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TV CARD Choosing! Help!

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xraider5

n00b
Joined
Jun 29, 2004
Messages
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I'm not sure what is meant when people say that some tv cards have built on encoders/decoders. I've read that some cards (while you watch TV) take up to 60% of your cpu usage. If there's a built in encoder it won't require the cpu resources?

Also, what are the differences between these two cards?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-122-180&depa=0

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=15-116-606&depa=0

i seem to see that people prefer hauppauge cards..

also, ive also been meaning to upgrade my graphics card, so IF i get an all-in-wonder, how will the TV quality differ? will it be better? worse?

i guess basically my question is:
leadtek expert vs hauppauge pctv-radio vs all in wonder, which has BEST picture quality (for TV)
 
i also need to know this, as i am bullding an HTPC from a modded compaq case and wanna record shows and stuff.
 
Well I dunno bout the others, but I have heard good things about the Hauppage, but I'm running an AIW Radeon 7200 (the x800 XT'll come soon ;)) and it still handles all my tv needs perfectly, so if you were looking to upgrade, I would give the AIW a chance, as the tools are pretty good, but saying that, the separate tv cards would be cheaper (I've seen AIW 9800 Pros at the same price as an x800 Pro)
 
I don't have any experience with those two cards, but I can tell you I have the MSI TV @nywhere (bought from Newegg), and it works great. Hardly uses any CPU. Just don't try to use the included video editing software!

EDIT: The TV software, on the other hand, is great.
 
Hauppauge 250 PVR no radio
Hauppauge 350 pvr radio
It's just great!
Cpu useage while I write,surf and watch TV: 22%
 
I have the Winfast 2000XP Deluxe, and I have had no problems with it really, works fine and it is quite convenient to have TV on the comp.
 
I have the leadtek TV2000 XP Expert w/remote, and from my experience it is an excellent package. On the hardware end, the Conexant 10bit decoder chip makes for great video quality. The TV and FM Radio tuners and the software accompaning them is very easy to use and I would rate it as excellent 98% of the time (on certain occassions or activities, it is possible to crash the tuner program focing a restart to get it working again --activities like playing farcry for hours with the FM tuner on in an AMD 2400XP 512MB PC3200 ram system.) My opinion of the 2% of the time problem is it might be a bug in the original software and I haven't tried the latest versions offered for download on the website. Anyway, that aside, the software package for the Leadtek is also very good. It comes Ulead Cool3d, VideoStudios7, and DVDMovie Factory. I noticed the software offering of the Hauppage is only the Hauppage CD (which may or may not also include similar features or functional program to the 3 on the Leadtek). One more thing to consider about those 2 cards though. Admittedly I have had no personal experience with any of the Hauppage cards. It is my understanding that Hauppage cards with the Hardware MPEG2 Decoder are (understandably) far superior to all these software decoder cards and that they have better visual quality and what not also. However, every Hardware Decoder card I've seen from Hauppage is priced around 150~300. This one you are looking at on newegg is only 70 and does not make mention in the description or on the box of any Hardware decoder ability. Infact, the PCB doesn't have the extra MPEG2 encoder chip on it, so it is a software encoder. In my opinion, unless the Haupage somehow has a better TV tuner chip from Conexant on it than the Leadtek, I'd just go with the leadtek.
Leadtek = cheaper, more software, (although not verified) probably same 10-bit TV tuner/decoder chip



EDIT:
Don't go with the Deluxe Leadtek. The 8-bit decoder will be a large quality loss for just $10 cheaper. No point in saving that $10 for a card that won't perform near as well on TV decoding.
 
Both of the cards the OP linked are hardware DECODERS but software ENCODERS. Both will be fine tuner-wise, output will look just fine and not eat the majority of your cycles. (EDIT: most input tv signals suck, so of course output is limited by input signal)

Capturing, as all encoding is software, will eat cpu cycles (up to 50% on my machine, XP@2.6ghz). This is where the $150+ Hauppage cards (250pvr/350pvr) come in handy as they are hardware encoders as well as hardware decoders.

BTW, the AIW series is also software encoding.

Of those two cards, I think the Leadtek has a better software package, though I mainly use virtualdub (oops! Meant dscaler) anyway as it allows deinterlacing. But if I were setting up an HTPC again, I would get the Hauppage pvr-250 or 350. If you just want some TV on you monitor, get the leadtek.
 
alright a few more questions...

interlacing...ive seen this term a lot but im not exactly sure what it is

dscaler...i've also heard about this. will it work with a leadtek? it makes image quality better for things you input, right? also, does it improve tv quality?

are there specific tv-viewing programs i can use with my leadtek or do i have to stick with what the software comes with. im guessing some programs might give better quality than others?


thanks,
i love how people respond so quickly on this forum
 
if you live near a city the hdtv wonder should be out in 2 weeks! msrp is 200$ but its certainly one hell of an investment. it also comes with an hdtv antenna

otherwise the evga 5700 cinema is one heck of a nice capture card/program. best software of any tv card out there.
 
interlacing describes the video. There are interlaced and progressive video signal. Analog TV is interlaced while DVDs are often progressive. I think interlaced means that each frame only has half the number of lines. The frames are then run together to produce a smooth picture.

dscaler is a tv program that features many different deinterlacing algorithms. You'll have look on the dscaler site to see if your card is supported. Most TV apps have some form of deinterlacing so you don't necessarily hafta use dscaler.
 
joobjoob said:
if you live near a city the hdtv wonder should be out in 2 weeks! msrp is 200$ but its certainly one hell of an investment. it also comes with an hdtv antenna
Click to expand...
the hdtv wonder does not impress me. if someone made different versions for use with cable and sattelite systems that would be one thing. But as it stands, not so impressive for $200.
 
i have had great experiences with the winfastTV200XP Deluxe... Worked great for everything i used it for.
 
theirs lots of licensing issues with that though,

if your cable company makes you use a separate cable box, then all you will need is an input like a VIVO graphics card
 
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