PVR-250 - Does Remote Cntrl Retrieve folder's files?

[flemingdl]

Hi folks,
I’ve tolerated my Aver-Media model 350 card for a year now and still feel it was OK for $99 at the time. It’s in our Pent4 PC, and it’s interface for retrieving Mpeg files, and tuner quality are just OK.

I’m ready to move up to a Win TV PVR-250 and hoping I can verify a few things – sure wish I could try one out at a Retail outlet but that’s just unheard of, no, you must take it home and install it to really find out it’s features(!)

Goal is to use this PVR-250 as a friendly PVR for the family to record TV. The older Pent3 PC uses it’s ATI Rage Pro TVideo out to display on the TV.:

I ‘m hoping the Remote control will reduce the need for the Mouse & Keybrd in our living room.
1) Can I retrieve previously recorded shows from a file list (or folder) all with the remote control?
2) Can I fast forward thru the Mpeg2 File to skip portions (spelled commercials) with the remote?
I understand I will likely have to name those Mpeg2 files after recording them with the keybrd, but want the family to be able to retrieve them easily for viewing (and deleting when done!).

Thanks lots for any info



Don Fleming
Bellevue Wa.

[canadateck]

Use it with GB-PVR it can do all that and more.

[flemingdl]

Thanks CanadaTeck. That's an impressive looking product, I will research it!. I wish it would also interface with AverMedia cards for my other PC, Is their something similar for my AverMedia PCI-350 app perhaps?

Don F

[FulciLives]

You may want to consider getting the Hauppauge WinTV PVR 350

The 250 and 350 are very nearly identical (on the recording side) but the 350 adds a TV out functionality that is very nice.

It uses circuitry that is similiar to what is inside a DVD player ... basically the same as those "old" MPEG/DVD cards like the Hollywood Plus (or the newer Xcard). The outputs on the 350 will give you much better quality than any video card's TV out function.

Thus the 350 makes it very easy for "record ... watch once ... delete" programming as you get superior quality TV output without the need to degrade with the use of a video card's TV out or waste time burning to a DVD-RW or DVD+RW for set top DVD playback.

Also I am guessing that the remote control of the WinTV PVR 350 is made to work with the TV out function although I cannot say for sure as I do not have the WinTV PVR 350 but since it has built-in TV out one would think that the remote would control this.

A good site for finding out about the Hauppauge WinTV PVR series of capture cards is here:

http://www.shspvr.com/

Good Luck

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
I have read many times from many Hauppauge users that the program called VIDEOREDO is the best MPEG editor to use with captures made with the Hauppausge WinTV PVR products. Other editing and or demuxing programs can supposedly lead to loss of A/V sync. I wanted to share this as it seems to be "essential" knowledge that is not universal amoung Hauppauge users (at least not at first until loss of A/V sync drives them to find out about alternatives like VIDEOREDO).

One last thing I want to note ...
The 350 can output the captured files fine as it is made to work with it's own captures (which use MP2 and/or WAV audio) but it cannot be used to play back a DVD since it is not compatable for AC-3/DTS so some people, for FULL functionality, prefer to use a Hauppauge WinTV PVR 250 along with a Sigma Designs Xcard. The Xcard uses the same DVD player like circuitry of the 350 but does support AC-3 and DTS so you can play back DVD's stored on the computer or in the DVD-ROM drive etc. plus the Xcard can do DivX and XviD (though limited to simple profile).

[mats.hogberg]

Yes, I could well see a box with a 250/350 card + GBPVR as a HTPC system - with full remote control.

/Mats

[flemingdl]

I'm now shopping for that PVR-350. My old ATI Rage Vid card's TV out works but takes alot of clicking to turn it on/off (When it's on, the PC monitor's screen must be on it's undesireable settings so PC use on it is clumsy). I sure hope the 350's remote can on/off the TV out, but either way, I'm going for the 350, and again thanks for all the above info you all.

Cheers!

Don F.

[FulciLives]

I'm now shopping for that PVR-350. My old ATI Rage Vid card's TV out works but takes alot of clicking to turn it on/off (When it's on, the PC monitor's screen must be on it's undesireable settings so PC use on it is clumsy). I sure hope the 350's remote can on/off the TV out, but either way, I'm going for the 350, and again thanks for all the above info you all.

Cheers!

Don F.

Good Luck !!!

Also in case it was not clear earlier ... the 350 model can only output MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video with MP2/PCM audio. That is all it does but it does it extremely well. You cannot get your "desktop" out of it as you do with your video/graphic card's TV out.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[jagabo]

Also in case it was not clear earlier ... the 350 model can only output MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video with MP2/PCM audio. That is all it does but it does it extremely well. You cannot get your "desktop" out of it as you do with your video/graphic card's TV out.

Doesn't that make it useless as a PVR since you can't browse through your files to pick one to play?

[FulciLives]

Also in case it was not clear earlier ... the 350 model can only output MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video with MP2/PCM audio. That is all it does but it does it extremely well. You cannot get your "desktop" out of it as you do with your video/graphic card's TV out.

Doesn't that make it useless as a PVR since you can't browse through your files to pick one to play?

You would still need a monitor connected to the computer or the computer's TV out to see the desktop but once you select the file you want to play simply switch the TV (or use a video switcher) to change inputs.

The outputs on the 350 are like that of a DVD player ... much better quality than the video card's output. It would be the prefered way to watch MPEG files from the computer to your TV.

Just like in the "old" days when people used the Hollywood Plus card for DVD playback (when computer's and video cards were not "up to snuff").

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[jagabo]

You would still need a monitor connected to the computer or the computer's TV out to see the desktop but once you select the file you want to play simply switch the TV (or use a video switcher) to change inputs.

Maybe I misunderstood but I thought that's what he was trying to avoid.

[flemingdl]

That's a bit disappointing that the pvr-350 does not display the Desktop and PC folders on the TV. But, If the mpeg2 files are of high quaility, they must be better than the ATI vid cards TV out (shows grainy VCD format files). I could perhaps also utilize my ATI card TV-out on another TV input to manage the files.

Well, just one more if I may:
Ideally this new setup also works like a digital cable where we can see the name of the current TV show we're watching (80+ channels, a nice feature).
Does PVR-350 display on TV the Cable TV input to the PC and perhaps with the GB-PVR app can allow viewing info about the current shows or others on our cable service? I'm comparing this to the $20 per month cost of upgrading to Comcast digital cable, with full info menu's, and a PVR box they provide - maybe that's a tough deal to beat(!)

Thanks folks

Don F

[mats.hogberg]

GBPVR adds info from the EPG you use. I have an XMLTV format app that retrieves this for me. Could be configured as a Scheduled task, I presume.

/Mats

[flemingdl]

Well, I played the EBAY deals and did OK I guess. A bid war ran the nearly new PVR-350 up to $150 total w/ shipping. Installed it last night into 4 yr old, recently reimaged, Pent 733 / 384mb RAM, Win XP dual boot setup (has Win98 bootup option). So Far, Quite Dissappointed. Very jerky, choppy TV display from our Cable on the PC monitor. Haven't tried it on Analog TV set yet. Hoping some tweaking can fix this, or it'll go back for sale. Maybe the minimum 733ghz PC is not enough - Haupaugge pegs that as the minimum PC but with XP running maybe it's over taxed. I will research some more, but any suggestions sure are welcome.

Thxs
Don Fleming

[FulciLives]

Your computer specs, while very dated, are still more-than-enough for a hardware MPEG-2 DVD spec capture card ala the Hauppauge WinTV PVR cards.

You should not be having the trouble that you are having.

Some things to try:

1.) Check the Hauppauge website and look for the most updated driver and software.

2.) Install a 2nd physical HDD and try to capture to that. Sometimes when you capture to the same HDD as the "boot HDD" that can cause trouble.

3.) If none of the above works ... is the system clean? Maybe you need to re-format and re-install everything from scratch so the system is "clean".

Also are you sure the system has a decent enough video card to handle MPEG-2 DVD spec playback? Does it play back a DVD Video disc A-OK or does it also have trouble with smooth playback?

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
If nothing else works could be that it is a defective card ... hence the reason it was being sold on eBay.

[jagabo]

Also check your video card's overlay setting.

In my experience, a P733 is barely able to play full D1 MPEG2 video.

Note that capturing the MPEG2 stream probably isn't your problem. It's the decoding and display of the video while it's being captured. Especially if you are trying to run it full screen and not using overlay mode. Some older graphic cards don't support overlay scaling so the CPU may be doing it. You can easily test this by capturing a little video and then using VirtualDubMPEG2 or something similar to step through the file.

[flemingdl]

Thanks, some more good info to go on.

I reinstalled Win XP to the old 733ghz last night (Vid card is ATI Rage fury pro 128) due to spyware and other abnormalities. Will reinstall the PVR-350 tonite for another go with it. Will Address some of the above.

If not good result, will likely then try the PVR-350 in our 1 yr old pent 2.8ghz PC that has the Aver Media 350 tuner/fm card. I presume I should uninstall the AverMedia card (Hw & App Sw) before installing the PVR-350. I also presume this PVR-350 is the better card, that I should keep it instead of the AverMedia card for quality Mpeg recording and editing etc..

ThanksGain!

Don F

[FulciLives]

Thanks, some more good info to go on.

I reinstalled Win XP to the old 733ghz last night (Vid card is ATI Rage fury pro 128) due to spyware and other abnormalities. Will reinstall the PVR-350 tonite for another go with it. Will Address some of the above.

That is always a good idea (clean install) after things haven gotten "mucked" up a bit with spyware and whatnot.

If memory serves me well the ATI card you have is an oldie and it might be as jagabo suggested ... that your recording is actually A-OK but that your video card just can't keep up with playback. One way to test that is to play back the captured video using the output on the 350 (hooked up to a TV) because that is using the hardware MPEG decoder built into the 350, bypassing the video card, and will work even if the video card is not "fast" enough by itself for proper MPEG-2 DVD spec playback.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[flemingdl]

OK, will try Mpeg Output too this weekend. I mention PVR-350 TV display is jerky above and that's just during live TV display, channel surfing etc.. It's not recording or playing recorded files.

The ATI Card does has TV-In (& out) and the Media Center APP installed which displays TV very well, but does not capture real well - in various jerky mpeg1 formats (vintage 2000 technology). Wonder if that ATI software is impacting the PVR-350.

So, next step is trying PVR-350 live TV on re-imaged PC and some of the items to check above as time permits tomorrow.

Thx of course

DF

[jagabo]

I mention PVR-350 TV display is jerky above and that's just during live TV display, channel surfing etc.. It's not recording or playing recorded files.

That's likely a video overlay problem.

[flemingdl]

Updated the drivers from their site, fixed my live TV problem!

Whoa, I am Sooo impressed with the quality recording this PVR-350 does. It almost seems DVD quality on the 27" analog TV. How awesome indeed!

Not so good is how hard it taxes the 733PC. Perhaps the motherboard/chip set are not allowing the WinTV PCI board to take over with the video. It's a Via 693 chipset on the ATX mboard. Or the ATI vid card also maybe a culprit. The Task Mgr shows 97% and more usage - that recommended very impressive GBPVR app (above) is just unusable, asis most else on the poor babe, when Win TV is running. Learned there's a 45 button remote, likely with more of what I need, then my 34 button remote. Darn.

Next task is to address this this week.

Progress though!

[FulciLives]

The Hauppauge WinTV PVR 350 is a hardware based MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 capture card so it takes a lot of stress off of your computer's CPU ... but not all of it.

Still though I would think that there would be no issue with your computer ... my guess is that if you turn off the live preview that your CPU usage will go down dramatically.

I'm guessing the bulk of your recordings will be unattended scheduled recordings so there is no reason to have the live preview mode on and as I mentioned this should reduce the CPU load.

For more info on using your card you might want to take a look at the following two websites:

1.) http://www.shspvr.com/
2.) http://www.cask-of-amontillado.com/htpc.html

Good Luck but at least it sounds like you got it going good now for the most part

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[jagabo]

Just to be clear, the option flemingdl wants isn't called "Live Preview", it's called "TV-out only on PVR 350" at Amontillado's site. It involves changing TV_Out_PlayLocal in the registry.

Although Amontillado says it's only for the 350 it effects the 250 too. It tells WinTV2000 not to decode and display the incomming MPEG data that it's recording. This reduces CPU usage to nearly 0. For example, my 2.8 GHz P4 runs at about 30 percent CPU usage with WinTV2000 displaying while recording. It drops down to about 2 percent with the display disabled -- WinTV2000 simply shows a black box where the picture would normally be.

WinTV2000 only checks this registry value when it starts up. So you have to (re)start WinTV2000 after changing the key.

By the way, for recordings you start manually, you can disable the decoding and display by pressing the || button (the one between rewind and stop on the little drop down window). This doesn't pause the recording as you might expect, it simply stops the display. Recording to a file continues. You can press the button again to resume the display.