New ATI Tuner Card.

[duren]

Lol you gotta scroll down a bit and read

here is the direct link: http://www.chris-tv.com/ati_cards.html

[SHSPVR]

That funny rigth on the main page it saying
NEW - 19 September 2005

Version 4.70 ( 19 September 2005 )

We are glad to bring you ChrisTV Professional and Standard version 4.70 with full support and advanced features for the ATI Theater 550 PRO TV Cards

So I guest your blind than or didn't even read it
But you may run in to some problem with like some what Audio is bit choppee but with this option check Use DirectX sound controller it help in live mode and get FM and TV to work is a pain sometime when I chosse and FM like 98.5 it well switch from TV to FM it will not get any audio from FM but by enable Live Preview Mode in Program > Settings-> MPEG Hard Encoding then enable the option below that say force audio help but other things end up not work but at lease it start with ChrisTV.

[Sunfox]

Question. In MCE2005, is there any way to adjust the TV Wonder Elite's color and brightness, like I easily could on my old AIW with MMC?

MCE only seems to have the option to calibrate TV out, but that's not what I want. And my X850 can do traditional overlay adjustments, however MCE doesn't use that for TV tuners.

[Octavean]

Ummmm,…

Give me a second,……

I’m in shock,…..

Where is that dephibulator,….!?!

CLEAR!!!!

So now you can download Gemstar Guide Plus+,….and what looks like the ubiquitously hated Cyberlink PowerCinema!!!

Note however the fine print with respect to Cyberlink PowerCinema:

Supports scheduled recording from GuidePlus+.
- Supports auto launch in order to record a program, as long as the user is logged in.
- Supports adding favorite stations for weak FM signals
- Supports setting the location for recorded TV files.
- Supports deleting radio recordings from PowerCinema
- Supports Spanish language

Looks like they have been working to improve some of the major grievances with CPC. Not sure I would touch it with a ten foot pole in either case though,…

http://www.gocyberlink.com/cinema/ati/3/plugin.jsp

https://support.ati.com/ics/support/...asp?deptID=894

Scroll down to the bottom to see
“Most Recent Topics 1. PowerCinema and Gemstar GuidePlus+ for TV Wonder Elite”

Honestly, I don’t see a place to actually download CPC so maybe they were referring to add-ons to CPC,….I don’t know,…

I’m just blown away by the Gemstar Guide plus+ integration!!! This was something that I suspect that they would do. Its probably why ATI started selling Guide Plus+ CDs with T550P drivers for T550P users,…

[satnav4]

Ummmm,…

Give me a second,……

I’m in shock,…..

Where is that dephibulator,….!?!

CLEAR!!!!

So now you can download Gemstar Guide Plus+,….and what looks like the ubiquitously hated Cyberlink PowerCinema!!!

Note however the fine print with respect to Cyberlink PowerCinema:



Looks like they have been working to improve some of the major grievances with CPC. Not sure I would touch it with a ten foot pole in either case though,…

http://www.gocyberlink.com/cinema/ati/3/plugin.jsp

https://support.ati.com/ics/support/...asp?deptID=894

Scroll down to the bottom to see
“Most Recent Topics 1. PowerCinema and Gemstar GuidePlus+ for TV Wonder Elite”

Honestly, I don’t see a place to actually download CPC so maybe they were referring to add-ons to CPC,….I don’t know,…

I’m just blown away by the Gemstar Guide plus+ integration!!! This was something that I suspect that they would do. Its probably why ATI started selling Guide Plus+ CDs with T550P drivers for T550P users,…

Certainly a step in the right direction. Now if they could fix the save location and bitrate settings.

S

[Octavean]

Certainly a step in the right direction. Now if they could fix the save location and bitrate settings.

S

Ahhhh,...

You have but to ask and you shall receive,.....half,....

Looks like bitrate settings will have to wait a little while though,...

- Supports scheduled recording from GuidePlus+.
- Supports auto launch in order to record a program, as long as the user is logged in.
- Supports adding favorite stations for weak FM signals
- Supports setting the location for recorded TV files.
- Supports deleting radio recordings from PowerCinema
- Supports Spanish language

This is a kluge though because the GUI of Cyberlink PowerCinema 3’s EPG is probably still disabled (its there but you cannot use it and even if you could it doesn’t work everywhere,…..and you have to pay for guide data). If Guide Plus+ works with CPC 4’s EPG that would be great,…as long as there was a free upgrade for those who wanted it.

However, I strongly suspect that Guide Plus+ simply launches CPC for recording purposes and that in order to check guide data one would have to exit the CPC GUI and fire up Guide Plus+,…

This version of Guide Plus+ seems to have no TV window so you cannot watch TV with it (I say this because the picture on cyberlinks site has no TV window in it). If it doesn’t try to use the TV it can be active while switching through applications that would use the TV,….

Again, a step in the right direction but far from a seamless immersed experience.

On the other hand, I just managed to get “Media Portal” working, XMLTV and all. It is really impressive and I really like the FREE TV listings. There are a few rough edges but I much prefer MP over CPC. I still have 9 days before my Beyond TV SE guide listings run out and once they do I’ll see if I can get it to use XMLTV listings. BTV and MP are sort of neck and neck IMO but I much prefer MCE 2K5 over them all. Maybe I’ll try CPC and Guide plus+ on a different system,…one I don’t care that much about,….


***edit***

OK just installed the Guide Plus+ download and it does have a TV window,...

The installed version number is 1.0.0.53.

[satnav4]

On the other hand, I just managed to get “Media Portal” working, XMLTV and all. It is really impressive and I really like the FREE TV listings. There are a few rough edges but I much prefer MP over CPC. I still have 9 days before my Beyond TV SE guide listings run out and once they do I’ll see if I can get it to use XMLTV listings. BTV and MP are sort of neck and neck IMO but I much prefer MCE 2K5 over them all. Maybe I’ll try CPC and Guide plus+ on a different system,…one I don’t care that much about,….


***edit***

OK just installed the Guide Plus+ download and it does have a TV window,...

The installed version number is 1.0.0.53.

I never could get MP to work. I have used GBPVR, and it works very well.

S.

[Octavean]

I never could get MP to work. I have used GBPVR, and it works very well.

S.

What part did you have trouble with in MP?

So far I have gotten MP release 0.1.3.0 and 0.2.0 release candidate 1 (RC1) working. I really like it too. It seems very MCE like and that’s a plus in my book since MCE 2K5 is my favorite thus far.

I don’t think I have come across any serious bugs in MP yet. Video looks good and audio sounds great!!!

There are numerous setup guides for MP but if you had issues with XMLTV setup then you should check out this link:

http://www.htpcdigest.com/miscellane...h-america.html

Assuming you are in north America,…if not you can modify the instructions accordingly or use a different guide. This one was very easy to follow IMO.

I had to uninstall the FFDShow codec because it was causing some problems with some DVD burning software on the system. It also distorted the video and cut off the audio,….so no more FFDShow. It was necessary with the TV Wonder VE in MP but it just caused problems with the T550P. Uninstalling it made everything work smoothly.

[hrlslcbr]

I had to uninstall the FFDShow codec because it was causing some problems with some DVD burning software on the system. It also distorted the video and cut off the audio,….so no more FFDShow. It was necessary with the TV Wonder VE in MP but it just caused problems with the T550P. Uninstalling it made everything work smoothly.

That's strange. You could try to disable it when you want to use that DVD burning program.

[Octavean]

That's strange. You could try to disable it when you want to use that DVD burning program.

I would but everything seems quite right after uninstalling it. I can play many different types of files in MP and everything seems to be as it should,….as far as I know.

I realize it is a suggested install for MP but if it is working without it,….why bother?

Maybe there is an updated version of FFDShow,..

I’ll look into it,…

[Octavean]

The PowerCinema free upgrade is ready for download!

http://www.gocyberlink.com/cinema/at...ee-upgrade.jsp

For those who want it that is,…..

[jonaslasky]

Lol you gotta scroll down a bit and read

here is the direct link: http://www.chris-tv.com/ati_cards.html

Thanks Duren... the link I found when I searched the net was totally different. It had nothing about the 550 Pro at all.

Thanks again

Jonas

[Octavean]

Pinnacle Studio 9 works with the Theater 550 Pro!

I bought Pinnacle studio 9 SE some time ago for about $12 (U.S). After installing it and patching it with the free v9.4.3 patch it seems to work and work well.

Captures have good video and good audio,…all in sync,….

***edit***

I wonder how well the new Studio 10 will work,....? There is no demo/trial for Studio 10 AFAIK but there is one for Studio 9. I'm not really sure if the Studio 9 demo will work since I tried the full version.

[nexland]

Octavean, tell me, please, have you the possibility to control the bitrate when you're capturing video in Pinnacle?

[Octavean]

Octavean, tell me, please, have you the possibility to control the bitrate when you're capturing video in Pinnacle?

Under Pinnacle studio plus options (the 9.4.3 patch upgraded the "SE" version to “Plus”) > capture format tab>video settings> Quality/Data Rate>

There are some locked in pre-sets:

MPEG High Quality (DVD) 6000 Kbits/sec.

MPEG Medium Quality (SVCD) 2400 Kbits/sec.

MPEG Low Quality (Video CD) 1150 Kbits/sec.

,…..and finally

“MPEG Custom”, where you can select MPEG type (MPEG1 or MPEG2) and resolution. In addition to all this you can also select “DataRate” when “MPEG Custom” is chosen!!!!

Under “DataRate” you can either use a slider or manually enter the data rate in the Kbits/sec window.

I haven’t actually tried this as of yet but I will. After all, just because the option is there doesn’t necessarily mean that it actually works,….or works correctly.

The funny thing is, I could swear that I already tried Studio 9. Back then the latest patch was 9.3.x or something. Studio 9 wouldn’t even launch though. So either the latest patch did the trick or the new drivers for the T550P did,…..hummmmm.


***edit***

BTW, the preview mode doesn’t always have audio in sync but the actual capture and preview when capturing is in sync. So at first you may think that it isn’t going to work right but it does indeed work right nonetheless.

[farmkid]

The funny thing is, I could swear that I already tried Studio 9. Back then the latest patch was 9.3.x or something. Studio 9 wouldn’t even launch though. So either the latest patch did the trick or the new drivers for the T550P did,…..hummmmm.

Interesting... As I remember, I tried capturing from the T550P with Nero VisionExpress a few months ago with no success. If I remember right, it seemed to work while it was going through the channel scan on the initial setup, but once it finished that, it could no longer get a signal from the card. With the new drivers, though, it works and I can capture video. The audio and video are a little out of sync, but otherwise it captures fine.

Now for the interesting capturing bits. It will only capture in MPEG-2 with the default DVD setting (which included Dolby Digital audio) but I think it is reencoding the video using the Nero compressor. The video quality leaves something to be desired. It will capture in AVI with various codecs, or even uncompressed. It drops the first two frames, but none after that. It will also capture in MPEG-4, with lots of control over options. (I can't say how much control, as I haven't explored much yet.) One other interesting tidbit: it has the ever-elusive-yet-much-sought-after sharpness control.