| Forum Home | ||||
| Press F1 | ||||
| Thread ID: 88951 | 2008-04-15 22:37:00 | Advice on TV Tuners | KenESmith (6287) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 659220 | 2008-04-15 22:37:00 | I am considering installing a TV Tuner in a new PC I Have built, and would appreciate advice on the best option. Basic System Specs as follows: Motherboard ASUS P5K SE Processor Intel S775 Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66 Ghz Video Card ASUS EN8600 GT RAM Geil DDR2 4GB 800 Mhz Dual Channel Running XP Pro SP2 There are several TV Tuner Cards available that fit the bill, and since we are going to have analogue TV for another 2-3 years I guess a card that caters for both is the answer. Typical cards available here are: DVICO Fusion HDTV Nano Plus $179 Pinnacle 2000T Dual HDTV Tuner $209 Pinnacle PCTV 3010X Dual Hybrid Pro PCIe TV Tuner $229 Hauppage HVR-2200 Dual HDTV and Analogue Tuner $229 Advice on the best option and traps and pitfalls for not so young players would be appreciated. |
KenESmith (6287) | ||
| 659221 | 2008-04-15 22:56:00 | Hauppage is the best quality. | pctek (84) | ||
| 659222 | 2008-04-15 23:32:00 | I think ATi also has pretty good quality (according to several reviews, they are slightly better than hauppage). But only the 550 is in new zealand. the 650 chip (which does digital) is not... | utopian201 (6245) | ||
| 659223 | 2008-04-15 23:40:00 | Another point to remember is that if you are hoping one that has a digital tuner will work with terrestrial Freeview (TDTV) which comes online this month, there is a problem. TDTV in NZ is MPEG 4 whereas in most other countries (including our friends over the ditche) is MPEG 2 and for this reason, as far as i am aware, there are no MPEG 4 Tuner cards here yet. (of course I am happy to be corrected if I am wrong) The UK are going to change but are only just planning the process |
Tony.br (4018) | ||
| 659224 | 2008-04-16 00:11:00 | Have you looked at Leadtek. This Leadtek Winfast DTV2000H has MPEG 4 and cost around $150. I have used Winfast before and their PVR is easy to use. I was using the Hauppauge PVR500MCE but since upgrading to vista x64, it wouldn't work. Some hauppauge cards have problem with vista x64 of 4GB RAM or more. leadtek.com |
ephesus (2509) | ||
| 659225 | 2008-04-16 01:40:00 | Unless your tuner does hardware decoding then you won't have a problem with MPEG-4. My Elgato Hybrid (which is actually a rebranded Hauppage) only officially supports MPEG-2 but with the right software I can watch Freeview HD. | Nermal (7077) | ||
| 659226 | 2008-04-16 01:46:00 | Have you looked at Leadtek. This Leadtek Winfast DTV2000H has MPEG 4 and cost around $150. I have used Winfast before and their PVR is easy to use. I was using the Hauppauge PVR500MCE but since upgrading to vista x64, it wouldn't work. Some hauppauge cards have problem with vista x64 of 4GB RAM or more. leadtek.com I have this exact card (DTV2000H), it will do Mpeg4 video (if you buy a copy of Cyberlink Powerdvd Ultra ($250 odd) to get the correct codec, then buy DVBplayer via internet (20 euros) in order to play Freeview), the supplied software with the card only does Mpeg2/ac3 (wouldnt hold your breath for an update). I dont know of any cards/software that will do Freeview out of the box (yet!), as it's a fairly unique system (only NZ, France and I think the Netherlands so far). |
feersumendjinn (64) | ||
| 659227 | 2008-04-16 03:43:00 | Another point to remember is that if you are hoping one that has a digital tuner will work with terrestrial Freeview (TDTV) which comes online this month, there is a problem . TDTV in NZ is MPEG 4 whereas in most other countries (including our friends over the ditche) is MPEG 2 and for this reason, as far as i am aware, there are no MPEG 4 Tuner cards here yet . (of course I am happy to be corrected if I am wrong) The UK are going to change but are only just planning the process If you look at his location, you well see he lives across the ditch . :) |
Trev (427) | ||
| 659228 | 2008-04-16 09:31:00 | I am going for the HVR-2200 (2 X DVB-T and 2 X analogue). But note it is a PCI-E card. If yours cost $A229 you are dealing with an Aussie ripoff merchant! Mine is costing $NZ141 from a local Internet store. This card will enable me to sell off 2 PVR150s so that will make the 2200 really cheap. Only need one aerial feed, as well. |
linw (53) | ||
| 659229 | 2008-04-16 09:42:00 | Tony, you said you were happy to be corrected . I am going to make you happy:D All the DVB-T cards here will work as they just provide a digital stream . What happens to that stream is a software issue . To use them here in NZ you have to have an H . 264 decoder (video) and an AAC one for audio . You also need software such as DBViewer or GBPVR to make it all work . This is where card selection comes in . Your chosen software has to know the card setups . I have been successfully experimenting with a borrowed USB DVB-T tuner, Twinhan decoder together with GBPVR . But it is definitely still pioneering territory, especially as there are only a couple of countries using AAC LATM audio encoding . |
linw (53) | ||
| 1 2 | |||||