[jconawa]

Looks like Nvidia is going to be doing a DVR called personal cinema.

It should be worth looking at when it comes out. No doubt these

guys understand video.


Here is a look at their website with a video.

http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?PAGE=personalcinema

http://www.nvidia.com/content/video/...nal_cinema.asx


Also- For a really cool unlisted Geforce4 demo, I found this site which requires real player. If your into U2, crank up the volume.

http://www.nvidia.com/content/video/...o_collage.html

 

[j.freiman]

Doesn't sound like anything new... ATI, Hauppague and others have been doing this for many years.

If you have ever used one of these programs you will soon learn that you need a HARDWARE ENCODER to record and playback quality video.

Again, nice, but nothing new and since it and other Windows based programs have been out for some time and not taken off, this will not hurt ReplayTV and others (Tivo).

 

[sfhub]

Quote:

Originally posted by jconawa Looks like Nvidia is going to be doing a DVR called personal cinema. ... No doubt these guys understand video.

Well I know nVidia is famous for 3d (or was now that ATI seems to be

having them for lunch) but I thought the HTPC guys usually favored ATI

picture quality.

 

[SWiTCH]

I had an Nvidia card with the Personal Cinema stuff. It was nothing special. It uses WinDVD and WinDVR from Intervideo. The ATI AiW stuff is much better but both are still a far cry from a standalone PVR.

 

[Sulik]

Hardware encoders are a bit outdated today, especially with P4/HT CPUs.

It takes less than 40% cpu to capture 720x480 on my 1.8GHz P4 using MMC 8.1+AIW 8500

 

[icecow]

The personal cinema has been out for a few years. Did they come out with a new really good one or something?


I'm under the impression that the computer based pvrs are unyieldly with ackward menus and driver issues and extra cables everywhere. And unreliable to boot. Who wants to watch tv on their computer anyway? Ya have to sit on a dumb chair and ifyou lay down the chair is always in the way.


I always wanted to get one of those but never believed I'd be happy with it.




icecow

 

[sfhub]

Video through computers apparently looks quite impressive on plasma

displays. It's also pretty much how most people are recording HDTV

today.

 

[icecow]

Sulik,

How do you like your All In Wonder? I've been told the ATI AIW drivers are flaky and the thing only works half the time. Is this true? I've been eyeing the AIW 7500 for awhile. You can get one for about $110 with the RF remote.


OH, and if anyone knows a good way to capture video of a computer screen please let me know(Software routes like camtasia dont work well). I was thinking maybe using two computers with firewire. One to capture the screen of the other as I demonstrated software. I've been tring to figure out a way to do this cleanly for years. Noone seems to know.


icecow

 

[antibody128]

I have the ATI AIW 7500 and really like it, but it certainly isn't a replacement for the ReplayTV. In fact I use my VCR more often as a conflict resolution to complement the ReplayTV. I mostly use it have a mini TV up as I'm browsing the web. I have used it to make "ready to burn" VCD/SVCD, but it really doesn't compare to ReplayTV VCD's. The software can be shakey at times and the remote isn't all that great but overall I'm happy.

 

[Atariansun]

I own one of the new personal cinemas from Nvidia. I preordered the card from evga.com and got it last week. I got it to replace my Geforce2 MX 400 and ATI TV Wonder. It's no replacement for my ReplayTV, but it's great for what it does. I had considered getting an ATI AIW, but after my experience with ATI's driver support for the TV Wonder, I decided not to.


I would have liked to see a custom TV interface like ATI uses, but it comes with WinDVR, which isn't bad, but not great either. The remote works fine, although it is virtually the same remote as ATI's. And since I watch a lot of TV on my PC, it's great to be able to pause it too. The TV output is also a nice feature, that's the best quality I've ever seen from a TV out that's built into a video card.

 

[random]

I've done a bit of research on this. Even Microsoft's uber-expensive MediaCenter computers that are designed to take on Replay and Tivo don't work as well as a stand-alone Replay or Tivo. And they cost 4 or 5 times more than a stand-alone PVR.


Hardware video decoder/encoders are necessary for any system that needs to work all the time. Otherwise, some other task can take too much processor time and ruin your recording or playback. And right now, most video cards with hardware based encoder/decoders cost almost as much as a Replay or Tivo.


Sure, someday, someone will write some software equal to what Replay and Tivo offer. It will have a user interface that can be navigated "without" mouse and keyboard and won't allow other tasks to interfere with video processes. Someday computer processors will be fast enough to handle encoding and decoding of video as a seamless background task. And someday these systems will be cheaper than what Replay and Tivo offer.


When that day comes, I'll buy one, but that day is not here yet.

 

[texneus]

Quote:

Originally posted by jconawa Looks like Nvidia is going to be doing a DVR called personal cinema. It should be worth looking at when it comes out. No doubt these guys understand video.

How come when ever somebody developes one of these DVR in a PC applications they completely forget about controlling a satelite or cable box? Seems like they would be much more popular if they would do more than OTA...or is there one I haven't seen that does this??


Live recording to DVD is nice, one more barrier down...

 

[Atariansun]

Quote:

Originally posted by texneus Live recording to DVD is nice, one more barrier down...

The Live recording to DVD works very well. It's not perfect, it would have been better with a hardware encoder, but if you have a DVD burner on your PC, and need a quick way to get something on DVD, this is perfect. Although I would suspect that a ReplayTV 5000 series would do a better job of encoding the video (only owning a showstopper, I can't say for sure).


Brian

 

[dguns]

Hey all. Nvidia's Personal Cinema will soon be released based on the GeForce FX 5600!


http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=9282