Capture Device Problem or Expecting too much

[sneaker]

I Bought this little capture device which plugs into my USB port (V-Stream USB 2.0 2800) and on the other end has an S-Video & a Composite Video Input. I have DirecTV so I have no need for a capture device with a tuner.

I absolutely LOVE the SnapStream layout, however, the quality I get is horrible. The software that it came with is called PVR-PLUS and when I use that, the quality is great.

I have spent endless hours reading about Bitrate , VBR, Interlaced, De-Interlaced, but I guess I don't know exactly what I'm looking for.

I have used RobertH's settings and while it did improve the quality a bit, it is nowhere near the quality I get on the PVR-PLUS.

Is Snapstream just not compatible with the capture device?

I know you'll most likely need more information to answer my question. To start, here are the basics:

Pentium IV 2.4 GHz
1 GB RAM
160GB Harddrive
Radeon 9600SE 128MB Video Card
Kworld V-Stream Xpert DVD Maker USB 2.0 (Capture Device)

If you would like more info on the capture device:

http://www.dealsonic.com/kwxpdvdmausb.html

[RobertH]

I hope your using that with USB2.0 or you arent getting any where near a good capture resolution, plus im betting that btv doesnt support the mpeg encoder on the device so it is going to be doing software encoding (you can check this by looking at the cpu usage for wtlpvsapp during a recording (while not watching) if it is over 10% your doing software encoding)

if you are looking for quality your going to need a hardware encoder card right now the pvr250's are the cheapest you will get, i know you dont need a tuner since you are using sat, but all the hardware encoders have tuners on them, with software encoding i think you can tweak to your hearts content and chuck a 4+ghz chip at it and you still arent going to get anywhere near the quality you will from a hardware encoder.

[sneaker]

I was afraid you were going to say that

But I wanted to hear it before I invested the coin in the PVR-250.

How is the quality? Is it the same quality that is coming out of the DirecTV receiver?

Thanks for all your help Robert, I must say 90% of the posts I read and put to use are yours

[TomZ]

With the exception of some minor issues with high motion scenes, it is as good as straight from the DirecTV receiver.

But, you need to do a custom quality to get that. When you get the PVR-250 a quick search of these forums will get you started.

I like:
frames per sec 29.970
size 640x480
bit rate 9,000,000
bidirectional frames 2
predictive frames 4
noise filter off
motion precision 25%
variable bitrate off

Some (Robert included) have good luck with VBR (variable bitrate encoding), I have been to lazy (and happy with my results) to bother with it so far.

[sneaker]

I put my settings to a previous post of yours:

http://discuss2.snapstream.com/vb/sh...8&goto=newpost

I was trying all kinds of different settings, now it makes sense why it wasn't working. I think I'm going to head up to Circuit City tonight.

[RobertH]

if your doing any dvd (or looking to it) creation you will want to have the resolution at 720x480 instead (i think the pvr works better at 720x480 too but thats just my opinion)

[sneaker]

That's the main objective. I been trying to burn my captures to DVD and the quality has been horrible. I've been using 720X480 and 29.97FPS

Along with all the other settings you originally had listed in the above linked post.

[sneaker]

Well, I bought the PVR-250 last night and while I was sleeping, I recorded my first program on it. When I woke up this morning, I created all the chapters and authored a DVD. When I got home from work, I burned it to DVD. The result...

AWESOME!

On my 27" TV it looks almost as clear as a DVD (close to anyway).

I can see right now I am going to LOVE this PVR-250

Thanks for the help RobertH

[TomZ]

RobertH: i think the pvr works better at 720x480 too but thats just my opinion

Ok, I finally got off my ... and tried 720x480 instead of 640x480. You are (as usual) right.

My settings are now:

frames per sec 29.970
size 720x480
bit rate 9,000,000
bidirectional frames 2
predictive frames 4
noise filter off
motion precision 25%
variable bitrate off

Who knows, perhaps someday I will find the ambition to play with VBR too.

[TomZ]

merrypig: do you see the lag that I have seen reported whereas when a static scene changes to fast motion, there are a few very jerky frames as the recording rate gets bumped up?

thanks for the feedback