New ATI Tuner Card.

[yasdaz]

Decoders do make a difference. Certain Nvidia graphics cards have HARDWARE MPEG-2 decoders built in. Of course it's locked until you pay Nvidia at least 20 bucks US for their software to unlock it. ATI might have a similar system too.

Jonas

Thanks again for all your comments. It has actually been fun reading all the posts but, yes, it did take some time . I had heard that nvidia decoders were good (whatever that means) and was thinking of buying a nvidia card (since I need a new video card to go with my new capture card, etc.). So, no nvidia card has the decoders automatically, you have to pay for them with every card ? Is there some other decoders that are free that would do a better job than the ones that come with beyond tv? Cheers, yasdaz

[jonaslasky]

Thanks again for all your comments. It has actually been fun reading all the posts but, yes, it did take some time . I had heard that nvidia decoders were good (whatever that means) and was thinking of buying a nvidia card (since I need a new video card to go with my new capture card, etc.). So, no nvidia card has the decoders automatically, you have to pay for them with every card ? Is there some other decoders that are free that would do a better job than the ones that come with beyond tv? Cheers, yasdaz

I Think it's best if you read Nvidia's own FAQs, specs and system requirements for the PureVideo plug-in. They've already put the stuff together. The advantage of having Nvidia's PureVideo, is that it unlocks HARDWARE decoding already built into newer Nvidia graphics cards. As some people here have said, some tuner cards also come with HARDWARE decoder. The Theater 550 itself DOESN'T have hardware MPEG-2 decoding. So buying PureVideo (if you have a Theater 550 based card and an Nvidia graphics card) might be worth it. ... and yes.. PureVideo enabled decoding is noticeably better than the software decoding that come with Beyond TV.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/decoder_faq.html
http://www.nvidia.com/object/dvd_decoder_sysreqs.html
http://www.nvidia.com/object/dvd_decoder_techspecs.html

I hope this helps

Jonas

[yasdaz]

It helps so very much !! Too bad you have to buy the decoder even if you get an nvidia card, grr. It looks like the GeForce FX 5200 will work at a nice, cheap price, lol. However, for a few bucks more I could get an ati 9550 card. Does anyone have an opinion on if the ati card has any advantages in this situation (tv tuner/capture, no gaming)? Thanks again for all the help, yasdaz

[backlund]

It helps so very much !! Too bad you have to buy the decoder even if you get an nvidia card, grr. It looks like the GeForce FX 5200 will work at a nice, cheap price, lol. However, for a few bucks more I could get an ati 9550 card. Does anyone have an opinion on if the ati card has any advantages in this situation (tv tuner/capture, no gaming)? Thanks again for all the help, yasdaz

5200 will NOT work for purevideo. I believe the 6200 is the cheapest card out there with purevideo capabilities.

[yasdaz]

Hi, I hope we are not getting too off track but given this thread is already 122 pages...lol! I double checked your information on purevideo requirements and the fx series is supported. Here is the link http://www.nvidia.com/object/dvd_decoder_sysreqs.html. Maybe the decoder is built into the 6000 and up series? I suspect that maybe it is designed to work at it's full capability with 6000 and up series but will still do what it is supposed to do with the "lower" cards. This has been a real journey for me and it looks like I am still going down the path but now with help from all of you, cheers, yasdaz
ps. any thoughts on the ati versus nvidia card?

[hrlslcbr]

Only the 6000 series cards support PureVideo. The 5000 ones only support hardware assisted decoding.

[jonaslasky]

The 5000 ones only support hardware assisted decoding.

Which is part of the PureVideo software function. I don't know how that can be made any clearer. Nvidia's web site states it pretty clearly... and HARDWARE decoding is what we're talking about here. Looks like Yazmine is right. For her purposes she only needs the basic version of the software.


Jonas

[myth]

This threads still going? For over 5 months?!?!?! What have I created?

[yasdaz]

A wonderful monster, lol!! Although this thread is so long it has been so very, very informative and helpful to me and I am grateful to all who have posted and contributed. I have been caught in the past with conflicts and problems when I have upgraded because of incomplete information so I am glad I have been able to make sure, as far as is possible, that I am getting the right information to make an informed decision with this upgrade. Here are my conclusions and thoughts:

First, I think ATI has been shameful in ways too numerous to count in their construction and marketing of this card. Obviously it is a great piece of hardware but that is no use without decent software. I don't mind that ATI has built this card to work well with MCE but giving their customers no other options except the beyond crappy oem software they bundled with it shows a complete lack of integrity on their part, especially when they were saying it would work with ATI's MMC at the beginning. Given that situation, I can only conclude that ATI is pushing their customers towards MCE (Microsoft bullying?) which is ridiculous considering how much MCE costs and considering that those who do not have MCE probably have XP or XP pro and have no need to upgrade.

Second, having said all that, for people who already have a third party software (including MCE and a couple of free ones) that will work work with this card, the card seems to be fulfilling it's promise. Also, there is finally the visiontek card that comes bundled with a decent third party software. In other words, I think that now the card is a more than viable option with great hardware that is working with very decent software at a very reasonable price, albeit with a lot of bumps along the way.

Being new to tv tuner/video capture technology, I was able to look at all options from a blank slate so to speak. I was considering an aiw card, probably the 9600 or 9600xt, but found that the reviews, etc., said that the 550 card was a better piece of hardware (plus more flexible because it was stand alone without the video card built in). I discovered this thread and others detailing the trouble with the software and marketing but as time went along, the visiontek card and the other software options seemed to correct the major software issue. Then I heard about needing a decoder but found out about purevision. I needed a video card to go with the 550 anyway so the cheap FX5200 that works with purevision seems to fit the bill. I realize that getting a higher end card would be better (whatever that might mean) but I think for my basic purposes (tv recording and archeiving to dvd and basic capturing) the cheaper card will be more than satisfactory.

Finally, I can get the visiontek card, the fx5200 and purevision for only about 20 or 30 dollars (Canadian) more than the aiw cards. Given the improvement in quality, it seems a no brainer for me. Quite frankly, I think that the 550 card with any of the software that has been discussed on this thread (except the piece of crap bundled software) and a video card that supports hardware assist decoding with the purevision software decoder is just about the best tv tuner/capture option in it's price range (very reasonable) today. Too bad the card had to go through all of software issues to get to this point. I will hold my nose (given I am no fan of ati's handling of this card) and get the visiontek card with the nvidia video card and decoder. Thanks for bearing with me, in gratitude, Yasmine

[thethinman]

It has been months since the list of questions was created and submitted to ATI for answers, and still nothing answered.

Will there ever be any control over the comb & noise reduction filters? Will the advertised Dolby Digital encoding ever be inabled in the Theater 550 Pro? I have owned my card for 9 months now and it is still crippled by the ATI drivers. Perhaps ATI is a subsidary of FEMA?

[hrlslcbr]

PureVideo isn't just the hardware decoding, but a lot of other features that are NOT available with the cards older than the 6200. The PureVideo decoder system requirements show the FX 5200 as compatible, because that card has MPEG-2 hardware decoding acceleration. I use the Nvidia decoder with my ATI 9800 pro, but it doesn't mean it has PureVideo, does it?
The 6x00 series of Nvidia cards have an onboard video processor that's different to the one found on the older cards (5x00).
You'll get MPEG-2 hardware decoding acceleration, but not 'PureVideo'.

[yasdaz]

Hi, I agree that the 5200 does not have the full capabilities of the cards with the hardware purevision technology built in (6000 and up) when using the purevideo software. My understanding is that the MPEG-2 hardware decoding acceleration will help me with what I need to do (capturing, archeiving tv to dvd, not necessarily watching tv from this system). Maybe my understanding is wrong and I am gathering information but I cannot afford at least $100 Canadian more for my video so I figure the 5200 plus pure video gives me the best bang for my buck. Certainly if I had more money, etc., I would be looking at a card that gave the software it's full implementation . Cheers, yasdaz

[duren]

Has anyone else noticed that the 550Pro capture quality using MPEG2 with fast scenes could be better? I mean, I assumed it was because of the bitrate constraint, to my surprise, setting that as high as possible with programs like GB-PVR or ChrisTV does not seem to make a difference.

I seem to recall software mpeg4 capture on my TV Wonder Pro being more crisp @ high bitrates.

Is there a special GOP sequence I should be looking at?

While we're on the topic, is anyone else seeing the colors a little washed out, pastel-like where you can see layers of gradient, ie the gradient from one color to another has shades instead of being smooth? Perhaps this is the fault of my RF modulator hooked up to an older tv, but I don't see it when watching say tv episodes from the net. This effect is amplified when I encode my captured video into MPEG4.

[farmkid]

Hi, I agree that the 5200 does not have the full capabilities of the cards with the hardware purevision technology built in (6000 and up) when using the purevideo software. My understanding is that the MPEG-2 hardware decoding acceleration will help me with what I need to do (capturing, archeiving tv to dvd, not necessarily watching tv from this system). Maybe my understanding is wrong and I am gathering information but I cannot afford at least $100 Canadian more for my video so I figure the 5200 plus pure video gives me the best bang for my buck. Certainly if I had more money, etc., I would be looking at a card that gave the software it's full implementation . Cheers, yasdaz

If you just want to record stuff and archive to DVD, you don't need a hardware decoder card. The only purpose a hardware decoder will serve is to free up the CPU when you are actually watching an MPEG-2 stream (the card does the decoding, rather than the CPU). You may very well get a better picture as well. If you have DVD playing software installed on your system, you already have MPEG-2 codec. If you install the software that comes with the card, you will also be installing an MPEG-2 codec. Basically, you don't need to buy a new video card unless you want to utilize PureVideo to get a better image when watching an MPEG-2 stream. Save your money to spend on BeyondTV or MCE if you decide you don't like the free or included software packages.

[hrlslcbr]

If you just want to record stuff and archive to DVD, you don't need a hardware decoder card. The only purpose a hardware decoder will serve is to free up the CPU when you are actually watching an MPEG-2 stream (the card does the decoding, rather than the CPU). You may very well get a better picture as well. If you have DVD playing software installed on your system, you already have MPEG-2 codec. If you install the software that comes with the card, you will also be installing an MPEG-2 codec. Basically, you don't need to buy a new video card unless you want to utilize PureVideo to get a better image when watching an MPEG-2 stream. Save your money to spend on BeyondTV or MCE if you decide you don't like the free or included software packages.

I agree.

[nvening]

sorry to spam, but
a) what is this thread about now?

b) will it ever end?