hauppauge WIN TV PVR250 vs hauppauge WIN TV PVR USB2

[fsh42na]

I'm a complete noob at this video capture stuff and I'm a bit confused at the differences between these two products. I've heard that they are essentially the same - just one internal, one external. I need to backup some old camcorder tapes (hi 8 and mini DV).

The outputs on the mini DV camcorder are S video, RCA, and firewire. I believe the outputs on the hi 8 camcorder are just RCA. I've looked at the PVR USB2 and it has all the inputs I'd need (S video; RCA). The 250 version only has Svideo and a single audio input jack. RCA jacks have video and 2 diff. audio jacks. Would I just connect one of the audio jacks to the 250 in addition to the S video plug?

I apologize for this DUMB question.

[mats.hogberg]

Tho I've never used the audio in on my PVR250, I suspect it's a stereo jack, so you should get an adapter for your camcorder.
The MiniDV is best transfered via FireWire (can't get why everyone calls data transfer from camera to computer via firewire "capturing").
Generally, I tend to trust stuff that I can jack internally into my computer to a much higher degree than stuff that I connect externally using a cable of some sort...

/Mats

[SaSi]

As stated, capturing DV camcorder material via analog capture devices is the equivalent of connecting your standalone DVD player to your Capture card and capture the video... Best done via firewire connection to the PC.

Comparing the internal vs the external capture devices from Hauppauge is - as Mats said - a matter of taste between internal devices and external devices.

My priorities were different from mats.holberg. With 6 x Hard disks in the mini-tower and knowing that MPEG-2 capture encoders generate quite a lot of heat, I didn't want this card inside the PC. Also I wanted to be able to use that with other PCs and my laptop during vacation. Also, I have had some long nights in the past trying to figure out what conflicted with what in trying to install more than the average PCI boards inside the PC.

So, I decided to use a USB2 device with which I am quite happy.

[fsh42na]

sasi,

what usb2 device did you get?? I'm really leaning towards the Canopus ADVC 100 (firewire) right now. Only issue/question I have is which software suite (that's not $500) is compatible with it.

[SaSi]

Sorry for the delay - was out for a few days.

I have a Hauupauge WinTV-PVR-USB2. I previously had a Pinnacle PCTVDeluxe-USB.

The Hauppauge is solid, comes with s/w to view TV, listen to FM radio, schedule FM or TV recordings and view them

It also provides a nice and simple little tool (nanocosmos MPEG2 editor) that is crude in terms of functionality but does exactly what it's supposed to: trim MPEG-2 files losslesly and quickly - well, almost...

The tuner quality of the Hauppauge is almost as good as a high-quality VCR's. The FM tuner is excellent.

I mainly capture to MPEG-2 at rather high bitrates (12~15Mbps), edit the content with VirtualDUBMOD and re-encode with CCE.

I have also tried capturing at 4800VBR (8000Max) at DVD specs and directly authored the MPEG2 file and viewed it on TV. Quality was excellent.

I have heard good comments on the Canopus but have never seen or tried it myself.

[junkmalle]

It also provides a nice and simple little tool (nanocosmos MPEG2 editor) that is crude in terms of functionality but does exactly what it's supposed to: trim MPEG-2 files losslesly and quickly - well, almost...

I have the PVR 250 too. Maybe you know a way around a problem with the Nanocosmos MPEG editor: The program only cuts on keyframes. That's fine but there is no way of telling which frames are keyframes. So when you cut you don't know exactly where the video is going to be cut. Is there a way to seek to keyframes only (like you can in Virtualdub by holding down a shift key while seeking)? This flaw keeps the program from really being useful.

[SaSi]

Actualy I haven't bothered about this. I cut slightly loose, before and after the actual content by a few frames (more than 10 or so) and the resulting MPEG file contains all that I need to keep.

I can understand that you may want to cut more precicely and directly author the extracted clip.

With DVDLab, you can even keep these few extra frames, mark them as a separate chapter and mark this section to be skipped. Did this once when I realized I forgot a section of advertisments within a TV capture. Wasted some space, but - in your case 10~15 frames won't make much difference.

[hecklernumber1]

hey fsh42na,

I owned the Hauppauge USB2 also. Here's my input: Bought it, installed it pretty easily. Within and hour I was capturing video (quite good quality too). The downside of it was somehow when I installed it, it didn't allow me to get onto the internet.

I tried everything from re-installing IE, other internet browsers, etc.... I contacted Hauppauge and they told me pretty directly that sometimes depending on your computer (esp Dell, which I own) and how it's configured it will do this and they just suggested I remove the software.

Long story short - had to have my HD totally cleared becuz just uninstalling it didnt work, reinstalled XP, and got rid of the Hauppauge USB2.

I'm sure there are many satisfied customers, unfortunately I wasn't one of them. I don't have input device now, but wish I tried the Hauppauge 250 first.

And thats my 2 cents

[FulciLives]

I mainly capture to MPEG-2 at rather high bitrates (12~15Mbps), edit the content with VirtualDUBMOD and re-encode with CCE.

I always thought that would be a good solution for such a device (i.e., one that captures direct to MPEG-2).

Been thinking of getting the WinTV PVR-250 or this USB2 version and doing exactly that with sources I need to clean up with AviSynth filters etc.

I'm curious how you do it exactly? Do you just load the MPEG-2 into VirtualDubMod then frameserve to CCE?

My thought is to use DVD2AVI and then use AviSynth doing the editing in there along with a "noise" filter etc.

I'm thinking of getting one of these because there are certain things I can record direct to MPEG-2 DVD spec and be happy with that but there are other things I'd want to do the more "traditional way" I use now ... which is capture, edit, filter, then encode with CCE. I guess I could keep my PCI capture card which does AVI capture but it would be nice to just have one device and be done with it. I've always thought that the various pics and clips I've seen from the Hauppauge PVR units look most excellent.

I guess the most important concern is ... have you run into any "pitfalls" when it comes to A/V sync when you capture high bitrate, edit, then re-encode?

I've heard that the Hauppauge WinTV PVR units can sometimes be "fiesty" when it comes to A/V sync ... at least once you start to demux and edit etc.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[junkmalle]

I mainly capture to MPEG-2 at rather high bitrates (12~15Mbps), edit the content with VirtualDUBMOD and re-encode with CCE.

I always thought that would be a good solution for such a device (i.e., one that captures direct to MPEG-2).

Been thinking of getting the WinTV PVR-250 or this USB2 version and doing exactly that with sources I need to clean up with AviSynth filters etc.

I'm curious how you do it exactly? Do you just load the MPEG-2 into VirtualDubMod then frameserve to CCE?

I use the PVR 250 like that except my final output is usually IVTC'd AVI files. I record at the 12 mbps VBR setting for video and 48 Khz, 224 kbps mpeg1 layer2 for audio. I then use VirtualDubMpeg for editing, IVTC, filtering, and encoding (Xvid). I've never once had audio sync problems (I usually use "direct stream copy" for audio in VirtualDubMpeg).

[seekninfo]

Can both of these capture devices co-exist on the same computer? If so how does one do that. I read that SageTV support such a setup. What is the installation sequence? ie one capture device-SageTV and the other capture device? or install both capture devices and then SageTV. Any suggestions would be most welcome.