recommendations on hardware encoders

[smokingweed3000]

Hey,
Are hardware encoders the best way to go for quality? Also what about the speed?
Could someone recommend one?
Thankx

[kwag]

For speed- Hardware.
For quality - Software.

If you are going to buy a hardware encoder, be sure to see some mpeg samples from the manufacturer, before you buy.

I personally capture to AVI and then compress to mpeg.
You can do more, like apply filters, etc. to a capture.

Takes longer, but the final result is not matched by any hardware encoder.

kwag

[Mirror_Image]

They certainly are faster than software encoders (as you would expect), and consider that the folks who encode MPEG-2 for retail DVDs use hardware encoders. It might help to give a "not-to-exceed price" to narrow down the recommendations, unless you are on an unlimited budget, otherwise you'll get all kinds of suggestions, from cheap things that aren't true hardware encoders all the way to turnkey systems in the mid-5-figure range.