What is the best tuner card/device out there?

[Lothar1974]

I have been looking into getting something but not sure what to get. I currently have a ATI 9700 AIW card but the sheduler keeps crapping out on me. When it tries to initiate to record a TV show it comes up with "ATISCHED.EXE ERROR" , nothing else. I contacted ATI last January and they still haven't fixed my issue yet.
I am now upgrading my video card to a 6800 GT and looking for a way to record my TV shows when I'm gone. What is one of the best with out having to sell a kidney to get it? Thanks everyone!!

Lothar1974

[reboot]

Avi or mpg?
For viewing on PC only, archiving to disk, or playing on standalone DVD player?
Do you need editing or not?

[Lothar1974]

Both, either, my AIW was able to select multiple file types which was nice. But if I am limited then I would definately go for the best quality.

[xxiangg]

I used to use WinTV GO card for TV tuner. Recently, I bought
an ATI HDTV wonder card and is very happy for it. To directly
record TV in digital format is far better than from analog. I believe
most major TV stations in major cities have its programs in digital
format. The card was on sale a few weeks ago in Fry's for $99.

[yoda313]

Hi,

I'm always putting in a plug for hauppauge wintv pvr 250. It's a mpeg only hardware capture card. $200 US new and probably half that or less at an auction website. Excellent quality and simple software with customizable bitrate selection.

It creates a ready to author mpg file for vcd, svcd, or dvd. You can record at any of the major resolutions including halfd1. Excellent product.

Kevin

[steveryan]

I agree with Kevin, for the money it's a great card. If you would like to see some sample clips then PM me.

[Lothar1974]

steveryan: was that the ATi or hauppauge? Sorry I dont know who kevin is.

I also worry that if I go with the ATI setup I will run ito the same issue I have now, granted the chipset and software is different, I still worry! I have been looking at the hauppauge USB 2 setup. I heard its pretty good and being external I am hoping a lessor chance of conflicts!

[yoda313]

steveryan: was that the ATi or hauppauge? Sorry I dont know who kevin is.

I also worry that if I go with the ATI setup I will run ito the same issue I have now, granted the chipset and software is different, I still worry! I have been looking at the hauppauge USB 2 setup. I heard its pretty good and being external I am hoping a lessor chance of conflicts!

Hi,

I'm the Kevin he was reffering to

And yes he was reffering to the hauppauge.

Kevin

[Lothar1974]

Does any one here have the hauppauge usb 2 model? If so do you like it? For the people that have the ATI how different is it from my 9700 AIW? Thanks!

[davideck]

I agree with the Hauppauge 250 advocates! Great results with Real Time Encoding.
Easily configurable. Very reliable.
Files are compatible with Ulead Movie Factory.
My computer IS my standalone DVD recorder! And it includes great authoring capabilities.

[Lothar1974]

OK, I'm sold on hauppauge. So USB or PCI? Which do you think is better?

[Nelson37]

xxiang is the first person I have seen reporting that level of satisfaction with the ATI HD card.

Generally would not recommend an external USB device for video capture.

Hauppage is a good product and a good company. There are some limitations to this product, such as no AVI capture.

Have used ATI scheduler for several years now. 5 Pc's, 2 OS's, 3 different cards, 4 or 5 different versions of MMC. No scheduler issues, in fact other than using software not designed for the card model no real problems at all.

Good product, very versatile, good capture quality. The software included works well. As with any complex software, some users will experience issues. This is not necessarily the fault of the software. Most likely a complete un-install and re-install with the correct drivers - this is not necessarily the latest drivers or the ones which came with the card - will solve the issue. Complete un-install of ATI software is a multi-step process, in addition to running a program you must delete directories, individual files, and registry entries. There are complete instructions at rege3d.com. When I follow them, and am installing an approved MMC for my card, I Always get a successful installation. When I don't, and I am changing versions, I Always have some sort of issue.

[rfielder]

I have been looking into getting something but not sure what to get. I currently have a ATI 9700 AIW card but the sheduler keeps crapping out on me. When it tries to initiate to record a TV show it comes up with "ATISCHED.EXE ERROR" , nothing else. I contacted ATI last January and they still haven't fixed my issue yet.

I have been using an AIS 8500DV, PCI Wonder VE, and AIS 9600XT. Ended up using Intervideo's WinDVR instead of ATI's software- nicer captures, more reliable.

Once in a while the scheduler in WinDVR craps out. A reboot usually fixes. Once, and once only, there was something wrong with my setup, and the schedule for WinDVR would not work at all. A format and fresh install of the OS and WinDVR fixed that.

In spite of the (minor) hassles I have encountered, WinDVR has been very good, worth the effort.

[junkmalle]

Some other notes on the Hauppauge PVR series:

Although you can only capture as MPEG you can capture at bitrates as high as 15,000 kbps. At those high rates the picture quality is almost as good as the best AVI captures (uncompressed, HuffYUV, MJPEG, DV).

The actual capture with the PCI cards (I don't now about the USB2 version) is nearly bulletproof. You can continue using your PC for pretty much anything else while capturing without worrying about dropping frames and/or losing audio sync.

There are a lot of third party tools for tweeking the PVR cards. See these web sites:

http://www.cask-of-amontillado.com/htpc.html
http://www.shspvr.com/

[Lothar1974]

My AIW worked well for quite a while. I have formated, used Driver cleaner, older drivers and difffernt versions of ATI's MMC, nothing has worked this time. In the past a complete uninstall of the video card and all drivers and software worked. I have even tried SP1, SP2, no other software other than ATI on my PC. I have not tried an out side software as mentioned. With all said it's looking like I may go with the hauppauge 250 PCI model. I can't imagine its anything with my PC as far as the issue I am having. My mb is a Asus P4S800 D-E Deluxe and is fairly new, same with my P4 and memory. Really the only thing that is not new is my hard drive. I loved the quality of the video capture from my AIW card, I can still capture my shows, just have to start it manually.
But with the new video card and the Hauppage card I am hoing it will be fine! On a last note, ATI's support has been horrible, I explained to them several times about everything I have done and one of their first ideas was to reboot! Nice. I have had this issue open with them since January. Thanks for all the ideas and help everyone!!!

Lothar1974 (Jason)

[hudsonf]

OK, I'm sold on hauppauge. So USB or PCI? Which do you think is better?

I have both of them and both work great. I'm using BeyondTV and can capture 2 channels at the same time. Since I switched from ATI to Hauppauge cards I haven't had any dropped frame problems.

[SatStorm]

I own PVR 250 and I know that produce acceptable results only at full CIRR framesize
720 x 480 / 576 that is (or crop D1, 704 x 576/480)
480 x 480 / 576 (SVCD) is simply "good"

Half D1 (352 x 576/480) is blured! Awfull!



IMO the best mainstream cards for analogue captures, are those based on the latest 10bit Conexant chip

Philips 9bit comes prety close

[Lothar1974]

I was just browsing Compusa and they have a new Pinnacle tuner card Model 110 I. Has any one seen this card or have it. THe guy at the store said he uses both a Hauppauge and a Pinnacle tuner card and he said this new Pinnacle card is suppose to be really good. Any thoughts?

Thanks

Lothar1974

[junkmalle]

By the way, the Hauppauge PVR-150 is pretty much the same as the 250 but much cheaper (the 250 is being phased out). Some people have audio problems with it -- so if you buy one you should make sure you can return it if necessary.

[showtaper]

I have the ATI AIW card, it is a little touchy. I have
problems when trying to use any Creative Labs
product (soundcards) and its a little prone to dropped
frames if anything else is going on...

I have a high end Dell Precision PC so the problems
are not from lack of PC resources.

I'll be trying the Hauppauge products as I'm looking
to put bring another PC into the capture era.....I'll
let you know how it goes!

[dj4monie]

Eh, I never had problems until I started upgrading video drivers to keep pace with game features and frame rate, not that I play games on here much anyway...

I went back to my default setup with the car and I had problems with 9.06. I suspect I have reg issues and few other install errors that prevent the sch from running, it crashes when I set it to record.

Also I get audio drop out during TV watching when I have several things open and I have watched the resources, it doesn't seem to matter.

ATI card are touchy but there isn't a better all in one product on the market....