BB
Try to be more specific.
It's like walking into a sports shop and saying "I want to buy a pair of trainers". In common with trainers, there are loads of TV cards at varying price ranges and features. Some are made by brands whilst some others are brown box stuff.
What do you want to do with it?
Do you want to connect it to your digibox so you can record video on the computer? Do you want an analogue or digital capture card? Do you just want something simple that you can watch TV on and nothing else? Do you want to be able to listen to FM radio?
Also why does it have to be USB?
BOL I0X posted:
So out of all of you people with "TV Capture Capabilities" not one person knows a good capture card?
Try to be more specific.
It's like walking into a sports shop and saying "I want to buy a pair of trainers". In common with trainers, there are loads of TV cards at varying price ranges and features. Some are made by brands whilst some others are brown box stuff.
What do you want to do with it?
Do you want to connect it to your digibox so you can record video on the computer? Do you want an analogue or digital capture card? Do you just want something simple that you can watch TV on and nothing else? Do you want to be able to listen to FM radio?
Also why does it have to be USB?
NH
Well, I didn't respond because the one I've got is so ancient it's no longer on sale, doesn't connect via USB and has a picture quality best described as an anagram of, wait for it, carp.
Does that excuse me?
Nick Harvey
Founding member
BOL I0X posted:
Can anyone recommend a good TV capture card that has decent picture quality, and possibly USB?
Well, I didn't respond because the one I've got is so ancient it's no longer on sale, doesn't connect via USB and has a picture quality best described as an anagram of, wait for it, carp.
Does that excuse me?
LL
I bought a WinTV package (the 2000 series, IIRC) a few years ago.
It wasn't bad, although the input for the audio didn't work properly. Proved to be a right pain in the arse. The software crashed regularly - in fact, the software provided didn't actually work - fortunately I had the foresight to go on the website and download the relevant driver and software updates, but even then its stability was questionable. Capturing large amounts of footage was impossible, as the bleedin' thing froze up after a minute or so of footage. In the end, I had to use third party software for capturing.
Ergo, I wouldn't recommend it.
It wasn't bad, although the input for the audio didn't work properly. Proved to be a right pain in the arse. The software crashed regularly - in fact, the software provided didn't actually work - fortunately I had the foresight to go on the website and download the relevant driver and software updates, but even then its stability was questionable. Capturing large amounts of footage was impossible, as the bleedin' thing froze up after a minute or so of footage. In the end, I had to use third party software for capturing.
Ergo, I wouldn't recommend it.
BB
The Hauppauge drivers are well known for their crapness. I had many of the problems you describe when I used their driver and applications - the applications were OK but did crash from time to time, and could often freeze up the whole computer, requiring a reboot. I now use the open source "BTWincap" drivers, although it's a shame that it doesn't seem to be actively developed anymore.
Although it has to be said that the picture quality from the co-ax input is crap. I think this is due to the fact that I'm using those cheapo low quality flyleads you get in Dixons and not the professional/good quality stuff could be partly to blame.
And yes - unless you are capturing short sequences of footage, it is not advisable to use the WinTV applications as they record straight to AVI and consume large amounts of disk space (for a 3 minute capture we are talking of around 500Mb; that's just for 320x240 at 24fps). I would recommend you use WinDVR from Intervideo to record large sequences of footage and programmes MPEG - the quality is good (depending on the settings) - I use it as a sort of digital video recorder.
Skytower posted:
I bought a WinTV package (the 2000 series, IIRC) a few years ago.
It wasn't bad, although the input for the audio didn't work properly. Proved to be a right pain in the arse. The software crashed regularly - in fact, the software provided didn't actually work - fortunately I had the foresight to go on the website and download the relevant driver and software updates, but even then its stability was questionable. Capturing large amounts of footage was impossible, as the bleedin' thing froze up after a minute or so of footage. In the end, I had to use third party software for capturing.
Ergo, I wouldn't recommend it.
It wasn't bad, although the input for the audio didn't work properly. Proved to be a right pain in the arse. The software crashed regularly - in fact, the software provided didn't actually work - fortunately I had the foresight to go on the website and download the relevant driver and software updates, but even then its stability was questionable. Capturing large amounts of footage was impossible, as the bleedin' thing froze up after a minute or so of footage. In the end, I had to use third party software for capturing.
Ergo, I wouldn't recommend it.
The Hauppauge drivers are well known for their crapness. I had many of the problems you describe when I used their driver and applications - the applications were OK but did crash from time to time, and could often freeze up the whole computer, requiring a reboot. I now use the open source "BTWincap" drivers, although it's a shame that it doesn't seem to be actively developed anymore.
Although it has to be said that the picture quality from the co-ax input is crap. I think this is due to the fact that I'm using those cheapo low quality flyleads you get in Dixons and not the professional/good quality stuff could be partly to blame.
And yes - unless you are capturing short sequences of footage, it is not advisable to use the WinTV applications as they record straight to AVI and consume large amounts of disk space (for a 3 minute capture we are talking of around 500Mb; that's just for 320x240 at 24fps). I would recommend you use WinDVR from Intervideo to record large sequences of footage and programmes MPEG - the quality is good (depending on the settings) - I use it as a sort of digital video recorder.
SP
Avoid pinnacle PCTV - the software is shockingly bad and the attitude of their tech support is even worse
GS
Gavin Scott
Founding member
I gave up with capture cards (as such) and now use an Analogue to DV converter. It connects by firewire and will turn live analogue (composite or S Video) into a stream of DV25 which I can capture using Adobe Premiere or Pinnacle software. It does the conversion both ways so I can output a stream of DV back to analogue.
It depends what you want to use the capturing for. File sizes are naturally very large when you work with DV25, but lets face it - storage is cheap.
I tend to capture, edit and then convert the file to something more manageable once I've finished. Working with DV is a pleasure.
You're looking at spending about £150 for one of these boxes and if your budget goes that far you won't be sorry.
DataVideo DAC 100.
It depends what you want to use the capturing for. File sizes are naturally very large when you work with DV25, but lets face it - storage is cheap.
I tend to capture, edit and then convert the file to something more manageable once I've finished. Working with DV is a pleasure.
You're looking at spending about £150 for one of these boxes and if your budget goes that far you won't be sorry.
DataVideo DAC 100.
TE
tesandco
Founding member
Well out of the two USB cards I've had...
1) Hauppauge WinTV USB - Avoid like the plague. As has been mentioned, the drivers are appalling, and I *never* got their playback/capturing software to work, having to use two third party apps DScaler and VirtualDub instead (though both of those kick Hauppauge's software into the ground anyway). Even when it is working, the quality of it is very poor. It only uses USB1.1, the bandwidth of which is limited so Hauppauge chucked in a cheapo compression chipset designed for use with webcams in order to get it to the computer. They do have a USB2 version out these days, so hopefully they've put something a bit better inside.
2) Pinnacle PCTV Deluxe - A much better piece of kit (Wanted to be, given it was nearly twice as much), using USB2 and with its own MPEG2 encoder to give a very good quality picture, albeit with the one second delay inherent to MPEG compressing. The problem with it, as has also been mentioned, is that whilst the hardware is good, Pinnacle can't write the accompanying software to save their lives. With said software, it locks up and crashes constantly, and pretty much makes the thing unusable. After a lot of searching however I came across the original playback software for the OEM manufacturer (A company called Emuzed) whose hardware was simply rebadged to make the PCTV Deluxe, and using that it's gone like a dream.
Moral of the story. Whilst USB is theoretically easier in that you just plug it into a port and go, its generally let down by pathetic software support, which will involve an awful lot of hair pulling out to get things to work. Why they cripple their hardware all the time with terrible software is a mystery...
1) Hauppauge WinTV USB - Avoid like the plague. As has been mentioned, the drivers are appalling, and I *never* got their playback/capturing software to work, having to use two third party apps DScaler and VirtualDub instead (though both of those kick Hauppauge's software into the ground anyway). Even when it is working, the quality of it is very poor. It only uses USB1.1, the bandwidth of which is limited so Hauppauge chucked in a cheapo compression chipset designed for use with webcams in order to get it to the computer. They do have a USB2 version out these days, so hopefully they've put something a bit better inside.
2) Pinnacle PCTV Deluxe - A much better piece of kit (Wanted to be, given it was nearly twice as much), using USB2 and with its own MPEG2 encoder to give a very good quality picture, albeit with the one second delay inherent to MPEG compressing. The problem with it, as has also been mentioned, is that whilst the hardware is good, Pinnacle can't write the accompanying software to save their lives. With said software, it locks up and crashes constantly, and pretty much makes the thing unusable. After a lot of searching however I came across the original playback software for the OEM manufacturer (A company called Emuzed) whose hardware was simply rebadged to make the PCTV Deluxe, and using that it's gone like a dream.
Moral of the story. Whilst USB is theoretically easier in that you just plug it into a port and go, its generally let down by pathetic software support, which will involve an awful lot of hair pulling out to get things to work. Why they cripple their hardware all the time with terrible software is a mystery...
AD
I use that and after a few initial problems it works fantastically. I must admit the drivers are crap but apart from that it's fab
tesandco posted:
Well out of the two USB cards I've had...
1) Hauppauge WinTV USB - Avoid like the plague. As has been mentioned, the drivers are appalling, and I *never* got their playback/capturing software to work, having to use two third party apps DScaler and VirtualDub instead (though both of those kick Hauppauge's software into the ground anyway). Even when it is working, the quality of it is very poor. It only uses USB1.1, the bandwidth of which is limited so Hauppauge chucked in a cheapo compression chipset designed for use with webcams in order to get it to the computer. They do have a USB2 version out these days, so hopefully they've put something a bit better inside.
1) Hauppauge WinTV USB - Avoid like the plague. As has been mentioned, the drivers are appalling, and I *never* got their playback/capturing software to work, having to use two third party apps DScaler and VirtualDub instead (though both of those kick Hauppauge's software into the ground anyway). Even when it is working, the quality of it is very poor. It only uses USB1.1, the bandwidth of which is limited so Hauppauge chucked in a cheapo compression chipset designed for use with webcams in order to get it to the computer. They do have a USB2 version out these days, so hopefully they've put something a bit better inside.
I use that and after a few initial problems it works fantastically. I must admit the drivers are crap but apart from that it's fab
NG
noggin
Founding member
What card is best for you would depend on what you want to do with it - as others have said.
There are about 4 different types of basic capture card :
1. Digital. These receive Freeview channels via an aerial, and deliver good quality pictures. They are suited for watching live TV, timeshifting TV, and burning TV recordings to DVD with no quality loss (which is what I do) Because the card is receiving already compressed video (the broadcaster compresses it prior to transmission) - the host PC doesn't need to be that powerful for recording.
2. Analogue - Software compression.
These are amongst the cheaper solutions - as they don't compress the incoming video in hardware, an rely on the PC to do this in software. They therefore rely on a fast PC. They are not an option for USB1 connection - as USB1 isn't fast enough to carry uncompressed video. In PCI card form they are popular with home-theatre buffs, as they allow you to scale and de-interlace the uncompressed video to feed to a high quality display.
Most have an analogue tuner (some don't have NICAM stereo), and composite and/or S-video baseband inputs. Some don't have audio inputs and thus require you to use your PC sound card. This is often the cause of poor audio/video sync, as the sound card and the video card aren't locked together and can drift over longer recordings.
There is a PCI card with RGB Capture in this category that can deliver excellent results from Sky or Digital Cable boxes - almost as good as a Freeview capture card.
3. Analogue - Hardware compression
These are more expensive, because they compress the video in hardware, but this means that the host PC doesn't need to be as powerful, as it doesn't need to compress the video in software. They are usually higher quality solutions than 2. - and have dedicated audio inputs, so no A/V drifting issues. USB1 connections are possible - but usually only at lower resolutions, as even with compression USB1 isn't quite up to capturing full quality compressed MPEG2 captures at full resolution. USB2 connections allow for high quality capture at full resolution.
These boxes normally come with a tuner AND composite/s-video inputs, but no RGB Inputs on any models I know of. Most have NICAM stereo capture - though this is only of relevance if you are using an aerial to capture analogue BBC One-Channel Five - Sky/Cable/Freeview boxes don't use NICAM.
4. External Analogue to DV conversion boxes - using Firewire.
These are more aimed at editing than TV recording, as few have internal tuners, though there are Firewire connected Mac receivers knocking around. If you hunt you can find boxes with external component inputs as well as composite and s-video. Because they compress to DV in hardware they deliver excellent quality video, but the recordings will take up a lot of hard disc space before further compression - as DV runs at 18Mbs, compared to the 2-10Mbs of MPEG2.
What you need to do should inform what type of card you want.
If you want to run a personal video recorder style operation - using something like Showshifter or Windows Media Center, then 1. or 3.are the best options, as they don't overload your computer and give excellent results.
If you just want to grab a few stills or a few seconds of video to compress to web quality, and have a reasonably powerful PC, then 2. would be an option - though USB1 isn't really an option apart from at very poor quality levels.
If you want to connect sources for editing in very high quality, then 4. would be good.
There are about 4 different types of basic capture card :
1. Digital. These receive Freeview channels via an aerial, and deliver good quality pictures. They are suited for watching live TV, timeshifting TV, and burning TV recordings to DVD with no quality loss (which is what I do) Because the card is receiving already compressed video (the broadcaster compresses it prior to transmission) - the host PC doesn't need to be that powerful for recording.
2. Analogue - Software compression.
These are amongst the cheaper solutions - as they don't compress the incoming video in hardware, an rely on the PC to do this in software. They therefore rely on a fast PC. They are not an option for USB1 connection - as USB1 isn't fast enough to carry uncompressed video. In PCI card form they are popular with home-theatre buffs, as they allow you to scale and de-interlace the uncompressed video to feed to a high quality display.
Most have an analogue tuner (some don't have NICAM stereo), and composite and/or S-video baseband inputs. Some don't have audio inputs and thus require you to use your PC sound card. This is often the cause of poor audio/video sync, as the sound card and the video card aren't locked together and can drift over longer recordings.
There is a PCI card with RGB Capture in this category that can deliver excellent results from Sky or Digital Cable boxes - almost as good as a Freeview capture card.
3. Analogue - Hardware compression
These are more expensive, because they compress the video in hardware, but this means that the host PC doesn't need to be as powerful, as it doesn't need to compress the video in software. They are usually higher quality solutions than 2. - and have dedicated audio inputs, so no A/V drifting issues. USB1 connections are possible - but usually only at lower resolutions, as even with compression USB1 isn't quite up to capturing full quality compressed MPEG2 captures at full resolution. USB2 connections allow for high quality capture at full resolution.
These boxes normally come with a tuner AND composite/s-video inputs, but no RGB Inputs on any models I know of. Most have NICAM stereo capture - though this is only of relevance if you are using an aerial to capture analogue BBC One-Channel Five - Sky/Cable/Freeview boxes don't use NICAM.
4. External Analogue to DV conversion boxes - using Firewire.
These are more aimed at editing than TV recording, as few have internal tuners, though there are Firewire connected Mac receivers knocking around. If you hunt you can find boxes with external component inputs as well as composite and s-video. Because they compress to DV in hardware they deliver excellent quality video, but the recordings will take up a lot of hard disc space before further compression - as DV runs at 18Mbs, compared to the 2-10Mbs of MPEG2.
What you need to do should inform what type of card you want.
If you want to run a personal video recorder style operation - using something like Showshifter or Windows Media Center, then 1. or 3.are the best options, as they don't overload your computer and give excellent results.
If you just want to grab a few stills or a few seconds of video to compress to web quality, and have a reasonably powerful PC, then 2. would be an option - though USB1 isn't really an option apart from at very poor quality levels.
If you want to connect sources for editing in very high quality, then 4. would be good.