PVR-250 vs Newer Hauppauge cards

[statman24]

Many here have said that the PVR-250 is a great card for doing captures. I'm in the process of converting a bunch of VHS tapes to DVD's.

Do any of the newer Hauppauge cards works as well? I only ask because I might use the card for other things in the future and don't mind speding the extra $$$ now if the capture quality I'll get with the new cards are as good as the PVR-250.

[vhelp]

Well, I don't know if these cards are still available in stores. Maybe online only, though you could go hunting around all the popular ones that caried them..best buy; curcuit city; and other stores, else online might be your only resort.

For maximum quality (in terms of original source detail) you always want to go the old resource-hungry way, analog capture via pci type card..ati tv wonder was a popular card as well as many of the ati AIW cards. But just like the hardware mpeg cards of hauppague pvrs, they are hard to find and last resort would prob be online only. I don't know. But I haven't seen any of the older generation capture cards anywhere in/on stores.

(but as was stated in another thread, if you have lots of to, then a hardware mpeg capture is your best bet)

Everything today has evolved around HDTV. So you'll prob only see OTA capture card, though some will sport the option to analog capture, like the pinnacle pctv pro..does hd recording and includes a mini-dong connector for capture from vhs/cabletv via composite/s-video connection. And ati has the hd wonder with pvr support..it captures ota well as analog, too.

The hard part is the shopping (if you're looking to see these things in your hands) and know what to look for in a capture card/device/hardware equipment.

-vhelp 4942

[statman24]

Vhelp,

I can pick up a used PVR-250 anywhere (used). I'll get that card if you think it's the best to use for converting VHS to DVD. But, if there are newer cards that do what the PVR-250 does PLUS allows things like TV capture, then I'd consider those.

So... if money were no object (well... within reason), what would you get?

[jagabo]

If you want really good results from VHS tapes you need to start way before the capture card. You need an S-VHS deck with noise reduction and line TBC, a full frame TBC, and an analog proc amp. Then you can start thinking about what capture card to use.

If going straight from a VHS deck without NR and line TBC you should look into a DVD recorder with those features. That will get you much better results than a Hauppauge PVR-250.

[vhelp]

I don't know. I think it all depends on many things. For me, I'm not in a hurry, so I do things the long and slow way--or the harder way, as seen by most beginners. For me that is the pci analog capture route. But I have a lot more experience in these things and can afford to go such distances. That my speed.

But, for beginners or people who just want to get it done and over with, then I would suggest the easyest asd quickest way, the hardware route. And the pvr-250 is an example of that. There's also the dvd recorder, too. Its hard to say which is the better. But, I think you have more control with the pvr-250 than you would a dvd recorder. But then, with (some) dvd recorders you do get some bonuses such a tbc or close to its performance, also, a good hardware noise reduction, etc. so there's pros and cons for the two. And the only way you'll know what works better is to try both methods and see which you like the most.

I don't have a pvr-250, so I can't help you there. I do have a PVR-USB2 but that never took off with my win98 system, and now it just sits somewhere collecting dust for the time being. As I said, I mainly use my pinnacle studio av/dv pci card because it is what works best in my given system and setup and was the answer to my many years of noise in my captured video (from other pci cards) but this card, coupled with a noise-surpressor power strip solved that noise issue, and so I use it mainly for my (noisy) analog cabltv captures of which I do lots and lots of it.

If you have the cash, and can't wait to dig into the project, then go with the pvr-250 and see how you make out with hit. Maybe post some sample videos from that pvr-250 so that others can review it for tips and things, if needed.

Or, if you can spare the cash (backup) for a dvd recorder, look into that as well and maybe you can spare the cash for both methods and give each a faire try and review for what works best, and then make your final choice of which to stay with.

There's lots of threads discussing the PVR-150/250/350 and also dvd recoders. You can also start one of your own with isolated questions detailing your goals. Many people have done what you want to do and may be able to jump in with their suggestions. But consider posting examples of your work so that you can get the most out of your projects by other peoples advice.

Thats about it for now.

-vhelp 4945

[olyteddy]

The MPEG compression chip in most of the older Hauppauge cards is made by Conexant and is pretty highly regarded as an encoder. Here's some more info: http://www.conexant.com/products/entry.jsp?id=120. There is also a program called "HCW Put\Hauppauge_tweaker.exe" that allows the adjustment of the Temporal Filter and other internal tweaks to optimize the recording. I've been pretty pleased with my PVR USB2.

[jman98]

I have a PVR-350 (only difference with the 250 is that the 350 has video out and the 250 does not) and it's a great card, but it can do nothing to help you if your source VHS tapes have problems that must be corrected via a TBC.
Unfortunately few of us have the newer Hauppauge cards (I don't) so we can't offer you any comparison advice. There are Hauppauge forums around so you might search for one and ask there if there is a specific newer model you are considering.

[lordsmurf]

Most newer Hauppauge cards are made for HDTV capture.

[DarrellS]

Most newer Hauppauge cards are made for HDTV capture.

It also allows for composite and S-Video capture.




Have you done any experimenting with the new ATI HD-AIW? It has a daughter card that allows composite, component and S-Video inputs and outputs.

[lordsmurf]

As much as I want to, I'm too busy. Companies have also gotten more skimpy with letting out equipment for review (even if you offer to return it), and I don't want to hassle with buying and returning.

[DarrellS]

I bought the VisionTek TV Wonder 650 Combo PCIe HDTV Tuner PVR (which is part of the AIW) back in May but it doesn't support QAM in XP so I exchanged it for the Hauppauge HVR 1800 MC Kit which was $20 cheaper plus I got a $40 rebate. I paid $60 for the Hauppauge.

If I had Vista and would've waited a month to build my new PC, I probably would've bought the ATI HD AIW since the HD3600 is a better graphics card than the HD2600 that I bought. I only paid $140 for both the HD2600XT and the Hauppauge 1800 though. The AIW is $199.