I just added a TV tuner/video capture card to my computer and thought I'd post a mini review for anybody else interested in getting a similar card.

I ended up getting the ATI TV Wonder VE (http://mirror.ati.com/products/pc/tvwonderve/index.html). I chose it because it was the only one Best Buy had in the store ( :rolleyes: ) but it came with a $10 rebate that will make the total cost $39. Plus it has a video-in port so that I can do video capture from my camcorder.

It installed very easily. Didn't have any problems there. (I've got Win98SE, a 950MHz AMD Thunderbird processor, 128MB RAM, Voodoo 3 AGP video card, Sound Blaster PCI audio card.) The instruction manual is a little weird though. It gives instruction on how to use video editing software, but there is no video editing software. More on that later.

After installing I opened up the TV player and it automatically ran a wizard to set things up so I can view TV. The wizard runs you through selecting the correct input on the card (analog or composite), scanning for cable stations, setting up child lockout passwords (you can leave them blank if you don't want to use that feature), setting up the sound card input to use for audio (more on that later), etc. I had it installed and was watching TV in about 5 minutes.

Now, I'll first address this sound card input thing. In order to hear the TV you have to have the TV card plugged into your sound card. They do this with a cable that runs from the Audio Out on the TV card to an Audio In jack on your sound card. So you must have either a Mic In or a Line In jack on your sound card (it's preferable to use the Line In jack because the Mic In is an amplified input and will introduce distortion). Also, since your sound card will be required to use both the sound in and sound out jacks at the same time you'll need a card that can duplex. That wasn't a problem for me. I have a duplexing card and a spare Line In jack.

So, in the setup I selected my Line In jack as the source for TV audio. I thought all was working well because I was hearing the TV through my speakers just fine. But everytime I turned the audio up I'd get feedback. Somehow my mic had become un-muted in the sound mixer. So I open the Windows audio mixer and muted the mic again, then turned the speakers back up, more feedback. I opened the mixer and found that it had been un-muted again. For some reason the TV software insisted on un-muting my mic. So I just unplugged the thing. I never use it anyway.

Then I decided to make a mother's day video that I can put online and send it to my mom. I plug in the camcorder which involves plugging the video output into the TV card and the audio output into the sound card with the supplied adapter. I set the input on the software to use the composite jack and done. I can now watch and listen to my camcorder through my computer. I click on the video capture button and it starts recording. (I had previously selected a quality setting. It has a good variety of quality settings as well as custom controls for adjusting it to your own specs. It can record in MPEG-1, MPEG-2, AVI, WMV, etc.)

After I was done capturing the video I opened the saved file to see how it looked and sounded. It looked fine, but there was no audio. I checked my connections...fine. I checked the software settings...not fine. Somehow it was capturing the audio off my mic input instead of the line input, even though I had specified the line input. (That explains why it kept un-muting and all the feedback.) So I set it back to line and save the setting. Then I opened the setup panel again just to make sure the setting took and it was, again, set to mic. So now I'm baffled. Why does it keep doing that to me?

I check the ATI website for any reported problems like this. Nothing. I update the drivers and software just to make sure I had the most recent installed. After 2 hours of searching and looking, still no success. When I select Line, it defaults to Mic. So I try some other setting. Let's choose AUX just for the heck of it. Going back into Setup to see if AUX stuck or if it defaulted back to Mic. What's this? Now it has defaulted to Line! I select Line, it sets Mic. I select AUX, it selects Line. Yes, there's a pattern to the madness. See, in the drop down list Mic is right above Line. Line is right above AUX. For some reason, it actually selects the one right above your selection. STUPID!! What a really lame bug! But a very simple work-around. :rolleyes:

So, now with the setting really set to Line I recaptured the video. This time I got audio. Yeah!

Now on to the editing. Since there wasn't any editing software bundled with the card (even though the instruction manual says it does) I looked around on the net for some good stuff. All I needed was to be able to cut and splice. Nothing fancy. No transitions or audio mixing or anything. So I figured there had to be something free available for that. I checked on VCD Help (http://www.vcdhelp.com) and sure enough, they seem to like TMPGEnc. And as luck would have it, I already had it downloaded and installed from playing with it while working on another pet project last year. So I followed their directions on cutting and splicing and voilą, a nice video for sending to mom.

Other notes: The television guide software that is bundled with the card is terrific. Just click on a program from the guide and it selects that channel. If the program isn't on yet you can schedule it to record. I tested this feature last night and it's pretty simple. Just make sure your clock is set to the right time though or you can miss some of the program. So now I can "Tivo" on my computer! (I just need a bigger drive now.)

So far I haven't figured out how to use the keyboard for changing channels. That means that you have to use the mouse to do this, or purchase the $100 remote control. That's right...the remote is more expensive than the card. Silly. If I could figure out (if it's even possible) how to use the keyboard then it would make channel changing from across the room easier (and yes, I do want that feature...the computer is in my bedroom now...one of the reasons I wanted the TV card).

Correction: The available remote control (Remote Wonder) is $49. I don't know where I got the $100 number from.

Thats what I use also. I agree that it is a terriffic bargian. One thing about the line in issue is try to restart your computer. It fixed it for me, and I basically have the same specs as you.

(PS: I don't suggest the remote. The range is horriable :eek: )

I have the same card. The drivers are a tad bit funky, but I got mine at CC for only $9! (After $30 Rebate) :D

Also: (These Are Keypad Commands)
+ = Channel Up
- = Channel Down
* = Mute

(I don't know any others) :)

BTW, Windows Movie Maker 2 works great with the card. And, you have the cool effects. :D

Originally posted by MonorailMan
BTW, Windows Movie Maker 2 works great with the card. And, you have the cool effects. :D

yeah, but he's using 98SE, you can't get MM2 with that. Ya need XP.


(I agree that it is a great free program!)

($9 :eek: :eek: I paid $49 at my CC! :eek: )

Originally posted by MonorailMan
Also: (These Are Keypad Commands)
+ = Channel Up
- = Channel Down
* = Mute Thanks. I figured out the channel keys last night, but not the mute key.

I downloaded DScaler (http://www.dscaler.org) last night and gave it a try. It's a free scaler (think "line doubler" for a computer) for analog inputs. It can take the TV signal and scale it to any resolution you want. It cleans up the cable signal quite nicely and makes the image look much more crisp and clear at full screen. Unfortunately, if there's a lot of noise in the signal you get a wave effect that crawls across the screen, so it's best to have as little noise as possible to get the best picture. Also, when I turn off DScaler the audio continues to play. So, there's no picture, but I can still hear the TV. Weird. I'll have to figure that little problem out later.

Speaking of bigger drives... I just picked up a Western Digital 60GB drive for $49 at Circuit City!! ($89 - $20 Western Digital rebate - $20 Circuit City rebate) Woohoo!

It installed with a minimal amount of problems and now I've got an extra (left my other drive in) 60 gig baby! :D

You can always (Un)Mute the TV with the Volume Control. Just double click the speaker, then make sure you have what you are using for the input, then Check "Mute"! :)

I looked around on DScaler's forum and searched for other people having a similar sound problem. It turns out that it's a common problem among the TV Wonder cards. But since DScaler is open source software, and the people who are working on it aren't too interested in fixing any of the sound problems, they aren't working on it. If anybody has any problems with sound from an onboard tuner they just tell them to use an external tuner plugged into a capture card. They aren't too concerned about it.

It's a great video scaler, but it is free. What more can you expect?

I've also downloaded a trial version of WinDVR from InterVideo (http://www.intervideo.com), but it's only a 30 day trial and costs $50 to upgrade it to the full version. It's also got good video scaling and de-interlacing as well as time shifting capabilities. If I don't find a cheaper (read "free") solution then I might buy it. But that "might" is actually a really big "maybe" or "probably won't anyway."

I don't like the software that came with the TV Wonder card. The video looks really grainy and the file playback isn't stable. I tried watching Smallville last night that I recorded and it had a couple problems of sound sync at one point, and freezing up 2 other times. It also crashed twice. Really annoying. It was usually from fastforwarding through commercials. So if I was willing to sit through commercials (and watch grainy video) then it would work fine. But that's annoying.

Windows Media player will playback the files, but I can't fastforward or even switch it to fullscreen.