TV Cards question for dumbies?

Evil_Diet_Coke · 11-12-2002, 11:12 AM

I got one. TV cards are drit cheap is it posible to caputre video from a le cheapo TV card. It is seem to me it would just be a software issue. Just wondering? All the hard stuff could be done by the PC.

RADICAL 13 · 11-12-2002, 11:17 AM

which cards are you referring to

LO There! · 11-12-2002, 11:46 AM

cyberlink who make power DVD also have a program called power VCR
which should work with most TV cards.anyway as most have a video in, why can't you use the s/w that came with the card?

Evil_Diet_Coke · 11-12-2002, 12:20 PM

just wasting your time.

gbread49 · 11-12-2002, 09:11 PM

Yes it is possible to capture video from any TV Card. The card should have come with some type of software package, but if it didn't there are many software "capture" programs available, some free, some not.

Either way, the device will still have to be configured and drivers loaded (audio/video capture device drivers) for it to work properly.

A little more info, the name of the card, manufactor, BtXXX chipset, would be helpful......

LO There! · 11-12-2002, 09:33 PM

Quote:

just wasting your time.

hey NP Evil_Diet_Coke if you need help,just ask! sorry if my post comes across as a putdown? feel free to wast my time

Evil_Diet_Coke · 11-12-2002, 09:45 PM

No. I have no life just wondering. I plain to get a ATI radeon 7500 PCI TV Out card. For the most part they have a good rep and give good pictures. VCDhelp.com gave them a good review overall. Bought a emachines and thought a tv out tv in card would be nice. After s*hting pants and learned they do not have a APG card slots. The hunt was on. Ati makes no single tv in tv out card in PCI format. I plain to watch divx movies with it on my tv. As long as I use a good file size around 700 meg divx and up I should get equal to a TV in output from what little I have found out. Said fact is I like emachines outside this problem they have never disappointed me.

Worst comes to worst I will get two cards. A TV In And TV out.

vernarial · 11-12-2002, 10:08 PM

As far as I know emachines are not upgradable. I've only had experience with one, but the support team said they were not. We were trying to upgrade the vid card, so before you buy anything call them and make sure it's gonna work.

LouCypher · 11-13-2002, 06:14 AM

I've got an STB PCI TV+FM Tuner card. I run Windows XP Professional. The drivers I use are Eduardo Tagle's BTxxx Universal WDM drivers. They will let you capture in any DirectShow compatible application.

I watch TV using DScaler, which IMHO is the BEST TV viewing program around. It doesn't do recording well though. If I need to record something I use iuVCR.

I've also user PowerVCR, ShowStream, and ShowShifter. Of those, I liked ShowShifter the best, although (at the time) it didn't support DirectShow filters, and the interface (skinned) was kind of cheesy. It did have pretty good TiVO-like functionality.

My card was one that used to come in Gateway computers. I see them all the time on eBay, going for less than $25. I didn't even pay that much, but I can assure you that it was an excellent investment for my computer, and is a great buy for < $25.

My machine is an AMD Athlon 850MHz, 512MB RAM, with a TNT2 M64 w/ 32MB. I haven't had any problems capturing with this setup in realtime with MPEG 1 or 2. I've tried several codecs and like the quality preservation of a lossless codec, and then use VirtualDUB for post processing into DiVX.

gbread49 · 11-13-2002, 06:25 AM

Hey LouCypher.....

I also use Eduardo's capture drivers. They do work GREAT and support most capture cards. :thumbs up I have an ATI TV Wonder VE card and finally gave up on trying to get ATI's software/drivers to work.

rastagard · 11-13-2002, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Hey LouCypher..... I also use Eduardo's capture drivers. They do work GREAT and support most capture cards. I have an ATI TV Wonder VE card and finally gave up on trying to get ATI's software/drivers to work

Wow, gbread, you beat me to my question! My ATI TVWonder stinks driver-wise. (as I stated in another thread, great hardware, lousy drivers)
Its great to know that there is something else that will work.

As for TV cards in general, I have had one as long as I've had a computer and I can't imagine not having one! I heartily recommend them to everyone. I have not used the video capture as this feature never has worked well with the TVWonder(see above comment) it did work pretty well with my old Happaquogue (sic) .

gbread49 · 11-13-2002, 08:51 AM

rastagard, maybe you ought to give Eduardo's WDM drivers a try.....

I would recommend using the "install by hand" that he offers, versus the auto installer. It takes about 5 minutes to configure the Bt848.inf file to match your card.

There are just 2 files you need: the BT848.inf and Bt848.sys file to have Windows load the proper devices and drivers.

......and make sure you remove all the ATI "junk" first.... and start with a clean install of the card.....

Evil_Diet_Coke · 11-13-2002, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by vernarial
As far as I know emachines are not upgradable. I've only had experience with one, but the support team said they were not. We were trying to upgrade the vid card, so before you buy anything call them and make sure it's gonna work.

Thanks for the tip.. It was in the back on my mind to spend the extra money and get a striped PC on just to view movies. Nothing great A 10 gig with 125 Meg 600 Mhz x25 Cd(maybe DVD) with a AGP video card slot. All I want to do is watch divx movies on it anyway. Could get a better crad then

Evil_Diet_Coke · 11-13-2002, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by vernarial
As far as I know emachines are not upgradable. I've only had experience with one, but the support team said they were not. We were trying to upgrade the vid card, so before you buy anything call them and make sure it's gonna work.

Gave emachines a call they said it can be done. I understand ATI driver setup my be a bitch. Will check into having someone install it for me. they said I may need to manually disable the screen current driver but it should work. It may be true for older ones but my PC is not that old. It is not even 4 months old a T1116

11-12-2002, 11:12 AM	#1 (permalink)
Evil_Diet_Coke Registered User Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 30	TV Cards question for dumbies? I got one. TV cards are drit cheap is it posible to caputre video from a le cheapo TV card. It is seem to me it would just be a software issue. Just wondering? All the hard stuff could be done by the PC.

11-12-2002, 11:17 AM	#2 (permalink)
RADICAL 13 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 5	what tv cards which cards are you referring to

11-12-2002, 11:46 AM	#3 (permalink)
LO There! JUST4fun Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Birmingham, UK, Earth. Posts: 948	TV Cards question for dumbies? cyberlink who make power DVD also have a program called power VCR which should work with most TV cards.anyway as most have a video in, why can't you use the s/w that came with the card? __________________ Click4 PCTT-RADIO *View New Posts[] *Your Time !*

11-12-2002, 09:11 PM	#5 (permalink)
gbread49 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Tennessee Posts: 744	Yes it is possible to capture video from any TV Card. The card should have come with some type of software package, but if it didn't there are many software "capture" programs available, some free, some not. Either way, the device will still have to be configured and drivers loaded (audio/video capture device drivers) for it to work properly. A little more info, the name of the card, manufactor, BtXXX chipset, would be helpful...... __________________

11-12-2002, 10:08 PM	#8 (permalink)
vernarial Da'itch inya Pants! Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Utah, USA Posts: 1,022	As far as I know emachines are not upgradable. I've only had experience with one, but the support team said they were not. We were trying to upgrade the vid card, so before you buy anything call them and make sure it's gonna work. __________________ Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master. ....You'll go down if you don't stand up. Surely you see that. Bertold Brecht We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. YOU DIG?

11-12-2002, 12:20 PM	#4 (permalink)
Evil_Diet_Coke Registered User Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 30	just wasting your time.

11-12-2002, 09:45 PM	#7 (permalink)
Evil_Diet_Coke Registered User Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 30	No. I have no life just wondering. I plain to get a ATI radeon 7500 PCI TV Out card. For the most part they have a good rep and give good pictures. VCDhelp.com gave them a good review overall. Bought a emachines and thought a tv out tv in card would be nice. After s*hting pants and learned they do not have a APG card slots. The hunt was on. Ati makes no single tv in tv out card in PCI format. I plain to watch divx movies with it on my tv. As long as I use a good file size around 700 meg divx and up I should get equal to a TV in output from what little I have found out. Said fact is I like emachines outside this problem they have never disappointed me. Worst comes to worst I will get two cards. A TV In And TV out.

11-13-2002, 06:14 AM	#9 (permalink)
LouCypher Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 10	I've got an STB PCI TV+FM Tuner card. I run Windows XP Professional. The drivers I use are Eduardo Tagle's BTxxx Universal WDM drivers. They will let you capture in any DirectShow compatible application. I watch TV using DScaler, which IMHO is the BEST TV viewing program around. It doesn't do recording well though. If I need to record something I use iuVCR. I've also user PowerVCR, ShowStream, and ShowShifter. Of those, I liked ShowShifter the best, although (at the time) it didn't support DirectShow filters, and the interface (skinned) was kind of cheesy. It did have pretty good TiVO-like functionality. My card was one that used to come in Gateway computers. I see them all the time on eBay, going for less than $25. I didn't even pay that much, but I can assure you that it was an excellent investment for my computer, and is a great buy for < $25. My machine is an AMD Athlon 850MHz, 512MB RAM, with a TNT2 M64 w/ 32MB. I haven't had any problems capturing with this setup in realtime with MPEG 1 or 2. I've tried several codecs and like the quality preservation of a lossless codec, and then use VirtualDUB for post processing into DiVX.

11-13-2002, 06:25 AM	#10 (permalink)
gbread49 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Tennessee Posts: 744	Hey LouCypher..... I also use Eduardo's capture drivers. They do work GREAT and support most capture cards. :thumbs up I have an ATI TV Wonder VE card and finally gave up on trying to get ATI's software/drivers to work. __________________

11-13-2002, 08:51 AM	#12 (permalink)
gbread49 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Tennessee Posts: 744	rastagard, maybe you ought to give Eduardo's WDM drivers a try..... I would recommend using the "install by hand" that he offers, versus the auto installer. It takes about 5 minutes to configure the Bt848.inf file to match your card. There are just 2 files you need: the BT848.inf and Bt848.sys file to have Windows load the proper devices and drivers. ......and make sure you remove all the ATI "junk" first.... and start with a clean install of the card..... __________________

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