Short review of the PV231 VCD capture card

[Tony Yip]

I was just wondering how compatible the PV233 is with hardware. I read that the PV256 doesn't work really well with VIA chipsets with sound onboard.

I have a MSI 6380 AMD motherboard with sound onboard but the sound is disabled in the bios.

Also, can the PV256 registry be changed the same way that the registry entries are changed in the PV233?

If the PV233 is more stable, I'll go for that card.

[magicmycote]

skittelsen:I'd assume the hacks on your website will work with the pv233 as well then, since it uses the same chip? Also, for those interested, the quote I got for the pv233+remote is $80 + $25sh= $105 to your door! Sweet price! Has anyone received one of these? I'd like to have a little peer persuasion before I send off my CC# to these people

[glinckens]

Here's a method to create blocks-free XVCD's with the PV231/233:

- Use skittelsen's registry settings (see above).
- In the capture application under settings, disable the "vcd" box and set the video bitrate to 1400 or more.
- If you want you can set the audio bitrate to 112.
- Capture as normal.
- To convert the generated system stream to a XVCD stream, use the "simple multiplex" tool of tmpgenc and select the captured .mpg both as video and audio source. Be sure to select "video-cd non standard" as type. Tmpgenc does this very quickly.
- Burn and test on your DVD-player.

Works great for me! This way I can fit about 65 minutes of great quality video on a 80 minute cd-r. Change the bitrate accordingly to the length of the video to fit it on a full cd.

Comments?

[markm]

Doh! I feel like an idiot now. I wish I'd have thought of using the same MPG for audio/video. I've been demuxing, then remuxing

And yes, the quality of the video goes up more obviously with bitrate on this card than I've seen with other encoders. The only problem I've seen with this is, these non-standard streams are tougher to edit. If I touch them with any editor other than Ifilm, my player has problems with them. Even then, I have to remux them with TMPGenc.

This trick will save me time in not having to demux first. Thanks!

[kwag]

Anyone using the PV231 with Windows XP.

I am using the Win2k drivers supplied, but as soon as I run the application, the machine crashes completely.

I am using Windows XP professional, and my hardware is Pentium 4 @1.6GHZ with 512MB ram.

[bryanjohnfields]

Thanks for the great info about the PV231. I have decided to give this card a try. Before I make my purchase can anyone tell what the software is like? I am especially interested in knowing if it has a scheduler. Can I set it to record at set times so I can capture un attended?

[Dwayne]

Hello. For those who are interested there is a PV231 clip and some stills on the following page:

http://www.landos.ru/computers/video/pv231.htm