Hauppauge sounds like a scary rubber latex USB device, spawned from the evil heart of online sex-toy shopping hell.
Hauppauge sounds like a scary rubber latex USB device, spawned from the evil heart of online sex-toy shopping hell. Thank the A-bandits it’s really a company that produces the outstanding and ever-expanding WinTV range of TV tuner and capture cards. With hardware MPEG-1 and 2; FM stereo; and analog video/audio input/outputs, all the PVR-350 needs is IEEE 1394 and you’d be in dub-slut heaven!
The mettle of any tuner card is picture quality, especially when you plan to output to disc or tape. Definition is very good, and regardless of motion everything is crisp without any ghosting artefacts. Warm rich colours are a lovely surprise, coupled with the clarity of contrast that leaves the whites Napisan white -- not video grey.
Unfortunately, the PVR-350 comes with WinTV2000, which can only be described as ordinary. Tweaking functions for image and sound are abundant, but the essential recorder bar, by default, sits at the lowest edge of the window, and is usually out of reach unless the screen size is reduced. Also bordering on boringly basic is the time-shift function. It’s the ‘replace-the-VCR’ factor with most cards, and the WinTV method is functionally okay -- but sadly annoying to use. Nonetheless the DVD authoring suite included shows off the card’s attractive encoding features.
Hardware MPEG encoding makes the difference. The high quality and ease of capturing from TV or analog devices may just make your tape-chewing monkey-in-a-box cringe from under the TV set. Running on specs that are low enough to be cost-effective and easily cooled, the PVR-350 is a capable partner for any home-theatre setup. As for the included IR remote. . . while it’s aesthetically pleasing, the bastard contraption has an attitude problem with activated windows outside of WinTV2000, and is not compatible with Winamp, PowerDVD or the like.
Using capture cards to regularly record high quality TV and video probably means that until we can organ harvest terabyte hard disks from our pet genetically-modified pigs, the VCR or DVD recorder will dominate the lounge room. Kind of a shame, because the PVR-350’s impressive functionality really says something for the home theatre PC cause -- regardless of its software flaws. We await the revolution.
Issue: 137 | June, 2012