Kworld TV Tuner cards or comments???

[acadman]

I am looking at buying a low cost USB tv tuner card that can output to the TV as well and found the Kworld USB TV Tuner and Recorder:
Manufactured by: KWORLD
Manufacturer Part No: KWUSB506
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...1002&CatId=315

Are Kworld cards OK for recording and play back as I see a ton of them at stores, online and eBay for cheap?

What about the AverTV USB:
Product Number: 50082188
http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...188&pfp=SEARCH



I have a nVidia Quadra4 900Xgl with tons of VRAM as my main display card on a 2.4Ghz machine with XP SP1 and a gig of RAM. Are the USB models a waste? What do you recomend for a Tivo like setup?

Any suggestions on a cheap USB tv cable in/out to a regular tv?

I want to use my computer to record then playback out to the TV like a Tivo and am considering the snapstrwam software and hardware purchase to do this.

[RobertH]

from the tiger direct ad:

Capture rate up to 30 frames per sec at CIF format (352 x 288 pixels)

you will be severly limited if you want any sort of capture with this as it has a horrible resolution (or any other usb capture card for that matter) letalone if it doesnt have WDM drivers. If it doesnt use WDM drivers then the card/device is unsupported in snapstream

I would think it is safe to say that more than likely all the users in here that are outputting to tv are using their video cards (not their tuners as this isnt supported in snapstream) to output the video to their tv sets

the only usb tuner I know of that has direct support is the hauppauge wintv usb tuners you should check out the knowledge base for supported tuners:
http://kb.snapstream.com

you would probably be better off (and cheaper) looking into getting a pci card based tv tuner (unless you are shopping for a laptop that is)

and if you want something that will equal if not surpass tivo in video quality you will be wanting something like the hauppauge wintv pvr cards as they take all the load off the computer so that you can use the computer to do other tasks while recording. with non hardware cards the cpu usage can often climb to the point where doing anything else on the computer can cause the video to drop frames and loose sync

[acadman]

Thank You. When you say using their video card for output do you mean via S video or how to the TV? Do you need a VGA to TV convertor?

What about this WinTV model 190?
http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...799&pfp=BROWSE

or must it be something like this model 880:
http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...723&pfp=BROWSE

or the 250 DVR?
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...87233?v=glance

Originally posted by RobertH
from the tiger direct ad:


you will be severly limited if you want any sort of capture with this as it has a horrible resolution (or any other usb capture card for that matter) letalone if it doesnt have WDM drivers. If it doesnt use WDM drivers then the card/device is unsupported in snapstream

I would think it is safe to say that more than likely all the users in here that are outputting to tv are using their video cards (not their tuners as this isnt supported in snapstream) to output the video to their tv sets

the only usb tuner I know of that has direct support is the hauppauge wintv usb tuners you should check out the knowledge base for supported tuners:
http://kb.snapstream.com

you would probably be better off (and cheaper) looking into getting a pci card based tv tuner (unless you are shopping for a laptop that is)

and if you want something that will equal if not surpass tivo in video quality you will be wanting something like the hauppauge wintv pvr cards as they take all the load off the computer so that you can use the computer to do other tasks while recording. with non hardware cards the cpu usage can often climb to the point where doing anything else on the computer can cause the video to drop frames and loose sync

[RobertH]

yes using the svideo out jack on the video card, using the nvidia control panel it is very easy to turn this on.

You just open the display properties -> settings -> advanced -> nvidia card tab -> nview display mode -> clone set resoluion on the second (tv) device buy right clicking and change resolution set it to 640x480 then in snapstreams settings you set it to use true fullscreen mode at 640x480 and it will take up the whole tv screen.

the 190 is a good model I have one of those in my first system, it records at dvd resolution (720x480 @ 4Mbs) and this uses approx 60-70% cpu while recording a 30 min show at this setting is roughly 800Meg.

If you are going to go with a hardware encoding solution you should use the pvr 250 (model 980 i think) as the 880 model is outdated and old. (plus it is cheaper )
http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...415&pfp=SEARCH

there are detailed instructions on how to setup the pvr cards for use with snapstream in the knowlege base, and on the product site:
http://www.snapstream.com/Products/P...VS3_SysReq.asp

when using a hardware encoder card like the pvr250 (i have one in my lowly 800 mhz machine, see my sig below) and it uses around 2-3% cpu while recording and approx 40% cpu while wathcing livetv (because it has to decode the data from the card) this machine puts out mpeg files that are DVD ready and has a picture that is better than watching it using the tv's built in tuner , however this quality of live tv is only currently available in the 3.2 beta wich all registered owners can sign up for

[RobertH]

on another aside,

if you are going to sink money into this I would do so at a place other than compusa, they have a 15% restocking fee, and if the tuner doesnt work with your particular setup and you wish to return it for money they will keep 15% of the cost. If you can I would get it at a circuit city or best buy as they have a dont care policy (as long as it is returned in saleable condition) and the cost should be identical

and snapstream also offers a trial version (limited to only 2 weeks and 30 minutes on mpeg recordings) and if you do purchase and are unsatisifed they offer a 30 day money back thing