[mythtv-users] a better tuner for SD

[Brad DerManouelian]

On Oct 8, 2008, at 11:10 AM, Jerome Yuzyk wrote:

> I have a Hauppage PVR-500 card that has been serviceable for two  
> years, and
> has gotten better with the Playback Settings in MythTV 0.21. The  
> picture has
> never been as crisp or sharp as on TVs, but all the other PVR  
> benefits have
> made up for that. I've fiddled with various recommended settings,  
> and I think
> I have the best I can get with what I have. I only have analog cable  
> SD and
> not interested in upgrading from that.
>
> What would be a better tuner card? Is there one?

Are you using s-video with the PVR-500? I saw a big improvement when I  
moved from coax to svideo on my PVR-350 and PVR-150. This will mean  
tuning with your cable box and changing channels on it with an IR  
blaster, firewire connection, serial connection, etc.

Unfortunately, I don't think you'll ever get as good going through a  
capture card compared to straight to the TV. If you are resigned to  
using coax, the PVR-250 is a nice tuner and probably your best choice.  
It may look a little better than the PVR-500 because it's a single  
tuner and doesn't split your signal. I don't recommend the PVR-150. I  
took mine out of my system. It doesn't look nearly as good as the  
PVR-350 I have (the 350 is basically the 250 with an mpg2 decoder on  
it).

-Brad