HD-PVR by Hauppauge

[Grim Reaper]

what do all of you think about this?




http://www.gamestop.com/accessories/hd-pvr/91869
http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hdpvr.html

Record your high definition video and TV programs on your PC, using high quality H.264!

HD PVR is the world’s first High Definition video recorder for making real-time H.264 compressed recordings at resolutions up to 1080i. HD-PVR records component video (YCrCb) from video game consoles and cable TV and satellite set top boxes, with a built-in IR blaster to automatically change TV channels for scheduled recordings. Audio is recorded using two channel stereo or optical audio with five channel Dolby Digital

The recording format is AVCHD, which can be used to burn Blu-ray DVD disks. Two hours of HD recordings, recorded at 5 Mbits/sec, can be burnt onto a standard 4.7 GByte DVD-R or DVD-RW disk for playback on a Blu-ray DVD player.

Record your video game play in HD... with video pass through for flawless recordings!

One of the popular uses for the HD PVR is for recording video gameplay. As said on GeekTonic:
"Now I think anyone watching me play videogames is a sure-fire way to put them to sleep – or at least laugh at my videogame performance. But I know there is a very large number of videogamers using the HD-PVR to record their video gameplay.

HD PVR's video pass through gives zero delay on your TV monitor, and creates high definition video recordings at the same time! Video pass through uses the component video input and output to record your game play in HD while allowing you to play your games on your TV set. To see our Pass Through recording diagram, click the "Connector diagrams" button above.

Create your own HD video library ... burn your video recordings in a high definition blu-ray format!

The HD PVRs amazing recording quality allows personal archival of your favorite TV programs. Record your TV programs in HD, then burn them onto a standard DVD disk (up to two hours) in a high definition blu-ray fomat.

HD PVR connects to any component video equipped HD set top box. HD PVR also has standard definition composite and S-Video inputs so you can record your old home video tapes and then burn onto a DVD disk.

New! HD PVR support for Windows Media Center (beta test version now available)!

Use HD PVR as a video recorder in Windows 7 Media Center. You can watch and record premium cable and satellite TV in Windows 7 Media Center, creating TV recordings in HD using the efficient and high quality H.264 format. The beta version of the Windows Media Center support is a free upgrade from Hauppauge, and can be downloaded from the HD PVR support pages at http://www.hauppauge.com/site/suppor...ort_hdpvr.html

Turn your old home video tapes into Blu-ray DVD disks

You can also use HD PVR to turn your old VCR tapes into Blu-ray disks. Record your video tapes using HD PVR and then burn Blu-ray formatted DVD disks on your PC. As was said in the HD PVR review from the Bjorn3D website: "The last test was seeing if this unit would record from my parents ever ancient and out dated VCR player/recorder. After a few minutes of switching out cables, getting everything set up, we got the VCR all hooked up and playing. Shortly after doing all of this, I hit the record button, and then we were recording one of my parent’s favorite movies ... he can now record all of his old VCR movies over to a DVD with very little effort."

[Stephie_is_a_dork]

I have a friend who has and likes that one. Never had a capture card myself, so I can't say too much more about it.

[Grim Reaper]

what i dont like about it. is that it doesnt have an hdmi port.

[jgdc74]

I have one of these. Overall, I think it's pretty good, but I have had problems with it in the past.

If you just want one to record gameplay, then I recommend it. As mentioned, there is no HDMI port, but it does have Component input and output and can record 1080i and 720p. You will need a fast PC to use it with. It's very easy to use as well.

If you insist on using an HDMI cable for your PS3 output, you can get a gadget called a 'HDFury3' (Google it) which converts HDMI to component. But you would be much better off just buying a Component cable for your PS3! I have to use the HDFury3 because mine is linked to my SkyHD box which doesn't have component output. I use it for recording Sky HD broadcasts!

When I first got my Hauppauge, I did occasionally get signal drop-outs that I couldn't get to the bottom of. But since I installed Windows 7 on my PC, and changed one setting in the software menu, this hasn't happened once.

I have to say that the quality of the resulting recordings is superb (if you are using the right settings).

One of the bad things about it is that you have to use the supplied software for recording. But after recording you can use whatever you like to edit it. The supplied software does have an editing feature and you can record HD footage to a normal DVD (although you won't fit much on there). It doesn't let you record to Blu-ray, but I use a program called Sony Vegas Pro 9 to edit and make Blu-ray discs using the footage recorded with this.

As I said before though, you need a fast PC. At least a Dual-core.

[Icemage]

Originally Posted by Grim Reaper

what i dont like about it. is that it doesnt have an hdmi port.

You can't record from HDMI because of HDCP. The Hauppage HD PVR is the only way you can legally record 720p video footage (I think?)

[Omegaice]

Originally Posted by Grim Reaper

what i dont like about it. is that it doesnt have an hdmi port.

I'm glad you finally changed your profile pic...

[Weirded Wonder]

Personally I prefer the Blackmagic HDMI card.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=495426&is=REG

EDIT: Should note that it does not record HDCP content.