New ATI Tuner Card.

[Smahatma]

At 8000kbs, I sure hope they come out great. Your problem comes when you want to fit 1.5 hours on a DVD. Then you will see you need a vbr in the 4700-5000kbs range. Good luck finding that setting in the Cyberlink software. It doesn't exist. I guess you could edit the registry, but why should you have to do that on a high end card?

S.

Thats where Cinemacraft Encoder SP comes in real handy.

[satnav4]

Thats where Cinemacraft Encoder SP comes in real handy.

I own TMPGenc, and will use it occasionally to "shrink" encodes. It takes so long, plus I do not see an increase in quality over a realtime capture. (Let's not start a CCE vs. TMPGenc debate--they're both slow). I prefer to do realtime captures at the correct bit rate to fit on a DVD the first time.

S.

[thethinman]

Thats where Cinemacraft Encoder SP comes in real handy.

I purchased the Theater 550 PRO as advertised to:

1.Allow me to capture and encode video with hardware and at the bitrate I desire (not preset ones by Cyberlink).

2. To encode audio in Dolby Digital, so I could then just author it to DVD,without having to convert mpg audio to AC3.


I refuse to do a software reencode and lose video quality!

[ciregnol]

The thing is both Cyberlink and MCE2005 can't access the S-video and composit video input, which i need it for transfering my old video type to DVD.

So far I have just been using Windows Movie Maker to capture my family videos via S-video. I haven't authored to DVD, just burned the wmv onto DVD for archiving. Quality seems great.

[thethinman]

So far I have just been using Windows Movie Maker to capture my family videos via S-video. I haven't authored to DVD, just burned the wmv onto DVD for archiving. Quality seems great.

You can use any card to capture with Windows Movie Maker, it is encoding with software and by passing the mpg hardware encoder in the 550 PRO.

[hrlslcbr]

...they're both slow...

If you find CCE slow, then I don't know any encoder that's fast...

duren:

[satnav4]

If you find CCE slow, then I don't know any encoder that's fast...

duren:

There you go starting a debate. How many hours does it take you to re-encode a 1.5 hour show? Whatever it is, it is too slow compared to real time mpeg2 compression.

S.

[Smahatma]

If you do CBR or 1-pass VBR it might actually be faster than realtime (from purely a compression standpoint -- assuming video source is already captured)

multipass VBR that sucker (I like 4 or 5-pass , even though it is kind of slow on my 2yr old p4 3.0) and its definately going to be slower, even if you are pulling 2.0x+ speeds.

[ashenwreck]

Be happy you didn't try to set up the EPG. The program does not do it automatically, and there are no instructions. You are expected to have full knowledge of xml. Good luck to the uninclined.

S.

http://nolanparty.com/mediaportal.so...pic.php?t=3961
Here's a thread explaining how to setup the EPG, for anyone that could possibly be interested. I definitely had to use this information to create my tvguide xml file.

I stumbled upon this board (and thread) on Google while looking for software for this card one day, since I, too, was let down by the software. I have Media Portal working for me right now and it seems to work out fairly well for me, thus far.

[duren]

If you find CCE slow, then I don't know any encoder that's fast...

duren:

What if I want to capture from S-Video, and would the graph be a lot simpler without preview?

Also, is it possible to use graphedit to re-render a video from avi to mpg in real time using the hardware encoder, I would be really interested in this.

Also, I have to finish one project (in avi before i switch to producing in mpeg), and I switched from avi capture, editing and conversion to mpeg h/w capture, editing and conversion.. my question is that if my source video is mpeg and i'm re-encoding into avi, would it be better to use the MPEG quantization type in XVid or stick to H.263?

[hrlslcbr]

satnav4: Sorry, didn't want to start a debate; but I think thay aren't 'slow' but more 'time consuming'. I agree completely that you use less time if you capture directly to MPEG, but CCE can encode faster than realtime, and with better quality (NOT compared to other encoders, but to the card...THAT would certainly start a war...).

duren: I don't know how you will capture without a preview, but here's the graph. You can use the same graphs to capture from S-Video, composite and TV. (please ignore the .avi extension; that is the dump filter, and you can name the capture file with any extension. It still has MPEG video).

[IMG][/IMG]

And I wouldn't capture to MPEG if you want to edit the video...

[spacded]

550 Pro on sale in UK Lets get it sorted!!

[blakev]

Who? Do you have a link?

[satnav4]

I am not familiar with the retailer, but saw this source: PowerColor 550. What is the current exchange rate? The Sapphire sells for $76 at Newegg in the US-Sapphire .

S.

[oozyone0]

Hello there all i see overclockers uk have the card in now !!!


PowerColor ATI Theatre 550 Pro TV Tuner (PCI) - Retail (GX-041-PC)
Turn your PC into a multimedia center with Tul Theater 550 PRO. It includes a TV tuner card with hardware MPEG2 encoding and all the software you need to be a PVR (Personal Video Recorder) or a multimedia center system.

- Watch best TV quality on your PC
- Real-Time Hardware MPEG2 Encoding
- Powerful 12 bit video engine
- Hardware 3D Comb Filter
- Hardware Noise Reduction
- External S-Video/Composite input support
- TimeShifting and scheduler recording
- Listen to Stereo FM Radio
- 16MB DDR Memory
- Low-profile design


Full Specification

Price: £59.95 (£70.44 Including VAT at 17.5%)

[spacded]

have ordered card!! lets wait and see if its all that!

this was the one i originally saw