Consensus on All-in-Wonder Radeon?

[kylef]

I was thinking about plopping down $200 on one of these babies and setting it up to record cable while I'm at work.

Questions:

1. Does anyone own one already? What's your impression of the channel service? Capture quality?

2. How is the software/driver support for Windows 2000? It's listed as compatible, but unfortunately that's typically a far cry from reality...

Thanks!

 

[nnnyyy]

I am running a Radeon AIW under 2K. Everything works fine for me. The drivers are actually pretty good. It records tv nicely but it does take up a lot of space.

 

[soulm4tter]

ditto......it takes up too much space. I haven't tried any other capture software though......i imagine there is better software available for more compression.

 

[wasnlos]

how much space does the recording software actually use, let's say for one hour.
please somebody give me an idea

thanks in advance

 

[culex]

I've had my AIW Radeon quite for some time now and it's still a kick butt card IMO.

I haven't tried the TV feature yet... for some odd reason.

The retail box should come with a bunch of software, including a video editing/capture program from ULEAD.

 

[nnnyyy]

an hour takes up about 5 gigs of space. This is for normal picture quality.

 

[wasnlos]

@nnnyyy
thanks

 

[kylef]

Whew, 5 gigs an hour, huh? Looks like if I were to really use this for TV capture that I'd need a little hard drive upgrade...

So, at 5 gigs an hour, for a 40-hour machine we're talking 200 gigabytes of storage! I know there are 40 and even 60 hour Tivo's out there, and they don't need 200 gigabytes of hard disk space!

But interestingly, I thought that MPEG2 compression was MPEG2 compresion... The Tivos use it, and so does this card, right? Are there settings to control the amount of compression or something?

 

[rbV5]

<< I thought that MPEG2 compression was MPEG2 compresion >>



Both MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video syntax can be applied at a wide range of bitrates and sample rates, for example, it is possible to encode picture dimensions as high as 4095 x 4095 and a bitrates up to 100 Mbit/sec. The size a specific video file will be dependant on the resolution and the amount and type of compression used. While it may take, for instance, 5 GB/hr to record programming at specific resolution and bitrate, it may take more/less depending on the use for the video. If you are simply watching the video for later, Mpeg-1 at lower bitrates maybe adequate and save you some room. If you are editing and want the highest possible quality, Raw AVI will use that 5GB up in minutes.

Realistically, if you are thinking of saving 40 hours of video at a time, you will need massive amounts of hardrive space regardless of the compression you use.

As for your original questions:

1. Guide Plus is an excellent program IMHO (no problems for me) and easy to use/update, Capture quality is excellent.
2. Driver support for Win2k has been great for me (have had the card ONLY in Win2k for 6 months now)

 

[kylef]

Thank you for all your answers!

 

[smp]

OKay.. how'd you all get it working under win2k? I got mine working (tv tuner) in win2k a couple weeks ago. Once I got it working (all it took was the digital video upgrade) I decided that it was time to get rid of the dual boot 98.. so I did. Then I reinstalled windows 2000 and now it won't work. Could it be because I'm running advanced server now? I applied the update and I have DX8a installed and the latest multimedia center and the same drivers as last time. ATI should make ONE dodwnloadable .exe on thier site for installing this and making it work in one shot under win2k. I mean, you pay so much for a card it should be easier than this. Of course, it worked fine in win98.

 

[culex]

SMP: Which Radeon version drivers were you using? Win9x/ME drivers and Win2k driver versions are not of the same numbers.

 

[Nack]

Nice card. I use the DVI out to run my flat panel, and the video capture features are cool too.

Nack

 

[EricHagen]

I have an AIW Radeon. I love it!!!

Best video card I've ever had. I've run it under Win98, WinME, Win2k Pro, Server and Advanced Server and haven't had any problems.

Video recording takes up waaaay too much CPU time tho. I lose about half the frames with a Duron 600 when I'm compressing MPEG2 and a reasonable compression rate. When I got to play with a 1.2Ghz Athlon, it lost about 2% of the frames. Overclocked to 1.25 it managed to record everything but the CPU was just pegged at 100%.

But if you use lower quality video capture, you're fine- that will save you space too. =-)

Get it, play around with the settings. =-)

Eric

 

[Fandu]

Like already stated, HD requirements depend directly on the recolution and format you use. If you capture in MPEG2, you are looking at anywhere between 2mbit (900MB/hour) and 20mbit(9,000MB/hour). If you want, you can also capture shorter programs, say under 2 hours at a high resolution and bitrate, then compress them to DivX or something. Or if you are not looking for super high res stuff, you can easily compress to DivX in real time @ 380x284 and you would fit hours to the GB by doing that.