Newbie question: Hauppage PVR-250 or Canopus ADVC-100

[nimco]

A question from newbie.

Please help:
I need to capture and convert to MPG2 my old VHS videos.
I think to buy a video capture card or a stand alone encoder.
Have tried ATI AIW Radeon 32MB, it doesn't do good job for MPG2, it is no way to get good MPG2 on the slow machine, for AVI is even wors.
I spent a couple weeks for reading forums on VCDHelp and now I am confused. So many people have problems with WinTV PVR-250. Which solution would be the best, to buy WinTV PVR-250 or Canopus ADVC-100, Canopus ADVC-1394.
Which one is the easiest way to get it working with my comp configuration?

I have a slow computer: Intel PIII 600 MHz, 256MB RAM, 40G 7200RPM HD, WIN 98SE.

Thanks for any comments,

nimco

[SHS]

Canopus ADVC-100, Canopus ADVC-1394 are DV device they don't rec in MPEG nor AVI just DV format so you will have do soft convert to MPEG.
WinTV PVR-250 is REALtime MPEG encoder
This also depend on how good your tape are
Thing you need with the Canopus ADVC-100
1: 80GB drive
2: A lot fast CPU at lease 1.6GHz or better
I think the Canopus ADVC-1394 is soft MPEG recording try ask other that have this device on the Canopus forum

[patrickjamesreid]

Canopus ADVC-100, Canopus ADVC-1394 are DV device they don't rec in MPEG nor AVI just DV format so you will have do soft convert to MPEG.
WinTV PVR-250 is REALtime MPEG encoder
This also depend on how good your tape are
Thing you need with the Canopus ADVC-100
1: 80GB drive
2: A lot fast CPU at lease 1.6GHz or better

There are some inaccuracies in this post.

the ADVC-100 does indeed convert an analog input to a DV stream that you have to hook up to a IEEE-1394 card in your PC (or on a newer machine, you may have support for this on the motherboard). The file that you end up with on your hard drive is an AVI, at DV resolution and compression (720x480, 25 Mbps).

I have about 40+ GB free on my promary capture drive, which is enough for about 3.5 hours of captured material, so it depends on how much video you will be editing at a time.

I use an 800 MHz Athlon to capture and have lots of spare cycles with never a dropped frame, so the CPU recommendation is a little high.

One advantage of the ADVC-100 is that it is external. I had lots of trouble with my internal capture card getting interference from hard drive activity during captures. With my ADVC, no problem.

[Anonymous65]

The problem with the ADVC-100 is that is does not have a hardware DV encoder. The ADVC-100 outputs an uncompressed 200Mb/sec 24 bit stream that has to be software encoded by your CPU. Also, the ADVC-100 does not come with the DV software encoder, so the $300 price tag for the ADVC-100 is outrageous. It does capture analog video at 720x480 24 bit color and DV audio formats at very high quality.

For direct to mpeg captures (fast, easy, can be done on most any PC) the PVR-250 will give the best quality, especially for only $150. You just need some patience to install the PCI card.

You might also look into Pinnacle's Studio 8 AV for just over $100. It comes with a PCI capture card with hardware mjpeg encoder/decoder and capture/edit/encoding software to make VCD, SVCD and DVD's.

[nimco]

Thanks guys for your recomendations.

To me is absolutely OK have those videos converted to DV format. It is even better, with TMPGENc I may convert them to MPG2 or 1/2DVD, more flexibilty. And for this Not Real time converting I do not need fast CPU. And ADVC-100 does stereo, but PVR-250 doesn not.
One more question, SHS and Skittelsen, you say ADVC-100 is not a hardawre encoder. However, in order to get it working it does not need any software install on computer just "connect cables and play", except you need drivers for IEEE-1394 just for date transferring. Correct me if I am wrong.
What converts uncompressed 200Mb/sec 24 bit stream to DV format if no software installed on PC? The other people like patrickjamesreid, say they have wery good results with no dropped frame, they have slow machines. But it is no way for slow PC to do real time converting at 200Mb/sec. Maybe it is still done in ADVC-100 hardware on the fly? I have read your
"conversation" with Toogy in VCDhelp forum on 10/05/02. He says apposite as you guys. Where is the truth?
Toogy, how fast is your computer? What is your opinion about this?
Do I really need CPU faster than 600MHz for no dropped frames converting on ADVC-100?
But anyway, if ADVC-100 not good for my 600Mhz PC, how about WinTV PVR-250? Will it work properly at 600Mhz PC with no dropped frames and I will install everything according to Skittelsen and SHS recomendations?

I am very appreciated for your support. This is really valuable place to see and learn what peole are doing with those "videostreams".

Sorry for my english.

nimco

[SHS]

nimco PVR-250 does have stereo.
ADVC-100 dosen't come with software and dosen't come with a Firewire card that need inside the PC in order to plug it in unless you all ready have buildin Firewire port on motherboard or Sound card like the SB Audigy which has a Firewire port.
WinTV PVR-250 will just fine with 600Mhz PC with no dropped frames.

[nimco]

Does it have a stereo for capturing trough the analog input, not just from TV tuner?
What is the best place buy the latest version of WinTV PVR-250 and make sure not those first releases? I live in US.

Technically PVR-250 looks to me even better than ADVC-100. But I still do not understand about the ADVC-100, what software converts videostream to DV on the PC side? OK for example a PC has a FireWire card inside and drivers for it. I need connect together ADVC-100 output to FireWire card input. As ADVC-1000 users and the technical spec. say no software needs to be installed to PC, just plug it in and start capturing. What is the software which converts the 200Mb/sec stream to DV format on the PC? FireWire card drivers definetely do not do that. Nothing else required to install in order to get FireWire card working. Maybe FireWire card receives already DV format stream from ADVC-100?

nimco

[SHS]

Yes it has stereo input capturing trough the analog input on WinTV-PVR 250 as well the tuner

[kitty]

Does it have a stereo for capturing trough the analog input, not just from TV tuner?
What is the best place buy the latest version of WinTV PVR-250 and make sure not those first releases? I live in US.
nimco

It will capture analog stereo. I got mine at CompUSA and I believe MicroCenter has them as well. Many mail order companies carry it.

SHS' site has some good info on this card www.shspvr.com

The Kitty

[ajp]

The ADVC-100 converts the incoming signal to DV format IN HARDWARE using it's own Canopus codec which is really good. The file that ends up on your harddrive is 25Mbit DV-file and capturing DOES NOT use much CPU power, the compression is done by the ADVC-100. This is how it works, believe me.

I got one because I was disappointed with the control of the parameters and quality that the hardware mpeg2 encoders gave me (I own DVC2 and Snazzi III) and I'm very happy with it. Mpeg2 encoding takes longer but faster than realtime with CCE or Mainconcept using my P4. Quality is outstanding and audio sync isn't an issue...

[nimco]

What is the best software for ADVC-100. I want capture my VHS videos, edit them, convert from PAL to NTSC reencode to 1/2 DVD or MPG2 (for burning SVCD)? My PC OS is Win98SE.

Thanks for your inputs,

nimco

[AHaxton]

Hey,

I was wondering for 100 dollars and below what is the best internal card I can get? Ive seen a sample of a capture taken by the AVerTV Stereo and its pretty good quality. I was just wondering if I can get something even better for my budget.

Thanks,
Alex