Audio/Video Selector & Output Quality

[Tom Saurus]

I have a Hauppauge 150 Card in my computer. I record with the WinTV2000 software. I bought an Audio Video Selector that allows me to hook up quite a few different devices to the input slots and then output them through an output cable to my Hauppauge Card. I was wondering if this would result in any noticable degregation in video and audio quality. We bought a HDPVR, and I tested the S-Video Output of the receiver when playing back a show and it works fine. I was thinking of using this Audio Video Selector so I wouldn't have to be switching cables frequently. I was also thinking of hooking a vcr to it as well, to convert some of vhs tapes. This is all standard definition stuff and the audio/video selector has no power to boost the signal. So does anyone have any experience with this kind of thing, and are you pleased with the resulting recordings? Thank you in advance for any advice you can give me on this issue.

[BrainStorm69]

For an old discussion of the topic, see the following:

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/231762-Recommend-a-video-switcher?p=1354391&viewfull=1

Ultimately, I think you need to do some captures directly and through the switcher, and compare them...preferably by doing a screen cap of the same frame each way and then comparing the screen caps. I've been pretty happy in the past with my Sony selector (its fairly high end for a unpowered selector), but even it causes at least some degradation. It ends up being an individual decision based on your preference for convenience vs. the absolute best image quality capture you can get.