Anyone know of a good HD-recordable card?

[cdogg]

I've got a decent card now (Hauppauge PVR-250), but I'd like to upgrade it to something else so I record in HD. Unfortunately, I haven't had much time to look around and I was hoping someone here might have a good recommendation.

Thanks in advance!

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
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[felixc]

With all the fuss about the digital rights media protection that comes with HD, I'm curious to see if there's any HD recording product on the market.

 

[cdogg]

Actually, I've found a few products since I posted the thread. The two that caught my eye were:

1) Blackmagic Intensity Pro

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/

2) ADS Pyro A/V Link

http://www.adstech.com/products/API-557-EFS/intro/api557_intro.asp?pid=API-557-EFS

When it comes to HD, you can use either a component video or HDMI connection. HDMI is usually the only type you have to worry about digital media protection. Many set-top boxes (cable/satellite) and DVD players enforce it. I don't believe you have to worry about that over a component connection, but I could be wrong. I'm about to find out.

The Blackmagic Intensity Pro card gives you the option to use either component or HDMI. But I went ahead and grabbed the ADS card off eBay for a lot less - the only disadvantage here is that HDMI is not an option.

I don't think turning your PC into a DVR is violating anything, considering cable and satellite companies offer them. TIVO even has one that will burn to DVD for you.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
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[felixc]

I hope that I'm wrong. From what I read the Pyro is not high definition. The capture formats are analog or DV (like mini-DV cameras) and the resolution does not exceed the one of regular PAL/NTSC digitizers.

I lost interest in HD stuff since a year. (still too much lies from the manufacturers and from the content providers) I am not aware that the TIVO works with HD signals. If it records to DVD then it is not saved to a high definition format, as the DVD max res is about 720 x 480 interlaced. It could store HD at full res to a hard disk though.

 

[cdogg]

felix,
Thanks for the feedback so far. Yeah, I understand that recording to DVD kind of defeats the purpose of HD. That's the main reason why I want to get my hands on this capture device. I am building a mini-PC right now with a 500GB drive, and with the Pyro box I can use the PC as a "complement" to the DirecTV HD-DVR satellite box I already have. It only has a 200GB drive in it, and is limited to about 40 hours of HD recording.

If you take another look at the Pyro link, the second picture down shows the back. It has component video input on the right side.

Oh well, I'll post back at some point and let you know how the experiment goes...


~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
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