Help with KWorld PlusTV HD PCI 120 capture card.

[Serendipity007]

I have a KWorld PlusTV HD PCI 120 in my parents computer, and there are some issues that I just can't seem to figure out.

Issue 1:
When tuning to a digital channel that is High-Definition, meaning a high resolution signal, the picture is very choppy. About every 5 seconds, the playback plays for 1 second, then stops, then starts again. It almost seems like an insufficient buffer somewhere. Also, the computer seems to freeze while the picture is frozen, which leads me to believe its a hardware issue.

This issue happens in GBPVR and any other Digital TV programs that I have tried, so its not specific to GBPVR.

Computer Specs:
OS: MS Windows XP: Media Center Edition
Manuf: Gateway
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ 2.21 GHz
2.00 GB of RAM
GFX Card: nVidia GeForce MX 4000

bda.ini entry:
[KWorld PlusTV HD PCI 120]
TUNING_TYPE=ATSC
FILTER_TUNER=Conexant 2388x BDA Tuner/Demod
FILTER_CAPTURE=Conexant 2388x AVStream TS Capture
PIN_TUNER_IN=Input0
PIN_TUNER_OUT=MPEG2 Transport
PIN_CAPTURE_IN=MPEG2 Transport
PIN_CAPTURE_OUT=MPEG2 Transport

I have tried various versions of drivers, but with no success.

Issue 2: I can't get the analog tuner to work. However, I don't think it has a hardware MPEG2 encoder. The analog tuner works fine in other programs, although I suspect that they uses a software encoder.

Help!

[sub]

Issue 1:
When tuning to a digital channel that is High-Definition, meaning a high resolution signal, the picture is very choppy. About every 5 seconds, the playback plays for 1 second, then stops, then starts again. It almost seems like an insufficient buffer somewhere.

GB-PVR doesnt do any handling of the data as it comes from the device, through the microsoft demultiplexer, on to the video decoder, then the video renderer, so there is no GB-PVR buffering going on anywhere. Al this type of stuff is managed by the BDA drivers and directshow.

The problem you're describing could be caused by the choice of decoders you're using, so I'd definitely try using some other decoder combinations.

Issue 2: I can't get the analog tuner to work. However, I don't think it has a hardware MPEG2 encoder. The analog tuner works fine in other programs, although I suspect that they uses a software encoder

Yeah, I'm fairly sure this device doesnt have the required hardware MPEG2 encoder so is not usable as an analog device in GB-PVR.

[sub]

GFX Card: nVidia GeForce MX 4000

I just noticed this in your post. I think there is no chance this video card is up to the task of displaying high def video. You pretty much need an nvidia 6600 or higher video card to do high def.

[pBS]

yep..the video card isn't quite up to the task...
sd no problem but it's just below specs for hd..
i have the pci 120 and it doesn't have hardware for analog side but it works quite well with wdm software recorder plugin.. [check wiki]
best to use ati avivo codecs if you try it tho...[work on any card]

try playin your hd recordings with media player or mp classic...may actually work with overlay mode in gbpvr.exe also...

[Serendipity007]

Yeah, I strongly suspected the graphics card. The MB has a built in g-card, but it had no S-Video out. I was using the S-Video to output to the tv one room over. I was even noticing stuttering on standard def digital tv signals.

I seemed to have the best results with VRM9 fullscreen exclusive. It seems anything other than fullscreen, the card can't handle the load and cause the whole system to stutter.

The Motherboard has a slot for PCI-Express graphics card. Should any low-end PCI-e g-card play high def? My parents budget for computer parts is rather low. ^_^

[pBS]

most, but not all...
i'd go with a x1550 or better from ati or a 76xx+ from nvidia...[8xxx+ is smoother]
i just got a HD2400 for 48$ but x1550 is better really for around 60$ [hd2600 rocks but is usually 149$]

i also use fse but evr works as smooth now.. [but has quirks]

it's not the agp/pcie bus that slows things down..it's the graphics offloading ability and mem/gpu speeds that make the most difference..
i run an ultra slow mem [PC133] and agp 4x with a x1550 and it does great..
2ghz cpu is good enough...

of all the things that were keeping my system from running hd, 90% were windows related...if your windows isn't running right,[including directx,.net and all the other dependancies] you'll need unreal hardware power to overcome it..
but with a lean mean windows you can run some pretty cheap hardware and work just fine..

but the video card must have at least a minimum of grunt to deal with the massive amounts of data being pumped around with HD 1080..
so be very carefull what you install on a pvr system, especially anything that deals with media...[burning softwares, players, converters, encoders]
and get Gspot to keep an eye on those dx filters..