Provideo PV-256T vs Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 250

[Rickyblaze]

I did'nt think the TV viewing was as good as the pv256t actually it seems the pv256t pulled the stations in better from an ant than the pvr250 which I thought looked pixelated. I took the pvr250 out and put my pv256t back in it did'nt seem worth the hassles and slow interactivity of the pv250 to replace the pv256t which installed with no problems and works good enough for me. I will probably keep the pv250 and if some day they get the bugs out of the software I will install it again and give it another try. Until then I can live with the pv256t it's been good enough for what I do.

[SHS]

No not any OS Steve not even Linux
Try Pop of a 2GB+ file you find you can scoll thur the video and ocen the video go over 3.99GB the Hollywood Plus crash or hangs.
Why Sigma can't fix this on the Hollywood Plus because it was base on Legacy 16bit drv where the Xcard is base on part Legacy 16bit drv and DirectShow.

[Satan's Cheerleader]

So if you're just watching TV, not captured video, it's better to have the 350 for lower cpu utilization because of the hardware decoder?

[SHS]

Yes Satan's Cheerleader that also mean the PVR 320 should would work lower end cpu if I'm rigth all way down to 166MHz maybe even lower then that when use the S-Video/Composite output only.

[Satan's Cheerleader]

Yes Satan's Cheerleader that also mean the PVR 320 should would work lower end cpu if I'm rigth all way down to 166MHz maybe even lower then that when use the S-Video/Composite output only.

I don't understand. If you're just watching TV and not capturing i didn't think it's playing mpeg so how does a hardware decoder benefit in this circumstance?

[SHS]

This how it work with the WinTV-PVR 350

Record Mode
Video input is SVideo > iTVC15 > MPV--\
------------- which automatic joint the two > Harddisk as and MPEG File.
Audio is done by the iTVC15 > MPA------/

Perview Mode output
Video input is SVideo > iTVC15 > MPV--\
------------- which automatic joint the two > Harddisk as and temp MPEG File.
Audio is done by the iTVC15 > MPA------/

Both PerView and Playback Mode
-------------------------------------------/ InterVideo Video decoder > Overlay > Video Renderer.
temp MPEG File > MPEG Splitter >
-------------------------------------------\ InterVideo Audio decoder > DirectSound.

Hardware Decode Playback Mode
-------------------------------------------/ Philips SAA7121 > SVideo Ouput.
temp MPEG File > iTVC15 decoder > Split >
-------------------------------------------\ Micronas 4448G Audio Processor decoder > Audio Output.

Hardware Decode PerView Mode
-------------------------------------------/ Philips SAA7121 > SVideo Ouput.
iTVC15 encoder > iTVC15 decoder > Split >
-------------------------------------------\ Micronas 4448G Audio Processor decoder > Audio Output.

[Satan's Cheerleader]

Ok. I'm lost. :P

[Satan's Cheerleader]

I'm punking out and ordering the PV-233. Most of the comments I see regarding the PVR 250 are along the lines of "it's great when it works." I had a very good experience with the PV-233; stable, does what it's supposed to. Only downside is it's MPEG-1 only but that's probably what I would have been capturing in most of the time anyway. That and it quite possibly may have the ugliest player I've ever seen. Since I don't need timeshifting and can live without MPEG-2 I'll go with what has been proven to work. Hopefully I can still order it through Provideo like I did last time for $90 shipped.

[Barnabas]

I have owned the PV-231, PV-233, Hauppauge PVR-250, Hauppauge PVR USB, Creative Labs Digital VCR and an ADS Instant DVD, which was the worst of the lot. While the Provideo units make good looking mpeg1 captures, you need to keep the bitrate higher than normal to avoid blocks.

I think the picture actually looks better with the PVR USB than it does on the 250. The 250 has a softer picture than the PVR USB does. Test patterns confirm this. The PVR USB can only do CBR, while the 250 can do both. There seem to be more bugs with the 250 as well. The main problem with the PVR USB is that random audio pops seem to happen due to it being USB. If they could cure that, I would suggest the PVR USB over all the rest.

It's too bad that Creative Labs made the Digital VCR with only 32 Khz audio, as the video with it looked about perfect.

I have to wonder why if you had a PV-233 before, why you got rid of it? I still own my PV-231, even though it's not in my Computer right now.

I noticed that some of the new Apex units no longer support Mpeg-1, so you might want to consider that.

For the money, the Hauppauge PVR 250 and PVR-USB seem to be the best units right now, even with the driver problems. The new 350 looks interesting.

[Satan's Cheerleader]

I didn't get rid of the PV-233, it's just that the computer i built with it in it was for a friend. I just don't want to be bothered with stability and compatibility issues. I was really happy with how solid that card was when i used it. I'd like to be able to capture mpeg2 but i think i can live without it for now. I don't think these products are quite there yet. I wonder why Apex stopped supporting mpeg1?

Anybody know if the PV-233 player's skin can be modified? It looks awful.

[q1aqza]

I have recently bought the PVR 250. From what I have read I have been very lucky. The card installed and works great even better after I downloaded the latest drivers. I was concerned as it uses IRQ11 as does my Pinnacle (aka texas instruments firewire card) and I am running XP Pro. The meg capture is very good, I am a CCE and TMPGenc fan but I am impressed by the quality - obviously not as good as the aforementioned software encoders but plenty good enough for my VHS conversions and TV recording - saves so much time.

I can't comment on the Provideo card but the PVR 250 certainly gets a thumbs up from me.

[q1aqza]

Further to my previous post above. I retract my statement. This card does not have my thumbs up - not for the time being anyway!.

The MPEG captures seem corrupted. They play in sync fine on WMP, PowerDVD and are good quality but I am having problem with audio sync when I burn to DVD. It is fine if authored in Movie Factory without scenes but try adding scenes and MF crashes every time (MF is fine with CCE or TMPG mpegs). If I use Maestro or SpruceUp I get import errors & the audio is fractionally longer in duration than the video - it gets progressively worse the longer the movie. If you demux/remux with TMPG or BBMpeg then the resulting file is out of sync even without authoring.

I have read on the PVR forum that other people have this problem but it seems we are still a minority and it definitely seems to be some sort of corruption during capture. If I can't solve it the card will have to go back which would be a real shame.

So my elation at having a problem free install and operation was a little premature. I'd only tested the DVD author/burn in MF without scenes and I only discovered these problems when I started creating scenes / menus in my authoring programs.

[SHS]

q1aqza edited or non edited files?.

[Satan's Cheerleader]

F!@# this! When somebody can tell me those Hauppauge PVR's are as stable and reliable as the PV-233 I'll consider investing in one. Until then it's MPEG-1 for me. :P

So does anybody know if the PV-233 player's skin can be modified? I'd really love to get rid of that horrid wooden look.

[SHS]

Satan's Cheerleader Hauppauge PVR's are as stable and reliable what make you say it not?.

[q1aqza]

(sorry Satan's Cheerleader if this is veering slightly off topic)

SHS,

I have tried both with similar results. Just to give a little more detail, if I import a non-edited PVR250 mpeg2 into SpruceUp without demuxing I get an EOF error and the file will not import, if I demux it then I get an elementary stream error but is does import ok, but when I export the resulting VOBs are out of sync. The same with Maestro but with Maestro you can clearly see the small difference in duration between the audio and video and after compiling the VOBs are out of sync. As I mentioned before, Movie Factory crashes if I try to add chapters, but is fine if I don't. It will howver do chapters on a short PVR mpeg file, so it really does seem that the problem gets worse the longer the capture. Another thing I tried is to run the demuxed video file through Restream but Restream just kept freezing up (which has never happened before).

When I get home tonight I am going to try a complete de-install and re-install and remove my Texas firewire card so that the PVR will have IRQ11 all to itself. I also tried the very latest driver (1.4) off the hauppage website but I couldn't even get a picture in WinTV so I rolled back to 1.2.

I really do want to resolve this as I think the card will be excellant and I still have another few days before I need to make the decision on whether to return it.

I appreciate any advice.