Leadtek Winfast TV2000 XP-Feedback on Apps (desparate!)

[MJDore]

I recently got the Leadtek card and have played around with several capture and encode apps. I ran into a problem yesterday performing the following task:

1. Captured 2 hours of VHS using Virutal VCR at 480 x 480 and the huffy codec. Obviously, this resulted in a HUGE AVI file.
2. I tried encoding to the low-resolution DVD template using the TMPGEnc project wizard in the hopes that I could fit mega amounts of capture on one DVD+R. Considering that TMPGEnc told me it was going to take 9 hours to encode, I let it run overnight. Well, at some point, it apparently froze and caused Win XP to reboot. Can anyone help with some ideas as to why this happened? Any tricks to making it go faster?

What application setups are Leadtek users running? I have tried capturing using the bundled WinPVR software and capturing straight to MPEG-2. The audio-video synch was AWFUL! Any help here?

I'm at a loss. I have tried the "How To" guides but they all seem to include VirtualDub and I don't want to mess with downloading other drivers just to make that work. There has got to be a way with the setup I have.

Thanks in advance.....

[MJDore]

55 views and no feedback? Surely someone has something? I continued to fool around with it last night and I have determined that Virtual VCR is solid for capturing while you're sitting there ready to start the capture. But there is no scheduler function which really sets me back since I'm out of town so much. That's why I wish I could find another option.

[eats**t&die]

Sorry I can't be much help with this one but i just wanted to say that I use the PVR that came with the card and I never have any synch problems while capturing to any format. I usually capture using the DVD PAL profile. There are better programs out there but this one works fine for me and the scheduler is a treat.

[eats**t&die]

On the configuration screen of the WinFastPVR program there is an option to select a master stream (video or audio) I have mine set on audio. This may help with your synch problems but i can't be sure, just thinking out loud.

[Hong Kong Phooey]

Just a suggestion, but shut down as many background tasks as possible
eg:Virus scanner, firewall, & other taskbar & other apps. Is your PC well ventilated?
There used to a utility called End it All 2 which could help shut down background programs, but I don't know if it runs on XP.
Make sure screen savers are switched off, & advanced power settings & suspend modes are all switched off.
Sometimes its bad luck, other times a power spike or blackout in your local area,overheating can all be suspects too. I've frameserved from VirtualDub to TMPGenc many times for 10-12hrs overnight.

[MJDore]

eats***&die-

Good name, by the way....

Have you had any problems with WinPVR saying that the disk is full and giving you an error. Everytime I capture in AVI using huffyuv compression, it stalls out after about 20 mins. and tells me the disk is full. I don't have this problem with any other capture program and I have plenty of disk space (120 GB). Can this be tweaked? I have checked the settings and I double-checked to make sure I didn't have the "file size limit" box checked. Any thoughts?

[bamafamily]

Hey All,
I have had this card for a while, but have gotten sidetracked with DVD2ONE, etc.....

Powervcr - Great litle program EXCEPT that it has sync probs...(noticeable after about 12 minutes)(too bad too as it had EPG)

VirtualVCR - dont think I ever got this working right. Are you using the included Winfast drivers (1/9/2003) or the BTwincap drivers?? I never got the Bitwincap drivers installed correctly on my machine

WinPVR - Newest drivers and apps include EPG...(for what good it does. I cant get mine to schedule properly...Explorer error) With these new drivers, I have not had time to capture more than 2 minutes to verify some of the functionality. I wish there was a way to play with the settings more so I could do something like record in VCD except use 48Khz as audio so I could author to DVD...Alas...I digress....I am a fan of 1/2D1 (CVD) and Winfast has a setting for it... I think this is the best of both worlds and it is a compliant DVD resolution, so you should be able to author to DVD fine. I just hope in my particular case that the AV stays synced. I am using the onboard audio which sounds pretty good cuz my Audigy took a nosedive..(being repaired now to sell on Ebay...gotta find something else...)

ttyl
Mark

[MJDore]

Bamafamily-

Good luck with audio synch in WinPVR. I captured a 1-hour Stevie Ray Vaughan concert the other night using the preset "DVD NTSC" template and the synch was horrendous. The capture went fine. Of course, I couldn't make TMPGEnc open it because I haven't figured out how to get it to open MPEG-2 files. But, after burning it to DVD straight from WinPVR without edit, the synch was miserable....

[bamafamily]

If I remember correctly, DVD movie factory actually recorded a 1 hr show and kept everything in pretty good sync.

I might try that as well

Bama

[MJDore]

Update on WinPVR.

I captured a 2 hour ballgame from VHS last night and it did a nice job of keeping everything in synch. I used 352X480 with a bitrate of 4000. Previewing it on PowerDVD, it looks pretty good. I've yet to edit it and burn it to disc so we'll see how it looks after that. May be good news for us, though!

[bamafamily]

Mj...

I assume your gonna try and put it on a DVDR disc??? or CDRW??

You say you captured at 352x480??? Thats CVD res. I dont remember seeing that in WinPVR...I thought it was like 340x480 or something??

What drivers did you use??? The latest Leadtek ones?? 1/9/2003??

thx
Mark

[Don2050]

I have the Leadtek 2000XP and never had Synch problems.

You may be dropping frames at the higher resolutions which is throwing off the audio. Watch the CPU usage and see how high it hits during high res capture. also, stick with the Huffyuv captures instead of MPEG2 direct as I recall the MPEG2 captures at high resolutions seriously stress the CPU which may lead to my earlier thought on you dropping frames.

I would update all your drivers as bamafamily said. and also check to see if your motherboard or it's chipset has issues with A/V(ie...I think some older VIA chipsets did)

[bamafamily]

Don,

What res you capture in??

All I want to do is capture in some type of CVD mode which shouldnt be that bad for my setup.

I will make some test captures while watching the CPU...

thx
Mark

[MJDore]

I assume your gonna try and put it on a DVDR disc???

Absolutely.

You say you captured at 352x480??? Thats CVD res. I dont remember seeing that in WinPVR...I thought it was like 340x480 or something??

The way I understand it, 352X480 is half DVD resolution. That setting is not in WinPVR, but I added it as a new capture profile. Or, you could capture at a higher setting and use TMPGEnc to get it to 352X480, I suppose. I was looking for a way to leave TMPGEnc out of it for the purpose of VHS or similar quality caps. These are old ballgames I was just wanting to transfer to DVDR...nothing fancy. I would do a search in these forums for Furball's guide to this. He uses different software but his input on the resolution and bitrate was very helpful.

What drivers did you use??? The latest Leadtek ones?? 1/9/2003??

I'm using the drivers that came with the card. I have yet to update them. Until a problem arises, I'll just stick with what got me here.

Hope this helps.

[Don2050]

I capture in 720x480 with the Huffyuv codec.....I have also captured in MPEG 2 and DivX/Xvid at 720x480 without any problem using the capture software that came with the card.

The MPEG captures at 720x480 definately stressed my comp...I think around 99% - %100 CPU.

any captures at around the 352x240 have been no problem using any codec. Half D1 or around there resolutions should be fine on your computer....full D1 may be too much...the only wat to tell is try
start from uncompressed at the highest res and work down from there, just so you have a reference that you can caputure fine and work backwards through the codecs you want to use.

[bamafamily]

MJ,

I will have to try that...
Does this new profile of 352x480 allow you to use 48Khz for audio???

can you tell me the date on the following file:

wf2kvcap.sys

Mine is 12/13/2002

thx
Mark

[gifty74]

Don2050...

You say you were capturing at 720 x 480. I also have a Leadtek Winfast 2000 xp deluxe, and cannot get any resolution over the standard 320x240...or whatever. How are you getting the higher resolutions? I've been playing with both the IUlabs and BTWincap tweaked drivers and cannot seem to get it right. Any suggestions on these guys? I want to capture at a higher resolution, with virtualdub, but cannot get hte tweaked drivers to function properly. If you are using the leadtek drivers though let me know how you're doing it. Thanks.
--
Steve G

[bamafamily]

I am using the Leadtek Drivers dataed 1/9/2003
If you are using the Winfast PVR Software, there is a new version out.

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=144186&highlight=

bama

[gifty74]

bama, thanks for the advice. i just downloaded that new version and it seems to be better. what exactly was added on the 2/9/03 update? i can't remember if they had the higher resolutions on the old winfast version. i read the other thread you posted and you said you captured at 1/2 D1, which is 352x480. which codec are you using to encode? where do you set the vbr? i'm trying to set up a custom setting, but can't find the features you're using. thanks man.

[harrymj3]

My tnpgenc crashes (only on my computer that I use for capture) also but the good news is that Leadtek has a new app and new drivers (feb 2003) and you can capture to dvd and author to dvd without reencoding and get very nice results. The default br is 4000 but you can set that to whatever you need to fit your disc. I was ready to find a new hobby but they sucked me in again. ................... harrymj3

[bamafamily]

hmmmm

I went and looked at the "so called" newest drivers dated Feb 19, 2003 dated 1/9/2003

The drivers (sys files) in the newest drivers are dated 6/24/2002
The drivers (sys files) in the 030109 set are dated 12/13/2002

I am currently using the 030109 drivers as they seem to be definately newer
I am using the newest version of the PVR software though
The new version gave me the 352x480 resolution
I capture at 352x480,48khz,4000VBR
I wish they would put in a CBR setting as this would really make this software worth using. It seems that my 352x480@4000 captures look a tad worse than the VCD mpegs I download off the net.

I am just using their Winfast Mpeg2 codec also...Maybe I need to look for a better one, but I just want to capture straight to Mpeg2. No reencoding....defeats the purpose for just watching a missed TV show.

Bama

ps. the new version of the software (not drivers) fixed the EPG functionality also

[gifty74]

yeah, i just grabbed at 352x480 @ 2300 bitrate. where do you select vbr, or is is just default? i'm going to check my driver version too.

what program are you using to burn the CVD file to disk?

[harrymj3]

http://www.leadtek.com.tw/www/Web_Leadtek/drive02.asp?pronameid=82

This is where the 2/19/03 driver and app is. ........... harrymj3

[gifty74]

yeah those are the ones i got. i'm guessing they made a type-o on the driver date for the new ones. i'm not getting a date on the new drivers in the sys properties. it just shows the version as 5.13.1.243. i believe this is the most recent version. maybe you guys could check your versions.

[bamafamily]

go into your /windows/system32/drivers directory and look at the wf*.sys files for the Winfast..

That will tell you what the real driver date is. Mine are 12/13/2002


Gifty- Supposedly it only does VBR. I sent an email asking and thats what they said. I usually capture in Winfast, and then do all my editing in DVD Movie Factory 2. I just output to a VIDEO_TS folder and then burn in UDF mode using NERO

bama

[gifty74]

yeah, mine does say june 24th, what the heck. so i should go get the version/set before this one? wonder how they could make a mistake like that. unless, they just built on the old version that was created on june 24th, and added to it. what is the version on your driver set dated 12/9?

[bamafamily]

the driver set I downloaded from Leadtek was labeled 1/9/2003 on their site

The drivers inside that particular set were dated 12/13/2002

here is a link to peruse:

ftp://ftp.leadtek.com.tw/tv_tuner/TV2000XP/Driver/

cya

bama

[gifty74]

Fellas, any ideas about losing more and more audio sync as the capture goes on? The audio is in sync for the first few minutes, but then gets progressively delayed (behind the video). Like I said, it is most out of sync at the very end of the capture. Any ideas?

I'm using the 12/13/02 version of the leadtek drivers.

[bamafamily]

gifty,

Drivers = 1/9/2003
winfast PVR = Latest
Resolution = 352x480 (CVD)
Audio Capture = 48khz mpeg1
Video Quality = 1000
Target Data Rate = 4000
Master Stream = Audio
Audio = Onboard Realtek AC'97

I pick my CNN channel when I am testing because they are always zoomed in on the face for news. I recorded 1hr and 45 mins. Perfect sync all the way through.

I notice you only have a 40GB hard drive. I have an 80 gb NTFS and 40GB NTFS partition I can back up to. That way I know I dont have any defragmented drives/partitions. Did you check for this???

I think this is where I have problems when I try and cut the commercials out of the mpegs.

ttyl

Bama

[Don2050]

Incase this helps.....

I am using the Leadtek drivers version 5.13.1.243 6/24/02

I do not have the latest PVR software from them.....I use the Leadtek PVR software and have never had any synch problems or resolution issues....it lets me select all the way up to 720x576.

Question: in the 'Capture Settings' of the PVR software do you go into 'Capture Profile Settings' and manually select your codec and capture resolution ?

and

What spreed HDD do you have, 7200rmp or 5400rmp ? Is DMA enabled ? and if so what mode ? 5 ?