trouble with vhs to dvd

I'm just a big fan of the 250, but yes, the 150 does work very well, and is cheaper.
Make sure you get the retail version, with the remote!!! The "MCE" version has no remote.
All Hauppauge hardware cards ignore macrovision.

 

reboot. what kind of quality difference between the hauppauge 150,250,and canopus advc-100? are these minor things that would not be noticed by the trained eye(possibly myself) or big ones? I know you are happy with your pvr-250. I have heard people say the quality is better on the canopus. Just wandering the amount of noticble loss(if any). Comparing prices, the pvr-150 looks better for me, but I don't want crappy looking dvd's! Also- it has a different chipset that I have heard had some issues?

 

sorry, I almost forgot. Have you heard anything about the datavideo dac-100?

 

Hi. Reboot. I went ahead and bought a pvr-150(model 1045). I just wanted to capture vhs/laserdisc for now. So, I only installed the drivers and Ulead moviefactory. I captured some off vhs using ulead and burned it also with ulead. It looked bright to me and I was wandering the settings etc.. I should use for capture/burn dvd? It has options that are 60,120,mpeg,etc.. I am not sure what kind of settings I should use to get a good looking dvd. It didn't look bad,but it was bright and not too crisp. I am sure this card can do better with a little tweaking. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!

 

Go to the forums at www.shspvr.com and look for the Hauppauge tweak tool. It's free, and will allow processing of the video for sharpness etc.
Try some captures in WinTV2000. Not the best app, but does a better job than Ulead.
bitrate=quality. Set it as high as you can go, and still fit the video on one dvdr. Use a bitrate calculator http://www.dvdrhelp.com/calc.htm

 

thanks. Is there better free software than wintv2000? If not I am sure it will help. Also, I am going to be able to see a difference on my pc sceen with changes made, or is it only after I burn?

 

I use gb-pvr software, with the Intervideo Non-CSS decoder. Others have had luck with Cyberlink and Mainconcept.

You'll be able to see the changes immediately, onscreen.
The settings affect the card's hardware, via the software drivers, thus what you see, is what you get (record or watch).

 

what is the intervideo decoder? is this part of gb-pvr? a got alot better capture with the wintv2000. I have only one problem. I can't choose the bitrate. It is set for a max of 8000 and variable. If I choose constant(if I should), it will let me change the setting but the apply isn't highlighted(it won't stick). I will read around. If you know right off, could you let me know. If you think I should go with the free stuff, I can forget about the wintv2000 software. You are right,it isn't the greatest. But this card looks like it is going to work out nice once I tweak settings on some good software. Let me know if you have time. Thanks for everything. It is getting better. I have one vhs in particular that I would like to backup(never came out on dvd)!

 

oh yeah, BTW, this is in the "dvd standard play" option. I saw the mpeg options(there are different ones) but I thought if I choose an MPEG format it will have to encode again before it burns and will lose quality? I guess I need to learn the basics. The settings were 6400(8000 peak)on wintv and the calculator said for 1 1/2 hours- around 6500 and 9500 peak or max)?

 

The Hauppauge site has updates and downloads. One of them is the Intervideo mpeg-2 codec. Get it.
WinTV2000 uses it exclusively, but GB-PVR can use any mpeg-2 codec you have on your system.
If you have WinDVD, then you'll have the Intervideo one, PowerDVD will give you the cyberlink one.

No matter what you choose, you'll get an mpg from the software, which will have to be authored to dvd.
Choose whatever bitrate allows you to fit the desired length of program onto the dvdr.

 

so- instead of choosing dvd standard play, I should choose mpeg-D1 and then author and/or burn? Would that be better than the standard play?

 

also-I have version 2.3 for Hauppauge. Did this already have the updates you are talking about? It looks like the updates are for 2.2.

 

and... there are 2 mpeg settings for 12,000 bitrate. 1 has CBR(constant). Just wandering which one is best?

 

You really need some software that gives more control.
"Standard Play" doesn't mean much.
If you record something at 12000kbps, it won't play in any standalone. 8000kbps max, 6000 avg is a good place to start.

Get the drivers from www.shspvr.com
They're always 2 or 3 versions ahead of the Hauppauge site.

VBR is always best. I don't use CBR for anything.

 

Hi. I just captured a 1 1/2 hour video set at 6400(8000 peak). Audio/video sync problems towards the last 1/2 hour. I played it back on windows media player. One of the reasons I bought this card is because I heard there wasn't sync problems? Any ideas?

 

Hi Reboot. Nevermind. I downloaded the update decoder from hauppauge and I had to unistall the other one first. This time NO sync problems. I really appreciate you answering my questions! This forum is awesome! I captured at 6400(8000 peak)VBR and ended up with 4.69 Gig. This will not fit on my dvd+r. Is there anything I can do. I am sure some other movies will be longer. Do I have to capture with less bitrate and sacrifice quality(make it smaller)? OR can I use something else? I have shrink, but it won't open MPEG.

 

You can usually lower the bitrate a little...enough to make the video fit.
If you're not happy with the quality, keep the bitrate high.
Once captured, author the mpg to DVD on your hard drive, then shrink and burn.
I do this almost every day, and although a longer process, it works.
You can also get the tweak tools (look around at www.shspvr.com), which allow you to set sharpness and stuff. This can improve the video quality at lower bitrates.

 

Yeah, what reboot said- Author your mpeg to dvd and save to folder on HD. Then open Dvd Shrink and load those files from the dvd folder and shrink it to ~4.4 gigs. My results have shown when shrinkage remains below 20% then quality isn't compromised. Once you start shrinking more than 20% quality begins to suffer.