So whats the final word/ T550P go or no go???
Hi,
I'm looking for a new PVR card. I do not have MCE. I've read this entire thread, which only got me more confused... So If all of you T550 owners got a second chance, Would you buy this card again?
BTW, the only model available in my area is POWERCOLOR Theater 550 pro PCI
Thx
Originally Posted by EB1000
Buy an HDTV tuner card. You can get FREE HD programming in most cities in the US. I'm even thinking of terminating my cable TV subscription. You better have a big hard drive and a really good graphics card that can handle hardware HD decoding, or else you won't be watching the shows you record. Recording is easy, viewing not so easy. Highly compute intensive.
If you want to stick with old fashioned analog TV, DON'T buy T 550. Instead wait for the the T 650 (if there really is such a thing) and then wait some more for us to tear it apart to make sure it really works... then perhaps by then you'd want an HD tuner anyway...LOL! In 2009 it will all be digital (by law).
For a TIVO like setup, the 550 is just fine. The Hauppauge 150 is a good performer as well. In 2009 in the US, they will become coasters when all-digital kicks in to release bandwidth for other purposes. I'd probably go for the Powercolor 550. I recently bought a Dvico Fusion Gold with a digital tuner. It's ok, but my cable reception is a bit better on the 550's and 150's I own. It is also a software encoding product for analogue, which eats cpu cycles.
S.
I'm actually very happy with the theatrix I own. But I'd wait for the 650 pro (as jonaslasky said).
Hi!
I have a Sapphire Theatrix card, and I would like to use WinDVR, but I have video but no audio. How I can fix this problem?
Don't know, but recommend you try GBPVR which has a flexible program guide and scheduler---and is also free.
S.
Yes for those who intend to stay with analog TV.... but just FYI, (I know there's a bunch of video junkies here) even the cheaper cards can now decode HDTV with little effort. I just picked up a GeForce 7600 for 175 US, and I'm amazed at how easily it does HD decoding. CPU utilization hovers around 10 to 15 percent, which is astounding! ATI's X 850XT can only dream of doing as well, and it costs more. Of course this performance is only possible with PureVideo, but the extra 20 bucks is well worth it. Now I can transcode to DVD and watch HDTV all at the same time without bogging down my CPU. It's also much quieter and less power hungry than most higher end graphics cards. unlike most of them, the 7600 doesn't require an additional power cable. It's great for an HTPC setup.
Jonas
Hello HEXUS forum users!
Allow me to introduce myself as Multimedia Mike from the ATI multimedia department, and from now on I will be doing my best to deal with all your questions and problems. As first order of business I would like everyone to please refrain from replying to this thread as it has gotten way too long and thus not very useful. If anyone wants to ask a question or discuss any problems they're having, please feel free to start a new thread with an appropriate title and I will be sure to look into it and get an accurate answer as soon as possible. I look forward to helping you guys (and gals) with all your ATI multimedia-related needs, so don't be shy and ask away and hopefully you'll see a response the next time you log in! Thanks a lot and happy posting!
Multimedia Mike
SO that's the way to make the ATI guys come out of the woodworkJust mention nVidia and they all come a runnin'. I can certainly understand why Multimedia Mike doesn't want any more people to read this thread. I hope nobody follows his sage advice though
Jonas
Hello HEXUS users,
I would please ask that you read my posts accurately before replying to them unlike this user has done. In my previous post I asked that people refrain from "replying", which as far as I'm concerned is totally different from reading. I'm not here to tell people what they should or shouldn't read. I just simply want to make things more clear and organized for everyone, so people can ask their questions in threads that are actually about those questions. I feel this will help in both our response time and everyone's reading clarity. Thanks again.
Multimedia Mike
with all due respect Mike,...(although not much is left at this point) a hundred or so pages ago we posted a clear concise list of questions for ATI representatives (there has been a few). Those questions (as far as I know) have never been fully addressed. Every time the going got tough, the ATI guys just plain disappeared. After things cooled down, they came back and the questions were posed again, and they disappeared just as quickly.
This has happened at least three times, and nothing has been done. So please don't act like you're taking the high road now. It's too late for that. I don't know about everybody else, but I know I'm tired of the hocus pocus disappearing act that you guys have been playing. Now you want this thread to be buried and forgotten. You may not have said it in so many words, but that's essentially what will happen if everybody followed what you said. I think everybody should go right on replying to this thread.
While we're at it, here's a simple one..... how about a change log for every new driver release? Is that too much to ask of you guys? It's inexcusable for a large company such as ATI to post device drivers without a change log.
Jonas
Hi Multimedia Mike! Where is the true variable rate video for the 550 Pro? Where is the Dolby Digital audio encoding? I have had my 550 Pro for over a year now and it still appears to be a beta product. I guess we should just throw away our 550 Pro's and buy the "New Improved 650 Pro", don't hold your breath on that one!
I would like to see the thread continue, but I also see the merit to specialized threads for those without hours to read through many of the comments (particularly spaced's (I had to get that in--wait for the explosion)). ATI has shuffled in some guys which have helped, like one who shall remain nameless, but was instrumental in enabling GBPVR support when many of us, particularly me, were critical of the lack of MMC support. I say we wait a bit before we hang MM.
My 2 cents.
S.
Hello again,
I'm honestly not sure what went on in this forum in the past regarding ATI responses and unfortunately I can't go back and change the past. So I ask for a bit of good will from you guys as I'm new here and like I said, I will do my best to answer all questions (I actually see some now, so I'll be getting to those shortly). I've already given some quick responses to short questions outside this thread so in the mean time I refer you to those in case someone was having similar issues. Stay tuned.
Multimedia Mike
Let see mike you ask for it
1: cthelper.exe still crash at boot up
2: Poor PQ at low bitrate where we see odd artfact like microblocking and strange patterns things like that.
3: Audio Tuner level still way to low even know it MAX out to 255 at lease the FM part rigth on the money.
4: The MPEG files generated by the Theater 550 Pro are not very compatible with some tools like let say Ulead DVD MovieFactory when I try set up auto 1 min chapters point it carp out after 6 min's in to it and using Womble MPEG-VCR MPEG "GOP fixer" I fine it show lot's of error in GOP time code which not good at all, But re-writing out a new files with Womble MPEG-VCR fix the problem.
5: As jonaslasky point out there no ture variable bitrate video it fix number.
Hi thethinman,
Theater 550 Pro does not support Dolby Digital encoding, did you read somewhere that it did? Also can you please elaborate on what you mean by "true variable rate video", like what software are you using and what are you expecting to see that you're not seeing?
Multimedia Mike
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