MPEG2 Encoder card

[ofir_bl]

i saw in many places mpeg2 encoder card for sale.
i encode many video files to mpeg2 format and my quastion isi f the computer can encode movie witout card what card like that can help me?
is it more fast? the preformens better? qualiti better?
also if you can please recommand me on good card for conversition to mpeg2 for dvd burning.
and last quastion is if these cards can work with any software like TMPGEnc for exmple?
thanks
ofir

[teegee420]

A hardware encoder is mainly good for capturing video in real time from an external source like a VCR or video camera.

[redwudz]

Video cards that encode MPG 'on the fly' are probably never going to give you the quality of encoding MPG with a computer. It really depends on how much quality you want. If you are just recording TV for later viewing, they work very good. But for quality encoding, it takes time. The other part of your question is about TMPGEnc. If you encode with a video card, you would not really use TMPGEnc. You would just author the MPG file to DVD or whatever specs you use. Hardware encoding to MPG is the fastest and easiest, but with lower quality. Another way is to get a settop DVD recorder. Another is to use a video card to capture, then encode with a program like TMPGEnc. Another way is a box like the ADVC-100 to transfer video to your PC, then encode. There are a lot of ways to end up with a DVD or video disk. It depends on the quality you want, the time and money you want to spend.