Tim in Australia:
You asked, in another thread:
I'd be interested to know what you use for that (software and hardware). I've yet to find anything that isn't painful, or actually works.
The current hardware:
Lenovo IdeaCenter K450. 12 GB RAM, Intel Core i5, clock speed > 3 GHz. Has three clock-speed settings and a "hardware switch" to set them. I run it in Turbo mode, described as suitable for gaming.
Hauppauge Computer Works' HD-PVR2, the Gaming Edition. Set for a Sony Playstation. Accepts component video from a set-top box. (They can't encrypt component video, but they can and do encrypt HDMI.)
Hauppauge Video Capture application and service. The service listens to a physical button on the capture box. Push the button, and the capture will begin at once.
The product: a video using the H.264 video and MP4 audio codecs. Sampling rate: set at 14 Kbps and constant. Uses the Transfer Stream (.ts) container.
I then use Nero's Platinum (version 14) software for authoring of DVD and Blu-Ray disks. To produce the latter, I replaced the existing optical drive with a Blu-Ray burner from LG. (I forget the model number just now. It's rated at 14-spin.)
Hauppauge Computer Works is the clear winner for video capture devices. And they are the only company that builds a capture device for American high-definition television (1920 x 1080, interlaced).
Level of satisfaction: fair. Every now and again, a captured video will not transcode. It will hang at a certain scene--always the same scene if I try to abort and restart, so nothing will serve except to capture it all over again. (Which is why I always capture a DVR recording, or at least have a DVR running to back me up in case the live capture fails.) I have found that nothing less than two hours of total down time (physical power-off shutdown) will suffice to cool down the processor before I can make another capture. (If I try to "just be patient" and let the authoring tool complete the transcode, it will transcode all right--but the optical disk it produces will be unplayable--a "coaster.") And even then--well, just now I am waiting to try for the third time to capture a recording. And I have enough coasters to set a table for an IT banquet.
Now anyone here can jump in to tell me whether the MythTV project has anything going with the Hauppauge HD-PVR2. And how soon Linux will be able to "just play" a Blu-Ray disk, either commercial or one of my home-burn jobs.
Temlakos