AverTV USB HD DVR or Hauppauge USB HD PVR

[gll99]

Thanks LightWeightProducer
I dropped this line with the complete long path in quotes in a cmd (dos) bat file and it worked to open the capture window directly

"C:\Program Files\ArcSoft\TotalMedia Extreme\TotalMedia Studio MV\CaptureModule.exe" /@RecordVideo@

[jagabo]

Yes, I've verified the /@RecordVideo@ switch works too. I now have an icon on the Desktop to open the capture module directly. Thanks once again for that tip.

Is there a switch to make it open with a small window rather than full screen?

[gll99]

My original topic was about deciding between 2 units (Hauppauge or Avermedia) but it was always with the intention of building a functional computer based PVR.

Now that I've purchased the Hauppauge I've been concentrating on learning the available tools to design as close to a single-touch pvr as possible.

So far this is what I've done but even these things will end up being modified and simplified where possible

1) I've been using the graph found on Arogan's site. This is a better picture of it. His copy was kind of blurry



It might be nice to add a preview to the graph but so far haven't found any working filters

2) I've written a small VB6 graphedt controller program (using findwindow by Caption) to start and stop the graph based on a simple single use timer (it's a work in progress). It saves the user defined path / location of graphedt and a default .grf in 2 text files and loads them at startup. The plan is to add a multi-timer function similar to WinTV but likely without the ir function unless I find a lot of free time. Right now it's just for testing. It also renames the static file name from the graph output to add the Date and Time so that the next time the graph is run it doesn't overwrite the previous file.



Once the gui is loaded the graph can be started right away even if the timer is used for stopping or it can be started and stopped from the timer.

The caps use the last default settings when the Hauppauge device was last used by the Arcsoft TME. That will be fine for my needs once I decide on default settings. The same technique could be used to control TME instead of Graphedt so that could be a fun project some day. Some settings are adjustable in the Arcsoft Capture module's ini file so it might be possible to add more user programmable options later but I'm not sure if the Hauppauge checks that ini without loading TME or if the settings are saved in the registry. It will need more homework if I want to add features at some time.

3) Ive been testing captures directly to a usb external drive. It works fine but it might be advantageous or safer to move/write the output from the next step to the external drive instead of the original capture file.

4) As I've already stated a few times earlier in this thread, the Hauppauge produces a 188 byte packet .ts file so the files need to be converted to .m2ts 192 byte packet so they will be compatible with my Seiki BD660 USB enabled BD players.

For that reason I've been testing the line options in tsMuxer. Thanks to SmartLabs for adding the "save Meta file" option in the gui I was able to run the command line version of tsMuxer from a bat file using a basic meta file.

The next step is to incorporate the ability to edit the meta file within VB to modify it so it points to the the newly renamed file to remux. tsMuxer can then be simply shelled from vb.

NOTE: Right now I'm not overly concerned about the ir function because my HD cable box has a timed channel changer. It allows up to 8 channel changes by date and time. It's a throwback to the vcr.

It still needs a lot of work but once it all completed It should be pretty close to a standalone pvr except the limit to just one channel at a time.

[LightWeightProducer]

I've notified Aver of the issue. It should be correctable given that the firmware is uploaded at start. All that remains to be seen is will Aver fix it.

FWIW Avermedia did respond to my support request. I provided them with more detail, as they requested and then they fell silent and failed to respond to any more submissions from me.

Conclusion: Avermedia sell products, provide basic support of those products, but bury their heads in the sand all too quickly when it looks like they might have to do some driver / firmware fixes.

[shade42]

2 cents worth...

I can't say anything about the Hauppauge USB device, but the Aver USB device ****s up the field ordering when grabbing from a PAL source. Instead of A1A2 B1B2 C1C2 the output video contains A2B1 B2C1 C2D1 (ie, fields are staggered). Even with the Fujitsu encoder 'cranked all the way up' this results in cross field distortions that make re-ordering the fields later on give ugly results.

The Hauppauge HD PVR does the same thing.

What it's doing is equivalent to this in Avisynth:

SeparateFields()
Trim(1,0)
Weave()
ReverseFieldDominance()

The last line reverses the field order by moving each line up by one line and duplicating the bottom line. It reflects the fact that the output, like the input, is top field first.

This behaviour is quite a nuisance. For example, when playing back recordings of progressive material in VLC, there are interlacing artefacts. If you turn on deinterlacing in VLC it simply does a merge deinterlace of the fields. Also, at each scene change you can notice an output frame that is a mixture of both scenes.

I fixed it in Avisynth as follows:
AssumeTFF()
DoubleWeave()
SelectOdd()

I have not noticed any problems with the result - no interfield distortions which LightWeightProducer mentions. My recordings were at max VBR rate with noise reduction turned off.