Forum Archive Home -> DVB / HDTV -> Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick, my experience
Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick, my experience | ||||||
| vhelp posted 2007 Jul 14 22:04 | ||||||
| Evening everyone :lol:
After a busy late afternoon browsing and shopping around, I came home with two new toys. One of them was a Saitek Eclipse (w/ blue back-lit keys) keyboard. The keys had awsome tac-tile feel to them, and I was imediately sold on it. (I needed a new keyboard cause this one has several bad keys) But, it didn't work on either of my pc's. I was pretty pissed. An hour or so, fiddling around, cause my keyboard was locked or something. Anyway, its going back to the store. Well, enough of that. Lets get into my new toy, below. Ok. Looking for an alternative to my hdtv Viewing and Recording rather than an PCI version ( hauppague hvr-1600 ) I think I found what I am looking for, hence the decision to purchse this new device, below. Now on to my new toy. The Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick (PCTV 800e) I picked this up at Best Buy, on sale for $79 dollars -- regular price, $129.99 dollars.  
I can't say much about this little gizmo because it is not yet installed on my XP Home computer. Its still installing, thanks to my not installing Service Pack 2. Anyway, as I write this, it's still installing my Service Pack (SP2) driver.. 15 minutes into the process, just to get the darn Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick installed -- RatZ. I'm thinking that it will go smoothly & better than my hauppague hvr-1600 counterpart. I can't wait.. I'll report back my (hopefully) happy results :jumpy: --> www.pinnaclesys.com --> http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Home/ --> Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick -vhelp 4348 | ||||||
| vhelp posted 2007 Jul 14 22:32 | ||||||
| ** This space, intentionally left blank..
-vhelp 4349 | ||||||
| vhelp posted 2007 Jul 15 00:26 | ||||||
| Below, are my first-stage reviews of my experiences. I am quite happy with this new
device, so far. Briefly.. Ok. From where I'm sitting, and at this point in my short time exploring this new toy, all I can say, is, awsome! Really. I just love it. It even sports an A/V Connector kit, for SD capturing from CableTV; Laserdisc; VCR; dv-cam; etc -- that will be tested later on, also. This thing started working right out of the box -- after driver/software installation. No kidding! Picture quality, IMHO, seems to be even better than the hauppague hvr-1600 card. When I look at the picture inside VirtualDub-MPEG2, the detail seems to look, cleaner. I'll have to do further analysis of this area before I can make a positive and final report. Looks like the Hauppuge may be doing something else to their version of its captured MPEG-2_TS -> PS MPEG-2 file. More on this, below. The scaning for tv channels OTA ATSC/NTSC setup. This is the area that concirned me most of all. I thought that it would take as long as the wintv2000 software did, but it was much quicker.. about 10 minutes was all that it needed. As it tunes to each channel, it displays them on screen for you to see what it pulled in. Scanning for Channels (NTSC)-- Wow. In terms of reception pull, this thing is strong. It not only pulled in my usual analog stations, but even added a few that I never seen, before. Even without an antenna. I'm stumped. And the picture quality (w/out antenna) is pretty amazing, fwiw. Scanning for Channels OTA (ATSC)-- Same as above, good reception pickup. Pinnacle TVCenter Pro. What can I say. I was not expecting much from this, if anything, I thought it would not even work. I was wrong. This tv program is nice. It just works.. straight and clean. Only one glitch. Most channels seem to be upside-down in the window. I think that it is a Graphics card driver issue or something. I have to find out what is causing it, and report back. It does seem to require .NET to work. Well, I did see it during the install of all the drivers and software. (I did not know it or some aspect of the device require .NET) And, as some of you may know, I appaul .NET, but under the cercumstances, I'll forgo it for the time being. So far, it is not causing me any trouble. So, for now, if it ain't broke -- don't fix it !! [ _ ] -- Fault #1: upside-down video during TVCenter Pro operation. The MPEG-2 video/audio source So far, in this devices version, the mpeg's are much cleaner and less pixelation, too. Again, as I mentioned, above, further analysis need to be done. But so far, everything seems to look great. Video-- The mpeg's are produced by the Pinnacle TVCenter Pro software. I have not delved into this area much. So there are some things I still have to learn about. But the captured mpeg's are completly player-glitch-free !! They will play in anything. Audio-- Because the audio is AC3 (I have not tested other formats.. ie, 5.1 etc) when used inside VirtualDub-MPEG2, there is no sound. But this is not a problem for us video enthusiasts. A quick test for OTA ASTC reception and recording proved to be HD. When I tuned to my channel, ABC, the source was easily reported as 1280 x 720p, AC3 audio, and 15MBits bitrate, etc. The TVCEnter Pro software seems to only record as MPG. But I'll have to investigate this area further, to be sure. Never the less, the mpeg's are in great shape and quality. All captured/recorded OTA ATSC are finalized to .MPG format. They seem to be in their original form and not re-encoded by the software. But this still needs to be varified. [ _ ] -- Fault #2: determine how the MPEG's are being created and what format. [ _ ] -- Fault #3: determine if other formats can be recorded.. ie, avi; dv; divx; etc. Picture Quality Aspects What can I say. The picture seems to be better than the Hauppauge's, when played inside the TVCenter Pro software vs. Hauppague's wintv2000 software. But further analysis will have to be done to determine the vilidity/truth of this statement. The above statements are based on the use of TVCenter Pro software only. [ _ ] -- Fault #4: determine if the picture quality is better than Hauppauge's. A/V feature connector kit I have not tested this out, yet. It comes with a dongle for Composite (RCA) and S-Video, and Audio connectors. I am planning on capture tests with this area. I hope to be able to capture in RAW avi formats, and with high hope for drop-free capture ability across USB-2 ports. (for those that aren't aware.. USB-2 have a slightely better performance when its ports are use from the rear side of the pc. It is the front side one's that are slightly slower) [ _ ] -- Fault #5: determine success rate for analog (RAW) capturing performances. Other issues/faults/pros etc. The only issue (or, fault) that I can see with the Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick is that when in use (capturing/recording video) it does tend to heat up a bit. Not a lot. But in the summer hot months, the unit is obviously going to exhibit some heat. I pressume that the fall/winter months will prove, warm only. I mean, its not like a user is going to be recording all day long. So I doubt that this will be a problem in the interm. So far, there doesn't seem to be any issues in operations while the hauppague hvr-1600 is still connected, etc. Everything seems to be working as it should, as far as I know. Also. To be consistant in layout, I labeld #5 as a fault, though it is not. [ X ] -- Fault #6: determine potential hazards/problems of units heat build-up. Closing notes for this first-stage review For a tiny little device, this usb-2 HDTV Tuner proved beyond this authors expectations. I am stunned by some of its features.. A/V connectos; fast channel scanning; strong antenna reception capability; and more. I love it. Easy USB connect and go. What could anyone ask more of for. -vhelp 4350 | ||||||
| edDV posted 2007 Jul 15 01:18 | ||||||
| How far are you from the various TV station towers?
www.antennaweb.org will tell you. Does this one have QAM tuning for cable? | ||||||
| FulciLives posted 2007 Jul 15 01:46 | ||||||
| I got the Hauppauge WinTV HVR 1600 (model 74021 LF Rev C182) and I had nothing but problems with it. If I had paid for it ... I would be pissed off.
So I will be watching (er, reading) what vhelp has to say about this Pinnacle product with keen eyes. My Pioneer stand alone DVD recorder doesn't want to burn these days so I need an alternative for the moment as I don't have the bucks now for a new HDD equipped stand alone DVD recorder plus HDTV recordings sound SO nice :) - John "FulciLives" Coleman | ||||||
| vhelp posted 2007 Jul 15 01:48 | ||||||
Sorry edDV, as far as I know, it doesn't seem to support it. But, I haven't really looked. I only found thouse links I posted, but didn't delve into them for QAM support. fwiw, I do hope that this is supported, for fulks who could use it. In case you don't remember, I'm pretty far away from the antenna (for OTA ASTC) reception. But, from what I can tell, here, everything seems to be working fine. The signal strength for instance, on ABC indicate 95% when prev (Hauppauge) states 75% give or take. I'll have to re-test this out when I find the time. Right now, I could care less, cause the thing is just making me so happy :lol: that I can't get any shut-eye.. runing 2:46am here in New York. Just found out that this thing can capture RAW avi (YUV->YUY2) without any frame drops and low cpu ~30% or less. And I have a IDE 160-gig HDD which is split into 3 partitions, and actually capturing on the root (XP operating system) with success.. s-video was used. I'm so happy. I think I found my new toy for both OTA ATSC and RAW avi capturing, hehe. [ X ] -- MV: So far, this unit seems to ignore MV (macrovision) tapes. I have to test more tapes. Doing that now.. -vhelp 4351 | ||||||
| yoda313 posted 2007 Jul 15 09:05 | ||||||
So this mpg recording. This retains the full hd spec than? Including the 5.1 if present? If so that would save me some editing steps. Might have to look into this unit for future consideration. Currently my fusion card records in .tp (or .ts can't remember off hand). Then I have to use project x to strip to m2v and ac3 and then begin the downconversion. Not a huge step but considering that takes a lot of extra space and conversion time that might make it more worthwhile. On a side note - I'd love it if software could automatically downconvert the hd res to dvd res while recording and retain the 5.1 for easy authoring. I guess that is what the new atsc dvd recorders do - they cap in 720x480 but keep the 5.1 if present and downstep it to sd. Thanks for the report vhelp :) | ||||||
| vhelp posted 2007 Jul 15 10:14 | ||||||
| Hi all.
@ yoda313, as far as I can tell, the raw'est of source from OTA ASTC is when its in its MPEG-2_TS format. That is its 'RAWest' format. Don't worry about the multiple program contents inside these. I would think that it is better to obtain this feed vs. the other's converted-to *new* mpeg-2 source. But the only problem I see with this is (assuming that the source is issue-free) the process one has to go through to decode/demux it to strip out the actual program content. Personally, as long as I know that the maker's of the given device produces a good working decoder/demuxer emplementation, I would rather *they* do it than I, cause this would save me time and I could do more. Also, I can't verify the 'retaining' bit completely. I can only get ABC, which is normally spec'ed at (1280 x 720p 15MBits AC3 audio) and so far, all the sources have been pointing to AC3 2/ch audio, but I have seen in VideoReDo where 5.1 was indicated. All the content look similar in spec to the Hauppauge's. But the video does seem to look a bit better. So I don't know.. for sure. Its still too early into this new cards testing. Everything is all too exciting. I've had some good pluses so far. I'm trying to be as accurate as possible. Last night was very taxing for me, being up till 3:30am or so.
I may have spoken out of context there. I ment that the source (after its been demuxed) retains the actual program content without being re-encoded to a similar format. I can only go by what I see in VideoReDo, DGIndex, and VirtualDub-MPEG2 's info/detail report. I missed the 95% of ABC's movie last night with the PCTV HD pro stick, though I did catch bits and pieces of it with the Hauppauge's. But, then it crashed seriously, and I haven't been able to get it (wintv2000) back. Yanking the hvr-1600 card out and back in, did nothing. I don't know what's going on with it. But now, all of the sudden, WatchHDTV seems to (sometimes) pick up ABC (it never did this with any of the major networks, not that I could ever get them all.. ie, ABC; and assuming NBC; FOX; etc) This was another reason why I wanted something more external, like a USB device. No need to ever get under the hood. And with the hvr-1600 and my cpu case, the i/o cards never seem to fit in snug-tight. Instead, they become loose as soon as you begin screwing it in. Have a closer look when you screw in your Fusion card. This causes damage to the mothboard and/or you i/o card. Right up to this point, I never screwed it (hvr-1600) in. But yesterday, I decided to screw it in, anyway. You could see one end of the i/o card sicking out.. just a tiny bit. I guess that the card in. It works sometimes, and others, it doesn't. I was careful with my winfast card, and didn't screw it in. This is a new cpu and case. Everything is flush. Its just these cards are getting more dumber and cheaper, now-a-days. If I can get the hvr-1600 working again, I want to try capturing the OTA ASTC sources, samutainiously with the PCTV HD pro stick, so that I can compare the two. I wanted to do this last night. But, you see what caused that *not* to happen, above. This morning, the signal stength is at 87% now. I guess that last night, the weather was clear'er during its first stage tests :lol: Still, I'm stumped that I am getting OTA ASTC *and* analog antenna signals and all through this one connection on the PCTV HD pro stick. I've never been able to do this with anything else. So its interesting.
I wouldn't mind such a feature, too. You could prob find something cmd-line wise, to do this .. like in a batch setup. Maybe you could ask Soopafresh if he knows any good cmd-line methods to get this done. I don't know of any cause I don't have cards that output .TS sources.
You're welcome, everyone :) -vhelp 4352 | ||||||
| jagabo posted 2007 Jul 15 12:28 | ||||||
| vhelp, thanks from me too! | ||||||
| lacywest posted 2007 Jul 15 12:55 | ||||||
| Good Reading ... I bought the Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick ... about 2 months ago.
I tried it out connected to my UHF TV antenna that I have mounted on a 15 foot pole attached to my chimney ... does work very nicely. But I only used my Dell 5150 Laptop. I am wondering how well it will work with my desktop computers ... I do have a antenna feed going into my computer room. My zip code is 93230 | ||||||
| edDV posted 2007 Jul 15 13:28 | ||||||
| Usually these cards demux a TP out of the TS stream on the fly or convert to a VOB mux (Hauppauge) or simple MPeg2. | ||||||
| TBoneit posted 2007 Jul 15 13:54 | ||||||
| The links supplied don't show QAM support so IMHO that is a pretty good indicator it sin't supported. Oh well up until then it looked interesting. | ||||||
| jagabo posted 2007 Jul 15 17:55 | ||||||
| The Hauppauge HVR-1600 originally didn't have QAM support but later drivers added it (although I believe only some 1600's have the right chips). Their web site now advertises it as a feature. | ||||||
| edDV posted 2007 Jul 15 18:32 | ||||||
Only the latest models (product code 74021) support QAM tuning. The models with RCA audio connectors don't. 
http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/products/data_hvr1600.html | ||||||
| neoplasticity posted 2007 Aug 07 07:10 | ||||||
| vhelp,
can you tell me how good video capture throught the composite video and audio in was? any sync problems? thanks! neo | ||||||
| edDV posted 2007 Aug 07 11:07 | ||||||
| I haven't extensively tested external analog capture with this card. I've been using it in an automated tuner capture mode. I usually use my Canopus ADVC-100 for analog capture.
I too would like to know if the HVR-1600 analog capture matches a PVR-250. I currently don't have one to compare. | ||||||
| vhelp posted 2007 Aug 12 16:40 | ||||||
| Last time: Aug 02, 2007 Thu 00:34am
Evening everyone :wave: I've been kept pretty busy in a couple of programming projects, and I have not received some of the e-mail notification of forum discussions. @ neoplasticity Are you addressing your question on the Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick ?? ..or the Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1600 pci card ?? -vhelp 4375 | ||||||
| ameribass posted 2007 Aug 17 21:17 | ||||||
| hey guys!
i just bought the hd pro stick today, and i was disappointed to find out that the remote control functionality isnt compatible with the windows media center application. i was wondering if anyone here has any idea on how to make a work-around as to making the remote control able to interact with windows media center, or if anyone knows of any websites or links that may already have a solution to my problem. other than that, it works phenomenally! any help appreciated, thanks! | ||||||
| TBoneit posted 2007 Aug 18 09:14 | ||||||
| You need a MCE remote AFAIK. A MCE remote will have a green button that when pressed starts the Media Center. I have MCE 2005 and until I got a MCE remote I couldn't even get media center to set up for TV. My solution was take back the non MCE and get a device from the same company that was marked for MCE. I also saved a few dollars as it was on sale.
Easiest way I know and I'll probably be corrected on this is use a wireless mouse for MCE and use the Pinnacle software for TV. | ||||||
| Soopafresh posted 2007 Aug 18 10:38 | ||||||
| On a side note - I'd love it if software could automatically downconvert the hd res to dvd res while recording and retain the 5.1 for easy authoring.
I wouldn't mind such a feature, too. You could prob find something cmd-line wise, to do this .. like in a batch setup. Maybe you could ask Soopafresh if he knows any good cmd-line methods to get this done. I don't know of any cause I don't have cards that output .TS sources. Yes, it could be done, but you'd have to tell your capturing software to save the .TS files in 1-2 GB segments. Then, copy the files as they are created to a different physical drive to avoid interrupting your capture as you re-encode. The re-encode process should probably be set to run at low priority. So yeah, you can have a bit of a head start on your downsizing, but I wouldn't do it without a dual core CPU and an additional physical hard drive. | ||||||
| ameribass posted 2007 Aug 18 12:26 | ||||||
| thanks for the reply TBoneit. i was going to resort to exactly what you said about the wireless mouse; i was just hoping that maybe someone created a driver of some sort that would enable the remote to work with MCE. oh well, thanks anyways! | ||||||
| edDV posted 2007 Aug 18 12:50 | ||||||
MCE mice are different. Supported models are listed on the MS MCE developer site. You make the MCE decision when you buy the tuner. The MCE tuner models come with an MCE mouse and often infrared cable box controllers but usually lack standalone software so you are stuck with MCE. | ||||||
| TBoneit posted 2007 Aug 18 15:37 | ||||||
| And I'm sure that Microsoft gets some sort of royalty on the MCE remotes. | ||||||
| neoplasticity posted 2007 Aug 22 09:40 | ||||||
| vhelp,
asking about the pctv hd usb thanks | ||||||
| mmmelaney posted 2007 Oct 01 01:33 | ||||||
Vhelp: Do you mean to say this tuner has Video-In capabilities? I have had mine for 8 months, but Pinnacle's documentation is pretty spotty so I am unclear. Could I hook a VCR into the tuner through S-video and record a tape to my hard drive? Would it require software like Scenalyzer? I didn't see anything about this in Pinnacle's software. I don't have any other capture card either. | ||||||
| mmmelaney posted 2007 Oct 01 02:14 | ||||||
| My Review of the Pinnacle 800e:
This thing is great for the price. The TV center software sucks because it crashes often, and the EPG interface is remedial, so I use it with Xp Media Center instead. I also use ATI's Remote Wonder (Pinnacle's remote is a joke.) It comes with an antenna, and the reception for DTV is pretty good (if you're in a busy US area.) The analogue reception sucks though. I haven't tried it with cable or outside antenna. You can hook anything into this card through the coax connector with excellent results. However, I tried splitting the antenna signal out to a TV so I could watch another show while recording; the signal became too weak. :( The picture is fantastic on my laptop. It is a little jumpy in MCE, but with Pinnacle's MCE add-on, and reducing my background processes it improves. I have had great results compressing recorded dvr-ms tv shows with Crunchie. I cut commercials with DVRMSToolbox, but it's background processing can make new recordings jumpy too. The only thing that's missing is an AM/FM receiver, but for the $40 at Best Buy (they matched an Internet deal I found) this is a heck of a deal. Move over Tivo!! My only other gripe is that a lot of media software and epg programs are still not compatible with it. I would really like to see Pinnacle work with Titan TV for remote recording and such. | ||||||
| vhelp posted 2007 Oct 01 20:51 | ||||||
| Evening guys.
Sorry I haven't responded around here's. I've been off the <><> grid <><> for a while. Anyway. Hi mmmelaney, Yes. I agree with you.., the pctv is a great (usb) hd tuner. Anything to get away from the PCI aspects for this type of source medium, and leave it for better use with analog pci capture devices. I use the Pinnacle Studio AV/DV card for that on my XP home computer. As to your question..
Yes. On the model I have it supports non-hd capture options. It comes with an A/V Adaptor cable. If you look at the picture at the top of this page, if your model didn't look like that, then you may have a pre-dated model that did not have this option. I could be wrong. On your model, it could have ben an "accessory" option, where you purchase a separte A/V Adaptor cable. I don't know. I'm guessing at this point. But, look at the picture above, and where you see that little orange circle -- its showing the cable option, as included with that model. (look on the side of your pctv pro stick, and see if there is a usb notch. If there is, then your model only needs to have a cable purchased from Pinnacle, otherwise, you are out of luck, or you can find one (best buy) with that feature. Mine was on sale for $79 buck -- instant rebate or something, from the $129 bucks) (also, I use mine with the Pinnacle capture (recording) sofware. It works flawless on my system. Plus, there is no (freeware) software that will convert dvr-ms files to mpeg (PS) format. Most of apps either require that damn .NET or Trialware or limited, not to mention bulky in size. I would prefer something (tiny) that I could run via DOS console command line or something) Yes, I also agree. The HD quality is very good on this unit and with my XP Home computer, there is absolutely no issues. Not like my previous Hauppauge experience, the [s:48c32fb6c7]hvr-1600[/s:48c32fb6c7], a pci hd tuner card w/ on-board hardware mpeg-2 chip. The quality of that was not good enough for normal use. I had to hack it to get it to capture at 30 mbits to get acceptable quality. But my analog cabletv is noisy and also has the "harrington bar" or "strobing" or whatever its called. And there's nothing I can do to get rid of it. Most of that noise was the cards fault, as it induce most of it. So, the Pinnacle Studio AV/DV doesn't have this [s:48c32fb6c7]hvr-1600[/s:48c32fb6c7] inducing nonsense. But, it has its own faults, but not so serious, as the cabletv I am under has its share of problems, too, and which is part of the problems. And then there was the hd 's (program stream) mpeg-2 file the wintv2000 software would create. It was problematic. I had to hack that too. Actually, I developeded a small tool that transcoded the mpeg-2 header part which when run through this tool, would ultimately allow my wintv2000 recorded mpeg's to open in most tools. The wintv2000 (to some extent) was buggy at writing the captured hd mpegs, but mainly because it intailed its own decoding (of hd streams) methods and re-writing new (parsed) mpegs. However, the tool was never publicly released. No one really uses the wintv2000 software anyway. Anyway. But, I love the pctv's hd quality. The picture looks great on my XP Home computer. So much, that I'm left feeling it looks better than the [s:48c32fb6c7]hvr-1600[/s:48c32fb6c7]'s picture. -vhelp 4401 | ||||||
| TBoneit posted 2007 Oct 02 09:56 | ||||||
| Hmmm...
convert dvr-ms files to mpeg? I never looked for free. I do have .net loaded and I had already paid for TMPGEnc products that can take the file format from windows MCE Edition. So I can open a capture from the capture device made via MCE, Open TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 trim if needed and author as standard DVD or .divx, done. Maybe the fact that I don't automatic look for free is why I'll never be rich? I prefer Ease of use and saving time. BTW what's your reason for disliking .net? Cheers | ||||||
| mmmelaney posted 2007 Oct 02 10:28 | ||||||
I just chatted live with Pinnacle tech support. They said yes indeed, it does accept capture through RCA and S-video. I am also hoping I can use the regular Coax connection but will test this. She seemed to think I only needed the version of Studio 10 that came with the CD? But the knowledgebase said something about registering and paying for it. Were you able to use the Studio software without paying extra? I will also try Virtual Dub and let you all know. I am so excited! I can't believe I get a capture card, HD TV, and Tivo-like capabilities on my laptop for $40! Plus I can just hook my laptop to any TV through S-video and have HD TV big screen. This thing rocks! :D | ||||||
| mmmelaney posted 2007 Oct 02 10:48 | ||||||
Yes! Use Crunchie and DVRMS Toolbox. They are free. My videos turn out perfect. Support and download: http://www.xpmediacentre.com.au/community/crunchie/2937-arksofts- ... 1-1-a.html | ||||||
| rdbrindle posted 2007 Oct 02 22:11 | ||||||
| Hey Guys-
I reading all of your comments about the Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick... They all seem preety positive, but I can't get my device to work correctley. I bought the stick at Fry's and installed it on my computer (Win XP SP2, INTEL 3 GHZ HT, 1 GB ram). I was very impressed with the ASTC signals... I have not seen anything better. My problem, I think, is with the software. I have tried all of the patches- upgraded from 4.7 to 4.9 with no luck. While I am watching the digital channels, the program will occasionally hang- 2 to 3 times in an hour - the screen goes blank and the program doesn't respond- I have to kill the process through the task manager and processes section. I don't think it has anything to do with reception or my machine. I have even reduced my displays color pallet from 32 bit to 16 bits to see if that could be the problem (I had an old Happuage TV card that did better in 16 bit color). I have re-installed the old software and re-installed the driver. I have researched alternate TV programs and have come up empty handed. I would like some help... digital channels are the only channels worth watching here... I just want this thing to work. Do you guys have any suggestions? Things for me to try? I have a few days to solve the problem before I should return it. I don't want to give up because of the favorable hardware reviews. Any help would be greatly apprieciated. BRGDS/ Russ | ||||||
| GreyDeath posted 2007 Oct 02 23:50 | ||||||
| I bought one of these a while back, but returned mine after having a bunch of problems with it. USB2 is required which I didn't have on my encode machine, so I tried it out on my laptop and on my gaming rig, all had problems with the capture or viewing software.
Sometimes the Audio would be out of sync with the Video on some clips. Sometimes I'd capture an hour's worth of The Tube only to find out it only captured 5 minutes, though it seemed to be recording the whole hour. My solution for capturing HD content was to buy a Samsung DTB-H260F set top box, and just run it through my ADVC-100. Since I don't have an HDTV (but widescreen--it's 10 years old!) and still convert them to DVD, S-video is fine enough for me. It's great watching 16:9 content and not have to zoom in, losing picture resolution. I'm glad ppl are having a better time with the Pro Stick than I did. It is a neat little device, but I think the software has much to be desired. | ||||||
| Tchail posted 2007 Oct 04 13:08 | ||||||
| I have been using the PCTV 100e, but found the lure of having access to digital channels too great, so I picked up the HD Pro Stick (which is the 800e model).
After having used Studio 9 Quickstart and the PCTV software for the last two years, I thought I was pretty comfortable with Pinnacle's products. So Friday night, I installed the PCTV software, and Studio 10 Quickstart. After the channel scan, I was about to pick up about 15 analog channels and 29 digital channels. I have to admit, even using rabbit ears, the quality of the digital channels is pretty good. I even managed to record this week's Star Trek Remastered off of one of the local digital channels (though it recorded in 16x9). My trouble began when I tried to use Studio 10 Quickstart to capture an old video tape off of my VCR. When I started Studio 10, I received the error to the effect that I either had an invalid license key or no license at all, and that I should reinstall. After three attempts at uninstalling and reinstalling the software, I finally decided to contact Pinnacle tech support. They pointed me to a web page to deal with this problem. Apparently, I'm not the only person who has had this error, because Pinnacle makes available a little programe to edit the Windows Registry to remove Pinnacle products. Two attempts later (the first time I didn't read the directions all the way through), I finally get Studio 10 working. But to do this I had to uninstall PCTV. So I reinstall PCTV, only to discover that I cannot receive digital channels. And PCTV had worked fine the night before! My solution was to completely uninstall both PCTV and Studio 10 using the method provided by tech support. Then I first installed PCTV, then Studio 10, and finally the Studio 10 patch. Now I've got PCTV receiving digital channels, and Studio 10 working. Great. Except now when I connect my VCR, I get an error message that there is no valid video signal detected. Arrrrgggghh! I checked tech support again, but the only references to this kind of error pertained to either the 500 or 700 series, neither of which applies to my situation. End the end I gave up and plugged in my old 100e and captured the video that way. It worked with Studio 10 and captured fine. But I ended up blowing half a day on this. Am I alone in my experience with this product? -Tchail | ||||||
| vhelp posted 2007 Oct 04 19:32 | ||||||
| Tchail,
I too have had trouble with running Studio 10 (the one that came with my pctv stick. I quickly just gave up on it, but only because I knew that it also came with it's other capture (PVR) software, Pinnacle TVCenter Pro. I use that to do my capturing of Analog (vcr/cabletv/laserdisc, etc.) and HD ditigal OTA sources. In addition to HD capturing, the TVCenter Pro also includes the features for capturing through Composite/RCA and S-Video sources. I've used it during my initial testing of this product. But, although my system is capable of capturing analog sources using RAW yuv or Huffy codec, I have since setteled better, with my Pinnacle Studio AV/DV pci card. My projects normally go like this: HD: --> capture using the pctv hd stick using the TVCenter Pro software Analog anything: --> capture with my Pinnacle Studio AV/DV card w/ VirtualDub -vhelp 4403 | ||||||
| yoda313 posted 2007 Dec 31 14:26 | ||||||
| anyone have problems capturing analog cable through the pctv hd stick? I just bought one for 70.00 at best buy for my vista pc today. I was hoping to use it as a tivo replacement with my new 500gb harddrive. So far it doesn't read my analoge cable stations. It scans them it just won't display them.
I have it split with a four way splitter to three sources - my high def dvr, my tv, and now the usb adapter. Is there something I'm missing? I'm currently 7th in line for the online chat with support so hopefully I can find out that way. If this doesn't work maybe I'll return it for the ati usb capture card - by the way I have no free pci slots - a firewire card and a sata card filled up my four slots (well three really since I have a pcie nvidia card in it). EDIT - I got it working :) It turns out the software it came with wasn't that red hot. I actually got it working with windows media center. It even got the program guide listing working properly. I think I will like this. My next step is either to get a bonified windows media center remote or I think I will finally work on getting my xbox set up as an extender. I will use a lan cable to get a constant stable connection at 100 instead of using wifi. | ||||||
| starwarrior29 posted 2007 Dec 31 16:45 | ||||||
| yoda, what software did you use for it to work with media center? I am so tempted to get one of these especially with the sale this week at Best Buy but have stayed away because a lot of reviews were saying it doesn't work with media center, the only HD channels that I would be using it for would be the 4 major networks clear qam channels. | ||||||
| yoda313 posted 2007 Dec 31 19:47 | ||||||
| Actually I haven't rigged it for hd through media center yet. It does basic analog just fine - I'm not using a box by the way just the straight cable.
And no software was needed. I had installed the included software for the stick but I couldn't get it to read the analog channels. All I did was boot up media center which comes with vista home premium. I went into to tv setup and went through the wizard and worked like a charm. | ||||||
| edDV posted 2008 Jan 01 10:04 | ||||||
I'm also watching it for MCE and future clear QAM support from a Vista laptop. So far MCE does not support QAM and the Pinnacle HD stick Utimate only says QAM is provisioned in hardware but not yet in software. I'm waiting to see if any of this can be documented to work before I spring for a card. I don't trust Pinnacle promises. I want to see proof of standalone QAM and MCE QAM support. Other USB2 ASTC/QAM cards are coming in the next few months as Feb 2009 approaches. When sombody shows a card that actually works, I'm ready to buy. | ||||||
| TBoneit posted 2008 Jan 02 09:41 | ||||||
Lucky you! I run MCE 2005 XP and the wizard wouldn't let me complete the TV setup the first time I tried it without a MCE remote. | ||||||
| vhelp posted 2008 Jan 31 22:39 | ||||||
| Hi all :lol:
I just wanted to make a short update on my PCTV HD Pro Stick experience. I hadn't used my PCTV Pro for nearly a year. I had other things in-between my pc and various capture cards (hardware, usb, firewire, and analog) and was mostly settled on my Pinnacle Studio AV/DV (of which I am still using) but because our great tv series, "LOST" was comming on today (and yesterday) I needed to re-setup my HD hardware. Well, as it turns out, good old USB came to the rescue. All I did was re-plug in my PCTV HD Pro into the USB port and it was that simple. No need to reconfigure anything or software/driver, etc. It just worked like right out of the box and I was able to record my favorite series, "LOST". The brief details will follow shortly, below. Today, (after "LOST" finishes) I decided to give re-SCANNING of the channels another go, for the NBC station. Well in short, I am getting it too. If you read on (way above, you'll see that I did make a special note about some weard phenomina about receiving some stations during a certain period or time of the year -- last mid February. Well, it seems that I can get these channels in January too. I wish I had tried in December, but I was too lazy then. The (1920x1080i) capture/recording details.. I am *VERY* happy to report that I finally managed to test it out on 1920x1080i sources, and it was a smashing success. The picture quality and the picture/sound all previewed (played) inside the PCTV HD Pro's (Pinnacle) software flawlessly. No hickup in the audio (like in my Hauppauge 1600 experience) and recording was as simple as recording my usualy (ABC-7) 720p source. Playing back the 1080i (note, for some reason, DGIndex is reporting it as 1088i) is without a hitch -- perfect. I don't know.. I just love this little stick. It just works..!! Hmmm... other than that, I don't know what else to report. I'm so happy :lol: -vhelp 4509 | ||||||
| dphirschler posted 2008 Feb 22 08:36 | ||||||
| It's on woot this morning for $39.00
Darryl | ||||||
| jagabo posted 2008 Feb 22 10:45 | ||||||
| How well is the QAM enabled beta software working now? | ||||||
| edDV posted 2008 Feb 22 11:32 | ||||||
Note that is the older PCTV HD Pro Stick (ATSC/NTSC only), not the "Ultimate" that has promised digital QAM support. | ||||||
| vhelp posted 2009 Jan 13 22:11 | ||||||
| [UPDATE]
Hi all :wave: I've been busy this last week testing Pinnacle's latest TVCenter v5.4 software. So far, I like. The response time has improved--the tv pops up much quicker than it did in the prev CD version. Note, the PCTV Pro HD Stick I have is the model 800e. See below for file Download. I am still testing this new software out, so I haven't found all the PROS/CONS out just yet, but heres a snifflet of what I found so far, and I'm pleased with this upgrade: Some things I noticed (from personal experience) in this upgrade version: 1. has signal stregnth meters for Quality and Reception 2. quicker response time: tv opens up faster 3. improved channel scanning, though I'm still debating this 4. in addition to PS (program stream) it now includes TS (transport streams) though I think its still PS 5. a change in EPG feature, incluces a free'er tv guide version, though I haven't trided it 6. has some DVXA support, though I haven't looked into that area 7. clearQAM support, according to their website, even the pctv pro hd stick. CONS: 1. I did notice that they now incorporate some kind of fail-safe < 2% HDD space nonsense. 2. if signal is too low (and glitche out) while recording, it can stop recording, though still debating this Please note, the info provided below related the the pctv pro's "tvcenter" software. excerpt from Pinnacles website
TVCenter Pro v5.4.0.3032 -vhelp 4995 | ||||||
| vhelp posted 2009 Jan 13 22:12 | ||||||
| Regarding the clearQAM feature..
I would love to test this out on my model 800e, but because I am still receiving analog cabltv, I don't believe it will bring them in unless I call my provider and ask for "digital" setup. That would require them to come in and make a few switches at the junction box. And, since I'm receiving *free* analog cabletv, I don't want to risk loosing that--least not till Feb/2009 or later. I am testing to see whether my tv goes out or not or falls under the 2012 final deadline. If it still airs analog, at some point I may request the digital "basic" package. They did just sent me yesterday, an $19/mo deal for the year, plus StarZ/Encore movie channel free. So, I dont' know just yet. Regarding TV Reception.. I found a few *new* digital channels were added in my aprox area: There's a 30.3, and a 810.4 WVIT-DT 30.1 (WNBC, jay leno, etc etc) @ 1920x1080i < 20 MBit/s NBC WX+ 30.2 (weather) ?? US 30.3 (Universal Sports) @ 704x480 < 3MBit/s . 810.4 -- news/weather 12 (westchester,ny area) . WEDW-1 49.1 -- PBS @ 1920x1080i < 20 MBit/s All these and a host of other not-so-worthy-to-watch channels I already have. Anyway. In order for me to get the {WEDW} and {810.4} I have to turn off my main computer. I don't know what it is about the computer, but as soon as I turn it on, then both channels go blank on me. Turn off the main computer, and it comes back on. All these weard and unexplanable phenominas for poor reception -- I give up. -vhelp 4996 | ||||||
| SandGunner posted 2009 Oct 14 15:42 | ||||||
I also have the 800e but the 5.4 software doesn't work at all for me. Not only that but the built in infrared receiver hasn't worked since version 4 of the software yet all other HD tuner software will work with the 800e just fine, sans the remote of course. The TVCENTERPRO software complains "can't change channel" it always displays a black box were the video should be and the remote never works and the "test" option from the icon shows solid green on both lights always. NOTE: TVCenterPro does tune available channels but the software can never display those channels. Using other software such as WatchHDTV and Snapstream and the channels display just fine. OS Windows XP professional Service pack 3, CPU Core-2 DUO 3.1 Ghz, 2GB ram, 4 TB HD space, USB 2.0 confirmed SandGunner | ||||||
| vhelp posted 2009 Oct 14 19:36 | ||||||
| honestly, I'm not sure what your issue(s) are with your pctv stick. Mine was from the first editions I guess, and I've'never had a problem with (or none serious enough) that I can recall to mention. It just worked, and worked better than my hauppage hvr-1600 at the time..different computer i/o's ago now.
But in all honesty, I couldn't test it even if I wanted to, ever since analog shut down over here and everything switched to OTA this past June, I have not been able to get the hard-to-reach channels I was able to back then before the switch. Ironically, I was expecting the swtich to actually raise wattage so that those other weaker channels I was having problems with would finally come in clear-er when the switch occured--that didn't happen however. Seems the broadcasters didn't realize how expansive the wattage would turn out to be or something and they (must have) lower thiers since, cause I can't get anything I used to where I'm at now..sorry. I'm waiting for this to change, but here it is now, October and still blank screen :o oh well. I think I am the only person in the whole world that actually got screwed! So, it seems that this may have happend to a lot of people (and including some of the members on this forum) and explains why no discussion about (successful and/or improved) OTA brodcasts since the switch. At least I haven't seen any members from New York posting success, not a smiggen. Back when I did get OTA broadcasts, on the pctv pro stick, the latest 5xxx suite worked without problems. However, the only issue I can recall about it (that I didn't like about it) was that the feature to "save channels" was not the same, it would sometimes delete the previous channel lineup so no chance of restoring when you would rescan. I used this as a cheat-sheet when I wanted to keep those hard-to-reach channels, the ones that would only come in at certain (calendar) seasons, and when reception conditions would change, I would re-load (or, restore) those old channels, but 5xxx messed that up. Maybe consider a replacement, either of it or a new brand/model/make alltogether. Good luck. -vhelp 5221 |
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