Leadtek Winfast TV2000 XP Expert not been recognized

[margiz]

Hello,

I have Leadtek Winfast TV2000 XP Expert card installed,
Which is working perfectally while using WinFast PVR.
(The software that came within the card kit),
Which allow be to watch TV at my computer, and also record tv shows to my hard drive.

I've installed GB-PVR (version 1.2.9),
Which doesn't recognize my tv card (WinFast).

I'm adding "Capture Source", click on "Settings" next to "Recording Source",
Mark the "Only show deviced detected to this machine"

And I'm getting the following error :
"No known cards detected on this machine"
(I've tryied all the "Recording Source" options)

Does anyone know why ?
(I'm running Windows XP Pro)

Thank you in advanced.

[sub]

Sorry this card isnt supported. It lacks the required hardware MPEG2 encoder.

[margiz]

Sorry this card isnt supported. It lacks the required hardware MPEG2 encoder.

I understand, thank you.

May I take the opportunity and ask you what is the hardware MPEG2 encoder ?

I tought that video encoding been done via software, such as recording software, am I wrong ?

Thanks again.

[sub]

Most modern video capture devices have hardware that converts the signal to MPEG2 before the data is given to the application for recording/watching etc. Your card does not do this, and instead outputs raw video frames. GB-PVR is designed to only work with analog cards that output MPEG2 data.

You need software that instead works with raw video data, and does any encoding in software.

[margiz]

Most modern video capture devices have hardware that converts the signal to MPEG2 before the data is given to the application for recording/watching etc. Your card does not do this, and instead outputs raw video frames. GB-PVR is designed to only work with analog cards that output MPEG2 data.

You need software that instead works with raw video data, and does any encoding in software.

1. Thank you, I think I understand,
But what is the advantage or hardware MPEG2 encoding ? is it less stress on the computer CPU ?

2. You said that video card that had MPEG2 hardware encoder outputs MPEG2 data, instead of raw video frames, but what if I want the raw video frames, without the MPEG2 encoding (say, for better quality - none compressed data),
Is it possible to get it while using video card that had hardware MPEG2 support ?

3. Generally speaking, does my video card refered as old one ?

Thanks !

[sub]

1. Thank you, I think I understand,
But what is the advantage or hardware MPEG2 encoding ? is it less stress on the computer CPU?

Yes, hardware encoders tend to have much lower CPU usage.

They also tend to make more reliable recording platform, since it means the software doesnt need rely on problematic software encoder compoents

Raw video frames are massive, so software encoder cards still need to compress the video to another format for record, and because they need to do this in realtime they tend to not do a great job, since they often use quick and dirty techniques to make sure slow machines can keep up.

2. You said that video card that had MPEG2 hardware encoder outputs MPEG2 data, instead of raw video frames, but what if I want the raw video frames, without the MPEG2 encoding (say, for better quality - none compressed data),
Is it possible to get it while using video card that had hardware MPEG2 support ?

Capture devices with MPEG2 encoders, like the Hauppauge PVR150 etc, can still capture raw video frames if the software wants to, but its not a feature GB-PVR makes use of.

3. Generally speaking, does my video card refered as old one ?

It is a pretty old card. Most of the capture devices these days come with hardware MPEG2 encoders so they can be compatible with applications like Windows MCE etc.

[margiz]

Thanks a lot !

and just a quick last question :-)

Does MPEG2 tend to be high detfinition format ?
Or is it a regular Divx ?

Or am I messing it all up.. ? :-)

[sub]

Analog cards pretty much all capture standard definition MPEG2.

High definition digital signals are not analog, so you end up using either DVB or ATSC capture cards. With digital cards, there is no on-board encoding required since the signal is already encoded as MPEG2 or MPEG4.

[margiz]

Thanks !

[stustunz]

here are some of the formats and a little bit about each


MPEG stands for Motion Pictures Encoding Group.

MPEG is divided into 4 layers. MPEG Layer 1, MPEG Layer 2, MPEG Layer 3, MPEG Layer 4.

MPEG Layer 1 is a video and audio format which is capped at 640x480 resolutions, MPEG layer 1 was a very early codec, and was primarily used for Video CDs (VCDs). VCDs never caught on in North America and Europe. however in Asia ( China, Japan, Korea), VCD replaced VHS. A lot of old videos are encoded in Mpeg 1, some are ripped straight from VCDs.

MPEG Layer 2 this is the most widely used video codec, It's primarily used for digital Cable and Satellite Broadcasts. It's also used in DVD. Mpeg Layer 2 has no restrictions on resolution nor bitrate, which is why SONY used it on BLU-RAY for their launch titles. MPEG Layer 2 is better at compression than layer 1, but still pretty large in size compared to MPEG layer 4.

MPEG Layer 3 this is the most famous codec used on the planet. MPEG Layer 3 is better known as MP3. This is the infamous music codec that started out as under ground but evolved to a massively mainstream audience, thanks to napster and Apple's I-pod (hey who doesn't own one right?).

MPEG Layer 4 actually has been around for a while. Divx, Xvid, VC1, AVC, AAC, H.264 are all MPEG 4. AVC and VC1 are being seen as as the next-generation codecs. AVC by Sony, VC1 by Microsoft.

VC-1
VC-1 is a video codec based on Windows Media Video Version 9. Both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc have adopted
VC-1 as a codec, meaning all video playback devices will be capable of decoding and playing video-content compressed using VC-1. VC-1 minimizes the complexity of decoding high-definition content through improved intermediate stage processing and more robust transforms. VC-1 decodes HD video twice as fast as H.264, while offering two to three times better compression than MPEG-2.

H.264
H.264 is also known as MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding), is a video compression standard that offers significantly greater compression than its predecessors while retaining exceptionally good image quality.

The intent of the H.264/AVC project was to create a standard capable of providing good video quality at substantially lower bit rates (e.g., half or less) than previous standards (e.g., relative to MPEG-2, H.263, or MPEG-4 Part 2), without increasing the complexity of design so much that it would be impractical (or excessively expensive) to implement.