want ability to record tv programs on computer system... 2

[N8RL8R]

Am putting together a home computer system and want the ability to record shows off my TV. Am looking at the TV Wonder video card from ATI. Is a special video card all that is required (besides a larger hard drive to hold the data)? Or is there other special hardware that I need to install? Any assistance or input would be appreciated.
Thanks,
N8

 

[kiddpete]

You will need a sound card, and an amplified antenna/cable cable. Although ATI works pretty well, I've had some difficulty with video 'drop outs' which cause video/audio synchronization problems in third party software. ATI software apparently compensates, and does not suffer these problems when playing back recorded programs. Other tuner cards or external devices sometimes have hardware based mpeg 2 encoders that eliminates such problems.

If you want tivo like abilities, ATI should do a fine job. If you want to capture and burn video, an external device might be better.

 

[dakota81]

Don't get me started on the poor quality of ATi tv tuners... I could write a chapter and then some on the subject.

Do yourself a huge favor and get a Hauppauge WinTV PVR-250 or better - a little bit of money goes a HUGE way towards great quality recordings with little hassle.

 

[wooglin]

I'm looking at the Hauppauge PVR-250. Future Shop has it on sale for $150 (Canadian) but I have 2 quick questions.
1) do you need to have an add-on soundcard, or will the onboard sound work? My Asus P4R800-V Deluxe mobo has both line in, mic in and line out jacks.
2) do you need an add-on VGA card? This mobo has the integrated Radeon 9100 IGP chipset, with integrated TV encoder. (component video & S-video outputs)

Opinions? I'd love to move fast as it's $50 off, but only until Friday.

Thanks!

 

[CreamCake]

General suggestions of mine for video capture PC's are:

1. At least a 7200rpm HDD with 8mb cache running ultra ATA100 or better (and matching ultra ATA100 or better specs) for capture (use it as your secondary master).
2. lots o' memory.. ddr if possible. 512mb or better feeding a p4 or better. and as little running background programs on the PC as possible during capture.
3. my ATI tv-wonder PCI used to drop frames all over the place until I applied this same advice to my home PC. As much as I despise their software, .... and usually their hardware. I think they try to make it easy for the PC to update show listings over the internet and record with decent accuracy... but DAMN their drivers and software install hoops!

I no longer care on the crispness of the TV captures on ATI. They are not fantastic, but certainly watchable and I end up throwing most stuff away. If you plan on using a TV for HTPC playback, the resolution would make the quality difference unnoticable.

As long as I can frameserve DVD's via an avi wrapper directly to premiere, I'm happy!


The Matrox e-tv series are no longer supported..

I hear the Hauppage supplied TV software sucks big time... They make great video capture cards for use with 3rd party software, but don't know of any scheduling software for use with them. Dakota81 - any pointers here?

I hear Linux has the BOMB programs for scheduling and capture, but I'm still muddling through my gentoo install....