Where to get a nice MPEG2 Capture Board

[jfebus]

Hi,

I am in need for a mpeg2 capture board and it seems that the best ones (Navis PRO and Vidac VMagic) aren't available for sale in the US.

Should I buy a WINTV card? Is there any other option?

Regards

Jose

[donpedro]

I am looking into this too... What about AVerTV Studio ? Is it any good ?

[ItsMe]

I am using the VMagic TV Plus and am really pleased with it. You can order them directly from Vidac. The sales/support people speak English and they ship to countries other than Germany.

[q1aqza]

I find the Hauppauge PVR 250 very good. I had initial teething problems but once sorted I have been able get very good MPEG2 captures.

[ItsMe]

I tried the PVR 250 but had nothing but problems and took it back to the shop. Some of the issues were, audio out of sync, picture quaility was not so good, the software was crap (would't save my settings, really slow channel changing) and hauppage support don't bother replying.

[q1aqza]

From what I've read about the VMagic card, if I'd known about it before I got the PVR 250 I probably would have considered one instead. However I do think the PVR 250, once you have got it working ok (which some poeple are unlucky and are unable to do) it is a very good card and the MPEG2 quality at DVD bitrates is almost as good as TMPG or CCE (I said almost to avoid any spin-off encoder quality comparison threads !). The quality is also good at SVCd bitrates (never tried VCD). The later drivers overcame the problems you mentioned.

Yeah, Hauppauge support is crap so I used SHS's unofficial site/forums to solve my initial issues (www.shspvr.com). Then again, in the digital video world, I haven't yet come across any decent support for any product or software !!. There's too many good forums around to do it for them !!

[donpedro]

Then again, in the digital video world, I haven't yet come across any decent support for any product or software !

I can't agree with you more...

[jfebus]

I just bought the Pinnacle DV500 DVD!

I expect to have great results...

Jose

[donpedro]

Why didn't you go for Edition ? This one come with Pinnacle Impression DVD SE and it is support only 1 video and 1 audio track and no subtitles for DVD. Edition come with Pinnacle Impression DVD Pro that can have multiple video, audio and subtitle tracks..... Was it because of capture card ? I saw your other posts...

[jfebus]

DonPedro,

I just cancel the order DV500 DVD and order a PVR 250...

Regards,

Jose

[donpedro]

Isn't it hard ??? Decide what to buy ? I still don't know which one to buy. I like PVR 250 or Pinnacle PCTV Deluxe, but niether one works without issues (per this forum) and Deluxe is only in CompUSA (15% restocking fee). I think I might give PVR-250 a chance soon too. Please post your experience with it here. Thanks.

BTW What made you change your mind ? And did you get some good deal ?

[q1aqza]

jfebus,

I assume you want an MPEG2 capture board as the source you are capturing from doesn't require any further editing?

Sorry if I am stating the obvious but MPEG2 is not the easiest of formats for editing. If you are capturing home video footage that you need to edit further then MPEG2 capture is not really the way to go.

I only use my PVR 250 for converting my VHS movies to DVD and for recording films off Sky satellite TV and convert to DVD for my own use. These do not need any editing except occasionally I need cut off some of the end where I have overran or the Sky intro for example. The bundled Nanopeg editor takes care of that OK. All my home video stuff is captured and edited in AVI and then encoded into MPEG2

I just wanted to make you aware of the downside to MPEG2 capturing.

[jfebus]

Thanks for the info!

I am planing to donate some of my time to a non-profit organization to convert for them 100's of VHS to DVD. I know I can capture them using my Digital camera as a bridge, encode then using tmpgenc and then burn them. But I am looking for a capture card that can capture and encode to mpg2 in realtime, so I can burn the mpg2 to DVD.

I think a captura card with mpeg2 is the way to go.

Are you completely happy with your PVR 250?

Regards,

Jose

[mr. big2]

i'm getting the new hauppauge pvr-350. giving a try i never used a capture card but want to record some movies off cable to share. the website has a special introductory offer o $199.00.www.hauppauge.com

[bemax]

I'll just throw my 2 cents in. I've got an ADS Instant DVD USB and it works great for what I do. If you search this site, you will find many postings where people have had trouble with this device but most of those are pre Oct 2002. I got mine in Nov 2002 with the latest CapWiz and Video Studio (6.02) and it does great for capturing DVD at 5 mb/s. Capturing at SVCD or VCD is not as good if your video has a lot of motion but I am fine with the 5 mb/s caps.

I edit using VS 6.02 and don't have any problems with audio sync, etc but I do find that if I do too much editing and re-editing that the quality suffers. I tend to do all my editing from the original capture and then render all of the edited segments at once. This gives very good results equivalent to the original 8 mm analog tape.

Hope this helps,

[q1aqza]

jfebus wrote:

Are you completely happy with your PVR 250?

Yes I am.

I do however on rare occasions get audio sync issues when capturing from an old poor quality VHS tape, but I think you would get that on any capture device if the source is poor. I've read that a Time Base Corrrector (TBC) overcomes this. Something to bear in mind if you do have some poor ones to copy. TBCs are quite expensive but I have read that JVC do a VHS VCR that has one built in and works out much cheaper.

[jbrondum]

Hey all,

I just got the Hauppauge WinTV PVR-350 and are very pleased with it.
...beside having to do a clean installation of Win2000, because I had too much junk installed on there; the product is working fine and I can't really say that I any major problems with the software.
I also have no problems in getting responses from the Techies over at Hauppauge, guess it's because I have the direct email address to one of the guys
When capturing from Camcorder, I still use my Firewire, Adobe Premiere and TMPGEnc for encoding. My system is a dual MP2000+ with 2GB DDR and 5x60GB HDD, and the encoding after done with edit my film, is pretty much done in realtime on highest quality.
...don't you just love it when the software actually supports SMP


Regards,
John Brondum

[vcdlover]

Well. Kitty, our mod here has a WinTV PVR-250. He said he was very happy with it. I'm going to get one soon.

[jbrondum]

...if you plan on getting a Hauppauge PVR model, you might as well go for the PVR-350. With the current introduction offer from Hauppauge, you'll get it at only $199 - which is only $50 more.
The PVR-250 is selling at $149


Regards,
John Brondum

[vcdlover]

You know what's the difference? It's worth for $50 more?

[kitty]

Yeah I like my PVR250 although it doesn't like my dual monitor setup (won't run on second monitor).

But you get it all tweeked up and hey it is capping my Video8 movies just so nice. And no long TMPGenc sessions. Hard to beat.

The PVR350 wasn't out when I bought - the output would be very beneficial to some people, especially the Tivo wannabes. The intro price I like.

I suggest checking out SHS' site for info on these cards www.shspvr.com (look under news also).

Go get 'em!

[vcdlover]

I'll get the 250 tomorrow.

vcdlover

[jbrondum]

Just got home from work...
...man the 57S and 91E was bad

If you wanna compare, take a look here:
http://www.hauppauge.com/html/products.htm#pvr

...and now off to satisfy the wife


Regards,
John Brondum

[next]

For hardware encoding it's tough to beat the pvr-250. Stunning results here and an active community of critics and hackers that make it an enjoyable experience.

Many thanks to SHS.

Great info here:

http://www.shspvr.com/forum/index.php

Sorry for all the edits but I forgot to add that it's really cheap - $99 after rebates here in the states.

[dcsos]

Anyone have any experience with VITEC products.. This product has been out since 1998 and it was over a thousand dollars then. Now with cheap offerings from Pinnacle and ADS, they've dropped the all inclusive price to $349.
and this is HARDWARE ACCELERATED MPEG-2 capture like a SONIC or MAESTRO SPRUCE capture card (from what I've read its head and shoulders above the typical ALL-IN-WoNDER card like I have)or any software MPEG card
\check here
http://www.videoguys.com/dcm.html

[next]

dcsos - the price for hardware accelerated cards have bottomed out recently. 1998 prices may not apply in todays world. Chip companies are spitting out these chips like pez. The cheaper cards with newer technology may offer better results with a signifactly lower price point.

[SHS]

jbrondum just wondering but what is 57S and 91E

[jbrondum]

SHS,

That would be 57 South and 91 East
...sure you know then
Guess I should edit that Denmark thing ?!?

Anyway, love your site by the way.
Will drop by during the weekend, for some tips on my new card.


Regards,
John Brondum