New ATI Tuner Card.

[Octavean]

I think I might buy one of those Theater 650 Pro cards.

I’m planing to upgrade to Windows Vista premium anyway or some version of Vista With Vista MCE.

[jonaslasky]

New ATI Theatre 650 Pro announced...
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=30226

I guess I won't be buying any more ATI products... They just screwed us with the 550 pro (test) chip.

I don't even see a tuner section on that board. Usually the actual tuner has a metal shield (gold on the T550 Pro). That purported picture of the T 650 Pro has no sign of that whatsoever. Their technology has either gotten much much better or that board is only a mock-up. I hope they'll also address the heat problem which is present on 550 based tuner cards.... hey what am I saying.... it's not like I'm going to buy it.

Jonas

[SHSPVR]

I guess I won't be buying any more ATI products... They just screwed us with the 550 pro (test) chip.

We could all say the same thing about Video card and min other product out there.
But what we all should more be worry about is weather or not ATI didn't or did do a core die size drop so that it dosen't run 65c+ which hopely they did and hopely this time they add in a REAL Variable Bitrate Control opposed to carp FIX Variable Bitrate but if they didn't then the new chip will major thumb down.
But I hoping that this new chipset drivers still support Win2000 Pro other then that it get major thumb down by me.
One thing I see all ready that maybe a big PLUS higher quality 3D comb filter and the motion compensation hardware noise reduction.

[SHSPVR]

jonaslasky the Tuner there you just not looking but I give you a hint it tab bit bigger then ATI 650 chip and it has lable rigth on it "Power Color".

[hrlslcbr]

We could all say the same thing about Video card and min other product out there.

Yeah... I guess you're right ...

I just hope ATI gets serious with this new chip and don't bundle crappy software with these cards.

[jonaslasky]

so... did anybody bother to install the latest driver?

Jonas

[rippedofftwo]

MS , ATI, and Gateway as well can all kiss my arse for stealing my money and time!!

What the hell good is it to have a brand new Pentium D with all the bells and whistles if I can't end up with decent dvd recordings of tv shows to watch like tivo when I want to?? Yea sure this 550pro looks decent in a little window but it is all blurry in full screen and blocky pixelated at times. Surely can't watch actual dvd recordings of fast shows like '24' made by Media Center. Looks like hell!

The only partial solution I found is by using a sharpening filter in Procoder2 but I am stuck on the blocky pixelation problem.

Here...let me tell ya where I'm at and what I have done in hopes of maybe someone out there being able to offer a better solution:

MS's stupid dvr-ms format (an mpeg all wrapped up) is useless for editing out commercials firstly and you'll be lucky to get 2 hours onto a dvd so I used a program called Crunchie to strip out the mpeg into mpeg4 (an xvid avi) without commercials by tweaking and renaming it's commercial cutting template to be considered its main default when run. It can be set to do this in a batch at night since it takes about 3 hours per 45 min. of commercial free video. The resulting files are very small and ready to fit like 6 shows of the '24' television show per dvd if it weren't for standalone dvd players not recognizing the xvid format on a DVD. (well haven't tried yet but that's what I hear anyway)...
Nero will fit one of these shows on a svcd but I surely don't want to stand around feeding cd's to the burner all night. I was hoping for the 6 shows per dvd since I know they get 4 of them in good quality on one dvd when they put them out at rental stores.
My latest best plan goes dvr-ms to mpeg to avi to vob and onto dvd (mediacenter to crunchie to procoder to nero).....all but the Nero burn is automatic via the batch scheduling in crunchie and the watch folder wizard in Procoder....

BUT! it is useless plan with the blocky pixelation!!

Anyone know a better way to do these tasks automatic?
Anyone know a way to get rid of the pixelation problem?
Anyone get that driver to down load yet?..is it really a new one, lol..

Anyone got a VCR?

[Octavean]

MS , ATI, and Gateway as well can all kiss my arse for stealing my money and time!!

What the hell good is it to have a brand new Pentium D with all the bells and whistles if I can't end up with decent dvd recordings of tv shows to watch like tivo when I want to?? Yea sure this 550pro looks decent in a little window but it is all blurry in full screen and blocky pixelated at times. Surely can't watch actual dvd recordings of fast shows like '24' made by Media Center. Looks like hell!

The only partial solution I found is by using a sharpening filter in Procoder2 but I am stuck on the blocky pixelation problem.

Here...let me tell ya where I'm at and what I have done in hopes of maybe someone out there being able to offer a better solution:

MS's stupid dvr-ms format (an mpeg all wrapped up) is useless for editing out commercials firstly and you'll be lucky to get 2 hours onto a dvd so I used a program called Crunchie to strip out the mpeg into mpeg4 (an xvid avi) without commercials by tweaking and renaming it's commercial cutting template to be considered its main default when run. It can be set to do this in a batch at night since it takes about 3 hours per 45 min. of commercial free video. The resulting files are very small and ready to fit like 6 shows of the '24' television show per dvd if it weren't for standalone dvd players not recognizing the xvid format on a DVD. (well haven't tried yet but that's what I hear anyway)...
Nero will fit one of these shows on a svcd but I surely don't want to stand around feeding cd's to the burner all night. I was hoping for the 6 shows per dvd since I know they get 4 of them in good quality on one dvd when they put them out at rental stores.
My latest best plan goes dvr-ms to mpeg to avi to vob and onto dvd (mediacenter to crunchie to procoder to nero).....all but the Nero burn is automatic via the batch scheduling in crunchie and the watch folder wizard in Procoder....

BUT! it is useless plan with the blocky pixelation!!

Anyone know a better way to do these tasks automatic?
Anyone know a way to get rid of the pixelation problem?
Anyone get that driver to down load yet?..is it really a new one, lol..

Anyone got a VCR?

rippedofftwo, its not entirely clear to me what your problem is.

First off, there are a number of programs that have native DVR-MS support. This makes it possible to open, edit and burn in one application and with few format changes. I suspect that the visual artifacts you see have been introduced by the manipulation process that you described or at the very least by the bitrate setting used to record said shows in MCE (or possibly both). I say this because I do not see blocky pixelation on either of my T550P cards installed in their respective MCE 2K5 systems.

BTW, I use the built in DVD burning utility in MCE (powered by Sonic solutions) and get great results, however, my interest is not to archive but to watch on the go. I use DVD+RW discs for burning and when I am done watching I burn something else.

I have seen some digital sub-channels on my HDTV Wonder that looked blocky or of poor quality but that is due to the format that the station chose to broadcast in,….I cant blame that on my hardware or software.

Commercial DVD’s are about 9GB whereas the traditional retail single layer DVD hold about 4.7GB. Keep that in mind when contemplating storage and image quality unless you go for “double layer” 8.5GB DVD discs,…which are much more expensive and are write once.

Also keep in mind that the entertainment industry doesn’t really want you to be able to do what you are doing and they are hard at work to be sure that you cannot in the future. I know how you feel but this is the way of the beast so enjoy it while you can.

So tell me, what did these blokes from MS , ATI, and Gateway look like? Did they use a gun or a knife when they robbed you,….!?!

LOL, I couldn’t resist

[kentland]

all i got to say is if u buy it on rebate, they take their own sweet time about mailing you the check back, i bought one on dec 8th 2005, mailed the rebate in on dec.14th, got an email reply back from them in feburary that they have recieved it, and to date, mar 27th, i have not recieved a check, i went to their rebate site and it is still being processed.

[rippedofftwo]

Octavean,

I plan to use the re-writables as well and just want to be able to watch for my own purpose what I was pushed as being basically like tivo on my regular tv. I was originally trying for more shows on one regular disk though. I have some dual layer disks but don't plan to waste them on tv shows as they cost heaps. I have not physically seen a '24' disk so can't say specific if it is dual layer or dual sided but just know they get 4 shows on there. Dukes of Hazzard is dual sided so I don't know.
I think I said what I want to do but I 'll say it again.... I want to take commercials out and burn to dvd a decent picture firstly and then secondly I would desire more video per disk.
I got a folder full of 11 episodes of '24' and then heaps of other stuff like from pbs specials and teaching stuff for kids. So yea I can just leave the ads and money drive stuff in and burn a couple hours worth at a time once I am caught back up but it is kinda subversive to convienance. I have quality settings as high as they are configurable from the silly MC and it still shows these little blocky pixelations that swarm over an area of the tv screen or computer monitor to a lesser degree during action scenes. They are faint but they are there in the original recording. It is not the whole picture. If brightness is turned way up orI sharpen too much in Procoder the whole picture will start to show such effect but it doesn't move around. Is just a showing of the flaws sorta. This effect along with the unfocused look make faces look like hell as I said if MC records it or Nero. Not sure if you've recorded an episode of '24' but maybe give it a shot. I still got an old driver version for the card (6.14.10.66) from early '05 so maybe once I get a newer driver this pixelation effect will go away. Still hear that everyone has an unfocused picture though... you saying you don't Octavean? I would try transcoding with only Procoder minus the commercial remover if it weren't for an error pop-up and the fact that MC itself records the picture problems already there from the capture.

Anyone know of a program that will remove commercials and encode the dvr-ms into a vob at a batch level. This stuff should be automatic now adays.

Will search for the new drivervia 3rd party since dumb ATI isn't dishing it out..

[Octavean]

OK, I think I see what your issues are now.

The picture quality I see with my T550P cards are really very good IMO. They rival that of my HP m1070n MCE system with ASUS Blackbird tuner as well as my two HDTV Wonder tuners under MCE (standard definition tuners of the HDTV Wonder cards). BTW I wouldn’t call the T550P picture quality unfocused or fuzzy but rather “softer” then that of my other cards,….something in which I actually prefer.

I don’t watch “24” but I do watch shows like “Stargate SG-1”, “Stargate Atlantis”, “BattlstarGalactica” and others that have more then enough fast paced action,…..still I don’t see the issue you described. I have seen it in HD on my HDTV Wonder though because of the quality of the broadcast,…also, HD in 720P and 1080i both have their strengths and weaknesses.

Perhaps, the blocky picture is something that is seen when the signal strength is poor or low,…..I don’t know I’m just guessing here,…

[rippedofftwo]

Well if anyone happens to have the direct download link to where I can get a newer driver package (ATI Unified AVstreamdriver) than version 6.14.10.66 (3/4/2005) I would much appreciate it.. That's what Media Center Diagnostic Tool 2.5 says I got on my system. Sounds way to old to me......it lists wdm driver 5.3.2600.2180 from 8/4/2004 as being the main windows drivers for all the capture stuff ....Gateway has nothing newer, MS update gives nothing newer, ATI link for the March 2006 is bogus and I can't find any previous versions on their site specific to the Theater 550 pro either like the Feb one.
All 3 companies are dropping the ball it seems to me..

Also, how does one tell the actual card name and who made it since it is from Gateway OEM?
Only thing I see is that the card has the theater550pro chip and but windows don't list an actual card name in device manager..just the old drivers above. Computer is fully updated off microsoft update and has directx 9.0c.

I gotta get a tool of some sort to turn frame rate or something down for decent capture at the core level..help please

[rippedofftwo]

Here's a tool that is supposed to be able to adjust sharpness and other video settings on tuner cards:
http://mcevideosettings.oabsoftware.nl/

The sharpness section is unavailable on mine though perhaps due to the old drivers I still have.. Anyone get that ATI download spot to work yet? https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/674/9206..._wdm_30895.exe ..I can't get nothing off that site..

[rippedofftwo]

PS!!! --Fixed my ATI driver download problem. Had to remove the a248.e.akamai.net file host from my hostfile protection program Hostman. It apparently has had problems and has made it onto the huge lists meant to protect us.. Here is the info- http://www.securiteam.com/securitynews/6J00K0K07I.html
..Also had to sign in on the ATI site as well...
Maybe this should be pinned somewhere here in this site and on ATI ???

Off I go to reboot and check out

[Octavean]

I have the latest drivers for my T550P cards and “Media Center Diagnostic Tool 2.5” list all the capture components chronology as 8/4/2004.

I guess this part of the driver wasn’t updated,…

[jonaslasky]

Here's a tool that is supposed to be able to adjust sharpness and other video settings on tuner cards:
http://mcevideosettings.oabsoftware.nl/

The sharpness section is unavailable on mine though perhaps due to the old drivers I still have.. Anyone get that ATI download spot to work yet? https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/674/9206..._wdm_30895.exe ..I can't get nothing off that site..

As much as I enjoy seeing ATI look really bad, I think your problems are mostly your own doing. You've been looking for love in all the wrong places. Why not just go to the ATI website? I've never had to "log on" to download the drivers. The extra crappy video that you describe is very likely a decodingr problem. Perhaps dirty installation issues. ATI is weird in that their drivers have to be completely removed by a special driver removal software before you can install a new one.

Jonas