TMPGEnc vs hardware MPEG2 encoding

[tamp]

Is there any big quality difference between using TMPGEnc and hardware for MPEG2 encoding (e.g. Matrox RTX100)? I only know that time is a important factor but I can spend overnight time instead of paying much to buy a hardware for encoding.

Please share and help. Thanks.

[BobK]

I started using a Snazzi III mpeg capture card a couple weeks ago. I'm not sure how to measure quality other than looking at it, but looks fine to me. By capturing directly to mpeg I can compile a DVD in 20-25 minutes instead of 6-8 hours. If you really don't care about a 2000% increase in speed then don't spend the money.

(I paid about $170 for the card- if quality is extremely important then you could probably get a card that gives better quality for a lot more money, but as I said- I don't really see any difference).