Digital Tv Capture Card

Lukeyson · 23-09-2005, 12:00 PM

Hey guys,

I am looking at getting a Digital TV capture card for my PC, to capture bathurst, currently my capturing process is a little complcated, and this will make is P1ss easy !

Can i get some feedback on if you bought something like this and what your thoughts on it are ?

I only want it to capture digital signal, not just analog. Budget of $200-$300.

Thanks in advance

Luke

BA Bakes · 23-09-2005, 12:26 PM

Hi Luke,

I have just brought a Dvico Fusion HDTV card. It's just like a new ford ute - Unbelievable!! The quality is fantasic and it also has an analogue input so you can transfer video from a VCR or old vid cam. My cost $300 from Hardly Normal, but if you not in hurry have a look on the web.

cheers,
Luke

Lukeyson · 23-09-2005, 06:11 PM

thanks mate, looked into that card, it looks good, thanks for that, i will shop around on the net for it.

cArSiK · 23-09-2005, 06:18 PM

i also have a Dvico Fusion HDTV card , as BA Bakes said picture quality is unreal. The only thing with these cards is that recording is stored in .tp format and the files are massive.

I have no idea how you would burn the file onto DVD to watch on your home DVD player

BA Bakes · 23-09-2005, 07:12 PM

You can change the recording format to mpg. file size of the record is quite high, but there plenty of got compress tools to make them smaller. Just make sure you use te latest software and drivers. download them from the website.

parawolf · 23-09-2005, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cArSiK

i also have a Dvico Fusion HDTV card , as BA Bakes said picture quality is unreal. The only thing with these cards is that recording is stored in .tp format and the files are massive.

I have no idea how you would burn the file onto DVD to watch on your home DVD player

Theoretically it would just be a MPEG2 stream as this is what Digital TV is. I figure the .tp format is just a customised file header. There is probably a very simple hack to convert the headers.

parawolf · 23-09-2005, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR8fella

thanks mate, looked into that card, it looks good, thanks for that, i will shop around on the net for it.

Check out the Digital TV Forums located at: http://www.dtvforum.info/

Specifically about PCI cards: http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showforum=9

23-09-2005, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by parawolf

Theoretically it would just be a MPEG2 stream as this is what Digital TV is. I figure the .tp format is just a customised file header. There is probably a very simple hack to convert the headers.

that is correct .. if file is larger than dvd,use dvd shrink which is a free prog to shrink to good size. I always record in best qual and end up with a 7gig file, then shrink to dvd size.I figure is better to record best ,then loose a bit when shrinking...it cuts out all the guess work in sizing your file to video qual.

Lukeyson · 24-09-2005, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cArSiK

i also have a Dvico Fusion HDTV card , as BA Bakes said picture quality is unreal. The only thing with these cards is that recording is stored in .tp format and the files are massive.

I have no idea how you would burn the file onto DVD to watch on your home DVD player

Thats cool, my current set up i capture straight to DV AVI, which is 4gb per 20mins.
Looking into that card a bit 1 hour of HDTV is 9.3gb. So thats fine !

**russellw** · 24-09-2005, 09:40 AM

I'll add my endorsement to the Fusion HDTV+ card. With the latest drivers and their updated software it's a breeze to use. The .tp files are simply an MPEG stream and the card comes with a conversion tool to turn that into MPEG anyway. Our cost is around the $200 mark.

Cheers
Russ

chippa6 · 24-09-2005, 08:22 PM

at my shop we have a HDTV usb capture unit that plugs in through USB - awesome unit. and it normally goes for around $169.

I'll try to get the name next week.

Chippa

MintEAFalcon · 24-09-2005, 09:41 PM

I also have the Dvico Fusion HDTV Plus running through Windows Media Center. With the latest drivers it's rock solid and the quality is fantastic. I paid about $200 for it.

EDManual · 26-09-2005, 10:59 AM

I have a Compro Videomate

Its great! Real easy interfaces, perfect quality!

Analog in and, remote.

Why is channel 7 HD so bad?(looks perfect for its resolution though) its only 700 by 500 or something, when channel SBS HD, 9 HD and 10 HD is 1400 by 1000?

Only cost 120. and records easily as MPG.

Also you can pause and rewind live tv then fast forward through ads if you want!

parawolf · 26-09-2005, 11:08 AM

Just in addition to all of this, i'm looking at buying a PC (a shuttle SN25P to be exact) and it comes with 2 PCI Express slots (PCI-E) and one of them is PCI-E x16, so that is obviously designed for a graphics adapter. The other is a PCI-E x1. Now doing some reading about what is available and useful in an x1 slot, most say that its good for internal modems, sound cards or Digital TV Tuner Cards.

Great perfect! But I cannot find a single PCI-E Digital Tuner card (in USA or AUS - I know USA is a different standard). The next most usable thing is a USB 2.0 based system, and well I really want everything built in. And I know you can get USB 2.0 Digital Tuners which take up a PCI slot - which at the moment is a viable solution - but i'm curious as to the PCI-E state of things.

Has anyone seen a PCI-E Digital Tuner card suitable for Australia?

Lukeyson · 27-09-2005, 07:04 PM

I just installed my Dvico Fusion HDTV Plus card, and like all of you said, its awesome !
Thanks for your help, it does everything i was after.
And incase anyones looking, got it from pcmarket.com.au for $189.

Luke

parawolf · 27-09-2005, 07:23 PM

Well after much searching i found one...

PCI-E 1x twin Digital tuner... and there is a DVICO one coming too

cArSiK · 27-09-2005, 08:38 PM

i just updated the DVICO HDTV software to 3.0 and its heaps better. I had the old version that didnt let you record in .MPEG (you had to convert it) but the new one does it by itself

Lukeyson · 28-09-2005, 12:52 PM

yeah i got the version 3.0 software in the box, and it lets you capture the 'native mpeg' i think its called, which is a VBR 15000 kbps , which aint bad

melon466 · 01-10-2005, 02:44 PM

If you want to make the file size alot smaller use the conversion tool that comes with it in the start menu folder and convert it to DivX, half an hour is about 250 meg! thats with the dvico fusion card by the way!

M14A-Mclaren · 01-10-2005, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by melon466

If you want to make the file size alot smaller use the conversion tool that comes with it in the start menu folder and convert it to DivX, half an hour is about 250 meg! thats with the dvico fusion card by the way!

Xvid is even better.

Lukeyson · 04-10-2005, 06:07 PM

hi guys
i am wondering if someone can point me in the right direction, i capture a tv show with my Fusion HDTV DVB-T Plus card, something like Rage, where the video clips are sometimes widescreen, others are normal 4:3 format. If i load this video up in to some DVD authoring software, the widescreen clips are fine and fill the screen with the normal black lines top and bottom, but the not widescreen videos are just a small square of a picture.
Now my main question is, is there a program i can get to crop in on this so i dont have a little box of a picture on non widescreen footage ?
Hope that makes sense, and if someone can point me in the right direction, would be greatful.

Luke