to convert it to a AVI for archive purposes ... the audio would be slightly out of whack ... I fixed it by recording it again when the TV Show did reruns.

I've used Cyberlink Powerdirector for recording stuff from my VCR through the S-Video and Audio inputs ... using the ATI 650 HDTV PCI card ... I really did not like the results.

I spent years 2000 to 2005 ... messing with video capture cards trying to get decent recordings and just being satisfied with what I was able to do ... I was using the Canopus ADVC-50 capture card.

When I bought the Panasonic E50 ... I started using it ... by just recording to DVD-RAM disks and then using the PC to edit the video recordings ... but I had to have a DVD Burner that could read DVD-RAM disks.