Digital TV Tuner/Capture Card Recommendations

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amp88

amp88

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I've got a WinFast TV2000XP Expert and my current setup is to run composite cables from my digibox to the capture card. This obviously isn't an ideal setup, to have digital to analogue to digital signals, leading to a reduction in quality. So, I'm looking to buy a new TV tuner/capture card with an inbuilt digital receiver to bypass my (cheap) digibox and take out the digital to analogue to digital conversion process. Looking for a PCI card, available to buy in the UK. I'm willing to spend a reasonable amount for a really good card, maybe up to £60 - £70 ($100 - $125 US).

So, has anyone got any recommendations from personal experience or from reviews they've read, please :)

edit: I'm currently looking at this one. The only thing putting me off is the possible conflict listed on their website with the PCI card and a Silicon Image SATA controller (which I have). However, I've found a website that claims to fix this conflict, so maybe it's not the end of the world. Nebula's suggestion is to buy the USB version instead, but I want the analogue inputs which only the PCI version has.
 
Well, I went ahead and ordered a card from the company I linked to above, but I got it for only 49 quid because they have some of their older, full sized cards left, here. Got it in this morning and after a bit of trouble with setting it up (IRQ conflict then a problem with the file format), I'm delighted to say it's working perfectly now. The picture quality is fantastic compared to my old one and because it captures in MPEG2 you don't lose any quality compared to the original broadcast. Filesizes are fairly big (roughly 850MB for 30 minutes), but storage space isn't a problem for me. All in all I'm really happy with this card so far, just waiting for it to record a couple of programmes I've set to test it further.
 
I have the Leadtek WinFast TV2000XP and the quality is close to cable-like tv. I'm very pleased with the quality at that price. I don't know why you are complaining about it, it's pretty good. Don't expect finding a TV device/card that will give you crystal clear quality I'd say.
 
MugenVTEC
I have the Leadtek WinFast TV2000XP and the quality is close to cable-like tv. I'm very pleased with the quality at that price. I don't know why you are complaining about it, it's pretty good. Don't expect finding a TV device/card that will give you crystal clear quality I'd say.
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My previous setup (with the Leadtek card) was to have the aerial signal as the input to the digibox then to run a SCART to composite adapter from the back of my digibox with component cables onto the input on the leadtek card. This meant that the signal was being degraded on the passage across the component cables and is the reason I wasn't happy with the quality of the video.

What is your setup with the card?

I have indeed found a TV card that provides crystal clear quality...this one :)
 
I use composite cables too. PS2 plugged in the TV with composite, and the TV is plugged into the card with composites. The quality is cable-like, but it's not like digital cable... lol
 
Ah, you're really missing out then. Honestly, I recorded a film earlier tonight (don't tell anyone, but it was What Women Want) and it's very close to DVD quality.

When I got my Leadtek card it was £35, this new card I got was £56 including next day delivery and I'd have happily paid that extra twenty quid just for the increase in quality of reception and recording. In addition it's got a fantastic EPG feature and the interface is so easy to use. It's also one of the most customisable pieces of software I've ever used. I don't know if they deliver to North America, but I'd wholeheartedly recommend one to anybody.
 
MugenVTEC
The Leadtek actually records in MPEG2 ;)
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Yeah, that's one of the options, but even when you select "MPEG2 optimal" (or whatever the highest quality one is, it still compresses the input so you end up with a lower quality file. With this card, there's no compression so you end up with exactly the input video quality.
 
MugenVTEC
Maybe if I use another software to capture, I'll get a better image. Could this work ??
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I used to use VirtualDub rather than the software bundled with the card. I usually captured uncompressed then recompressed with VirtualDub later on. However, with the component cables in the loop you're always going to have a lower quality overall capture :(
 

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