PVR - Personal Video Recorder - Question

[ress]

Hello,

I would like to know what the differences are when a PVR distributor means that the PVRs they sell are either software or hardware for MPEG2 decoder. Which is better?

Thank you.

[leebo]

Stay away from software!

You'll save a few bucks if you get a card that uses software only, but you'll slit your wrists later!!!

The difference is that with software only your computers CPU will be doing all the work.
The problem is that even with todays high CPU speeds, they're still not fast enough for doing PVR work.

You'll enjoy some of these "features":

A weird "film" like look (even when watching videotape based programs), due to the reduced frame size of captured video, which is then magnified to fill the TV screen.

Strobing during zooms and pans.

Excruciatingly slow response of the PVR software controls, due to the CPU trying to encode video, run Windows operating system, and respond to your commands.

I went through this hell for over a year. I then decided to get the new Hauppage 350 PVR, which turned out to be vaporware.

I got a TIVO last week and am still kicking myself for having waited so long!!!

[ress]

Thanks, so then getting a hardware one is much better. Cool. So by the way, when you say TIVO do you mean that "TIVO" system that, I think, records onto a harddrive or something from a television? And if so, isn't that bad equipment? I have no idea, I've been told it is, but you sound real happy with it. Any info would be appreciated, especially how TIVO works.

Thank you

[jesterspet535]

I happen to own a Tivo, and I am very happy with it.

All of the encoding and decoding is handled via integrated chips, the actual processing power and memory of a Tivo is astonishingly low (66mhz PPC processor, 16mb of memory there about.) the OS/applications/saves programs are on a Harddrive, but the response is pretty fast.

As for the bad equipment portion, that depends on what you are comparing it to. bad as inferior to broadcast quality turn key solutions for TV stations, yes. it is there is video compression that introduces enough noise as to reduce the quality of an image to below broadcast standards. A Tivo is not sutible for TV stations to use.

or do you mean "bad as in you can configure a Dell dimension to perform the same job for the same amount of cash?" no. The Tivo is not bad at all. as a matter of fact I have 2 friends that saw my tivo and got thier very own cause they were jelous.

If you really wnat to find out more about how a Tivo works, how to add drive space to it, give it a memory upgrade, etc. you will want to checkout the Tivo FAQ at Here and here for the memory upgrades.

The short answer to how does it work is "It is linux embeded onto special hardware, with highly specialized applications written especialy for that hardware. it is hackable due to the fact that the source code is available, and Tivo doesnt casre what you do to the hardware, as long as you do not interfere with thier subscription fees." I for one do not mind the fees that I pay in exchange for the service I get. I feel like I am getting a fair deal from Tivo.

Since the Tivo has multiple outputs on it you can plug it in to your TV, VCR/vcd recorder, and tv capture card all at the same time. and if you drop a frame, you can kill your current capture and restart it.

If you are worried about your video quality, the only time you can see the difference is when you are capturing it on a computer. On a TV screen there is not a discernable difference. and the difference on the Computer is very minor.

[ress]

Let me see if I get this.

First, you say it has outputs but does it have inputs?
And then, ... so what you do is use the TIVO as a harddrive, hook up the vcr with vhs tape to the TIVO, hit play on the vcr and record on the TIVO.

That would, fundamentally digitize the analog video you are transferring, right?

Then you make a vcd out of it by dumping what you just digitized onto a disk,

...........
BUT
...........

Wouldn't all that be stupid since you could just go directly from your vhs tape on a vcr to your vcd recorder?
And using a TIVO can you make any changes on the video, framerate, global format (i.e. PAL, NTSC), etc.etc.

[leebo]

Wait a minute!

You didn't mention ANY of that in your original question! did you expect that we could read your mind???

You asked which did people think was "better", a hardware based PVR or a software one.

A TIVO is a stand alone box designed to record and pause live TV broadcasts. Yes, you can connect a VCR to it and record that, but it woulden't be very efficent

I hear there's a way to remove the drive and transfer the mpeg2 video into your computer, but if thats what you want, then a TIVO might not be what you want.

The latest "Replay" (same thing as TIVO) has an Ethernet jack that you can use to directly send captured video into your computer using a program someone wrote especially for that purpose.

If you want a PVR, AND an mpeg capture card for making VCD's, I'd look in the capture card section of this site.
Check out the Hauppage 250 and 350 (but don't hold your breath for them to release the 350).

Oh, and STAY AWAY from software based PVR cards!

[ress]

Cool. Thank you very much for your help.

[Robert Simandl]

Let me second the notion standalone hardware PVR's are a godsend!

I do my capturing with a ReplayTV model 4160 (two a/v inputs, one of them s-video). High quality mode is 6mbps VBR MPEG-2, and is nearly indistingushable from my DirecTV receiver's live signal.

This puppy has an ethernet port which I use to copy the files to my PC's hard drive, where I edit the commercials out with Womble MPEG2VCR and/or burn to DVD with Dazzle DVD Complete.

Sure, the ReplayTV is expensive if you're just looking for a capture device.

But I went the other way around.

I was looking for a top notch PVR, didn't find out 'til *after* I bought it that I can copy shows from it to my hard drive, and that's when I bought my DVD burner.

[epo]

I have PVR-250. While I haven't managed to get any playable results with SVCD (audio sync issues, but excellent picture), it makes DVDs as angel. Most are recorded from "ARD Das Erste" (German No. 1) via digital satellite @8Mbps VBR. I get better recordings than are broadcasted from their relive channel Also audio quality beats my HiFi VCR any day (perfect). And this toy will not blow anybody's budget. May be hard to install tough (wasn't for me).

[leebo]

If you're interested in the Hauppauge boards, an idea might be to go to this forum and read about what issues current owners are dealing with:

http://pvr.opcenter.de