I'm trying to convert all my home movies, from VHS and Beta to movie files and DVD video..

I started out buying the basic Wintv that is $49, the picture quality was horrible. One good advantage, is that it would record uncompressed avi files, leaving no pixels blurs and not missing any frames. I ended up taking that one back. To exchange for the WinTv-PVR 150.

Now with the WinTv-PVR 150. This one will record excellent video quality when set to Mepeg2 12.0mbit/sec (CBR) now the problem is that when recording high quality and compressing at the sametime seeing how it won't record uncompressed files, now causes mis frames and studdering. It's not really noticable, but I can tell, usaully with a scene with alot of motion (Camera movement)

I went to Compusa, not taking anything back, but buying the WinTv-Pvr Usb2 model 99016. This one is a joke, the video twitches allot. Should I say horrible video..

Now I'm stuck and don't know what to get without having to return everything..

I would really apreciate it, If anyone can recommend the best video capturing recording hardware and software to get

First of all, I have the win tv usb2 and I am not seeing the problems you are describing so my guess is that your problem is else where. I also have the win tv 350 (same as the 150 but a few more bells and whistles)... it captures pretty well also. Another capture device I have is the audigy 2 zs video editor... it comes with "vcr" filters that work well when capturing vhs.

I think you may be expecting a little too much from your video equipment. Your picture is not going to be that great no matter what you do. Not only does VHS contain a lot of noise but if i remember correctly it's compared to mpeg1 which is 352x 480 (or something like that) so the resolution is none too great to start with. Your upscaling to mpeg2 at (640x480). In otherwords, you're blowing up the size of the video, so all the defects will be seen that much clearer. To complicate the issue even further, you are doing a conversion from analog to digital, which will by nature further degrade the situation. So the bottom line is that you will never really be able to get a top notch picture from vhs.

But the 2 latter capture devices that you mention are both HARDWARE ENCODERS... they have their own dedicated processor and use very little power from the computer. You can TRY software capture... I have a ati x850 video card with video inputs that allows me to do software capture into software of my choosing and I run Avid liquid, Pinnacle studio (and a few others) Software capture is where the raw data is fed to some software and that in conjunction with the computer cpu processes the data. This way you can capture as avi or mjpeg. The catch with software capture is that you need a reasonable fast and compitent computer.

Short of that, you have the option of going to hardware capture with Canopus encoders and you WILL get as good a quality as one can expect.... Canopus encoders are extremely good, but they also come close to being the most expensive... you WILL pay a STEEP price.

The PVR-150 has a picture that I'm pleased with, but the problem is that seeing how it only records the highest quality at 720X480 I'm guessing something is not keeping up, what I don't know, which causes studdering and missing frames. If I could only get it to record the highest quality at 352x480, I would not have those problems. I have a 2.4ghz computer with 512mb of ram. any suggestions??

Thanks...Adam

I went to Compusa to return the WinTv PVR-USB. And saw another one that looks like it would be the best one for me.

It's a Turtle Beach video capturing system, that contains two pieces of hardware that goes into the Pci slot and bayfront slot. I was reading the box and said that it can also record in uncompressed files and different resolutions, and reduces frame dropping in high quality resolutions...

Does anyone have this card? I was thinking about buying, But I don't want to take another thing back, so I didn't. I thought I would get some input first....

Thanks....Adam

http://www.kworld.com.tw/en/index_e...

I ended up with the ATI TV Wonder Elite ,it comes with a remote control and it seems like it actually improves the picture in the TV Screen, its key features are the Theater 550 Pro,12 bit video decoder,automatic gain control,2D & 3D comb filter,MPEG-2 encoding,Digitial audio (no extra line to plug in )and noise reduction. Actually this card has more then I really need since I do not have a widesceen TV or FP my FP is a 19 inch ,however since it was compatable with the 2005 Media Center Edition of WinXP and the price was good I went for it !
Take Care Nick