Hello all!
After spending more time than I care to admit looking at "Consumer Electronics" HDD PVR solutions, I've come to discover that the reason I'm having such trouble finding a unit that fills my needs is because it isn't out there.
While a liberating discovery in itself, it does leave me turning towards a PC based setup instead of units such as those by Toshiba and Pioneer.
I am, however, a little bit nervous about what I can expect from a PC system, and would like to beg the thoughts who have more experience with them than I do.
While I have a great raft of questions, I guess I'll start with the basics. I do this in an effort to avoid people running from the room screaming.
First - what kind of quality can I expect? I would guess this will vary with bitrates (at least, the Toshiba unit had an exciting selection of different quality selections, from "ok" to "vcrish" to "dvdish").
I installed GBPVR, and have explored it as much as I'm able not having a video capture card installed. The "high quality" setting shows a bit rate of 5500 kbits/second. So, uhm, :o , is that lots? Compared to, say, a VCR or DVD?
A quick google of "DVD bitrate" delivers an selection of bitrate calculators, so from this I conclude that there is no one number to end all numbers for DVD bitrates. How high, then, is 'high quality'?
Note: High Definition isn't part of my equation. Video source will be an svideo input.
Second - how stable is the system? It will be used by people with no patience for, or indeed understanding of, computer issues. To this end I've already decided that it will be a dedicated machine, with no other uses. Will it behave well?
Third - in reading through the documentation, I see much mention of the PVR350. Indeed, this manual page speaks as if it were the only option. Understanding that the manual is a work in progress, I'd like to clarify this. Are my choices for TV-out limited to the Hauppauge series? Or can I use another card?(This critter (pdf), for example, selected on the belief that a hardware MPEG2 decoder is a good thing.)
OK, three is enough. If there is any 'suggested reading' you feel would benefit me, please point me in the right direction. I'm not above doing what research I can, but I want to move carefully to ensure that what I'm getting will do what I need it to to.
Thank you very much for your time!
After spending more time than I care to admit looking at "Consumer Electronics" HDD PVR solutions, I've come to discover that the reason I'm having such trouble finding a unit that fills my needs is because it isn't out there.
While a liberating discovery in itself, it does leave me turning towards a PC based setup instead of units such as those by Toshiba and Pioneer.
I am, however, a little bit nervous about what I can expect from a PC system, and would like to beg the thoughts who have more experience with them than I do.
While I have a great raft of questions, I guess I'll start with the basics. I do this in an effort to avoid people running from the room screaming.
First - what kind of quality can I expect? I would guess this will vary with bitrates (at least, the Toshiba unit had an exciting selection of different quality selections, from "ok" to "vcrish" to "dvdish").
I installed GBPVR, and have explored it as much as I'm able not having a video capture card installed. The "high quality" setting shows a bit rate of 5500 kbits/second. So, uhm, :o , is that lots? Compared to, say, a VCR or DVD?
A quick google of "DVD bitrate" delivers an selection of bitrate calculators, so from this I conclude that there is no one number to end all numbers for DVD bitrates. How high, then, is 'high quality'?
Note: High Definition isn't part of my equation. Video source will be an svideo input.
Second - how stable is the system? It will be used by people with no patience for, or indeed understanding of, computer issues. To this end I've already decided that it will be a dedicated machine, with no other uses. Will it behave well?
Third - in reading through the documentation, I see much mention of the PVR350. Indeed, this manual page speaks as if it were the only option. Understanding that the manual is a work in progress, I'd like to clarify this. Are my choices for TV-out limited to the Hauppauge series? Or can I use another card?(This critter (pdf), for example, selected on the belief that a hardware MPEG2 decoder is a good thing.)
OK, three is enough. If there is any 'suggested reading' you feel would benefit me, please point me in the right direction. I'm not above doing what research I can, but I want to move carefully to ensure that what I'm getting will do what I need it to to.
Thank you very much for your time!