Suggestions for capture software to MPEG2 preferably

[jrisch]

On to the next problem, what software to use to capture broadcast TV preferably to MPEG2 format as objective is to burn to DVD.

The card is an Hauppauge WinTV Bt878 based, about 3 years old. The supplied Hauppauge software (downloaded as both disk and manual have gone AWOL in a couple of house moves) only does AVI which I can live with but has a black band top and bottom making it a bit letterbox and only captures 352x288 (PAL), whereas I'm looking to full MPEG2 if possible.

I've tried Virtual VCR together with the Morgan M-JPEG V3 codec but on the tuner setup page I can't get the country code to accept 44 (for the UK), it always reverts to 61 and doesn't offer PAL-I, only PAL-B or PAL-G. So I can't select a tuner channel.

I've also tried VirtualDub but that seems restricted to 352x288 as well and the apparently crude channel tuning would make each capture a challenge to set up.

nanoPVR has a mass of conflicting settings and when I try to record with itthe recording terminates immediately with some error message in the title bar that flashes up too quickly to read.

Rather than keep downloading one trial after another I'd appreciate some advice as to what to try next and as to whether my objectives are realistic.

Regards, jrisch

[Forum Troll]

Have you tries looking thru the forum @ http://www.shspvr.com?

[lordsmurf]

MainConcept 1.4
PowerVCRII 3

... guides on this site (MC is in a post)

[lechtin]

There are wdm drivers for your chipset in the tools section of this site. Try those to get maximum resolution choices, and there are also a large number of tuner drivers that may help. I also have a bt878-based card (ati tv wonder pci) and those drivers are far superior to the manufacturer of the card. They won't give you mpeg2 capture, but may help avi capture run the way you want, and even help mpeg2 capture once you find the right software.

[ulapines]

I also have a WinTV Bt878 based Hauppage card and have no problem
capturing at 720x576 with iUVCR and PICVideo MJPEG.
I'm living in PAL-B country.
I use the latest Hauppauge driver for BT878 downloaded from their website.
It works with almost any capture software, except my computer is too slow to capture in MPEG2 (many dropped frames).
I have tried BTWinCAp and didn't notice any quality differences compared to Hauppages driver.
I have no clue why your configuration doesn't work as mine looks pretty much the same.
Sorry I can't help you with this

[wwjd]

I have recently been playing around with the trial verson of neoTV. You can try it for 30 days and it is FULLY functional, no logos or anything.

It seems to do a great job and puts the least amount of load on my CPU.
It is also quite inexpensive at $30. The scheduler uses Titan TV. It even
has the capability to write directly to the DVD as the show is being recorded. I have not fully tested that aspect but the one attempt I made with a short TV segment worked well.

wwjd

[jrisch]

My thanks to everyone who has responded so far. I've now got a clearer idea of what I should be looking for.

regards, jrisch