what usb hdtv card should i get? any w/ hardware mpeg recording?

[tunanugget]

I'm looking to get a usb hdtv card. haven't been impressed w/ ntsc usb cards from antenna. any recommendations?

[sub]

I couldnt really give you any recommendation, given I dont have any first hand experience with ATSC devices.

Its worth point out though, that hardware encoding is only relevent if you intend to also get a device that also does analog. I dont think there are any USB analog/digital hybrids like this which have hardware encoding. I think there are several ATSC USB devices that can be used for digital only.

[tunanugget]

I couldnt really give you any recommendation, given I dont have any first hand experience with ATSC devices.

Its worth point out though, that hardware encoding is only relevent if you intend to also get a device that also does analog. I dont think there are any USB analog/digital hybrids like this which have hardware encoding. I think there are several ATSC USB devices that can be used for digital only.

So if the hdtv usb cards don't do hardware encoding, is it all up to computer's cpu? i.e. the wintv 950 card? or is it for hdtv digital streams, no re-encoding is needed and only low cpu usage is needed to save the file? however, for analog channels, no hardware encoder is included so it'll use ur cpu like crazy?

[Pioneer4x4]

or is it for hdtv digital streams, no re-encoding is needed and only low cpu usage is needed to save the file?

exactly, it is receiving a mpeg stream and it just dumps the encoded stream directly to the drive.

[flyswatta]

exactly, it is receiving a mpeg stream and it just dumps the encoded stream directly to the drive.

Yeh, which means that you record whatever they broadcast at. ie. 480, 720 or 1080. You don't get to choose

FWIW, that's why I went with the "software" Twinhan card and saved some $$ - the software part refers to the analog side which I'll never use (not with 3 hardware encoder cards). I just never enabled or use the analog side of the card.

[flyswatta]

I'm looking to get a usb hdtv card. haven't been impressed w/ ntsc usb cards from antenna. any recommendations?

It could be bad reception - screen freezes, pixelization, green blotches, stuttering, pauses. Although in my case the stuttering and pauses had more to do with my decoder and video card than the reception.

Check out the free http://www.antennaweb.org site to see what channels (analog and/or digital) you should expect to get and at what general strength. It will also tell you what direction the broadcast towers are at.
(I'm assuming you're in the US since you're using a ntsc card.)

What type of antenna are you using? Roof mount is the best - depending on what kind you need (according to antennaweb) you're probably in the < $100 with the average around the $50 range. If budget's an issue, check craigslist there antennas on there all the time.

If you can't do that and have a window that faces towards the broadcast towers, you might be able to get a small directional hdtv antenna (really any uhf/vhf antenna will do - even rabbit ears, although I had trouble "locking in" a signal with those) for under $25.

[linene]

I have been using a Hauppauge HVR950 with GBPVR for ATSC only...its been working good for me. I have not messed with the analog side. My experience with ATSC is that most recent cards will do the job if you have good enough reception. I too went the "cheap" route that flyswatter mentions when I added two twinhan pci cards to my system. I have not noticed a difference between the HVR950 (usb) and the twinhan cards (pci).

[tunanugget]

anyone try it on a laptop w/o dedicated graphics card? i have toshiba a135-s2276 (pentium dual core t2060, 2gb ram, integrated graphics). i tried using the fusion hdtv tests and it played at 30-50% w/o stutters.

[tunanugget]

for wintv 950, can u hook an external atenna (not the one included w/ box) to it? also, would saved hdtv content be streamable to mvp?

[flyswatta]

The MVP can't play HD content - only mpeg2. I read in another thread about converting HD on the fly to mpeg2 then streaming to an MVP, but the PC doing the conversion needs to be pretty beefy. You could transcode it to mpeg2 after you recorded it then play it back on the MVP.

I haven't actually viewed a USB tv tuner so I can't help you with your antenna question. A normal antenna connection is an "F" type - (or coax connector - the same size cable uses), so if it's the same type of connector, I'd image it would work. Again, I'm just guessing on that one.