Refer me a new capture card?

Superstar · #1 05-22-2009, 04:29 PM

Well, I just called Hauppauge, the makers of the WinTV and they told me it sounds like the problem is that the card is going bad, and that is what's causing the audio to only come out of 1 speaker. I was really hoping that wasn't the problem because the card is less than a year old.

Superstar · #2 05-23-2009, 10:40 PM

This is for both Smurf & Admin...

Can you guys please refer me a new capture card that I should use? I guess I'll assume that the capture card is dying like they told me, and that's the cause of my audio problems.
You both know the video projects that I'm working on, so what would be the best one for me to use for my projects?
Thanks.

lordsmurf · #3 05-23-2009, 11:12 PM

The make/model card you had is fine -- Hauppauge PVR 250 or PVR 350, highly suggested. That's the top suggestion for PCI card slots that can capture MPEG.

The problem is your exact card is defective.

The same make/model card -- another one -- would still be my suggestion for what you do next.

Superstar · #4 05-23-2009, 11:35 PM

Ok..I was actually going to ask you if I should stick with that. I assume the PVR 350 is newer, should I go with that? Can you refer me to the cheapest place I can get one? I don't recall where you had me go last year....
Do you agree tho, that the card is more then likely the problem?

admin · #5 05-24-2009, 11:41 AM

Yeah, the card might be it, sure. Try another one. PVR350 has in and out, 250 has in only. Not newer, just different.

Superstar · #6 05-24-2009, 05:16 PM

Can you link me to a PVR 250? I can't seem to find one anywhere..

Superstar · #7 05-24-2009, 11:12 PM

I've found a few used PVR 250 & 350s..I can't seem to find any brand new ones though, and that's what I want. If someone can find a new 250 or 350, can you please link me to it?

If I can only find used ones, which one should I get? From what I've read on them both I don't see much of a difference between them.

admin · #8 05-25-2009, 12:07 PM

Used might be the only option. There's really nothing wrong with that, I buy and sell used equipment myself. In many cases, it's better to buy something used that is confirmed to work, than something new that is DOA as you had this past time.

Superstar · #9 05-25-2009, 12:26 PM

Yeah you're probably right...is there really much of a difference between the 250 and 350? I can't seem to really find any...I've had the 250 for about a year now and am pretty familiar with it. Which 1 would you go with?

If by chance when I get this card and it's not the problem..what should I look at next? Video card? Sound card?

admin · #10 05-25-2009, 12:36 PM

The 250 and 350 are essentially the same, except 350 does video out, too. You don't need it, but you don't have to avoid it if you find a good deal on a 350. Either works fine.

If the card isn't the problem, I don't have any guess at all for you.

Superstar · #11 05-27-2009, 10:16 AM

I just got the new PVR-250. My q is since I already have the WinTV32 program on my computer from the old PVR 250, should I just keep that there and only install the new capture card, or should I uninstall the WinTV program, and re-install it with the new CD that came with the new card?
I originally didn't think it would matter, and I could just leave the old one on since it's the exact same program, but the more I got thinking about it, and the probs that I had with the old one, I thought maybe it'd be a good idea to totally uninstall that as well, so I figured I'd ask first.

admin · #12 05-27-2009, 03:22 PM

Try it with just swapping hardware. Software might be fine.

Superstar · #13 05-27-2009, 07:28 PM

The problem was the old card, it was defective. I got the new one installed, and sound was coming out of both speakers. I did a test capture, brought it up in Goldwave and I noticed right away there was a lot of red and green color, before there was only red. When I played it, both the L and R had bars moving up and down. The R bar seemed a little ahead of the L for a lot of the time, but several times in the 20 sec test, the L bar got equal with the R bar for a few secs.
I have another q. As I said before, my captures and burned DVDs seem to not be as crisp etc..colorwise as the VHS videos they came from. I went and looked at the color settings in the WinTV program, and here is what they are default set at..
Brightness - 136
Contrast - 144
Saturation - 142
Hue - 128
I was told that maybe I should try these settings-
Brightness - 130
Contrast - 135
Saturation - 145
Hue - 128

Should I leave them as what the default is, or change them to what I was told might help, or should I change them all to something else?
Also, for when I capture, (everything I capture is 2 hrs 30 min - 3 hrs) the bitrate that Im using is Constant Bitrate, 15,000 bitrate, No Bitrate Peak and 720x480
Do these sound good, or should I change them?

admin · #14 05-28-2009, 04:40 AM

I guess my best advice would be to "let your eyes help you decide". If you know how to cut off tiny snippets of video, showing each version color-wise, I can take a look at your samples, and give an opinion based off my calibrated monitors.

Capturing at a max bitrate CBR 720x480 is perfect.

NOTE: For anybody else that may be reading this post, this capture setting is suggested as it is a re-compressable MPEG file, so that you can shrink it further (and better) using MainConcept while retaining the desired high quality from an typically difficult source (wrestling). A direct capture to those lower bitrates would yield lower image quality, which isn't wanted.

Sounds like it's time to capture, restore a little audio with some basic SoundForge filters, and then author some great new DVDs you need.

Superstar · #15 05-28-2009, 10:59 AM

Do you mean change the color with the different settings in the capture program and just do a bunch of test captures?
I want to try the Soundforge..but..I don't know..I just don't think I can. What filters should I use? I noticed there are tons of them.

admin · #16 05-28-2009, 03:29 PM

Yes, sample clips with different color settings, the two you mentioned. I can look at those.

Superstar · #17 05-28-2009, 03:46 PM

How would I go about doing that? Thru MPEG Wizard? How long would u want each clip to be? Do I put it in the same FTP program the way I did the audio?

Superstar · #18 05-28-2009, 04:29 PM

I was just thinking, I dont know how accurate of a representation that would be because it looks great as its capturing, i only notice the color loss after the dvd is burned..

admin · #19 05-29-2009, 06:34 PM

Yeah, sure, cut off piece in Womble. Let me know size of piece, before I tell you where to upload it.

I'd author the test and burn it to a DVD+RW, and view on various devices (TV and computers). I have some calibrated monitors. What I see on my computer should look the same as the two televisions -- again, calibrated with professional tools.

Superstar · #20 06-01-2009, 01:14 PM

For videos that I will NOT be encoding in MainConcept, what different bitrates should I use?
For example..as I mentioned a few posts ago, this is what I use when I capture for a video that I do encode "for when I capture, (everything I capture is 2 hrs 30 min - 3 hrs) the bitrate that Im using is Constant Bitrate, 15,000 bitrate, No Bitrate Peak and 720x480"

For a video that is about 2 hrs long and I WILL NOT be encoding it in MC, should I use Variable bitrate, 4,900 bitrate, 5,900 bitrate peak? Does that sound about right?