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  1. Hi guys,

    I'm looking for precious advice for my next purchase. I know that there are several threads on the same/similar topic, still I couldn't find the "definitive" answer. In a nutshell: at home I receive HDTV by cable. Cable is connected to a decoder with only one HDMI out that goes straight to HDMI TV. Now I would like to record some of the TV shows and if understand correctly I should buy:
    -1 HDMI splitter to get rid of the HDPC protection and to send signal to both the TV and the PC PVR
    -1 External HDMI capable PVR to be connected via USB to my (Windows based) laptop.

    Is it correct so far ??? Now both the captioned devices (other solution not so broadly available here in Switzerland) should be fine but with which one is the most "reliable" and less problematic iro drives, software for editing recorded videos (e.g. to cut commercials), etc. Note that I havo no PS3, Xbox or similar thus compatibility with such devices isn't an issue for me.

    Thanks in advance for your help !
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  2. Member DB83's Avatar
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    In one of the other recent topics, which I contributed to, I did ask the OP to confirm the capture details of the Elgato in terms of capturing tv signals. To date he has not replied.

    My gut feeling would be to go with the HD PVR since it is a more conventional capture device (there is a separate device for game capture)

    The trick, as ever, is to find a splitter that actually does strip out the hdcp since there are many similar ones and not all apparently work.
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    Originally Posted by gizmu View Post
    Hi guys,

    I'm looking for precious advice for my next purchase. I know that there are several threads on the same/similar topic, still I couldn't find the "definitive" answer. In a nutshell: at home I receive HDTV by cable. Cable is connected to a decoder with only one HDMI out that goes straight to HDMI TV. Now I would like to record some of the TV shows and if understand correctly I should buy:
    -1 HDMI splitter to get rid of the HDPC protection and to send signal to both the TV and the PC PVR
    -1 External HDMI capable PVR to be connected via USB to my (Windows based) laptop.

    Is it correct so far ??? Now both the captioned devices (other solution not so broadly available here in Switzerland) should be fine but with which one is the most "reliable" and less problematic iro drives, software for editing recorded videos (e.g. to cut commercials), etc. Note that I havo no PS3, Xbox or similar thus compatibility with such devices isn't an issue for me.

    Thanks in advance for your help !
    Here is what I know, both good and bad. The Elgato Game Capture HD can capture video using a higher bitrate than the HD PVR 2. The HD PVR2 can capture 5.1 audio while the Elgato Game Capture HD is limited to stereo. The ts files from the HD PVR 2 are fine, but the mp4 files it produces are defective. The choices for third-party editing software is the same for both. I don't know how the editing software included with each of them compares.
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  4. The ElGato Game Capture HD has better image quality at high bitrate settings (up to 30 Mb/s). But it has a bad scaler (if you want to resize as you capture, looks like a nearest neighbor filter, unusable), high CPU usage, very little control over the capture, and you must use their software (more or less). The Hauppauge HD PVR 2 is limited to about 15 Mb/s capture so it has lower image quality. But most other things about it are better: lower CPU usage, more control, better scaling, 5.1 audio from some sources, more software choices, etc.

    I've used both to capture cable TV, HTPC, and Blu-ray player HDMI output after stripping HDCP. At 720p60, 1080i30, and 1080p60. With and without scaling. One thing to note is that 1080p60 sources can only be captured at 30 fps (passthrough remains at 60 fps) even if you downscale while capturing. Eg, you cannot feed the devices 1080p60 and capture at 720p60. You can only capture as 1080p30, 720p30, 480p30, etc.
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  5. Member vhelp's Avatar
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    if one is fortunate enough to have both the Hauppauge and Elgato, then they could use both, one for the 5.1 audio and the other for the video. for the audio, you would set the video birate to its lowest, while the video (Elegato) you would use whatever you require. then, demux the 5.1 audio from the haup and mux it into the Elgato's video. might be a lot of work, or not, but that is dependant upon the desperate audio maniacs. i myself prefer stereo. you would not need to use the sw suites, obviously they would require a lot of startup time, memory and swaping between the two apps, the time envolved. but there is a more effeicient way to accomplish this w/out any resource hogging and manovering steps.

    use graphedit or graphstudio to create a graph for each capture device.
    then, through a batch, call both graphs. vuala.
    then, as noted above, demux the 5.1 audio out of the lowbitrate video, and mux into Elgato's video.
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  6. Originally Posted by vhelp View Post
    use graphedit or graphstudio to create a graph for each capture device.
    This won't really work for the El Gato. The capture driver decodes video and uncompressed frames.

    New drivers/software was released for the Elgato a few days ago. I just ran a few quick tests. The scaling looks better now.
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  7. vhelp... buy both devices just to recor a couple of tv shows a month isn't an option for me. Based on the feedback so far I think I will go for the Hauppage solution that looks slightly more "reliable". I hope so !

    last but not least... this splitter here http://www.amazon.co.uk/ViewHD-Port-Powered-Splitter-1080P/dp/B004F9LVXC/ref=sr_1_2?ie...eywords=viewhd should be fine to get rid of HDPC right ?!?

    thanks all for the advice
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  8. Originally Posted by gizmu View Post
    last but not least... this splitter here http://www.amazon.co.uk/ViewHD-Port-Powered-Splitter-1080P/dp/B004F9LVXC/ref=sr_1_2?ie...eywords=viewhd should be fine to get rid of HDPC right ?!?
    You won't know for sure until you've tried it. Please post back indicating whether it works or not.
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  9. Member DB83's Avatar
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    For the splitter, I suggest you carefully read the 'hdcp stripper' topic in this forum especially the most recent posts.

    The problem is that the casing might look similar but the innards could have changed.
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  10. No matter what he reads, in the end he'll have to take his chances. No seller is going to advertize and guaranty that the device removes HDCP.
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  11. Member DB83's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by jagabo View Post
    No matter what he reads, in the end he'll have to take his chances. Nobody is going to advertize and guaranty that the device removes HDCP.
    Very true. In fact most, if not all, say 'compliant'.
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  12. Member vhelp's Avatar
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    is the hauppauge pvr1 excluded from these (hdcp purpose) spitter devices ?

    only the hauppauge pvr 2 and up, and the elgato, and any devices that capture over hdmi ?

    several months ago, to be safe or ready, i decided purchase the one mentioned one of these threads, a 1x2, hdmi ver.1.3
    are there any way to test these splitters with the haupauge pvr1 ?
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  13. The PVR doesn't capture HDMI so there's no way for you to test an HDCP stripper with it. If you have an old DVI monitor without HDCP support you can try using the splitter and a DVI->HDMI cable. But such a monitor may not have support for the standard 1080i or 720p video resolutions and frame rates.
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    Originally Posted by vhelp View Post
    is the hauppauge pvr1 excluded from these (hdcp purpose) spitter devices ?

    only the hauppauge pvr 2 and up, and the elgato, and any devices that capture over hdmi ?

    several months ago, to be safe or ready, i decided purchase the one mentioned one of these threads, a 1x2, hdmi ver.1.3
    are there any way to test these splitters with the haupauge pvr1 ?
    If by "haupauge pvr1" you mean the original Hauppauge HD PVR model 1212, it doesn't accept HDMI input directly. Its input connections are analog component video, composite video, SVideo, optical S/PDIF audio, and analog stereo audio. To test an HDMI splitter's ability to strip HDCP with the Hauppauge HD PVR model 1212, you would have to connect an HDMI to component video and S/PDIF (or stereo audio) converter between the HDMI splitter and the Hauppauge HD PVR. However, this type of converter is virtually impossible to find in the US at present, and to be useful to most buyers the converter itself would have to be an HDCP stripper.
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  15. Member vhelp's Avatar
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    ok, thank you. i do have the roxio game->cap hd pro, which does have hdmi, but haven't tested it since i got a few months ago since i'm out of hdd space, as usual. it needs 300mb min to install. i wish these devices would give you the option to install to an external drive so i wouldn't have these problems. bummer. i'm not in a hurry to test it anyway. i just picked up the spliter to be ready. thanks again.
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  16. ...mmmh we have a problem... apparently HD PVR 2 isn't so easy to be found here in Switzerland/Germany. However the HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition Plus is widely available and on the basis of the datasheet here: http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/prods_hd-recorders.html it has basically the same functions of the HD PVR2.
    For my purpose (tv recording) do you think is it ok to go with that one ???
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  17. Member DB83's Avatar
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    I do wonder if these are the same boxes with just different cables supplied for gamers and different capture software.

    The gaming edition does not come with WinTv7 but I wonder if it will work with it.

    Really need input here from someone who has used it for tv capture.
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    Originally Posted by gizmu View Post
    ...mmmh we have a problem... apparently HD PVR 2 isn't so easy to be found here in Switzerland/Germany. However the HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition Plus is widely available and on the basis of the datasheet here: http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/prods_hd-recorders.html it has basically the same functions of the HD PVR2.
    For my purpose (tv recording) do you think is it ok to go with that one ???
    Probably, although I am not 100% certain of it. The hardware appears to be identical. The HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition Plus has a port to connect an IR blaster cable, but does not come with an IR blaster cable or WinTV 7. The IR blaster cable allows the HD PVR 2 change channels on a set-top box. WinTV 7 is used if you want to schedule recordings via VCR-like timers. I think NextPVR might work as a replacement for WinTV 7. If you want to try NextPVR, it is free software.

    If you need them, it may be possible to purchase the IR blaster cable and WinTV 7 from Hauppauge's web store. You will have to look into that to see if it is feasible or saves you money over buying the non-gaming version of the HD PVR 2.

    [Edit]I thought the non-gaming version of the HD PVR 2 came with a remote too, but the gallery and specs do not show one. I guess a remote isn't needed.
    Last edited by usually_quiet; 14th Oct 2013 at 16:22.
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  19. Formerly 'vaporeon800' Brad's Avatar
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    [Didn't refresh the page and see usually_quiet's response before replying. The other difference is green light vs blue light...]
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  20. Originally Posted by DB83 View Post
    I do wonder if these are the same boxes with just different cables supplied for gamers and different capture software.

    The gaming edition does not come with WinTv7 but I wonder if it will work with it.

    Really need input here from someone who has used it for tv capture.
    I've used The PVR 2 Gaming Edition to capture TV via HDMI. Works fine.
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  21. Originally Posted by usually_quiet View Post
    Originally Posted by gizmu View Post
    ...mmmh we have a problem... apparently HD PVR 2 isn't so easy to be found here in Switzerland/Germany. However the HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition Plus is widely available and on the basis of the datasheet here: http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/prods_hd-recorders.html it has basically the same functions of the HD PVR2.
    For my purpose (tv recording) do you think is it ok to go with that one ???
    Probably, although I am not 100% certain of it. The hardware appears to be identical. The HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition Plus has a port to connect an IR blaster cable, but does not come with an IR blaster cable or WinTV 7. The IR blaster cable allows the HD PVR 2 change channels on a set-top box. WinTV 7 is used if you want to schedule recordings via VCR-like timers. I think NextPVR might work as a replacement for WinTV 7. If you want to try NextPVR, it is free software.

    If you need them, it may be possible to purchase the IR blaster cable and WinTV 7 from Hauppauge's web store. You will have to look into that to see if it is feasible or saves you money over buying the non-gaming version of the HD PVR 2.

    [Edit]I thought the non-gaming version of the HD PVR 2 came with a remote too, but the gallery and specs do not show one. I guess a remote isn't needed.
    Hi all, Direct from Hauppauge... The HD PVR 2 range runs the same hardware through the line, apart from the Gaming Edition Plus, which has the IR blaster and the Optical In.


    The WinTV software can be downloaded from the website and used for free (it will need your original HD PVR CD for authorisation!) The IR blaster cable can be bought from the European Webstore, http://webstore.hauppauge.de/index.php?k=155&lang=eng it's "one" of those, I can find out the specific item it is, if anyone needs one!
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    Originally Posted by Seraph_uk View Post
    Originally Posted by usually_quiet View Post
    Originally Posted by gizmu View Post
    ...mmmh we have a problem... apparently HD PVR 2 isn't so easy to be found here in Switzerland/Germany. However the HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition Plus is widely available and on the basis of the datasheet here: http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/prods_hd-recorders.html it has basically the same functions of the HD PVR2.
    For my purpose (tv recording) do you think is it ok to go with that one ???
    Probably, although I am not 100% certain of it. The hardware appears to be identical. The HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition Plus has a port to connect an IR blaster cable, but does not come with an IR blaster cable or WinTV 7. The IR blaster cable allows the HD PVR 2 change channels on a set-top box. WinTV 7 is used if you want to schedule recordings via VCR-like timers. I think NextPVR might work as a replacement for WinTV 7. If you want to try NextPVR, it is free software.

    If you need them, it may be possible to purchase the IR blaster cable and WinTV 7 from Hauppauge's web store. You will have to look into that to see if it is feasible or saves you money over buying the non-gaming version of the HD PVR 2.

    [Edit]I thought the non-gaming version of the HD PVR 2 came with a remote too, but the gallery and specs do not show one. I guess a remote isn't needed.
    Hi all, Direct from Hauppauge... The HD PVR 2 range runs the same hardware through the line, apart from the Gaming Edition Plus, which has the IR blaster and the Optical In.


    The WinTV software can be downloaded from the website and used for free (it will need your original HD PVR CD for authorisation!) The IR blaster cable can be bought from the European Webstore, http://webstore.hauppauge.de/index.php?k=155&lang=eng it's "one" of those, I can find out the specific item it is, if anyone needs one!
    Based on pictures I saw in the HDPVR 2 gallery, the IR blaster cable is probably this one http://webstore.hauppauge.de/index.php?a=417&lang=eng
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  23. I was recently in this dilemma too and I tried both devices recently. I currently own the HD PVR2 GE+ for one reason. The device supports 5.1 audio. Also it needs a power supply for some reason.
    When there is any 5.1 sound input when using the Elgato, the software won't work at all (v1.4) This is pretty useless when capturing TV.
    The only downside to the HDPVR2 is that the bitrate is limited to <=14Mbps. ıs this a hardware limitation or can other software than the Hauppauge Capture be used to produce higher quality caps?
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  24. Formerly 'vaporeon800' Brad's Avatar
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    Other software won't bypass the limit.
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  25. Originally Posted by vhelp View Post
    if one is fortunate enough to have both the Hauppauge and Elgato, then they could use both, one for the 5.1 audio and the other for the video. for the audio, you would set the video birate to its lowest, while the video (Elegato) you would use whatever you require. then, demux the 5.1 audio from the haup and mux it into the Elgato's video. might be a lot of work, or not, but that is dependant upon the desperate audio maniacs. i myself prefer stereo. you would not need to use the sw suites, obviously they would require a lot of startup time, memory and swaping between the two apps, the time envolved. but there is a more effeicient way to accomplish this w/out any resource hogging and manovering steps.

    use graphedit or graphstudio to create a graph for each capture device.
    then, through a batch, call both graphs. vuala.
    then, as noted above, demux the 5.1 audio out of the lowbitrate video, and mux into Elgato's video.

    If one wants to do this they would need to record the content twice. Once with Elgato and whatever you're recording outputting in stereo. Then another recording with the sound set to 5.1.
    For some reason the Elgato will not work at all when there is 5.1 sound being sent by whatever you want to record.
    You must be pretty patient to do this if you want best of both worlds
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