Video Capture - PVR

[SD123]

I currently use a Diamond VC500 capture device to transfer recorded shows on my DVR to my PC.
I have had success but the quality is just ok and the performance has been spotty (ie. the software will just stop in the middle of a transfer).

I was wondering if a PVR is a solution to get better performance and quality.
I have been reading about the Hauppauge 1212PVR and it seems like this may be a way to transfer recordings from my DVR to my PC with increased quality and performance.

I am really a novice and would appreciate any feedback.
If not the PVR, is there another way to do my transfers?
Are there other products I should look at?

My DVR is a Motorola DCX3400
I have a dell inspirion laptop with windows vista. 64bit.

I would appreciate any suggestions/help anyone cares to offer.
Thanks for your help

[usually_quiet]

The Motorola DCX3400 is a high-definition DVR. A high-definition capture device like the Hauppauge HD-PVR would definitely give you a better quality result than a standard-definition capture device like the Diamond VC500 when you are transferring recordings made from high-definition channels.

[SD123]

The Motorola DCX3400 is a high-definition DVR. A high-definition capture device like the Hauppauge HD-PVR would definitely give you a better quality result than a standard-definition capture device like the Diamond VC500 when you are transferring recordings made from high-definition channels.

Thanks for the feedback.
Are there other manufacturer options?

Are there other external devices that might meet my needs.

Thanks for your help

[usually_quiet]

The Motorola DCX3400 is a high-definition DVR. A high-definition capture device like the Hauppauge HD-PVR would definitely give you a better quality result than a standard-definition capture device like the Diamond VC500 when you are transferring recordings made from high-definition channels.

Thanks for the feedback.
Are there other manufacturer options?

Are there other external devices that might meet my needs.

Thanks for your help

Yes there are other capture devices that you could use. The Elgato Game Capture HD, the AVerMedia HD EzRecorder Plus, and the AVerMedia AVerTV USB HD DVR could all be used to capture video and audio from recordings your DVR.

In my opinion the Hauppauge HD PVR has the most to offer, and is an established product with a large user base. It has its drawbacks but then so do the others.

The positive:
The Hauppauge HD PVR captures HD video in H.264 format using a component video connection, is reputedly not affected by analog copy protection, and offers 5.1 audio capture via optical S/PDIF. The others only allow capturing analog stereo audio with component video.

The negative.
There are only a few good editors for H.264 video, and the manufacturer's software is not as good as these third-party editors, but to be fair you could say that about all the similar USB 2.0 HD capture devices.

It is best to avoid capturing to mp4 files. Users say it is problematic. The other container file formats work better.

It needs to be power cycled every few days.

[SD123]

Yes there are other capture devices that you could use. The Elgato Game Capture HD, the AVerMedia HD EzRecorder Plus, and the AVerMedia AVerTV USB HD DVR could all be used to capture video and audio from recordings your DVR.

In my opinion the Hauppauge HD PVR has the most to offer, and is an established product with a large user base. It has its drawbacks but then so do the others.

The positive:
The Hauppauge HD PVR captures HD video in H.264 format using a component video connection, is reputedly not affected by analog copy protection, and offers 5.1 audio capture via optical S/PDIF. The others only allow capturing analog stereo audio with component video.

The negative.
There are only a few good editors for H.264 video, and the manufacturer's software is not as good as these third-party editors, but to be fair you could say that about all the similar USB 2.0 HD capture devices.

It is best to avoid capturing to mp4 files. Users say it is problematic. The other container file formats work better.

It needs to be power cycled every few days.

Thanks so much for the information. It really helps.

I had a couple of other questions if you don't mind.
Not to sound ignorant, but when you talk about editors for H.264 video, do you mean the software that is used to edit out parts of the videos (such as commercials) or is it the software to actually run the Hauppauge PVR?

To edit out parts of the video I have used a program like Pinnacle Studio 14.
Do these types of programs not work for H.264 or is it just that there is better software for the job?

Sorry if this sounds stupid, but I really am a novice with this type of equipment and software.

[Wolfen]

From Wiki " H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC (Advanced Video Coding) is a standard for video compression, and is currently one of the most commonly used formats for the recording, compression, and distribution of high definition video." , so if Pinnacle 14 accepts .mkv files then most likely it can edit h.264 (video) encoded files.

[usually_quiet]

Thanks so much for the information. It really helps.

I had a couple of other questions if you don't mind.
Not to sound ignorant, but when you talk about editors for H.264 video, do you mean the software that is used to edit out parts of the videos (such as commercials) or is it the software to actually run the Hauppauge PVR?

Yes, by "editors for H.264" I mean the software that is used to remove commercials or trim the unwanted bits from the beginning and the end of the program.

For most USB HD H.264 capture devices, the manufacturer's software provided with the device, plus GraphEdit or GraphStudio, are the only choices available to run the capture device. This is because these devices use use hardware encoding. The Hauppauge HD-PVR and AVerMedia AVerTV USB HD DVR are exceptions because both give you the option of using some PVR type software, like Windows Media Center, to make scheduled recordings, as long as you have the right drivers or plugins installed. However, since you don't need to make scheduled recordings you are probably better off using the the manufacturer's software to record the output from your DVR with the Hauppauge HD PVR. GraphEdit or GraphStudio would also work, and could allow you to do more, but they are not beginner-friendly. Save them for later.

To edit out parts of the video I have used a program like Pinnacle Studio 14.
Do these types of programs not work for H.264 or is it just that there is better software for the job?

I have never used Pinnacle Studio, so I can't say if it is a good editor for H.264 from personal experience, but I seem to recall some other posts here that indicated it was not great. If you already have it, you can always try it before buying another editor.

VideoReDo TV Suite H.264 is worth trying if you find you don't like Pinnacle Studio 14 for editing the HD PVR's recordings. VideoReDo TV Suite H.264 is popular for editing .ts files from the Hauppauge HD PVR and other H.264 capture devices. It allows cutting on any frame and uses "smart encoding", which means it only re-encodes a second or so worth of the file on each side of the cuts, making it comparatively fast. Most other H.264 editors re-encode the entire file.

Sorry if this sounds stupid, but I really am a novice with this type of equipment and software.

Everybody is a novice at some point. I think HD capture is worth trying if you want better quality, but you need to be prepared for some bumps in the road, and a bit of frustration.

[SD123]

Yes, by "editors for H.264" I mean the software that is used to remove commercials or trim the unwanted bits from the beginning and the end of the program.

For most USB HD H.264 capture devices, the manufacturer's software provided with the device, plus GraphEdit or GraphStudio, are the only choices available to run the capture device. This is because these devices use use hardware encoding. The Hauppauge HD-PVR and AVerMedia AVerTV USB HD DVR are exceptions because both give you the option of using some PVR type software, like Windows Media Center, to make scheduled recordings, as long as you have the right drivers or plugins installed. However, since you don't need to make scheduled recordings you are probably better off using the the manufacturer's software to record the output from your DVR with the Hauppauge HD PVR. GraphEdit or GraphStudio would also work, and could allow you to do more, but they are not beginner-friendly. Save them for later.

To edit out parts of the video I have used a program like Pinnacle Studio 14.
Do these types of programs not work for H.264 or is it just that there is better software for the job?

I have never used Pinnacle Studio, so I can't say if it is a good editor for H.264 from personal experience, but I seem to recall some other posts here that indicated it was not great. If you already have it, you can always try it before buying another editor.

VideoReDo TV Suite H.264 is worth trying if you find you don't like Pinnacle Studio 14 for editing the HD PVR's recordings. VideoReDo TV Suite H.264 is popular for editing .ts files from the Hauppauge HD PVR and other H.264 capture devices. It allows cutting on any frame and uses "smart encoding", which means it only re-encodes a second or so worth of the file on each side of the cuts, making it comparatively fast. Most other H.264 editors re-encode the entire file.

Sorry if this sounds stupid, but I really am a novice with this type of equipment and software.

Everybody is a novice at some point. I think HD capture is worth trying if you want better quality, but you need to be prepared for some bumps in the road, and a bit of frustration.

Thanks for your help.
I will give the Hauppauge a try