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Capture card stretch modes?
I've been planning on eventually getting a capture card and running my digital cable through it. I've never used a capture card though so, naturally I have questions (surprise!).
First of all, when using my HTPC, my TV's stretch modes are limited to 16x9 and 16x9 zoom only. I prefer using 4:3 expanded for 4:3 cable programming which only stretches the edges. Can I achieve this from within the HTPC with a capture card (possibly using Dscaler or something)?
Secondly, are there any capture cards that will display digital cable channels without using the external converter? HBO and Showtime?
Assuming the answer to the second question is no, what is a decent card to get that will let me simply pass the signal from my cable box to the PC? I'm guessing I don't need anything fancy for this. My cable box has composite, RF and S-video outputs on it by the way.
Thanks!
First of all, when using my HTPC, my TV's stretch modes are limited to 16x9 and 16x9 zoom only. I prefer using 4:3 expanded for 4:3 cable programming which only stretches the edges. Can I achieve this from within the HTPC with a capture card (possibly using Dscaler or something)?
Secondly, are there any capture cards that will display digital cable channels without using the external converter? HBO and Showtime?
Assuming the answer to the second question is no, what is a decent card to get that will let me simply pass the signal from my cable box to the PC? I'm guessing I don't need anything fancy for this. My cable box has composite, RF and S-video outputs on it by the way.
Thanks!
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If your card is supported by dscaler, you can use dscaler's non-linear stretch mode
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SageTV and SageRecorder are capable of doing this and some of them can be linked to remote control commands to do on the fly. I believe the options are Force 4x3, Force 16x9, Fill, Use Source and you can also Zoom in horizontally, vertically or both.
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No such card exists to my knowledge.
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Depends on what your needs are. Are you looking to use hardware or software encoding? The WinTV-PVR-250 is a great card that I have my Motorola DCT2000 box hooked up to via Composite and then I use an Actisys IR-200L to change the channels for recordings.
Hope that helps,
Dan
| Originally posted by Dammit! First of all, when using my HTPC, my TV's stretch modes are limited to 16x9 and 16x9 zoom only. I prefer using 4:3 expanded for 4:3 cable programming which only stretches the edges. Can I achieve this from within the HTPC with a capture card (possibly using Dscaler or something)? |
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| Originally posted by Dammit! Secondly, are there any capture cards that will display digital cable channels without using the external converter? HBO and Showtime? |
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| Originally posted by Dammit! Assuming the answer to the second question is no, what is a decent card to get that will let me simply pass the signal from my cable box to the PC? I'm guessing I don't need anything fancy for this. My cable box has composite, RF and S-video outputs on it by the way. |
Hope that helps,
Dan
I don't plan to do any type of PVR functions with this card (maybe down the road if the Fusion II works out). I just want something cheap that I can use to run my cable signal through the HTPC for now. Anything that will work with Dscaler and let me stretch the picture appropriately should be fine for now. I just don't know what are considered to be good cards in the lower price ranges.
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