High definition TV products for computer

Hi,

I am interested in what experiences people have in regards to HDTV
peripherals that can save captured images to PC. I am looking for
reliable products that can save higher quality video information than
regular Tuner cards.

In addition I am hoping the cards can take HDTV signal relayed through
Optus and Foxtel payTV carriers.

Earlier in a different newsgroup I have been told of the Nebula and
Vision Plus products (http://www.digitalnow.com.au/products/dvbt.html)
and I would like to hear views from actual users as to whether these
measure up to the price charged. I am hoping the electronics in them
would last a few years too.

If there are other similar products for the Australian market please
let me know through the newsgroup as well.

Much thanks for your time taken to share your experience and
knowledge.

DavidQR
29Nov 2003

"David L" <d_lwl@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:40ea64bd.0311281649.4d743bd1@posting.google.c om...
> Hi,
>
> I am interested in what experiences people have in regards to HDTV
> peripherals that can save captured images to PC. I am looking for
> reliable products that can save higher quality video information than
> regular Tuner cards.
>
> In addition I am hoping the cards can take HDTV signal relayed through
> Optus and Foxtel payTV carriers.
>
> Earlier in a different newsgroup I have been told of the Nebula and
> Vision Plus products (http://www.digitalnow.com.au/products/dvbt.html)
> and I would like to hear views from actual users as to whether these
> measure up to the price charged. I am hoping the electronics in them
> would last a few years too.
>
> If there are other similar products for the Australian market please
> let me know through the newsgroup as well.
>
> Much thanks for your time taken to share your experience and
> knowledge.
>
> DavidQR
> 29Nov 2003

I own a VisionPlus DVB-T. You might want to check out the user forums
(http://robdvd.radfiles.net/) for this card.

I have also written a review based on my experiences back in July
(http://www.overclockers.com.au/article.php?id=189119).

What has changed since that review? Well, the software has improved
slightly, and HDTV playback as well as full screen playback in correct
aspect ratio is now possible and more stable.

The software itself still has stability issues and miscellaneous bugs which
need to be worked out.

A few member of the forum is working on producing BDA drivers for the card.
I've personally used an early version of Spectrum's work and what he has
done is amazing and looks very promising.

So would I now recommend buying the card? Well, if you have a bit of
patience, and enjoy playing around a bit, then yes, as things are now
starting to get rolling with this card. It's future looks promising.

Check out the December 2003 issue of APC Magazine. They review about 5
digital Tv capture cards.

I myself have the Nebula DigiTV. It's pretty good, and comes with onscreen
TV guide and PVR software, however their player software is not crash hot.
There is a new version being released tomorrow - and that is supposed to be
much better with lots of updates. It does have nice software to take screen
captures, and the remote control that comes with it is very good. Also has
an analog input so you could take captures of PayTV by feeding in a signal
via that connector.

I am using it in combination with myHTPC and it's performing well.

Bailey

"David L" <d_lwl@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:40ea64bd.0311281649.4d743bd1@posting.google.c om...
> Hi,
>
> I am interested in what experiences people have in regards to HDTV
> peripherals that can save captured images to PC. I am looking for
> reliable products that can save higher quality video information than
> regular Tuner cards.
>
> In addition I am hoping the cards can take HDTV signal relayed through
> Optus and Foxtel payTV carriers.
>
> Earlier in a different newsgroup I have been told of the Nebula and
> Vision Plus products (http://www.digitalnow.com.au/products/dvbt.html)
> and I would like to hear views from actual users as to whether these
> measure up to the price charged. I am hoping the electronics in them
> would last a few years too.
>
> If there are other similar products for the Australian market please
> let me know through the newsgroup as well.
>
> Much thanks for your time taken to share your experience and
> knowledge.
>
> DavidQR
> 29Nov 2003

d_lwl@hotmail.com (David L) wrote in message news:<40ea64bd.0311281649.4d743bd1@posting.google. com>...
> Hi,
>
> I am interested in what experiences people have in regards to HDTV
> peripherals that can save captured images to PC. I am looking for
> reliable products that can save higher quality video information than
> regular Tuner cards.
>
> In addition I am hoping the cards can take HDTV signal relayed through
> Optus and Foxtel payTV carriers.
>
> Earlier in a different newsgroup I have been told of the Nebula and
> Vision Plus products (http://www.digitalnow.com.au/products/dvbt.html)
> and I would like to hear views from actual users as to whether these
> measure up to the price charged. I am hoping the electronics in them
> would last a few years too.
>
> If there are other similar products for the Australian market please
> let me know through the newsgroup as well.
>
> Much thanks for your time taken to share your experience and
> knowledge.
>
> DavidQR
> 29Nov 2003

David,

I have used both the Nebula and the VisionPlus cards, both are very
good (most of the early bugs have or are being sorted out). Both cards
will let you save MPEG2 to your HDD as well as the full transport
stream (TS). The Nebula has a better user interface and generally
better out of the box software, but the video decoders used are not
very efficient and don't allow hardware acceleration, requiring a CPU
of around 3Ghz to really get 1080i fully decoded. Because of its
closed architecture you are basically stuck with whatever Nebula gives
in terms of software.


The VisionPlus on the other hand is a more open architecture, it uses
external decoders (Cyberlink and Intervideo), supporting hardware
accelration menas that you can decode HDTV on a 1.7ghz CPU without
much trouble. VisionPlus have made public a software developemt kit
which has allowed a number of third party programmers to develop free
software which is proven to be a great asset. I use the webscheduler
every day now and is a terrific application

http://www.digtv.ws/html/dvb/index.php

The December edition of the Australian Personal Computer magazine had
a line up fo current Digital TV Tuner cards and awarded the VsionPlus
the Editor's choice with the Nebula coming a close second.

Hope this is of help.

Nino