My question is about file sizes

[jedi105]

Hello all. New here and to the PVR scene. I have had an old Creative Labs Digital VCR for years but never used it to record. I just bought the Hauppauge WIN TV PVR-150. I love the quality. I always thought the bad picture on my CL product was just due to a crappy cable connection but I was wrong. This PVR-150 looks great at DVD-Long quality. The problem is the file size generated. I recorded a show the other night (1 hour) and the resulting file size was more than 5 gb. I did bring this file into the Ulead software that was supplied and it said the resulting dvd would be 3 gb. I played around with different settings but everything I tried resulted in files being about 30 to 50 mb per minute. I am currently using the supplied software (WINTV 2000) but plan on downloading and using gbpvr tonight. I tried Sage TV but I do not like the fact that I cannot stop the recording when I'm just watching TV. I want to be able to not record if I just want to watch live TV. Will gbpvr allow this or does it force recording for the time shift features? And I have downloaded many tv shows in the past that had great resolution but were no more than 800 mb per episode. How do they do that? Any help will be appreciated. I got this to avoid getting tivo but I refuse to waste DVD blanks on the shows I intend to record for my wife (American Idol, and other reality shows). I would like to be able to put them on single VCD's so she can watch them on our TV.

[sub]

I want to be able to not record if I just want to watch live TV. Will gbpvr allow this or does it force recording for the time shift features?

No, you're not forced to use timeshift mode.

And I have downloaded many tv shows in the past that had great resolution but were no more than 800 mb per episode.

Thats because they converted their videos to divx or xvid or similar. The resulting videos are much smaller than the original videos produced by the PVR150. If you want to put it back on a DVD, these videos would need to converted back to large MPEG2 files.

[jedi105]

Thats because they converted their videos to divx or xvid or similar. The resulting videos are much smaller than the original videos produced by the PVR150. If you want to put it back on a DVD, these videos would need to converted back to large MPEG2 files.

Ok, I know about the smaller Xvid and divx sizes. But those are usually 350 mb for a 1 hour program. The 700 to 800 mb files are MPEG files as confirmed by my codec identifier. And divx or xvid wont play on most stand alone DVD machines. My wife hates sitting in front of the pc to watch tv so I want to make VCD's. The xvids will just be reencoded back to huge MPEG files. Is there any program that automatically records to divx or xvid? I'd rather not spend the time reencoding all the time.

[sub]

You can tell GB-PVR to record a VCD stream, which is MPEG1 1150kbps, which is most likely the type of MPEG files you've been downloading.

Is there any program that automatically records to divx or xvid?

GB-PVR can be set to automatically convert recordings to divx or xvid. It can either do it immediately after the recording, or overnight.

[jedi105]

This sounds like a great program. I'm looking forward to trying it out tonight. When recording to a VCD stream, how bad does it affect the video quality. I finally have a powerful computer after years of using patchwork systems well below the low end. I want to be able to use the power.


Pentium 4 3.0 800mhz fsb
1gb ram
Western Digital 80gb sata drive
Western digital 120 gb sata drive
ATI Radeon PCI-e X300 (dont laugh, it runs everything I have tried in full mode but I'm sure its a source of some of the problems)
SB Audigy II ZS
Hauppauge WinTV PVR-150