hauppage wintv usb2 or pinnacle pctv analog pro usb which one is good?

[method]

Hi all . i want to record from satalite reciver,cable tv and video recorder .I made some searches and came down to pctv analog pro usb and hauppage wintv pro.
Could any one tell me which one is better and producting better quality recording (dvd and mpeg)?Thanks

[edDV]

The basic issue is hardware encoding in the capture device (to DVD quality MPeg2) vs using the computer CPU for real time encoding. Quality MPeg2 encoding will fully swamp a P4 2.8GHz CPU. Lower quality encoding is proportionate.

Understand what each box does. If they are vaugue about where the encoding takes place, then expect the CPU to be doing the work.

[method]

The basic issue is hardware encoding in the capture device (to DVD quality MPeg2) vs using the computer CPU for real time encoding. Quality MPeg2 encoding will fully swamp a P4 2.8GHz CPU. Lower quality encoding is proportionate.

Understand what each box does. If they are vaugue about where the encoding takes place, then expect the CPU to be doing the work.

Thanks for u reply. in your openion where the encoding should be placed for good quality ? does any one know which of these products are producing better recording?pctv analog pro usb and hauppage wintv pro?

[edDV]

For automated recording from TV it is best if the device does the encoding so that the file transferred to the hard drive is small MPeg2 ready for DVD authoring. For that you will need a more expensive capture device like this well respected model. It will work well even with an older slower computer.
http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/products/data_pvrusb2.html
http://www.shopping.com/xPF-Hauppauge-WIN-TV-PVR-USB2-0-configured-for-WindowsXP-MCE-2...www.google.com

Non-encoding models will generate larger uncompressed files or require the computer to be working 100% to encode the data from the capture device. A fast computer will be able to do this. A slow computer will produce inferior results.

[method]

For automated recording from TV it is best if the device does the encoding so that the file transferred to the hard drive is small MPeg2 ready for DVD authoring. For that you will need a more expensive capture device like this well respected model. It will work well even with an older slower computer.
http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/products/data_pvrusb2.html
http://www.shopping.com/xPF-Hauppauge-WIN-TV-PVR-USB2-0-configured-for-WindowsXP-MCE-2...www.google.com

Non-encoding models will generate larger uncompressed files or require the computer to be working 100% to encode the data from the capture device. A fast computer will be able to do this. A slow computer will produce inferior results.

Thanks for your usefule information. what u think of pinnacle pctv pro usb ? does this tool encode itself or the computer has to encode ?

[John]

Ive got the pinnacle pctv delux, its a usb hardware mpg2, vcd dvd ready, my only problem was the software kept crashing, which was sorted with a beta release. the other thing is it looked real good on my old 21" tv, since i got a bigger one it always looks slightly out of focus even when adjusting all the settings. its never out of sync. I bought another cheap one a couple of months ago, it was much the same, in fact even my lg recorder was much the same, I read somwhere it was the chip set. never tryed haupppauge.

[method]

edDV i have this pinnacle pctv analgo pro usb. It created for me mpeg file and it has size of 70.4 mb for 2 and half min video . so u think this is uncompressed ? how to compress it then ? what is the advantage of compressing it ? I be happy if u put some light in this issue.Thanks

[jagabo]

2.5 minutes of 720x480 uncompressed RGB video would be about 4.7 GB. As uncompressed YUY2 video would be around 3.1 GB. Your 70 MB file is probably MPEG2. Use AviCodec or GSpot to see exactly what you have.