[skilzygw]

OKay here goes. Im building a Home theater pc. I want Games, Tivo, etc...

I was wondering how the AiW radeon(original 32mb) tivo functionality is? How about with windows XP?


More important question...I am going to connect my vcr to record all my vhs tapes to dvd or cdrw. Would dual cpu's help? How about raid 0? Is a raid array needed to record shows to harddrive or do the Tivo like time-shifting? Can a really large 5400rpm drive suffice?


I am asking because if i don't need to buy a dual mobo ro raid card then i dont want to.


Also which writer do you suggest the pioneer DVD-rw or HP DVD+rw?


Any input would be appreciated. Also dont say I should buy the new AIW 8500 radeon becuase for the love of god that thing is gonna be like 400 bucks and I dont want to spend 400 on that and 500 on my burner. I choose just the burner. I will never play above 1024*768 and most likely just 800*600 due to the fact this pc is going to be connected to a TV not pc monitor. SO i think the original radeon AIW should be fine for my counter-strike needs.


Thanks, sorry for the long post. Really i need help with that question regarding if dual cpu's and raid is a neccessity for time shifting and recording to hard drive. Thanks!

 

[kazushi]

Most important question is the quality and purpose of records. Do you need the best quality? Do you need fancy editing? If so, dual processor works great and raid0 may be required. However, if you think just recording by MPEG2 and cutting them are enough for your purpose, you don't need them.


It seems that you don't know what the quality you needed. So, I think buying AIW RADEON to see the quality and using it for a while to see how it works are the best way for me.


I don't know DVD stuff much. I just prefer DVD+RW without any reason. On the other hand, if you want to record at cheap price, I think DVD-R is better, isn't it? I'm waiting the release of DVD+RW/R drive, but you may choose DVD-RW/R drive.


-- Kazushi

 

[skilzygw]

I dont know about all that stuff. I was told to record in AVI then use Divx codec and put it in "MPEG 4"

 

[Seawolf]

Mpeg 4 Divx is used to cut down file sizes from DVD sized files to more reasonable Sub 1Gig files. If you want to record a DVD, I don't understand why you would use mpg4.


As for DVD burners, I was looking to start a thread on the subject so I'll ask my questions in addition to your own skilzygw.


Personally I've been checking the HP DVD+RW, the Pioneer DVDRW and a soon to be released Panasonic DVD-RAM/RW burner.


Since it looks to my uneducated eyes like DVDRs and DVDRWs are going to be the standard. (Since DVDRs are $5 us and DVDRWs aren't much more expensive) Is anywone actually using one of these drives yet? And if so, have you formed any oppinions?

 

[tmarnik]

I'm a newbie myself so I can't add much to this discussion. But here is a site that makes a pretty good case for DVD+RW being the way to go.

http://www.dvdplusrw.org/pc/pccomparison.html

 

[work permit]

Regarding Raid-0:


I've used a single 7200 RPM for real time video editing of DVI compressed movies, and have never had a problem with dropped frames, etc. Since Mpge-2 is more compressed than DVI, I don't see why you would need a raid configuration. Maybe someone else could shed some light on this.


Dual CPU's is certainly worthwhile for real time editing if you use alot of effects. Don't see how that buys you anything, though, for tivo or video capture unless you want to use TIVO and copy your vcr tapes at the same time.


FYI, I Currently have two disk drives (one for video and one for system/scratch area) in a non-raid configuration for home video editing. IMHO you gain more by configuring your system that way...

 

[kazushi]

Skilzygw,


Recording by AVI (raw format to avoid quality lose of compression from MJPEG, MPEG) and converting them to MPEG4 for the size and quality is best idea to maximize the quality. However, it requires faster CPU and fast hard drives. You need 10GB for 30 minutes recording using HuffYUV compress. You need 10 hours to compress 30 minutes video using many filters to enhance your quality. It's really expensive.


However, like Seawolf said, just recording MPEG2 also has not so bad quality these days and it's pretty cheap solution for these days.


Both are good selection I think. I just think checking both quality and deciding by yourself is the best way for you. Therefore, I suggested you to buy your base gear AIW RADEON first to see quality by your self.


Additional details about AVI->MPEG4 story, I think DivX recorder doesn't use SMP. However, you can run two encoding program simultaneously. This multiply your CPU speed about 1.8 virtually. So, SMP is good idea if you have tons of video you need to encode.


To capture 720x480 AVI in HuffYUV, you need about 25MB/s to 30MB/s speed for the hard drive at least. However, your computer might drop frames because of some interrupt. To avoid this, I think you need about 40MB/s hard drive. Therefore, I think RAID0 is better for the real job.


If you want to hear more, I can explain more details. So, ask me if you have an interest. I personally think AVI->MPEG4 has better quality but too expensive.


-- Kazushi

 

[Seawolf]

I agree with kazushi about the encoding times to divx. I'm sure that some people have mean enough machines to make it worthwhile, but I've always balked at the idea of tasking one of my now good and obsolete AMD TB 750s to a half day job of encoding.


Regarding the mpeg4 format: What type of processing power would one need to record straight off the svideo in on the AIW and use Divx mpeg4 as a codec?


About the dvd+RW drives: They can't burn the regular DVDR discs available for $5 USD can they? And, what's a DVD+RW disc worth?


Thanks,

-Mark

 

[skilzygw]

Really it takes that long to compress an AVI to mpeg4> WOW. How about directly to mpeg 2? How many gb's for how many minutes? Example if i wanted to record 2 hours how many gb is that in mpeg 2? Thanks... I think with new dvd burners it's less of an issue then it was when you only had 650megs of cd space to burn onto. If mpeg 2 is quick and easy i'd prob choose that.


Thanks!

 

[tmarnik]

Quote:

Originally posted by Seawolf About the dvd+RW drives: They can't burn the regular DVDR discs available for $5 USD can they? And, what's a DVD+RW disc worth?

The specs on this HP DVD+RW drive:

http://www.bestbuy.com/Detail.asp?m=...514&e=11093399


say that you can also burn onto CD-R and DVD-R discs.


It's not clear to me that DVD+RW is really more expensive though. Best Buy is selling a single DVD+RW disc for $14.99 USD, which is a lot more than the $5 you cite, but you have to to take into account that DVD+RW discs hold 4.7 GB. My guess is the DVD-R you refer to for $5 USD, hold 3.95 GB.


They do make DVD-Rs that hold 4.7 GB but they are just as expensive as DVD+RW (outpost.com has them at $19.95 USD a piece!) and they aren't re-writable!

 

[Seawolf]

Thanks for the link tmarnik, still reading through it. As for the DVD-Rs, www.pricewatch.com in the Storage-Media section under DVD recordable.


I'm not certain about changing the file to mpeg 2, but recording straight to mpeg2 from the AIW is no problem.


From that which I understand, a mpeg2 file is between 0.6 - 1 gig for each 1/2 hour.


--Don't quote me, wait for an expert! I know that when I recorded banzai it was ~45 min a CD, but I was using a custom capture resolution.----


-Mark

 

[Seawolf]

My bad, didn't mention what the pricewatch link would take you to. It's a DVD-R for the Pioneer drive 4.7gig with a case. Unfortunately, since I'm in Canada, it's going to be difficult to keep those prices economical after customs.

 

[kazushi]

Thanks tmarnik. I didn't check the spec because I just thought it was for +RW media only because of its name. I'm very interesting HP's DVD+RW (also R) now.



On the other hand, I need to correct my description above. I said I needed RAID0 for AVI recording because of some OS-driver-huffyuv timing issue. However, today I could capture one hour and half without any frame drops to a single WD800AB. So, maybe I don't need RAID0 anymore for capturing.


More details are these. I was using VirtualDub and ATI. This combination may use Microsoft WDM->VFW converter. If so, it may causes delay and drop frames. Today, I used Hunuaa (support WDM direct capture) and IOMagic PC PVR. In this case there is no converter in the middle, so all works in best efficiency. It's great. I really like this PC PVR.

 

[kazushi]

Skilzygw,


I don't have so much experience with MPEG2. It should be about 5.6G per 2 hours with 5M bits/sec data rate for MPEG2 and 48kHz PCM. I'm not sure what audio format can be used with MPEG2. However, if MP3 is possible, it should be 4.5G per 2 hours. I just calculated values like below.


5000000/8*2*60*60/1024/1024 = 4291MB/2h (5Mbits/s mpeg2 video)

48000*32/8*2*60*60/1024/1024 = 1318MB/2h (48kHz PCM audio)

160000/8*2*60*60/1024/1024 = 137MB/2h (160Kbits/s MP3)


You can reduce the data rate of video. So, I think it's very possible to record 2 hours into a DVD.



Tmarnik,


HP's DVD100i supports only DVD+RW regarding to their spec. So, I guess BestBuy displayed it with wrong description. Anyway, thanks.

http://dvd.hp-at-home.com/dvd100iSpecs.html

 

[tmarnik]

Quote:

Originally posted by kazushi Tmarnik, HP's DVD100i supports only DVD+RW regarding to their spec. So, I guess BestBuy displayed it with wrong description. Anyway, thanks. http://dvd.hp-at-home.com/dvd100iSpecs.html

Bummer. I have read that these drives will be upgradeable to write other formats with future firmware updates. HP doesn't have one for this drive yet though.

 

[sdsalsero]

re dual-CPUs, I have it, I don't think it's really worth it. I'd recommend getting a really fast Athlon instead.


re DivX/MPEG-4, anytime you want to re-encode video, it takes a LOT of processing because digital video is so heavily compressed. It's the same whether you want to reduce a high-bitrate MPEG-2 file to a lower bitrate, or convert it to MPEG-4. Personally, I recommend the MPEG2->DivX software at www.vidomi.com.


It uses SMP, too!


re recordable DVDs, I finally got frustrated with my Que DVD-RAM/R drive and returned it. It had intermittent lockups on my dual-P3 system (possibly because of the Via chipset). It also has a firmware bug, or something, that crashes the system if you do anything during a burn that tries to enumerate the available drives, e.g. opening the My Computer window or clicking the down-arrow in an application's Open dialog.


I was going to buy the HP DVD+RW drive instead but couldn't confirm that it records to DVD-R. The retail box doesn't say it does, nor does the HP web-site.


re DVD-R prices, you can buy a 5-pack of "Apple" DVD-Rs for $30. I think it's a promotional price from Apple, to encourage us to buy the new iMacs. But the disks worked fine in my (PC-based) Que DVD-RAM/R drive. Also, these are 4.7GB disks, though the VOB Instant-DVD s/w (included with the Que drive) only allowed me to record 4.3GB per disk.


- Tony in San Diego

 

[kpiontek]

I was also interested in the DVD+RW drive from HP, BUT currently it only records on DVD+RW media ($10 ea at Buy.com) and, most likely but not confirmed by HP officially, on DVD+R media to be released sometime in the future after a firmware upgrade. But notice the plus in DVD+R, these are different media than the DVD-R media you were talking about. The only thing that makes the HP drive attractive is the faster writing speed. This DVD recordable war has just started, I think ultimately it will be decided by the media price, most likely the single recording ones like DVD-R. I barely use CD-RWs since CD-Rs are so cheap (and supposedly last longer, too), so why using CD-RW? I think most people do that, and if you can buy DVD-Rs for less than $1 or close to it, then the DVD+RW format has lost. But we'll have to wait and see.

BTW, newegg.com has the Pioneer DVR-A03 for $435 with free shipping, or try http://dealnews.com/artclick.html?28...20011114100220 for the same drive with two DVD-Rs for $449.49.