Some enquiries about GB-PVR 1.2.13

bunegg · (This post was last modified: 2008-07-02, 03:42 AM by bunegg.)

Hi there!
I'm new to GB-PVR and have some enquiries about it. Hope someone can help me. Thank you!

WinXP Pro SP3 + GB-PVR 1.2.13 + WinTV HVR1300

1. Is 9000Kbps the max video bitrate for analog recording? Even when I set 12000Kbps, the recorded video will still be @ 9000Kbps. Wanted to record as high bitrate as possible cos going to re-encode to x264 later.

Wintv2000 can record up to 15000Kbps but it uses about 40% cpu usage during live preview recording. Although Wintv2000 has background recording which use near 0% cpu usage but it can only record up to 4400Kbps.

GB-PVR only use 0 - 3% cpu usage and I can do my own video encoding when GB-PVR is recording. Save me a lot of time. But is there any ways I can increase the max video bitrate?

2. If certain DVB-T card is not in the supported list, does that mean I cannot use the card with GB-PVR?

3. It seems that I need to launch my wintv2000 software at least once whenever I do a cold bootup or restart to "wake up" the tv audio. If I don't do that before using GB-PVR to record analog channels, the recorded video will have buzzing sound throughout the whole video. No such problem if I launch my wintv2000 software at least once.

4. Previously, when I only add HVR1300 analog into GB-PVR capture device, it can detect conflicts when setting analog channels to be recorded.

Then after I add in HVR1300 DVB-T into the GB-PVR capture device, it seems that it cannot detect any conflicts anymore even when I purposely add in some overlapping timing for recording.

Lastly, thanks to GB-PVR, now I can record H.264 HD channels at extremely low cpu usage!

Thank you!

***sub*** · 2008-07-02, 03:39 AM

bunegg Wrote:Hi there!
I'm new to GB-PVR and have some enquiries about it. Hope someone can help me. Thank you!

WinXP Pro SP3 + GB-PVR 1.2.13 + WinTV HVR1300

1. Is 9000Kbps the max video bitrate for analog recording? Even when I set 12000Kbps, the recorded video will still be @ 9000Kbps. Wanted to record as high bitrate as possible cos going to re-encode to x264 later.

Wintv2000 can record up to 15000Kbps but it uses about 40% cpu usage during live preview recording. Although Wintv2000 has background recording which use near 0% cpu usage but it can only record up to 4400Kbps.

GB-PVR only use 0 - 3% cpu usage and I can do my own video encoding when GB-PVR is recording. Save me a lot of time. But is there any ways I can increase the max video bitrate?

If you edit the direct.ini file you can set whatever bit rate you want, and GB-PVR will try to ask the drivers to use that bitrate. That of course doesnt mean a specific device will accept it though (ie, it could be outside its acceptable range etc).

Quote:2. If certain DVB-T card is not in the supported list, does that mean I cannot use the card with GB-PVR?

Most DVB-T cards with BDA drivers will work, but if its a card not on the current list then you'll most likely need to add a new definition to the BDA.ini file.

Quote:3. It seems that I need to launch my wintv2000 software at least once whenever I do a cold bootup or restart to "wake up" the tv audio. If I don't do that before using GB-PVR to record analog channels, the recorded video will have buzzing sound throughout the whole video. No such problem if I launch my wintv2000 software at least once.

Sorry, I dont know about this one - its a new one on me.

bunegg · 2008-07-02, 03:45 AM

Hi, thanks for your fast response!
I'll try to edit the direct.ini and see how it works.

By the way, I have added another fourth question in my first post.

Thank you!

***sub*** · 2008-07-02, 03:49 AM

You might need to edit the bda.ini and direct.ini files to have exactly the same name for the HVR1300 sections so it knows the're the same device. You'd then have to edit you capture source to select the new card names.

bunegg · 2008-07-02, 05:10 AM

Thank you so much! The conflicting problem has been solved.

But I still couldn't increase the max video bitrate though. I have tried many numbers between 9000 and 15000 but none of them works. The recorded video will still be @ 9000Kbps only.

Not sure did I do it correctly or not.

[SETUP-Custom1 Quality]
VideoResolution=0
OutputType=14
BitRate=10000
AudioSampleRate=1
AudioBitrate=14
AudioOutput=0
BitRatePeak=12000
EncodingMode=0
AudioCompression=11

[SETUP-Custom2 Quality]
VideoResolution=0
OutputType=14
BitRate=12000
AudioSampleRate=1
AudioBitrate=14
AudioOutput=0
BitRatePeak=12000
AudioCompression=11
EncodingMode=0

Not sure whether need to change this or not but I've changed it anyway.

[SETUP-EncoderPassthrough Quality]
VideoResolution=0
OutputType=14
BitRate=6000
AudioSampleRate=1
AudioBitrate=11
AudioOutput=0
BitRatePeak=12000
AudioCompression=11
EncodingMode=1

***sub*** · 2008-07-02, 05:19 AM

You can try updating the direct.ini file's HVR1300 section to have "INIT_MODE=ECP". If that doesnt work, then you're out of luck on setting the bitrate that high.

To be honest though, I dont think you'll get any advantage from setting it that high. I'm sure the quality wont get much higher than you're currently getting from 9000Kbps.

bunegg · 2008-07-02, 06:30 AM

I always thought higher video bitrate = more data available for re-encoding to other video format = better quality?

That's why I always record @ 15000Kbps(for the past 3 years) with my wintv2000 software and re-encode to either xvid or x264 later.

My thinking might be wrong but there is no harm trying to record in highest mpeg2 video bitrate though. The filesize still quite small when compared to uncompressed avi.

Will play with GB-PVR settings again later.

Thank you! Smile

CFC · 2008-07-02, 10:47 AM

bunegg Wrote:I always thought higher video bitrate = more data available for re-encoding to other video format = better quality?

That's why I always record @ 15000Kbps(for the past 3 years) with my wintv2000 software and re-encode to either xvid or x264 later.

My thinking might be wrong but there is no harm trying to record in highest mpeg2 video bitrate though. The filesize still quite small when compared to uncompressed avi.

Will play with GB-PVR settings again later.

Thank you!

You will get more "data", but that doesn't mean you're getting better data, or a better picture. There's a point where you'll reach diminishing returns and simply fill up your hard drive faster without any noticeable picture quality difference.
Test an encoding at 9000 and one at 15000 and see if you spot any differences. You may or may not. You're right though, if the hard drive space isn't an issue, than just encode at the highest possible bitrate so you don't have to even wonder whether you're missing out or not.

CFC