What is the 450eTV like?

[Peter B]

I have another question, from what I have read in other posts here, is the following correct about the 450eTV:

It can output different file types through the BOB (not just dmb1 like the G200)
It uses a hardware MPEG compression (MPEG 1 & 2) not MJPEG
It has functioning w2k drivers

Are there any issues with this card? Does it have problems with VIA chipsets or SB Live cards?

Can it playback larger than 4GB files through the BOB (though that may not matter if it has high quality MPEG2 hardware compression?)?
Can it capture YUV formats?

[Frank Marshall]

Hi again Peter,

Though I don't have G450 I have been following it's introduction through the forum and to the best of my knowledge:

It doesn't have a BOB but it does work with various software codecs including YUY2 (huffyuv).

It does NOT use hardware compression of any kind. It comes with an MPEG2 software codec.

I cannot comment on the software drivers for W2K.

I seem to recall some issues with the card but again, you'll do better spending some time employing the search function here to get the information you're after.

Cheers!

[Sciascia]

It should be able to output all types of video like the Marvel G400.

It does not have a break out box, rather a break out cable. The tuner is built onto the card and does not sound very impressive (I may have been mislead).

Frank is right, all compressin is done by your CPU crunching numbers, so it better be fast for good quality.

The SBLive issue is one that involves their piss-poor drivers (Sorry for the phrase, but that is the nicest I can say). It is said that it hijacks resources from the 2nd IDE channel and injects null data on the PCI bus, just "reserving" it in case it needs it. I hate CreativeLabs products just for this reson and the fact that when you tryt to uninstall anything, it just leaves crap all over the place.

The drivers do work, but there are ALWAYS issues with drivers, system compatibility, especially with cards that do several functions, such as video and capture and TV tuning, dual head....

I would imagine that with the new 4-in-1 drivers, the VIA issues should be cleared up. I am running a Marvel G400 with Win2k on a VIA chipset and am delighted with the results. The drivers aren't even really supported for Win2k for my card, so I imagine the G450eTV (which was designed for newer OS's) should be just fine with or without the VIA and Win2k.