Hauppauge Colossus still the best bet for capturing HD Set Top box?

[kkiller23]

I owned a HD PVR2 and the Hauppauge software and drivers are pretty great, but the thing died on me and they wanted me to pay them 35$+ just to look at the thing. I'm pretty sure that the power going out is what caused it to stop working.


Anyway, instead of paying 35$+ plus what ever they want to fix my HD PVR 2. I'm looking to get an internal capture device, is the Colossus still the best bet or is there a card that support 1080p yet?

[n8tvm]

I have had one for a couple of years now and it has done well for me.

[jman98]

I've used the Colossus and love it. It can do 1080p if that's what your source is. It even has a TBC you turn on with a hack. Look here at post #1505 (scroll down to see it)
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52718&page=76

[usually_quiet]

I've used the Colossus and love it. It can do 1080p if that's what your source is.
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52718&page=76

This is the first I have heard that the Colossus can capture 1080p. I have a Colossus too, and the only capture resolutions I have seen in its specs are 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i. Since TV is not yet broadcast at 1080p in the US, that is not a problem.

The only internal 1080p video cards with hardware encoding that I know of are the AVerMedia Game Broadcaster HD
C127 and AVermedia Live Gamer HD C985. However they won't capture 480i sources, and the only software that works with them is that provided by the manufacturer. The Colossus works with some third party software. It is supported by J. RIver Media Center, Sage TV, NextPVR and (with the plugin installed) it works with Windows Media Center too.

[Edit]I forgot to say that the AVerMedia cards don't capture 1080p60 as 1080p60. They frame decimate to 1080p30, which makes motion less smooth. They can capture 1080p24 and 1080p30 sources without frame decimating.

I'd go with the Colossus because it supports capturing at 480i as well as 1080i and because there are more options for software.

[mks]

For lurkers who may be trying to decide whether to get a Colossus or a HD PVR2, there is one very important difference that you need to consider. The Colossus is installed in a slot on your PC's motherboard while the HD PVR2 is external and connected to the PC via a USB2 cable.

If you intend to use the component output from your set-top cable box, if you get a Colossus you will need to have your PC next to the cable set-top box unless you want to run FIVE LONG BULKY "high quality shielded" cables (3 video, 2 audio). OTOH, if you get a HD PVR2 then it can be next to your cable set-top box and your PC could be far away from your cable set-top box running one skinny, flexible USB2 cable.

I have 26 feet of USB2 cable from my HD PVR2 to my PC. The USB2 cable that came with my PVR2 is 10 feet long. I bought an active USB2 extender cable that is 16 feet long for a total of 26 feet. 1080i captures so far have been perfect.

mks

[usually_quiet]

On the other hand, if someone already has an HTPC sitting beside their TV with enough room for a full-height internal card, the Colossus takes no space on the shelf and draws power from the PCI-e interface rather than an external power adapter. (I already have enough wall warts to deal with.) The Colossus also offers higher bit rate encoding than the HD-PVR 2.

[kkiller23]

Wow, the C985 does 1080p @ 60k

That is pretty amazing. I'm not really sure that i trust Hauppauge after having my HD PVR 2 die in about a month. I did buy it used, but still. If a little power surge can fry it, then it shouldn't be so expensive. It should have some kind of surge protection if it's going to be external.

[usually_quiet]

Wow, the C985 does 1080p @ 60k

Yes, but it 1080p recordings are limited to 24fps or 30fps. 1080p60 is frame decimated to 30fps during capture. Fast motion is not smooth

That is pretty amazing. I'm not really sure that i trust Hauppauge after having my HD PVR 2 die in about a month. I did buy it used, but still. If a little power surge can fry it, then it shouldn't be so expensive. It should have some kind of surge protection if it's going to be external.

A little power surge/brownout could fry a lot of things. Maybe you should get an uninterruptible power supply if those are frequent.

I guess that Hauppauge suggested that you try power cycling the HD PVR 2. If you didn't try that yet, to power cycle the HD PVR 2, remove power from the unit for 30 seconds and then plug it back in.

Note that all the devices in the Hauppauge HD-PVR product line (including the Colossus) might stop working and need to be power cycled/reset periodically. For the Colossus the reset procedure is different, and less convenient. I don't have my notes handy, but as I recall it involved physically removing the Colossus. Fortunately this doesn't happen often.

[Edit] I found my notes. I didn't have to pull the Colossus. I cold booted my system with the power drained. (I shut my PC down, pulled the PSU power cord, and then pressed the power button on the case to discharge any residual electrical power from the PC. After about 30 seconds or so I plugged in the PC's PSU. I booted up the PC and that fixed the problem.) This is supposed to be Hauppauge's first step of troubleshooting for the Colossus.

[felixtime]

Therefore, you can choose "Magewell" video capture card. All the capture cards can support 1080p/60.

[usually_quiet]

Therefore the Chinese company responsible for this product has sent a shill, as Chinese companies often do, because they are too cheap to pay for advertising.

[felixtime]

Therefore the Chinese company responsible for this product has sent a shill, as Chinese companies often do, because they are too cheap to pay for advertising.

Some of them do so. However, the cards from Magewell are not cheap at all. I wish to have one but the price is over my budget: http://www.amazon.com/Magewell-XI100DUSB-HDMI-Video-Capture-Dongle/dp/B00I16VQOY/ref=s...words=magewell

[usually_quiet]

Then I guess those who sent you here to shill for them are also too cheap to pay you well for spamming this forum.

Actually, they should dock your pay for incompetence. This is a forum visited primarily by ordinary consumers, not people who need, want or can afford the gear you are trying so hard to promote with more .

[Edit] ... and the OP in this thread is trying to capture TV shows for later viewing. Nobody but a really dumb shill or a troll would suggest someone buy an extremely expensive capture device just to do that.

[SHS]

I've used the Colossus and love it. It can do 1080p if that's what your source is. It even has a TBC you turn on with a hack. Look here at post #1505 (scroll down to see it)
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52718&page=76

There is no 1080p on the Colossus only 1080i how ever the upcoming Colossus 2 will support 1080p and have HDMI output

[Brad]

The only internal 1080p video cards with hardware encoding that I know of are the AVerMedia Game Broadcaster HD C127 and AVermedia Live Gamer HD C985. However they won't capture 480i sources

I'm super late here, but just so you know, the C127 uses software encoding. I can't remember whether I ever got 480i over HDMI to work with it. I recall having issues but I thought they were due to the splitter. I would try now, but my only source that can output 480i via HDMI isn't easy to hook up to my capture setup.

[usually_quiet]

The only internal 1080p video cards with hardware encoding that I know of are the AVerMedia Game Broadcaster HD C127 and AVermedia Live Gamer HD C985. However they won't capture 480i sources

I'm super late here, but just so you know, the C127 uses software encoding. I can't remember whether I ever got 480i over HDMI to work with it. I recall having issues but I thought they were due to the splitter. I would try now, but my only source that can output 480i via HDMI isn't easy to hook up to my capture setup.

OK Thanks. I guess I misremembered what the AVerMedia Game Broadcaster HD C127 did for encoding. However, I checked the specs for both cards at the manufacturer's product page before making my previous post, and I just checked again. They don't list 480i for either card, so if either captures 480i, then the manufacturer's specs are incomplete.

[Brad]

The specs listed are likely correct for the included software (never installed it), but for their software encoding cards the DirectShow interface offers more options (ex: a bunch of 4:3 PC resolutions). The component input should offer 480i, at least. The video game capture people complained about no support for sub-480i; I would think they would say "sub-480p" otherwise.