... Now how does a child like him manage to get a TV Card with his sort of pocket money and get good quality for his money? Simple! He went and bought himself a Hauppauge WinTV Express card.
This card is an analogue type card (meaning that it isn't digital) that arrives in a rather large box ... Read review
WinTV-HVR-1400 brings DVB-T digital terrestrial TV and analog TV to your laptop screen. ... more
Watch and pause digital or analog TV, in a window or full screen. Record digital TV shows to disk in the original MPEG-2 quality, or record analog TV using
Postage & Packaging: see site for shipping costs Availability: 3-7 days
WinTV-HVR-1400 brings DVB-T digital terrestrial TV and analog TV to your laptop screen. ... more
Watch and pause digital or analog TV, in a window or full screen. Record digital TV shows to disk in the original MPEG-2 quality, or record analog TV using
Postage & Packaging: Free Delivery Availability: 3-7 days
WinTV-HVR-1400 brings DVB-T digital terrestrial TV and analog TV to your laptop screen. ... more
Watch and pause digital or analog TV, in a window or full screen. Record digital TV shows to disk in the original MPEG-2 quality, or record analog TV using
Postage & Packaging:Free Delivery Availability:3-7 days
WinTV-HVR-1400 brings DVB-T digital terrestrial TV and analog TV to your laptop screen. ... more
Watch and pause digital or analog TV, in a window or full screen. Record digital TV shows to disk in the original MPEG-2 quality, or record analog TV using
Postage & Packaging:see site for shipping costs Availability:3-7 days
Advantages: Watch TV on your PC! Record TV programmes with your PC! Record your home made videos onto your PC! So ruddy cheap! Disadvantages: Needs PC to work, sound is mono, has to be PCI version to be cheap.
...went and bought himself a Hauppauge WinTV Express card.
This card is an analogue type card (meaning that it isn't digital) that arrives in a rather large box unbefitting the contents that are contained within. You get merely the TV Card, audio cable to link the card to your sound card, manual and software CD. You can hear it rattling around inside the box as you shake it, the box blatantly wasting precious card with all that space. ... ...software and hardware integration by Hauppauge indeedy! But of course there are the little annoying nittys that seem to hop out of it and into your face if you use it long enough.
Being an analogue TV Card means that the quality of the received channels depends on the aerial and the position it is in. A cheapo crap aerial placed in an area with immense interference is obviously going to have you tearing your hair out. Even with a good ... more
It's 11PM and the parents have ensured their sweet and innocent children have gone to bed before that time, so they can watch Channel 5 for that inevitable soft-core porn movie to come on. Gone are those days of renting or buying such offensive movies from retail stores and flittered are the embarrassments that plague grown ups to do so. Now at their discretion, they may enjoy such perverted flicks in the comfort of their own home with no effort whatsoever all thanks to Channel 5.
Now the hero of our story, Tom (a 12 year old boy and whiz-kid at the ever intimidating and foreboding Personal Computer running that God forsaken - fruit of Bill Gates' loins - Windows operating system), creeps downstairs in his blue and white striped PJs and rubs his dark bowl-cut hair against the wall to avoid his shadow being cast into the living room. He peers around the corner of the wall into the living room and spies the TV on with the cheesy music that accompanies the apparent 'erotic scenes' and a smile slowly spreads across his face.
Suddenly a giant shadow looms over him and a sudden cold feeling sends shivers up Tom's spine.
"And what are you doing young man?"
The firm yet melodious voice of his Mother sends Tom into a panic as he turns around and stares into the eyes of the woman who bore him.
"Oh bollocks", said Tom.
Well needless to say Tom is a very mopey and angry child because he was denied the privileges of watching Channel 5 every single night for his favourite programme to come on. But one day, he asked his Father if he had a spare TV aerial that he could give to him.
"It's for a science experiment Dad! Some stuff to do with radio waves and battery powered motors, you know that sort of thing!"
Tom's Father looks at Tom with a hint of suspicion on face but replies, "Sure son I got one here but it's a bit old so I don't know if it's any good to you."
Tom stares at the aerial with a glimmer of enthusiasm, thanks his Father, then buggers off into his room to do his 'science experiment'.
A few days later, Tom's parents noticed that Tom's behaviour improved dramatically. He no longer throws his tantrums and is more obedient than he ever was. The parents believe it was their constant stubbornness that won him over, but we all know better than that don't we ladies and gentlemen?
But of course, young and innocent Tom installed a TV Card into his PC (being the computer whiz-kid he is) and borrowed the aerial from his Dad so that he could tune into the channels he so desires to watch. Now how does a child like him manage to get a TV Card with his sort of pocket money and get good quality for his money? Simple! He went and bought himself a Hauppauge WinTV Express card.
This card is an analogue type card (meaning that it isn't digital) that arrives in a rather large box unbefitting the contents that are contained within. You get merely the TV Card, audio cable to link the card to your sound card, manual and software CD. You can hear it rattling around inside the box as you shake it, the box blatantly wasting precious card with all that space. But although I mourn the trees' wasted timbre (ish), the card itself is a very high quality piece of equipment.
Unpacking the card was a cinch seeing as there wasn't much packaged in the first place. Installing it was easy as pie as well, requiring you to dismantle your PC and insert the card into a free PCI slot before reassembling the PC. Of course the ease of it depends on your competence with upgrading your PC, but in this day and age more or less anybody can do it (and you wonder why there are so many people aspiring to become PC Technicians that one can no longer make good money with that job title anymore). Even if you are not, the manual which is provided is very easy to follow and will show you the ways easily. After reassembling the PC you need to connect the audio cable to from the TV Card's Line Out to the sound cards Line In, and then connect a standard TV aerial to it.
The next step is the software and driver installation that is very easy to complete thanks to the step by step on-screen guides to move you along. And then comes the main application that you'll be using for the TV Card, WinTV2000. With this program you can tune in the channels with the card, access teletext, record programmes and capture video from external device (VCR, camcorder). WinTV2000 is surprisingly very easy to use despite the ghastly grey colour scheme of it's interface. The buttons are easy to see and access giving full functionality of the program at your fingertips (well really your index finger click).
Oh yes, the set up of this card was near effortless and getting it to do what it does is very easy indeed. If I want to record a programme I just hit record, if I want to use teletext i just hit the teletext button and away I go. Excellent software and hardware integration by Hauppauge indeedy! But of course there are the little annoying nittys that seem to hop out of it and into your face if you use it long enough.
Being an analogue TV Card means that the quality of the received channels depends on the aerial and the position it is in. A cheapo crap aerial placed in an area with immense interference is obviously going to have you tearing your hair out. Even with a good quality aerial, the hassle of having to find a good position to put it in can be very annoying. Another thing to note is that if you have a crap aerial, you may not be able to locate all the channels during the auto tuning.
No remote is provided with the package, which could of been a Godsend for most of us lazy bum - can't be arsed to get out of bed because I'm too comfy - people. There is a software remote that is accessible with a single click on a button and is very easy to use, but nothing beats a good old physical remote. Besides you can't take a software remote with you to the crash pad at the other end of the room.
Capturing movies is done by MPEG1 or DIVX format, but it seems that the highest resolution is 352 x 288, which of course records the programmes at lower quality and size than they actually are. It would have been great if we could change the size of the picture that is captured. For those not in the know, MPEG1 is the format used by Video CDs and files downloadable online with the .MPG on the end of them. DIVX is an internet video codec that is very popular, the ‘MP3' of the video world online.
Finally the sound that is captured is only available in mono. No nicam stereo or surround sound, only crappy mono sound. Don't get me wrong, the sound quality is excellent but it would have made the viewing experience much better if it was stereo at least.
Well you shouldn't really blame it for it's shortcomings since it is very cheap at £30. For that price it is a fantastic value for money product. This is something to buy your mate for XMAS if they don't already have a TV/video capture card in their PC. I like it for its ease of installation and set up. It is so easy to put in and so easy to use that you wonder why you didn’t spend a little more for that digital version at the end of the shelf. Ah well, analogue lovers rejoice at this excellent peripheral that can transform your PC into a very powerful TV and VCR.
Product Information for "Hauppauge WinTV Express" »
Video
Type
TV tuner, Video capture adapter
Form Factor
Plug-in card
Interface Type
Composite video input
Analogue video Signal
Composite video, Composite video, HF TV Signal
Video Compression Format
YUV 4:2:2
Still Image Format
JPEG, BMP, TIFF, TGA
Still Image Capture Resolution
1600 x 1200
Audio Input Support
Standard
Features
Teletext, TV tuner
Analogue Video Format
PAL-B/G, SECAM L
Frame Rate
PAL: 25 frames per second, SECAM: 25 frames per second
Digital Video Capture Resolution
384 x 288
Digital Video Format
MPEG-1, AVI, AVI
Channel Coverage
Cable:1-125
Miscellaneous
Certified for Windows Vista
Certified for Windows Vista software and devices have undergone compatibility tests for ease-of-use, better performance and enhanced security.
Cables Included
1 x audio cable
Software / system requirements
OS Required
Microsoft Windows 98/ME/2000/XP, Microsoft Windows 98/ME, Microsoft Windows 2000 / XP, Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition / Windows ME, Microsoft Windows 2000 / XP
Install the WinTV-Express in your PC and you're ready to watch TV in a resizable window, right on your PC screen! WinTV offers features usually only seen on high-end television sets, like previewing 16 channels at once. And it goes further! Snap and print stills from whatever you're watching. Or record video clips from your camcorder or off the air to create your own high-impact presentations. And with Hauppauge's WinTV SnapShot application, you can capture still video images in adjustable high-resolution modes to 1600x1200 pixels!WinTV digitizes video using high quality 4: 2: 2 video sampling. The digitized TV image is sent directly into the memory of your PC's VGA card without creating overhead for the CPU. So you can work on applications while simultaneously watching TV in a resizable window. WinTV works with most PCI or AGP VGA graphics adapters, which support Windows Direct Draw. The Hauppauge WinTV application has exclusive features like channel surf, no-title mode and always-on-top mode, making WinTV easy and fun to use! Watch TV-in-a-window or full screen from the 125-channel storage ready TV tuner. WinTV will also display video from a VCR, camcorder or any other video source.Your WinTV is a high performance video digitizer, and can be used with Internet videoconferencing applications like Microsoft's NetMeeting, Windows Messenger, CU-SeeMe and more! Videoconference with your friends and family right on your PC! Spice up your multimedia presentations! Create digital movies in the Microsoft AVI file format with Hauppauge's WinTV Capture application. Desktop Publishing: With Hauppauge's exclusive WinTV SnapShot application, you can save high-resolution video images up to 1600x1200! Capture 24-bit still video images in TIFF, JPEG, BMP in color or black/white. Great for desktop publishing.