New ATI Tuner Card.

[spacded]

[QUOTE=blakev]Oh no. Spoke with Sapphire UK. The technicain suspects my problem is that the cards are being manufactured as either NTSC or PAL./QUOTE]

SUSPECTS!!!

I thought everyone knows they are either PAL or NTSC
It says so on the BOX!!

[blakev]

Yes, works with PAL and NTSC. It should also work with SECAM if this is supported by the drivers.

sub, I'm curious. Did you do your testing with just one card? Did you get a special card from the manufacturer? Did you run both NTSC and PAL signal on your test/dev bench for this card? Or was it all coding and then a test on NZ PAL?

I thought everyone knows they are either PAL or NTSC
It says so on the BOX!!

spaceded, when you buy on the web, you can't see the box until it arrives in the mail. All etailer websites in europe sell this card as NTSC/PAL. I spoke with the sales director at Overclock and he was surprised as well. He's awaiting confirmation from me in the form of an email from Sapphire so he can change the details for the listing of his card on his website. spaceded, I saw the PAL sticker on the box just like you did. By then I've already spent for the shipping, so I opened it up anyway and tested it, who wouldn't?
My Hauppauge wintv card, bought in France 3+ years ago, has a sticker that says SECAM. However, the card handles PAL and NTSC, as well as the more obscure broadcast standards.

The big question is, since the 550 Pro tv tuner hardware spec says it is multi-frequency, why did ATi limit it? They aren't going to increase sales doing this, on the contrary!

I've also contacted the manufacturer of the tuner to see if they have any suggestions.

I'll report back, but my hope is dwindling.

[spacded]

I bought my 550 over the net as well, all reports i have read on the 550 say it supports
ntsc or PAL . the fact that yours doesnt support ntsc or secam kinda proves that point.

from my understanding they are going to bring out a specific secam version at some point.

whether its a hardware or software issue I dont know

[blakev]

spacded, I've not yet seen a report that says the cards as shipped are region specific and only support NTSC or only support PAL. You read that where exactly?

I know this: on http://www.sapphiretech.com/vga/theatrix.asp
it says: NTSC/PAL
So forgive me, but I interpreted this to mean that the consumer can run both. So did Overclock, Komplett.uk, Komplett.no. and some others too, no doubt.
I'll inform as to what Sapphire says.

[satnav4]

spacded, I've not yet seen a report that says the cards as shipped are region specific and only support NTSC or only support PAL. You read that where exactly?

I know this: on http://www.sapphiretech.com/vga/theatrix.asp
it says: NTSC/PAL
So forgive me, but I interpreted this to mean that the consumer can run both. So did Overclock, Komplett.uk, Komplett.no. and some others too, no doubt.
I'll inform as to what Sapphire says.

blakev

It says in my manual NTSC and PAL. Also, my box sold in the US has Multi Language advertisement--including French. Please check your manual and box to see if it is the same.

S.

[spacded]

Well the proof is kinda in the pudding! The fact that it doesnt validates my point!!

I cant remember exactly when or where i read it, (this whole thread and 550 discussion seems to have lasted a year!!) but i bought my 550 pro on the understanding that it was the PAL version. The NTSC/PAL thing though not obvious means 1 or the other.

Most hardware companies bundle all different languages onto one manual , presumably it saves on time and packaging things separately.

My BOX had a BIG PAL sticker on it!! I assumed that means PAL only

[blakev]

Thanks satnav4. It's simply another in a long list of ATi lies regarding this product. Sigh. I should've known.

It may be Saturday, but Sapphire has just confirmed that ATi say the 550 Pro is dedicated to the broadcasting standard of the country it is sold in. They'd said to ignore the documentation (ironic, seeing how that's my day-job). I suppose during the install the unified driver probes the hardware, and installs the appropriate PAL or NTSC specific code. I've emailed my software pal about it. Still, I'm pretty sure that I'm SOL.

We can only assume that ATi in their wisdom have castrated the tuner hardware so it only supports one broadcast standard.

So I'll swallow hard, eat the additional shipping fees (no etailer shipped directly to France, so a friend shipped the unit on to me), and return it and pick up, for example,
http://www.overclock.co.uk/customer/...roductid=18467
This Leadtek unit looks ok and has a hardware MPEG encoder. (I have to rebuy from Overclock because they don't do refunds, not even if the sale was based on false advertising because that, well I have to take that up with Sapphire. And they'll pass the buck to ATi. You get the picture)

I'd've been happy with the Hauppauge 150, but the PAL/SECAM unit doesn't do NTSC.

[satnav4]

My box did not have an NTSC sticker on it. However, on reading the manual further, it does say:

"The THEATER 550 PRO based TV tuner card provides the following features:

1) NTSC or PAL analogue video decoding with motion-adaptive 3D comb filtering (depending on region)."

This suggests one size may not fit all.

S.

[satnav4]

Thanks satnav4. It's simply another in a long list of ATi lies regarding this product. Sigh. I should've known.

It may be Saturday, but Sapphire has just confirmed that ATi say the 550 Pro is dedicated to the broadcasting standard of the country it is sold in. They'd said to ignore the documentation (ironic, seeing how that's my day-job). I suppose during the install the unified driver probes the hardware, and installs the appropriate PAL or NTSC specific code. I've emailed my software pal about it. Still, I'm pretty sure that I'm SOL.

We can only assume that ATi in their wisdom have castrated the tuner hardware so it only supports one broadcast standard.

So I'll swallow hard, eat the additional shipping fees (no etailer shipped directly to France, so a friend shipped the unit on to me), and return it and pick up, for example,
http://www.overclock.co.uk/customer/...roductid=18467
This Leadtek unit looks ok and has a hardware MPEG encoder. (I have to rebuy from Overclock because they don't do refunds, not even if the sale was based on false advertising because that, well I have to take that up with Sapphire. And they'll pass the buck to ATi. You get the picture)

I'd've been happy with the Hauppauge 150, but the PAL/SECAM unit doesn't do NTSC.

I almost bought a PVR 2000 a while back. Please research it a little more, as it may have an audio sync issue. See: videohelp.com; and, tv-cards.com. You might want to poke around these sites a bit more, as I recall some more comments. It may well be that all problems are solved.

S.

[maruko]

hi guys, i been around for a while looking for a better soft to run with my 550, and i end it with gb-pvr, but damn, im going crazy cause i just can´t setup up a fu.... xmltv listing!!!

does some of you know about a tutorial or something like that???, im from mexico and havent found some appropiate for my country, thanks

[blakev]

Never tried it, maruko, but this looks promising: have a look at the read me
http://www.meedio.com/pub/Tools/XMLTV-Automate/

satnav4, I agree, I've heard of sync issues: but at this point I'm on damage-limitation mode. I can't say how disappointed I am with hauppauge: I've used their products for ages, and the idea they don't have a pci product with an MPEG2 hardware encoder that is multi-format is a scandal.

I'm pretty sure the leadtek unit on a dedicated OS will clear up any sync issues.

A lot of encoding desync you read about on the web is because people have crazy expectations, and want to burn a DVD, surf, play with photoshop and encode, all at the same time.

My old rotton wintv, mono, card, doesn't desync doing software mpg encodes, if I treat it right. It's worked rock solid for ages now, basically encoding french tv/cartoons for when my kids live in an anglophone country. The picture quality is poor, the sound is rough, but once burned to DVD and played back to a normal TV it's watchable.

This entire excercise for me was to knotch the quality up a bit and move to stereo sound. For not much money. Otherwise I'd just gone and gotten an HD DVD recorder or a canopus unit.

[satnav4]

blakev

I am sure the PVR 2000 will be fine. Just use PVAStrumento before authoring a DVD to correct any sync issues.

S.

[sub]

sub, I'm curious. Did you do your testing with just one card? Did you get a special card from the manufacturer? Did you run both NTSC and PAL signal on your test/dev bench for this card? Or was it all coding and then a test on NZ PAL?

I just develop using my local TV (PAL) broadcasts. There isn't a single place in GB-PVR that does anything PAL/NTSC/SECAM specific. It just relies on the drivers to be able to tune in channels, and to produce MPEG2 files.

[sub]

Most cards I've come across have a tuner that supports one of (1) PAL, (2) NTSC, (3) SECAM, (4) PAL multistandard (including SECAM usually). These card typically accept both PAL/NTSC from the composite/svideo inputs. My first card was a USA model PVR250. I couldn't use the tuner, but did initial GB-PVR development using PAL via svideo input.

The only device that springs to mind with a true multi-standard tuner is the LifeView TV Walker will tune in PAL/NTSC/SECAM all through the one tuner, but to be honest, I dont think I'd recommend purchasing this.

[blakev]

I agree. The tuner broadcast spec doesn't matter to me, I almost always run the signal from a vcr.
sub, I am as mystified as you that the s-video/component does not accept NTSC signal properly. I am 100 certain it is a driver issue, because NTSC signal run through a PAL TV is quite garbled, produces vertical line skew, as well as colour errors, or even dropping down to black and white. The 550 Pro simply messes up the colour: the vertical skew is absent. Driver is probably half finished, or it's a hasty cut and paste from earlier dev on a parallel product, to ensure simple data integrity checks pass.
If my knowledge of tv card architecture is correct, the signal coming into the tuner can be limited in the hardware to one broadcast standard. The Leadtek salespeople in Holland told me it has to be limited to one broadcast spec, if not, you could never get the hardware MPEG2 encoding to work on the antenna signal. This one needs confirming, because I don't see how the two things are related.
From what I know, the signal coming into the composite/svideo isn't limited by the tuner, and therefore can accept all broadcast standards that the hardware/drivers support.
Since I'll never get a sensible answer from ATi nor Sapphire about this rather technical nuance, I'm left with little choice but to take the card back.
Whether I get the Leadtek or not...
satnav4, you'll laugh at this: I now regret taking back the hauppauge 150: just found this:
http://www.cask-of-amontillado.com/p...able_Both_NTSC
I'm sure as the 550 Pro "matures" similar hacks/discoveries will wend their way to the surface...
So maybe, just maybe, if I can get a straight answer from a Hauppauge techie about the link I posted above, I'll rebuy the 150, which is a very reliable card and probably gets the nod over the Leadtek, although it's a very similar spec.

[satnav4]

satnav4, you'll laugh at this: I now regret taking back the hauppauge 150: just found this:
http://www.cask-of-amontillado.com/p...able_Both_NTSC
I'm sure as the 550 Pro "matures" similar hacks/discoveries will wend their way to the surface...
So maybe, just maybe, if I can get a straight answer from a Hauppauge techie about the link I posted above, I'll rebuy the 150, which is a very reliable card and probably gets the nod over the Leadtek, although it's a very similar spec.

I have found that site to be reliable. The sharpness hack has worked well increasing sharpness.

S.