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Just picked up one of these pups so I could have a DirectShow capable capture device to test software with. Now that I have a couple of weeks under my belt with it 'tis time to share some info.
TV2GO is a very small USB 2.0 125 channel TV tuner with a nifty remote control, TVR and video capture software (MPEG-1/2, MPEG-4, AVI and WMV) that also comes with basic editor, DVD/SVCD/VCD authoring and MPEG encoder. It also has a nice scheduler for timing captures when you're away. More on the software later.
First here's the box;
and the hardware inside;
In addition to these goodies there are a whole buch of cables for connecting the box to video sources, audio cards and a VERY nice shielded USB 2.0 extension cable.
Since I've mentioned the cables the next image shows where they connect up to;
The S-Video port can be converted to a composite video port by using a small adapter cable included with the TV2GO.
Installing the software was pretty straightforward and once plugged into my systems front USB 2.0 port Windows 2000 Pro and Windows XP both detected it immediately. Once detected and the software run you are presented with its main menu panel;
From here you can select to bring up the various software modules. First up is the TV tuner/TVR;
The display on the TVR is very clear and crisp, as are its screen captures. This interface also has the expected channel, source, play, pause, stop, record and options controls plus a scrolling list of the videos and images it's captured.
The TV settings are also callable from the TVR interface. Here's a look at the TV prefs;
MPEG encoder;
program scheduler;
and MPEG-2 settings;
Also included are lite versions of HonesTechs Video Editor and DVD Burn software;
These are very basic programs with limited functionality, but the editor does have some interesting transitions and effects and they do work as intended. Fortunately there are other options for those with higher expectations.
Most of Uleads newer products, such as MSPro 7.2, DVD Workshop 2 and DVD MovieFactory 3 do work with DirectShow capture devices and can even access the TV2GO's TV tuner.
Here's where I'm supposed to tell you how wonderful this experience was. Unfortunately I can't do that because my SiS systems do not have very good USB 2.0 throughput. As such I could only capture up to NTSC SVCD resolution: 480x480. DVD just dropped too many frames to be reliable.
That said I'm sure that systems with better USB 2.0 bandwidth (probably Intels) would fare better. Yes, it can be used with USB 1.1 as well, but don't expect to capture video at better than VCD resolutions. The TV2GO also prefers WinXP over Win2K because of its better USB 2.0 voltage control.
Otherwise the results were very good.
Is it worth the $99 MSRP price tag (more like $80 online)? Most likely if you're using it with a laptop because of its tiny size or if you want a TV tuner that uses DirectShow. Here's a pic of it in my wifes hand to give you an idea;
TV2GO site;
Dr. Mordrid
TV2GO is a very small USB 2.0 125 channel TV tuner with a nifty remote control, TVR and video capture software (MPEG-1/2, MPEG-4, AVI and WMV) that also comes with basic editor, DVD/SVCD/VCD authoring and MPEG encoder. It also has a nice scheduler for timing captures when you're away. More on the software later.
First here's the box;
and the hardware inside;
In addition to these goodies there are a whole buch of cables for connecting the box to video sources, audio cards and a VERY nice shielded USB 2.0 extension cable.
Since I've mentioned the cables the next image shows where they connect up to;
The S-Video port can be converted to a composite video port by using a small adapter cable included with the TV2GO.
Installing the software was pretty straightforward and once plugged into my systems front USB 2.0 port Windows 2000 Pro and Windows XP both detected it immediately. Once detected and the software run you are presented with its main menu panel;
From here you can select to bring up the various software modules. First up is the TV tuner/TVR;
The display on the TVR is very clear and crisp, as are its screen captures. This interface also has the expected channel, source, play, pause, stop, record and options controls plus a scrolling list of the videos and images it's captured.
The TV settings are also callable from the TVR interface. Here's a look at the TV prefs;
MPEG encoder;
program scheduler;
and MPEG-2 settings;
Also included are lite versions of HonesTechs Video Editor and DVD Burn software;
These are very basic programs with limited functionality, but the editor does have some interesting transitions and effects and they do work as intended. Fortunately there are other options for those with higher expectations.
Most of Uleads newer products, such as MSPro 7.2, DVD Workshop 2 and DVD MovieFactory 3 do work with DirectShow capture devices and can even access the TV2GO's TV tuner.
Here's where I'm supposed to tell you how wonderful this experience was. Unfortunately I can't do that because my SiS systems do not have very good USB 2.0 throughput. As such I could only capture up to NTSC SVCD resolution: 480x480. DVD just dropped too many frames to be reliable.
That said I'm sure that systems with better USB 2.0 bandwidth (probably Intels) would fare better. Yes, it can be used with USB 1.1 as well, but don't expect to capture video at better than VCD resolutions. The TV2GO also prefers WinXP over Win2K because of its better USB 2.0 voltage control.
Otherwise the results were very good.
Is it worth the $99 MSRP price tag (more like $80 online)? Most likely if you're using it with a laptop because of its tiny size or if you want a TV tuner that uses DirectShow. Here's a pic of it in my wifes hand to give you an idea;
TV2GO site;
Dr. Mordrid
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