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]

Originally Posted by 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.

Leadtek winfast PVR2000.

http://www.leadtek.com/uk/tv_tuner/o...&pronameid=135

[krishnenduk]

Originally Posted by psmontte

Leadtek winfast PVR2000.

http://www.leadtek.com/uk/tv_tuner/o...&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]

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

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]

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

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]

Originally Posted by NucleusKore

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]

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

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..
http://www.leadtek.com.tw/eng/tv_tun...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]

Originally Posted by krishnenduk

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]

Originally Posted by hailgautam

@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.

[vivekbabbudelhi]

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

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.

WinFast TV2000 XP Global Media Center Edition is same tuner as Leadtek winfast tv 2000 xp global + a vista MCE remote...

but i would prefer winfast PVR over VISTA MCE as winfast PVR lets me record directly in DIVX & XVID,max capture resolution being 480x480 with cpu usage being 80% (A64 3000+ venice) upto 6000 kbps bitrate & level 3 quality

Leadtek winfast tv 2000 xp global with 10bit ADC CX23883-39 + Xceive XC2028 receiver is better than pinnacle PCTV stereo & pinnacle 110i anyday

though i need to confirm what tuner pinnacle is offering in PCTV kit for windows vista
pinnacle PCTV stereo is 9bit ADC Philips SAA7134 + Microtune MT2050 receiver..

Microtune MT2050 receiver has problems with the reception of some channels & the quality on some channels is far from perfect..


pinnacle PCTV 110i is 9bit ADC Philips SAA7131E + RF-shielded block Philips TDA8275A

Philips TDA8275 is a hardware shortage in the feedback auto gain.
due to vast problems in reception,Compro flatly refused the use of philips TDA8275 and TDA8275A receivers in its products & instead used receivers from LG in its lineup!!

Philips TDA8275A requires high signal strength to be near perfect.. In lower-level signal there is of occurrence of a well-marked fine color noise..but this receivers denied deficiency in the system of auto gain characteristic of the TDA8275..

overall thing is there are better receivers than philips TDA8275 and TDA8275A in form of xceive receivers ...& most importantly xceive receivers are a major hit among most manufacturers!!

[gxsaurav]

Originally Posted by vivekbabbudelhi

WinFast TV2000 XP Global Media Center Edition is same tuner as Leadtek winfast tv 2000 xp global + a vista MCE remote...

Which is a great software & remote combination.

[joe2005]

A new pinnacle product PINNACLE VIDEO TRANSFER is introduced in india according to a Techtree report.
http://www.techtree.com/India/News/P...86861-615.html.

[psmontte]

Originally Posted by vivekbabbudelhi

WinFast TV2000 XP Global Media Center Edition is same tuner as Leadtek winfast tv 2000 xp global + a vista MCE remote...

but i would prefer winfast PVR over VISTA MCE as winfast PVR lets me record directly in DIVX & XVID,max capture resolution being 480x480 with cpu usage being 80% (A64 3000+ venice) upto 6000 kbps bitrate & level 3 quality

Leadtek winfast tv 2000 xp global with 10bit ADC CX23883-39 + Xceive XC2028 receiver is better than pinnacle PCTV stereo & pinnacle 110i anyday

though i need to confirm what tuner pinnacle is offering in PCTV kit for windows vista
pinnacle PCTV stereo is 9bit ADC Philips SAA7134 + Microtune MT2050 receiver..

Microtune MT2050 receiver has problems with the reception of some channels & the quality on some channels is far from perfect..


pinnacle PCTV 110i is 9bit ADC Philips SAA7131E + RF-shielded block Philips TDA8275A

Philips TDA8275 is a hardware shortage in the feedback auto gain.
due to vast problems in reception,Compro flatly refused the use of philips TDA8275 and TDA8275A receivers in its products & instead used receivers from LG in its lineup!!

Philips TDA8275A requires high signal strength to be near perfect.. In lower-level signal there is of occurrence of a well-marked fine color noise..but this receivers denied deficiency in the system of auto gain characteristic of the TDA8275..

overall thing is there are better receivers than philips TDA8275 and TDA8275A in form of xceive receivers ...& most importantly xceive receivers are a major hit among most manufacturers!!

Are you talking about PVR2000 (And is it (and remote) fully MCE compliant)

[parthbarot]

Hi,

i got pinnacle pctv 110i. It gives good quality (not same like TV though) + divx recording +IR remote control + FM radio tuner also...

can anyone tell me, how can i get maximum quality?

i mean if i can get thru good cable? or any software can do it? or i need to get new card?

btw, i am using ChrisTV which is fabulous... provides many options for recording in different kind a formats..and also better results then original pinnacle media center...

we can also config remote for it...

Reply if you have any suggestions.

Paarth.

[gxsaurav]

@ parth

If chris TV & Pinnacle stuff is working for u, then good. On Vista it's not the best combination so I got the PCTV Tuner kit for vista.

You can play with FFDShow in ChrisTV to enhance the quality to some extent. That's all I know of

[parthbarot]

btw, my card (pinnacle pctv 110i with PMC [Pinnacle media center-remote control edition ]) is vista compatible...

one of my friends used it in vista also...he enjoyed a lot bcs he got Dell LCD monitor 22" (15k shipped from b'lore to gandhinagar ,gujarat)..

and i got is...samsung ... 14" samtron 54v one

but my cpu is GOD
AMD athlon 5200+ x2, 2gb 800 mhz,250gb western digital 16mb buffer HDD sata2,MSI k9agm3 MB (this MB is ....awsome.. see its specs... )

Paarth.

[gxsaurav]

I ordered Leadtek WinFast TV2000 XP Global Media Center Edition TV Tuner card today for Rs 2,200. It is coming on order from chennai & will be here by Wednesday.

I will be using it with Windows Vista Media Center, since I hardly record TV so hardware encoding isn't required. In software encoding my system CPU with assitance with GPU due to UVD & AVIVO I can easily record in WMV format in real time from within the Media Center.

[vivekbabbudelhi]

^^nice buy congrats
very nice pricing for MCE version considering i bought non MCE version for 2.5k 7months back

[gxsaurav]

Originally Posted by vivekbabbudelhi

^^nice buy congrats
very nice pricing for MCE version considering i bought non MCE version for 2.5k 7months back

I guess I got a good deal. Hey, does your non MCE version works in Vista Media Center??? I mean even if the remote doesn't work, that's not a problem, but the TV Tuner should work & show channels properly in Vista's Media Center.

If the remote doesn't work, you can always buy either the XBOX 360 universal media remote or Pinnacle Remote kit for Vista. These will work with MCE.

I am not into recording of TV so Windows Media center is good enough for me.