Difference between revisions of "Video capture card"
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** [[Hauppauge PVR-150]] | ** [[Hauppauge PVR-150]] | ||
** [[AVerMedia M179]] | ** [[AVerMedia M179]] | ||
+ | * V4L2 MPEG encoder API card (Kernel 2.6.18 and later) | ||
+ | ** Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-USB2 (MPEG2 encoder box with USB2.0) | ||
+ | ** Cards based on the Conexant cx23416 MPEG with cx88 pci brigde (Conexant blackbird reference design) | ||
+ | *** Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-Roslyn (P/N: 28552 on the TV Tuner). | ||
* Matrox Marvel G200/G400 MJPEG encoders | * Matrox Marvel G200/G400 MJPEG encoders | ||
Revision as of 19:29, 23 October 2006
Video capture cards are used to get the picture from the cable, aerial, or satellite television source into the PC (compared to video display cards which provide output). It decodes and captures the video signal from the channel you want to record.
Types of cards
Analog framebuffer cards
These cards are usually based on a chipset like the Bt848/878 or Conexant cx2388x, and decode broadcast NTSC, PAL, or Secam television.
Analog Hardware-MPEG cards
These cards, currently the Hauppauge PVR cards, the AVerMedia M179 and any other card which supports the V4L2 MPEG Encoder API, have a video processor onboard which compresses the tuned video signal into an MPEG-2 program stream before sending it into the computer. The tends to greatly reduce the load on the entire machine (with certain technical caveats), and these cards are recommended for.. well for all systems, really, but specifically, for systems with more than one, and especially more than 2 tuner cards.
Digital Hardware-MPEG cards
Digital broadcasting (for DVB at least) is in the form of an MPEG-2 transport stream, so unlike analog capture cards, there is no need for any kind of onboard encoding engine, the required program stream is extracted and handed directly to the computer for viewing or saving. Some cards have a hardware Program ID filter (hardware pid) which means the card can extract the required program stream from the transport stream itself.
In either case, the computer power required to save a DVB program (but not view it) is very small, being only what is required to shift data from the PCI/USB bus and save it to disk.
Capture Card Matrix
Here is a matrix, listing cards with their related drivers.
Card | Driver | Works with MythTV? | Hardware-based encoding? | CC Stream? | CC MPEG2? | Notes | Reporter |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aimslab Video Highway Xtreme | bttv | Y | N | ? | ? | Non-standard internal audio-out pinout, but labeled on PCB. Requires BTTV Module parameters card=14 tuner=2 | HeK |
ATI All-in Wonder | na | N | na | na | na | Does not work with MythTV | Unknown |
ATI HDTV Wonder | kernel >= 2.6.15, cx88-dvb | Y | N | ? | ? | broadcast HDTV | Unknown |
ATI TV-Wonder | bttv | Y | N | Y | ? | Discontinued | Unknown |
ATI TV-Wonder Pro | cx88xx | Y | N | ? | N | This is the Conexant based card | Lucidity |
ATI TV-Wonder VE | bttv | Y | N | Y | ? | Discontinued | Unknown |
AVerMedia M179 | IVTV stable | Y | Y | ? | ? | Unknown | |
AVerMedia DVB-T 771 | bttv I believe | Y | Y | ? | ? | WhyTey | |
ComPro VideoMate TV PVR/FM | v4l2 | No | No | ? | ? | MythTV 0.19, Works with KdeTV | Ola A |
Compro VideoMate TV Gold Plus | saa7134 | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Audio capture from PCI bus works, see wiki writeup for more info | Lynchmv 13:45, 2 June 2006 (UTC) |
DVICO Fusion DTVDVB-T | ? | Y | ? | ? | ? | DVB-T, more info, also note Patch for 2.6.12 kernel | Unknown |
DVICO FusionHDTV5 Gold | Kernel >= 2.6.17 | P | N | ? | ? | Tested with 2.6.17. Read more at link | Jason |
DVICO FusionHDTV5 RT Gold | Kernel >= 2.6.15 | Y | Y | ? | ? | DVB Driver from linux kernel 2.6.16, Works out of the box on Ubuntu 6.06 more info. The analog tuner is visible by the kernel on the V4L driver and it's recognized perfectly as an analog tuner in Myth 0.19 | Jylups |
FireWire capture | na | Y | na | ?? | ?? | Caption stream is avail when playing through cable box, but not through mythtv | Unknown |
Hauppauge DEC2000-T | ? | Partial | ? | ? | ? | DVB-T, USB external tuner | Unknown |
Hauppauge Nexus S | ? | Y | ? | ? | ? | DVB-S, STV02998 based Mpeg Encoder | Unknown |
Hauppauge PVR-500 | IVTV >= 0.4.0 | yes | yes | no | no | Dual TV tuners, single FM Radio tuner. | Unknown |
Hauppauge PVR-350 | IVTV stable | Y | Y | Not supported in MythTV | Y | Has TV-out and if the option to encode CC in MPEG datastream is enabled, PVR-350 TV output can also pass it back to the television CC decoder. Not recommended for new purchases, as mpeg decoding does not support advanced myth functions (like fast-forwarding) and future versions of myth will use OpenGL, which will not work on this card | Unknown |
Hauppauge PVR-250 | IVTV stable | Y | Y | Not supported in MythTV | Y | Unknown | |
Hauppauge PVR-150 | IVTV stable | Y | Y | N | N | Unknown | |
Hauppauge WinTV-Go | bttv | Y | N | Y | N | Unknown | |
Hauppauge WinTV 38061 Rev B226 | bttv | Y | N | ? | ? | Use btaudio for sound | Unknown |
Hauppauge Nova-T | bttv | Y<=0.18.1 N==0.19 | N | ? | ? | DVB-T, Digital Terrestrial | Unknown |
Hauppauge Nova-T | cx88-dvb | Y | N | Does CC in UK | DVB-T, Digital Terrestrial | User:Fishter | |
Hauppauge Nova-S | CX88-DVB Kernel >=2.6.15 | Y | N | ? | ? | DVB-S, Digital Satellite | Unknown |
Hauppage WinTV PVR (Roslyn) | kernel>=2.6.18 | ? | Y | ? | ? | Should be supported with MythTV 0.20 | Unknown |
Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-USB2 | kernel>=2.6.18 | ? | Y | ? | ? | Should be supported with MythTV 0.20 | Unknown |
K-World Xpert DTV - DVBT PCI | ? | Y | DVB-T, has aerial passthru | Unknown | |||
Leadtek LR6650/ DTV1000 - DVBT PCI | cx88-dvb Kernel >=2.6.12 | Y | DVB-T, has aerial passthru | Juski | |||
Matrox Rainbow Runner G-Series | mgavideo | Y | Y,mjpeg | N | N | Discontinued | Unknown |
pcHDTV HD-3000 | kernel >= 2.6.12, cx8800, cx88-dvb, cx22702, or51132 | yes | no | no | no | broadcast HDTV. | User:rtsai1111 |
Plextor ConvertX | wis-go7007-linux-0.9.7 | Y | Y | N | N | USB external device (MPEG4) | MythTV 0.18 |
Silicondust HDHomeRun | MythTV >= 0.20 | yes | no | no | no | ATSC Digital TV, Dual tuners, TCP/IP network | User:jafa |
Technisat AirStar HD-5000 | kernel >= 2.6.x, dvb B2C2, LGDT330x | yes | no | no | no | OTA and Clear QAM HDTV. | User:digitalboy |
Terratec Cinergy 400 | ? | Y | N | ? | ? | Unknown | |
Terratec Cinergy 600 | ? | Y | N | ? | ? | Unknown | |
Twinhan MiniTer DVT PCI | kernel >= 2.6.8 | N | N | ? | ? | DVB-T Australia. Provides MPEG2 stream from digital signal | User:Bill |
Removed from matrix because I could not find any info at vendor websites (please re-add if you have info about these!):
- Aver Desktop PVR
Detailed Information
Cards that work
ATSC (HDTV) cards
- pcHDTV HD-2000 (V4L w/pcHDTV patch -or- dvb driver) (Terrestrial only) (replaced by HD-3000)
- pcHDTV HD-3000 (V4L w/pcHDTV patch -or- dvb driver) (Terrestrial and clear QAM)
- Air2PC (dvb drivers) (Terrestrial and clear QAM) (replaced by Technisat AirStar HD-5000)
- Technisat AirStar HD-5000(dvb drivers) (Terrestrial and clear QAM)
- ATI HDTV Wonder (dvb drivers) (Terrestrial, clear QAM?)
- FusionHDTV 5 Gold or Lite (dvb & v4l cvs, mm kernels) (Terrestrial and clear QAM)
- FusionHDTV 5 RT Gold (dvb & v4l. kernels >=2.6.15) (Terrestrial and clear QAM)
- Silicondust HDHomeRun (MythTV >= 0.20) (Terrestrial ATSC and clear QAM)
Hardware Encoder cards
- iTVC15 family of MPEG encoders supported by the IVTV drivers
- Hauppauge PVR-500
- Hauppauge PVR-350 (TV-Out function works, but is not recommended, see details on this page)
- Hauppauge PVR-250
- Hauppauge PVR-150
- AVerMedia M179
- V4L2 MPEG encoder API card (Kernel 2.6.18 and later)
- Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-USB2 (MPEG2 encoder box with USB2.0)
- Cards based on the Conexant cx23416 MPEG with cx88 pci brigde (Conexant blackbird reference design)
- Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-Roslyn (P/N: 28552 on the TV Tuner).
- Matrox Marvel G200/G400 MJPEG encoders
Software Encoder cards
- BrookTree (bttv) based cards. NOTE: The bttv page includes kernel parameters and links to vendor specs.
- BT848
- Hauppauge WinTV-Go
- Aimslab Video Highway Xtreme (VHX)
- ATI TV-Wonder
- ATI TV-Wonder VE
- Hauppauge WinTV
- Leadtek WinFast
- Leadtek WinView 601
- Pinnacle PCTV Studio
- Pinnacle PCTV Studio Pro
- Lifeview Fly Video II (Bt848) LR26 / MAXI TV Video PCI2 LR26
- Lifeview Fly Video 98 LR50 / Chronos Video Shuttle II
- Lifeview Fly Video 98/ Lucky Star Image World ConferenceTV LR50
- Lifeview Fly Video 98/ MAXI TV Video PCI2 LR50
- Lifeview Fly Video 98FM LR50 / Typhoon TView TV/FM Tuner
- Lifeview Fly Video 2000 /Fly Video A2/ Lifetec LT 9415 TV [LR90]
- Prolink PV-BT878P+4E / Lenco MXTV-9578 CP
- Prolink Pixel View PlayTV pro / Pixel View PlayTV PAK
- AVerMedia TVCapture 98
- STB TV PCI FM, Gateway P/N 6000704 (bt878)
- 3Dfx VoodooTV 100, Gateway P/N 6000699 (btt878)
- Sigma TVII-FM
- Zoltrix Genie TV/FM / TV-Max (people reported having Audio Issues with card)
- Sabrent TVTuner (bt878)
- BT878 (Takes an MPEG2 HDTV(?) stream)
- ATSC - pcHDTV / HD-2000
- BT848
- Philips SAA7134-based cards
- Terratec Cinergy 400
- Terratec Cinergy 600
- Compro VideoMate TV Gold Plus
DVB cards
- Avermedia DVB-T (Bt8xx)
- DVICO FusionHDTV DVB-T (More Info)
- DNTV Live! DVB-T Pro (More Info)
- Hauppauge WinTV-Nova-T PCI Cards
- Hauppauge Nova-T (Digital Terrestrial)
- Hauppauge Nova-S (Digital Satellite)
- Hauppauge Nova-SE2 (Digital Sattelite)
- Hauppauge Nexus-S (STV02998 based) Mpeg Encoder
- Leadtek LR6650 DVB-T and other cards based on the Conexant 'reference' DVB-T design.
- Nebula Electronics DigiTV PCI Rev 1 (Bt878, Nxt6000) Rev 2 (Bt878, Zarlink MT352) (Digital Terrestrial)
- Pinnacle PCTV DVB-S (Bt878)
- Technisat Sky Star 2 PCI
- Twinhan MiniTer DVT PCI
USB Capture Cards
- Hauppauge DEC2000-T
- Hauppauge WinTV-NOVA-T-USB-2
- Pinnacle PCTV USB2 (pal Europe version)
- Plextor_PX-TV402U
Cards that don't work
- ATI All-in-Wonder cards
The ATI drivers provide a kernel module for basic V4L support which allows for capturing video from the device as it is playing. They do not, however, provide the tuner functions necessary for MythTV to select channels. Instead, they implement their channel tuning using the Xv extensions of X-Windows. A solution might be to patch the MythTV source code to recognize the ATI hardware and use Xv frequency changing to change the channel rather than solely relying on the V4L tuning functions. Then it would depend on whether the V4L support for capture is adequate enough in the ATI drivers for MythTV to work. It also might be possible to use an externally called Xv channel changing utility to change the channels.
The ATI All-in-Wonder card cannot (it is said elsewhere on the internet) send video across the PCI bus. It can only show video on the VGA output on the card. It is on this basis that neither the card nor drivers are appropriate for use with mythtv.
- PVR-350 all functions work, but TV-Out isn't well suited for Myth, since it isn't accelerated and the MPEG decoder isn't well supported any longer.