Any recommendations for WinXP TV Tuner Card/device?

[kschang]

Preferably with PVR (i.e. Hardware MPEG2 encoder).

I've had a Hauppauge WinTV on my older machine and it works great, was wondering if the latest Hauppauge is as good.

[mats.hogberg]

There's still not anything that beats the WinTV PVR series - the newer 150 seems to have some audio problem - at least had, in the first batch. Compared to 250, 350 comes with a hardware mpeg decoder, and the 500 adds a second tuner. Basically tho, they are all the same hardware.

/Mats

[throwingks]

Yeah, Hauppauge is the best. I use a Leadtek and it is good, but If I want to copy something, I usually go to my DV 1st. It is always better quality. I.E. VCR to Handycam then tranfer through firewire. Its an extra, long step but for quality its worth it.

All in all, I wish I had a Hauppauge.

[FulciLives]

Hauppauge WinTV PVR 250 or 350 are good for PCI as is the ADS Instant TV Deluxe PCI (model PTV-305).

For external use there is the Hauppauge WinTV PVR USB2 or the ADS Instant TV Deluxe USB (model USBAV-705). Both of these use USB 2.0

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Gplracer]

Is there something wrong with the audio on the 150 still? How is the 250 different? I have a leadtek expert and wondered if the 150 or the 250 would give me a better picture.

[olyteddy]

I like my Haquppauge. The only real drawback is MPEG sound, not AC3.

[FulciLives]

Is there something wrong with the audio on the 150 still? How is the 250 different? I have a leadtek expert and wondered if the 150 or the 250 would give me a better picture.

Last I heard the sound has finaly been fixed with the newest driver but the "too bright" issue still remains and PAL people complain about the comb filter (which works well for NTSC but not for PAL apparently).

I would still advise against the 150 model.

The 250 model is older but more "mature" in that it doesn't have the problems that the 150 model still has so the 250 model is the suggested model if you want a Hauppauge PVR PCI card.

I suggest you take a look at the following website:

http://www.shspvr.com/

Not only does that website have some great tips and tweaks etc. but also a very active forum dedicated to Hauppauge PVR cards.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[FulciLives]

I like my Haquppauge. The only real drawback is MPEG sound, not AC3.

ADS has a new capture device out that has essentially the same "guts" as the ADS Instant DVD 2.0 but the new device (also USB 2.0) now features hardware encoded AC-3 audio with locked audio support.

The downside? No tuner input and even with the composite and S-video inputs the software doesn't support unattended scheduled recordings very well. Also it is so new they are still working out some "bugs" with the AC-3 encoding. Still though it's worth a look once the bugs get ironed out.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[ktjensen]

Hauppauge WinTV PVR 250 or 350 are good for PCI as is the ADS Instant TV Deluxe PCI (model PTV-305).

For external use there is the Hauppauge WinTV PVR USB2 or the ADS Instant TV Deluxe USB (model USBAV-705). Both of these use USB 2.0

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

I bought the ADS Instant TV Deluxe PCI (PTV-305) based on this recommendation. For $50 on www.newegg.com and it worked. Out of the box, with no problems, on my WINXP home system (no re-install for three years), which had another card that failed (drivers screwed up). I like it when hardware and software JUST WORKS FINE!! FIRST TIME and FOREVER.

[FulciLives]

I bought the ADS Instant TV Deluxe PCI (PTV-305) based on this recommendation. For $50 on www.newegg.com and it worked. Out of the box, with no problems, on my WINXP home system (no re-install for three years), which had another card that failed (drivers screwed up). I like it when hardware and software JUST WORKS FINE!! FIRST TIME and FOREVER.

When you get a chance how about posting some screen grabs in this thread from captures that you have made with the ADS Instant TV Deluxe PCI (PTV-305). I'm sure people would like to see what the quality is like especially at DVD resolutions and bitrates (in other words no VCD or SVCD or ultra low bitrates).

Most of us use VirtualDubMod as you can load your captured MPEG-2 file into it then use the COPY SOURCE FRAME TO CLIPBOARD function to copy any frame to the clipboard then paste that into an image program (like Photoshop or even Windows Paint) and then save as a JPG.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[v-sharp]

Recorded from tv with PTV-305 and ShowBiz DVD, frame grabbed with MediaPlayer Classic.

The first three frames are "GlobeTrekker" scenes recorded from NYC TV 25 channel.

The last three frames are "The Yakuza" scenes recorded from Cinemax.

(edit)p.s.
Forgot to say that PTV-305 is vcr macro-free right out of the box. No need of fiddling with whatever, I tried it with my macro vhs tapes and they're all captured to hdd with no fuzz.

[ktjensen]

Well I found an issue with the PTV-305 card and the SHOWBIZ DVD software. I can not get it to CAPTURE video/audio at anything less than 5GB for a two hour movie. I know the software will do a conversion afterwards, but the adjustments during capture (in SHOWBIZ) seem to not let you adjust the capture rate (even though they will do the convert of the resulting MPEG2 file later on).

Was anyone able to capture to MPEG2 at a lower bit rate? (I am NOT asking about converting to a lower bit rate later, as i know I can do that).

NOTE: always use DOLBY as the captured audio stream beacuse this is what is needed for burning to DVD later.