USB Tuner Suggestion

[jimbo]

What is the best USB tuner that works with BeyondTV?

Thanks in advance.

[fustanella]

I've had good luck with the Hauppauge HVR-950. It's software-encoding, though, so have a sturdy machine behind it.

[tscales]

If you're doing SD, the Hauppauge Win TV PVR-USB2 has hardware encoding. It's big, but it goes under my desk.

For OTA HD, the 950 is OK, but the PQ and ability to get a signal is better with the Dvico Fusion 5 USB.

I have two of the PVR-950 and use them for OTA HD and am not very happy with them.

[gambitpvr]

I recently added 3 Pinnacle PCTV HD USB Sticks for OTA HD recording to go with my WinTV PCI tuners (they were on sale for 40% off). They work great. They can do either SD or HD recording, but I've only used them for HD.

When you run the install from the cd, just do a custom install and only select the drivers. The software that comes with them isn't bad, but it's not nearly as good as BeyondTV.

[GeorgeH]

"For OTA HD, the 950 is OK, but the PQ and ability to get a signal is better with"

Since a HD tuner just passes on the digital signal it receives, it is hard for the picture quality to vary from tuner to tuner.

I have several 950s. The picture captured is identical to that on my HDTV and the picture captured on my Vbox tuners.

But ....

[tscales]

Yes, I understand your point, but the PQ IS different. It seems to be related to the fact that the 950 needs a LOT more signal to get good quality. The ATI and the Dvico can record a channel with no artifacts and no stuttering where the 950 ends up with a nearly unwatchable show.

Perhaps PQ isn't the proper term, but 'overall experience' is too wordy

[greynolds]

Originally Posted by tscales

Yes, I understand your point, but the PQ IS different. It seems to be related to the fact that the 950 needs a LOT more signal to get good quality. The ATI and the Dvico can record a channel with no artifacts and no stuttering where the 950 ends up with a nearly unwatchable show.

Perhaps PQ isn't the proper term, but 'overall experience' is too wordy

The problem with saying the picture quality is different is that it confuses the issue, especially for people who are new to this. Assuming there are NOT reception issues, the picture quality is not going to change from one HD tuner to another - picture quality is a function of the hardware / software you're using for playback.

What you're describing is reception issues - one tuner handles weak signals, multipath problems, or other reception problems better than another. This is an important factor, but really only if you happen to have reception problems.

In my case, I don't appear to have any reception issues, so I'm getting the same results from my ATI TV Wonder 650, ATI HDTV Wonder, Hauppauge 1600, and my Hauppauge 950's (I have 3 of these).

[jebbbz]

I have to agree with greynolds. I have a Fusion 5 USB, a 950, and a VBox 150 PCI card. They all work fine because I have good reception OTA. Heck, I've used a crudely bent coat hanger in a window. I suggest the OP worry first about his antenna and reception. Make sure your vendors have good return policies and try any name-brand tuner and various antennas to see how your reception is. Good analog reception on a TV gives you a pretty good hint but digital has its quirks.