Which Win TV capture device should I get?

[Bizzen]

I'm a newbie to this suject and I was hoping you guys could help.

I'd like a capture device for recording programmes off Sky Digital and terrestrial TV from my television. I aim to store these recordings as data on DVDRs and play them from the PC on my TV screen. I don't plan to rack up large quantities of DVD movies or VCDs.

I've been looking at the Win TV PVR range, but even the 150 (which some of you guys don't seem to like anyway) is a bit out of my budget - I don't want to spend more than £50 if I can help it.

Obviously there is always the ebay route for a 250, but I was wondering if there was another range with a slightly cheaper (but still decent) base model.

[Bizzen]

No-one?

[mats.hogberg]

I don't think you'll find any cheaper alternative with hardware mpeg encoding. (And that's really good to have, if you don't have a dedicated caprture computer.)

/Mats

[Bizzen]

Okay, well is there anything similar to the PCR 150 that's reliable? USB or otherwise?

[mats.hogberg]

250 is stable as a rock. If you can find it at a decent price, get it. The prob with 150 was something with audio levels. Don't know if it's fixed in recent generations. IMO, internal <anything> is better than external <anything> if you don't plan to use <anyting> with several computers.

/Mats

[Bizzen]

There must be more than one decent capture card in the price range of the 150/250 though right? Or do Hauppauge have the monopoly? I'm gonna try to get a 250, but they don't seem to be that commonly sold on ebay. I guess that's a testament to how good they are.

[mats.hogberg]

Not much in that price range with hardware mpg encoding, no.

/Mats

[Bizzen]

Not much in that price range with hardware mpg encoding, no.

/Mats

All right, thanks for the help. I may have to spend more than I'd originally planned... still a lot cheaper than a DVD recorder with a decent hard drive though. So go figure

[mgh]

https://www.videohelp.com/capturecards.php?CaptureCardRead=379#comments

[jagabo]

For Sky Digital you may want to use one of Hauppauge's digital sattelite cards like the Nova or Nexus series. These will capture the MPEG data directly from the satellite. These usually won't be ready to burn to DVD though (not the right frame size).

If you use one of the PVR cards you'll be using your sattelite receiver to convert the MPEG to analog video, then the PVR to convert back to MPEG. The down side is loss of image quality. The up side is that the MPG files can be ready to burn to DVD. And you can capture from other analog sources.

[Bizzen]

For Sky Digital you may want to use one of Hauppauge's digital sattelite cards like the Nova or Nexus series. These will capture the MPEG data directly from the satellite. These usually won't be ready to burn to DVD though (not the right frame size).

If you use one of the PVR cards you'll be using your sattelite receiver to convert the MPEG to analog video, then the PVR to convert back to MPEG. The down side is loss of image quality. The up side is that the MPG files can be ready to burn to DVD. And you can capture from other analog sources.

Okay, I think I'm with you. Just one thing - Sky is actually routed to my TV from another room so I don't have the box to plug in to. I think it'll be a simpler solution for me to stick with a PVR card but can I capture straight from the TV's S-Video Out?

[flemming kristiansen]

[quote="Bizzen"]

but can I capture straight from the TV's S-Video Out?

Yes you can if its an output and not just an input. If its an output you can of course only capture from the channel the TV is tuned on to.

[Bizzen]

Yes you can if its an output and not just an input. If its an output you can of course only capture from the channel the TV is tuned on to.

Er... oops! It is only an input.

Sorry, I'm a bit lost now.

Here's some info on my TV I picked off the net:

Front terminals:

AV-3 S-Video In
AV-3 RCA AV In
AV-3 AUDIO IN 2 x RCA
Headphone Terminal

Rear terminals:

AV-1 SCART AV IN/OUT RGB IN
AV-2 SCART AV IN/OUT S-Video IN
Line Level Audio Output 2xRCA
Aerial (UHF)

I'm a bit confused as to what connection I can make from the TV now.

Can anyone advise on that?

[jagabo]

You connect the PVR to an output of your Sky receiver, not the TV. If there's only one output from the receiver you'll need a splitter.

[Bizzen]

You connect the PVR to an output of your Sky receiver, not the TV. If there's only one output from the receiver you'll need a splitter.

Okay as I said the sky box is actually in another room and the sky signal is routed from there to my tv by an ariel cable. But what you're saying is that there isn't a way to get the signal from the TV?

[flemming kristiansen]

You can take the signal from one of the two Scart outputs of the TV with a Scart/Phono cable. Then it will be only composite and since you have routed the original signal to the TV via an arial lead, youll get a very bad signal to the PVR. Aint there anyway you can lead the signal straight from the Sky box to the PVR? It will by far give the best picture.