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| Thread ID: 51486 | 2004-11-22 08:51:00 | Whats the best way to choose a tv tuner? | Mcpisik (4924) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 294994 | 2004-11-23 01:42:00 | I'm going to buck the tread here and reckonmend the Hauppauge WinTV PVR-250 or PVR-350, if you can find them in NZ. If you cant find Hauppauge then the PixelView PlayTV@P7000 is also reckonmended. Personally havent used the cards, so i cant comment on the software, but both use hardware to encode the signal as opposed to software, this will give a better quality image and use far less system resources. I wouldnt be too concerned about the software as you can always download something better at a later date, getting a decent card is more important. I suggest you read a few HTPC websites before making a final decision. |
Pete O'Neil (250) | ||
| 294995 | 2004-11-23 02:17:00 | I have a ComproView Gold PCI card that is promoted for it's ability to start up the whole computer and record a scheduled programme before shutting down again, and for its apparently superior clear picture. I haven't tried the power-on scheduling yet but I can turn the computer on from the remote - although I don't really use that feature anyway. The picture quality isn't what I'd call the best - though I get my signal from a 'rabbit-ears' antenna sitting on top of the computer. Although the sound says it's receiving stereo, I mostly get mono sound even though I have heard a few commercials where I was lucky to get stereo sound for a few seconds. Channel one gets a few near-vertical blue bars giving a tint to the picture which saturates when the background is blue. Timeshifting is helpful, but the picture quality is noticeably fuzzier than normal viewing even though the settings are the optimal. It also takes anywhere up to 10 seconds to switch the TV into or out of timeshift mode. The Teletext function doesn't seem to work. There seems to be a bug in the software that causes Windows (ME) to hang on shutdown if you leave the remote control process running in the system tray. There is a background process, TweakYC, that runs automatically on startup for fine-tuning the signal, but this piece of software supplied with the card tells me that the card itself doesn't have the ability to tweak the settings in that program. How ironic! Anyway, I'd be interested in getting a Leadtek 2000XP Expert if it had a much clearer picture than what Compro claims. The picture is much like what the earliest tuner cards produced on computer store display PCs, which is a little bit disappointing. I may be living on the side of a hill (facing away from Mt Kaukau - Wgtn's repeater tower), but the main TV in the house gets a much clearer picture. Must test to see if the picture improves if I use the aerial mounted on the roof... Hope that is useful info for doing a comparison for 1st-time buyers! |
D. McG (3023) | ||
| 294996 | 2004-11-23 02:26:00 | The majority of the issues are probably related to the rabbit ears although that card sounds pretty dodgy - never heard of that brand... The Leadtek cards IMO (with latest drivers and apps) have great picture quality with both tv tuning and capture, great FM tuning, OK remote features, Teletext and great sound too (NICAM/STEREO). I haven't used mine much for encoding but when testing it with various codecs I noticed no change in viewing quality. If you are going for a Leaktek and the Stereo sound is important ensure you get the Expert model! |
HadO (796) | ||
| 294997 | 2004-11-23 09:26:00 | do you think the leadtek winfast cards are good for capturing from VHS - i intend on doing that with the one i may purchace | noone (22) | ||
| 294998 | 2004-11-23 09:29:00 | > do you think the leadtek winfast cards are good for > capturing from VHS purchace yes :) |
Zippity (58) | ||
| 294999 | 2004-11-23 17:06:00 | Thanks to all those who helped me out, in my time of need.... Have orderd a leadtec dv2000, so I'll post an opinion soon for any who are hunting. Cheers!!! |
Mcpisik (4924) | ||
| 295000 | 2004-11-23 20:21:00 | is the only difference between the DV 2000 and the tv 2000 xp expert the fact that the dv 2000 has the firewire ports | noone (22) | ||
| 295001 | 2004-11-23 20:30:00 | Yes, apparantly that's all... | Mcpisik (4924) | ||
| 295002 | 2004-11-23 20:39:00 | just done some research the dv 2000 has a better chipset then the tv 2000 and also has the firewire | noone (22) | ||
| 295003 | 2004-11-23 21:18:00 | Sweet! That's what i like to hear. Might have been what the asian guy in the shop was trying to tell me over the telephone?! | Mcpisik (4924) | ||
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