Page 1 of PC-based DVD recording of TV...?

Quick question - if you have a TV card (which I don`t) and a DVD rewriter (which I do) in your PC have you effectively got a DVD Recorder? Is there software available that allows you to schedule recording particular programs on available channels at particular times?

Thanks

julianf

yes indeedy...

showshifter

Cheers - talk about "all-singing all-dancing" !!!

Have you (or anyone else) got it? I`d be interested to hear from anyone who`s used it.

julianf

I have a Digital TV card and use it to watch TV on the PC. However transferring to DVD is far from simple. The recorded files are Mpeg2 TS which are slightly different from normal Mpeg2 and with some software causes the sound to go out of sync.

Check before you buy any cards that it comes with software that can convert the files to `DVD-Video` that will play in normal DVD Players. Some cards say that they can `archive to DVD`. Which is completely different as this is just saving the Mpeg2 file to disc which won`t work in most DVD Players.

Even if you do get software to convert it will take several hours before you get a playable disc.

Rather than a TV card, you can get a capture card and hook your satellite/cable/video box up to it. It comes with all the software and DVD burning stuff you need. Something like this:

www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=7164898930&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=66293

Of course, the only draw back is it can`t record "normal" TV as it doesn`t have it`s own tuner. You`d need to hook it up to a video or something to record terrestial TV. Tuning the video to the required channel and conneting it to the capture card.

OK, I run a dedicated `PVR` so I do know a bit about this stuff!!

There are several ways to go about this.

CHEAPEST WAY

A standard analogue PC TV/Capture card (They are one and the same thing)
Cost From about £25 upwards
Recommend-Get down to Aldi see if they have any left from the last time they had them on sale-the branches i go in have. It also comes with a great set of capturing, editing and burning software

Pros-Cheap, You can hook your aerial up to it easily, ditto for your VCR/satellite via the composite of S-Video connections (Some only have composite, some have both). Records directly in multiple formats (i.e VCD, SVCD, DVD, DivX/XVID)

Cons- Captures using `software`, so requires A LOT of processing power and even then, the picture quality you will get will still not match what you get from a standalone DVD recorder

MID RANGE

A `Hardware` TV Capture Card/device
Cost -From about £60
Recommend- Hauppauge PVR 150 or 250

Pros- Has the same inputs/recording options as the software card, but because it uses an on-card encoding chip, it takes the pressure of your cpu, which leads to far better quality captures in whatever format you want to record. Gives you ready to edit/author MPEG2 files.

Cons-Still not as good as a standalone recorder


BEST OPTION
The above card, plus a DVB (Digital Video Broadcast) card
Cost-in total, from around £130
Recommend-Hauppauge DVB-T card& Hauppage PVR 150 or 250
Pros-gives you the most flexible options-DVB-T card grabs digital TV at broadcast quality, the analogue card gives you the connectivity to your other equipment

Cons-Not many really, other than it ties your PC up when you want to record


Bear in mind that if you do not have any spare PCI slots, or you don`t want to open your PC, then you can get all of the above (or variants of) in external USB units.

If the intention is to burn to DVD, then you will need some authoring, and possibly editing, software. Look no further than TMPGEnc DVD Author for actually authoring the discs, and it does simple editing tasks too) and if a lot of MPEG editing is going to be required, look at Womble MPEG Video Wizard.

Fantastic - thanks for taking the time with that answer EH! And thanks everyone else too...I`m going to get me a TV card!!!

:D

julianf