Hauppauge card

[tonemgub]

I am researching mid range capture cards and I have narrowed it down to the Hauppauge WinTV PVR 350 due to the (mostly) positive reviews here and elsewhere. I have a couple of questions before I buy it though.

1. Are the newer Hauppauge cards (PVR 500) significantly better than the older (PVR 250, 350)? So much so that it would be worth the extra $50?

2. I read in the reviews someone said something about the btwincap drivers not working because it encodes to MPEG 1/2/4 using the hardware. Then I read someone saying btwincap drivers do work with it. Which is true?

I really don't want to spend the money and then find out I can't get full screen caps because the btwincap drivers don't work with it. Any help is appreciated.

[Barnabas]

The Hauppauge hardware mpeg encoding cards do NOT use the BrookTree drivers, only the avi versions.

I own an 250 and like it, but use a Canopus DV capture device now, as that provides even better quality, but takes much longer due to software encoding of the final step.

[tonemgub]

Are there any Hauppauge cards that don't have MPEG hardware encoding? I can't afford anything over $200 like the canopus cards but I still would like to be able to use the btwincap drivers to get full screen caps.

[edDV]

Are there any Hauppauge cards that don't have MPEG hardware encoding? I can't afford anything over $200 like the canopus cards but I still would like to be able to use the btwincap drivers to get full screen caps.

Yes but you don't want them.

The PVR-250, 350 are an older design but rock solid in software support from many sources.

The newer PVR-150, 500 have been redesigned for cost reduction but diehard PVR-250, 350 users are up in arms about bugs that Hauppage seems to be ignoring in hopes that cost reduction will win out.

Meanwhile some of the other card manufactureres have moved to more advanced hardware but they barely work as far as software support and are unlikely to work well for the average user for another year or more.

All in all the PVR 250, 350 are looking more and more valuable for those who just want to have a PVR that works.

[tonemgub]

My main thing I want is the ability to have a good quality FULL screen capture. I have been reading so many card reviews and got the idea that you need the btwincap drivers for capturing full screen. I guess that is not true or else people wouldn't like the PVR 250 so much. I just want to get this straight. The PVR 250 allows full screen capture with the Hauppauge drivers, correct?

[mike909]

what about the 500mce? That's what I have...dual analog tuners and captures are good according to my eyes.

[FulciLives]

My main thing I want is the ability to have a good quality FULL screen capture. I have been reading so many card reviews and got the idea that you need the btwincap drivers for capturing full screen. I guess that is not true or else people wouldn't like the PVR 250 so much. I just want to get this straight. The PVR 250 allows full screen capture with the Hauppauge drivers, correct?

Full Screen is called Full D1 resolution which is 720x480 for NTSC and 720x576 for PAL and the Hauppauge can do this with the supplied drivers and software.

The old BT based capture cards usually came with drivers that would capture 688x480 for NTSC and just not see the remaining 16 pixels on either side (16 + 688 + 16 = 720) which is not the end of the world but you had to know this so that you captured at 688x480 and then padded out to 720 (by adding 16 black on either side) to get a regular 720x480 video. Most people didn't know this and would capture 720x480 which gave an incorrect aspect ratio (the 688 being stretched to 720). The BTwincap driver got real close to 720 ... it was actually 712x480 for NTSC but since that was only 8 pixels off you could capture 720x480 and not detect the aspect ratio error (8 pixels ain't nothing).

However that really only applied to the old BT based cards and does not apply to the Hauppauge capture cards/devices.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[edDV]

...
2. I read in the reviews someone said something about the btwincap drivers not working because it encodes to MPEG 1/2/4 using the hardware. Then I read someone saying btwincap drivers do work with it. Which is true?

My main thing I want is the ability to have a good quality FULL screen capture. I have been reading so many card reviews and got the idea that you need the btwincap drivers for capturing full screen. I guess that is not true or else people wouldn't like the PVR 250 so much. I just want to get this straight. The PVR 250 allows full screen capture with the Hauppauge drivers, correct?

This is an analog to digital capture card, so there is no real concept of pixel for pixel capture. A typical capture card will sample the analog signal and convert it to a digital 640x480, 704x480 or 720x480 raster. For PAL that would be 768x576, 704x576 or 720x576. DVD specs call for 704x480/576 or 720x480/576.

There is some controversy over how hardware samples to those horizontal sizes but most modern capture cards will oversample and then downconvert to 704 or 720 pixels per line. Some older designs internally convert first to square pixel 640 or some other number and then filter to 720, 704 or 352. Those older cards are to be avoided.

I think what you are describing is not "full screen" capture. Most cards do that. I think you are refering to uncompressed full screen capture versus compressed full screen capture using specific predetermined formats. In the case of the Hauppage PVR cards, that would be MPeg ("Full D1 - 720x480, MPEG1 - 352x240 / PAL format at 25fps - Full D1 - 720x576, MPEG1 - 352x288").

The controversy has been whether these cards allow uncompressed capture and to my best knowledge, they don't. Standard Connexant /Brooktree BT-8xx cards (like the Win-TV Go) will allow uncompressed capture but are not what you want for automated PVR recording.

[jman98]

Tonemgub - I have a PVR-350 and it is the best capture card I have ever owned. I've also had the ATI All-in-Wonder Radeon and the Dazzle DVC-II in the past. Canopus is supposed to make a great product, but it's too pricey for me. Please note that Hauppauge records video as Bottom Field First. The Teco BitRateViewer identifies it as Top Field First, but that is absolutely wrong. If you re-encode your videos using something like Cinema Craft Encoder (I do sometimes), you will need to know this or you will have problems with your re-encodes.

[jagabo]

Please note that Hauppauge records video as Bottom Field First. The Teco BitRateViewer identifies it as Top Field First, but that is absolutely wrong.

My PVR 250 records top field first (NTSC).

[FulciLives]

Tonemgub - I have a PVR-350 and it is the best capture card I have ever owned. I've also had the ATI All-in-Wonder Radeon and the Dazzle DVC-II in the past. Canopus is supposed to make a great product, but it's too pricey for me. Please note that Hauppauge records video as Bottom Field First. The Teco BitRateViewer identifies it as Top Field First, but that is absolutely wrong. If you re-encode your videos using something like Cinema Craft Encoder (I do sometimes), you will need to know this or you will have problems with your re-encodes.

Some versions of CCE have a confusing interface when it comes to selecting top/bottom field that almost makes you think you are doing it the other way around (selecting bottom field when you really want top field).

So my guess is that your capture is top field and that you are selecting the proper top field option in CCE but that the wording in CCE makes you think you are selecting bottom field ... when in fact you are not!

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[tonemgub]

I just ordered the PVR 250. I really appreciate all the replies, thanks.

[tonemgub]

Actually I have one last question. Will I be stuck using the bundled tv capture software? Thanks in advance

[edDV]

Actually I have one last question. Will I be stuck using the bundled tv capture software? Thanks in advance

There are many, beginning with BeyondTV, Sage and GB-PVR. What and how are you capturing?

The Medusa PVR is an extreme case
http://www.snapstream.com/Community/Articles/medusa/default.asp

[tonemgub]

I will be capturing tv straight from the coaxial cable if thats possible, if not i will connect it to my vcr that is hooked up to cable.

[edDV]

I will be capturing tv straight from the coaxial cable if thats possible, if not i will connect it to my vcr that is hooked up to cable.

Direct to cable is best and will get the analog channels. You would need a cable box for the Digital channels. The cable box would connect to the PVR-250 through the S-Video and audio connectors.

[tonemgub]

Well I only have analog cable so I won't have to deal with a cable box. How does the sound connection work? I cant find any information on that at the hauppauge site.

[Barnabas]

tonemgub,

If capping from a coax connection, the audio is part of the rf with the video. The 250 encodes both audio and video on-board.