time to move on from trusty G400TV

[DrP]

Well, I'm moving on, I am upgrading to a better display adaptor for 3D games etc and am going to get a separate PCI capture card. Anyone out there like to share their experiences with PCI capture cards (I'd be looking at a tuner card, stereo audio - same as the G400TV does, no hardware compression)

I've been looking at an ATI TV Wonder and also a Pinnacle card.

thanks for any info

[This_Idiot]

Are you thinking of analogue or digital capture? Makes a big difference.

If you want hardware assisted MJPEG capture then look for a bargain onthe Pinnacle (Miro) DC30+. If you are looking for software analogue then do a bunch of reading on the forum using YUY as a search string. If you are looking for digital capture then I'd advise not using Pinnacle since I've had too many sob stories - I use a Pyro which works well but can be a pain to set up. Luckily not an impossible task because Johnpr98 is an expert on this card and frequently gives out info in response to problems

Chris
(T_I)

[Dr Mordrid]

Sounds like he's looking for analog to me.

My recommendations;

1. get your 3D using a separate 3D adapter with a GOOD composite output. One that has both S-Video and composite is more likely to give good results.

2. do your video using a card like the Hauppage WinTV. It has a 125 channel TV tuner, works great with soft codecs and has programmable resolutions. There are two excellent models: the #495 and the #401. They are about the same save for the #495 having surround sound.

Dr. Mordrid

[IM_Riktar]

One word of warning regarding cards other than the G400 and up series:

Don't expect the TV/OUT to be as good as Matrox's. And get ready to be slightly disappointed with the lack of DVDMAX that is SO nice for VHS taping.

I am still experimenting with my (X)SVCD creations being used as a "Master tape" for outputting to VHS for distribution to those without DVD players.

Now if that works out well, then and ONLY then will I consider ripping the G400 Marvel out of my setup.

Because frankly Virginia, the rest of the industry is bit off in keeping up with Matrox in the TV-OUT department.

[MeanGene]

But, many of us are upgrading to Windows XP. Maxtrox does not provide XP drivers for the Marvel. Therefore many of us are looking into non-Matrox alternatives.

[AndrewDV]

Hi,

For anyone looking into other capture solutions, keep in mind that some of the non-all-in-one devices have very good TV-out functionality (ex: DVCII, RM DVR, ADVC-100, etc ). Something else to keep in the back of your mind is that there are devices like RM's Hollywood+.

Matrox lead the pack in the all-in-one arena. Then, they dropped it.

Who knows, maybe there will be a better solution from Matrox on the horizon.

[Damascus]

Originally posted by AndrewDV
Matrox lead the pack in the all-in-one arena. Then, they dropped it.

This is so true. When the G400 came out, it wasn't just the best in the all-in-one world, it was also the best 2D and arguably best 3D card available. Matrox has gone downhill since that time. Everything they've done has been to cut corners and increase margins. (64-bit DDR as an example) Then instead of using their time to write drivers for Win2K/Linux, they waste valuable resources with crap like head-casting or whatever they call it.

[X-Caliber]

I think you and I are in the same boat, take a look at my post:

http://forums.murc.ws/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30546

But my concern is that I don't want a TV tuner card which needs a pass-through cable from the video card. For example, the G200 + RRG has a ribbon cable going connected from the inside. But some cards require you to take the output from the video card and attach it as an input to the tuner card. Then there is an output from the tuner card to the monitor. Take a look at my post.

I was looking at the ATI-TV Wonder, and I did not see any port for an input video (from the video card), nor did I see any ribbon connections. Granted, this is all from the small picture I saw on the ATI website, I don't really understand how that card transmits data to the video card. Does anyone have any first hand experience with this card?

[miya]

X-Caliber:

I think you are mistaken. I have never seen a tuner card that requires a vga loopthrough. You should look at the Hauppauge WinTV line.

[X-Caliber]

Miya,

Take a look at this:

http://digitalconnection.com/Support/cliffnotes_14.htm

-X-

[DrP]

You just have to watch what you buy. Most cards will display video via overlays. Some cards (hollywoods etc) require a passthru. The passthru method technically takes less system resources than overlay as overlay has to send the pic over the PCI bus, but in most cases you wont notice the overhead of an overlay method (unless you happen to be saturating your PCI bus, and who does that during a vid cap?)

[X-Caliber]

agreed, the trick is to find out which card uses overlays. So far all the HDTV cards I have seen require passthroughs

-X-