pls suggest a TV TUNER CARD for recording

[krishnenduk]

i am going to buy a new tv tuner card for my system. can anyone pls suggest a good LEADTEK or PINNACLE tv tuner card. I need it for good quality recording and for building a media center system. should be compatible with windows vista. my budget is 3500 Rs.

 

[psmontte]

i am going to buy a new tv tuner card for my system. can anyone pls suggest a good LEADTEK or PINNACLE tv tuner card. I need it for good quality recording and for building a media center system. should be compatible with windows vista. my budget is 3500 Rs.

Leadtek winfast PVR2000.

*www.leadtek.com/uk/tv_tuner/overview.asp?lineid=6&pronameid=135

 

[krishnenduk]

Leadtek winfast PVR2000.

*www.leadtek.com/uk/tv_tuner/overview.asp?lineid=6&pronameid=135

what is that OEM in the website means?

 

[gxsaurav]

Go for either PCTV Hybrid Tuner Kit for Windows Vista or Leadtek WinFast DTV 1800H Media Center Edition. These are the cheapest yet the most effective TV Tuners to be used in Windows Vista with Vista Media Center.

OEM means the TV Tuner is not available for sale to the general public & is sold only the system builders like Dell or HP

 

[krishnenduk]

Go for either PCTV Hybrid Tuner Kit for Windows Vista or Leadtek WinFast DTV 1800H Media Center Edition. These are the cheapest yet the most effective TV Tuners to be used in Windows Vista with Vista Media Center.

OEM means the TV Tuner is not available for sale to the general public & is sold only the system builders like Dell or HP

i need to use it for good quality video recording also.. will the WinFast DTV1800 H Media Center Edition give me a good quality recording as i think hardware encoder is not present in it??

 

[gxsaurav]

Hardware encoder will encode in MPEG2 format only while Software encoder can encode in DivX format too among other formats which is better then MPEG2.

The only benefit of hardware mpeg2 encoder is that CPU usage is reduced while encoding, but with today's CPU, I prefer a software based card so that I can record directly to DivX.

Most important is that in India we usually have Cable TV with resolution of 640X480 with Mono Audio & PAL format. This isn't high quality already. So to record this, software based card is good enough.

If you are using DTH like Tata Sky or something else, then the feed u get is MPEG2 based which is always advised to record in DivX format. So in both the cases, if you have a new CPU then buying a hardware mpeg2 encoder based card is not advised.W

What is your system config? If you have a fairly new system then go for Leadtek Winfast PxDTV2300 H if possible & available. Although WinFast DTV1800 H Media Center Edition should be enough for general home usage recording.

 

[krishnenduk]

Hardware encoder will encode in MPEG2 format only while Software encoder can encode in DivX format too among other formats which is better then MPEG2.

The only benefit of hardware mpeg2 encoder is that CPU usage is reduced while encoding, but with today's CPU, I prefer a software based card so that I can record directly to DivX.

Most important is that in India we usually have Cable TV with resolution of 640X480 with Mono Audio & PAL format. This isn't high quality already. So to record this, software based card is good enough.

If you are using DTH like Tata Sky or something else, then the feed u get is MPEG2 based which is always advised to record in DivX format. So in both the cases, if you have a new CPU then buying a hardware mpeg2 encoder based card is not advised.W

What is your system config? If you have a fairly new system then go for Leadtek Winfast PxDTV2300 H if possible & available. Although WinFast DTV1800 H Media Center Edition should be enough for general home usage recording.

my system specs are,

Intel Pentium 4, 3GHz HT,
XFX 630i (MG-630I-7159) mobo,
1 GB RAM,
ViewSonic 19'' widescreen LCD,
Antec 400W PSU...

what abt buying Leadtek winfast PVR2000 card?? can we connect Tata DTH to it??

 

[gxsaurav]

Your system specs are a bit low for DivX recording of TV. If you buy a hardware MPEG2 Encoder based graphics card then you can record video easily with Vista MCE, but then you will need to convert them again to DivX for saving hard disk space. However this method is still better then real time DivX recording.

I don't know about Tata Sky.

 

[NucleusKore]

Running Vista on that config is not such a good idea. Why don't you downgrade to XP.

 

[gxsaurav]

Running Vista on that config is not such a good idea. Why don't you downgrade to XP.

No need, Windows Vista will run fine on this system configuration. If possible upgrade your RAM to 2 GB & you are set.

I am running Vista fine here on a CPU even lower end then that.

 

[krishnenduk]

Your system specs are a bit low for DivX recording of TV. If you buy a hardware MPEG2 Encoder based graphics card then you can record video easily with Vista MCE, but then you will need to convert them again to DivX for saving hard disk space. However this method is still better then real time DivX recording.

I don't know about Tata Sky.

in leadtek's website they r telling that it supports direct divx encoding with 3rd party softwares..
*www.leadtek.com.tw/eng/tv_tuner/overview.asp?lineid=6&pronameid=91
is it so??

 

[hailgautam]

I want to make my pc - a tv recording + Video watching media center pc

Following is the Config:
2.4 ghz Pentium 4
768 mb ram
ATI Radion 9250 AGP card with 256 mb vram
320gb hdd
sony dvd rw
tata sky

My video card supports s-video out and I am getting a s-video cable so that i can hook it up to the tv.

can you advise what all I need to do to make it media center pc at the least cost.. (quality not to be compromised)

 

[gcbeldar]

Hey I have a Happuage USB TV Tuner, which got along with my compaq laptop, if interested pm me.

 

[krishnenduk]

can anyone tell me from where i can find good reviews and comparison of tv tuner cards available in India?

 

[gxsaurav]

in leadtek's website they r telling that it supports direct divx encoding with 3rd party softwares..

This means direct recording to DivX format, with DivX Encoder installed.

I want to make my pc - a tv recording + Video watching media center pc

Following is the Config:
2.4 ghz Pentium 4
768 mb ram
ATI Radion 9250 AGP card with 256 mb vram
320gb hdd
sony dvd rw
tata sky

My video card supports s-video out and I am getting a s-video cable so that i can hook it up to the tv.

can you advise what all I need to do to make it media center pc at the least cost.. (quality not to be compromised)

For your CPU, get a TV Tuner with Hardware mpeg2 encoder else u won't be able to record in real time. Real time DivX recording on that config is quite stressful

can anyone tell me from where i can find good reviews and comparison of tv tuner cards available in India?

Google it, but don't know about those available in India. Go to the local market & ask the vendor which models he has available.

 

[hailgautam]

@gx: can you please advise what upgrades i can do to have divx recording?
I guess having a 2 gb mem and updating to a better graphics card would help.

Also can you suggest a good hardware mpeg2 encoder..

 

[gxsaurav]

@gx: can you please advise what upgrades i can do to have divx recording?

Upgrade your CPU, Real time divx encoding can be done even on a computer with 512 MB RAM & onboard graphics. You just need the CPU for encoding.

Also can you suggest a good hardware mpeg2 encoder..

Check leadtek.com for there cards. There is one model with Hardware mpeg2 encoder

 

[dabster]

A little off topic But still for the same thing.
I used PCTV stereo earlier(2 yr back) on Pentium4 based old computer to record TV, S/W supplied allowed to save in MPEG2 directly, but it lacked direct divx saving. My questions.

1. Does Tata Sky has High Definition TV reception or it is same old PAL Video with mono audio..?

2. One doubt here, I believe the MPEG2 cards had inbuilt firmware optimizations for storing MPEG2 videos so they dint use much of the CPU time(%). Does it hold true for Divx enabled cards too. or they use the CPU cycles to encode the Video to divx and then save on the fly.?

 

[vivekbabbudelhi]

some basics which would help everyone

a tv tuner basically comprises of a "ADC (broadcast decoder) + HF unit (broadcast receiver)
in addition some have hardware compressor MPEG-2 encoders as well

ADC mainly used are 9-bit PHILIPS SAA713x or 10-bit Conexant CX2388x
for hardware encoders Conexant CX258x + MPEG1 / 2 encoder Conexant CX23416-12.

though 12-bit ADC in ATI THEATER 650 is also there but unfortunately there is no PAL model for this currently

now naturally more the bits better the processing

hold on a minute
these ADC are standard chips. crappy local tuners too have SAA7134HL ADC & compro tv gold plus too has SAA7134HL ADC.
now why local tuners cost 600bucks & have crappy picture quality whereas videomate costs 3200bucks & has excellent picture quality

he he... answer is "receiver"
now local tuners have cheap receivers from crappy chinese firms whereas videomate tv gold plus 2 has original LG TPI8PSB12D HF unit.

secondly Noise Removal starts at the level layout.capacitors & stabilizer located on the card have a great effect on overall picture quality and as a thumb rule local tuners lack such implementation

now for PAL good receivers are mainly from LG,Xceive,Huizhou TCL King High Frenquency Electronic Co & latest HF blocks from the Philips / NXP..

examples of some best tuners for PAL

compro videomate gold plus 2 :ADC Philips SAA7134HL+LG TPI8PSB12D

leadtek winfast tv 2000xp global: ADC CX23883-39 + Xceive XC2028

hauppage wintv PVR 150: ADC Conexant CX25843-23 + MPEG1 / 2 encoder Conexant CX23416-12 + HF unit Huizhou TCL MPE05

& latest compro M3 MCE and M5 MCE : philips SAA7131E + new generation of semiconductor receivers NXP

among all above receivers for PAL Huizhou TCL King High Frenquency Electronic Co & latest HF blocks from the Philips / NXP give better reception(though NXP based are not available right now)..

so best buy goes to hauppage wintv PVR 150(hardware encoder) then for software encoder is leadtek winfast tv 2000xp global

 

[gxsaurav]

If it is leadtek, I would recommend WinFast TV2000 XP Global Media Center Edition any day over any other card or Pinnacle PCTV Tuner for Vista as they both are certified to work with Vista MCE & comes with MCE certified remote.