TV-Tuner Card

[az]

All I know is that there is no model for the english market because it won't work there - what TV system do they use?

AZ

[dZeus]

http://www.videointerchange.com/pal_secam_conversions.htm

PAL-I

[Admiral]

I don't like how Terratec doesn't specify anywhere what chips they use (for most products). Searching the net I read that the Cinergy line uses the Philips SAA7134 chipset.
I've found an offer here for a ECS EZ-TV with the Philips SAA7134HL chipset that claims PAL B/G & D/K compliance.
I pretty much need those two standards here and want to know if the Cinergy supports them both.

[AlanCollier]

You'll be wanting to look here then..

https://www.tv-cards.com

Alan

[az]

The Cinergys support only PAL-B/G, unfortunately.

AZ

[Marshmallowman]

Philips SAA7134 is the PAL kind of chip buit does support some NTSC stuff

Philips SAA7133 is the NTSC flavour..japan/usa

The flyvideo is available in both flavours depending on yuour region.

I have SAA7134 pal version

http://www.lifeview.com.tw/eng/pro_pci_chart.html

As bargain cards go they are very good.

[mutz]

I now have my second Pinnacle PCTV Pro, and while the picture quality is good, I get occasional noise and something like large pixel blips. I suspect the card, though new, is defective. I'm sick of Pinnacle, it's software which doesn't support dual head, and problems with HW and SW.

What would you recommend as being the best PAL card on the market, price not a consideration?

[az]

The Cinergy 600, for analogue cable or terrestrial.

BTW, before you go buy another card, try MoreTV or dScaler for software. MoreTV is lean and small and fast (not many features though, but I've never missed any), while dScaler has the absolute best deinterlacing.

AZ

[dZeus]

I think one of those external TV Tuner to Firewire adapters give the best quality, since the tuner part doesn't suffer from the interferences that occur inside the pc.

[Admiral]

If I say Pinnacle PCTV Deluxe he'll probably kill me
(just USB 2, not firewire)

[mutz]

Thanks AZ, I've got those two and a couple of others. Not bad, but that's not the problem. I had an older Terratec before the PCTV Pro, didn't like the quality, so gave it away. Any reviews on the Cinergy 600?

dZ and Ad, my first PCTV Pro card was fine until I upgraded the software to 5.5 which screwed my whole system. Even Pinnacle admited it could do that. So I got the latest Pro card which works fine with the 5.5 software included, but now I have the noise and blips every few minutes, which could very well be interference in the case, though I did switch slots and all the usual stuff. Could be the new card is not as well shielded as the first, or is just plain defective. So your idea of an external sounds good, but I just want the best for cable and not have problems.

[az]

Sorry Mutz, you're gonna have to google for yourself

I just remember that the card got a favourable review in c't, and that image quality was the best among the analog PCI TV cards they tested.

The Cinergy 400 is the same hardware, btw, but lacks some software (for timeshifting, for instance).

AZ

[Admiral]

I've googled for a Cinergy review for the last few days and couldn't find a English review, wish I knew Norwegian, Czech or Russian. I'd compromise for a German (as little as I know) online one if you have a link ?
Maybe my searching skills are getting rusty

[Indiana]

Originally posted by mutz
I had an older Terratec before the PCTV Pro, didn't like the quality, so gave it away.

The old Terratec cards were using the BT848/878 chips which is a bit inferior to the Philips one they use for the Cinergy 400/600 cards.
The Cinergy 400 does not have radio, but is otherwise the same as the Cinergy 600.

[mutz]

Gonna have to check all this stuff out. Dual head capability is also a factor, which seems to be a software issue. ChrisTV has it, though Pinnacle doesn't.