Hauppauge/PowerCinema 5.1 bundles

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RebelCommando

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#21458 27-Apr-2008 20:47

Hi, I have seen some postings mentioning bundles of PowerCinema with Hauppauge DVB-T cards.

I am looking to buy a dual tuner card such as the NOVA T 500, or the 2200 (PCI-E), and have searched for bundles online using pricespy without luck.

I am interested in trying PowerCinema now that it supports New Zealand.

If you have purchased a dual tuner Hauppage card with PowerCinema can you post where to find it - thanks.

dolsen

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#126644 27-Apr-2008 21:18

I got the nova t 500 from here

http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components/componentview.asp?partid=6218

It included powercinema 5.1 with it...
Very quick service, with free shipping.

sbiddle

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#126645 27-Apr-2008 21:28

Just be aware that this isn't the perfect solution.

My Nova 500 came with PowerCinema and while the new version handles our AAC audio now it doesn't seem to offer any hardware acceleration which is virtually essential to get a decent picture.

sbiddle

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#126646 27-Apr-2008 21:28

RebelCommando

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#126656 27-Apr-2008 22:36

The lack of hardware acceleration is pretty disappointing (I have a nVidia 8600GT).

Do you know if you get acceleration if you buy the full version of PowerCinema rather than a bundled version? And if it lacks h/w acceleration does it at least take advantage of a dual core (Core 2 Duo 3Ghz)?

Or do you have purchase the PowerDVD Ultra to get acceleration?

I am currently using Media Portal, but have found it to be somewhat unstable, and am currently using the ‘free’ Cyberlink H.264 AVC Decoder (Azurewave) but am finding it to be choppy at times.

Thanks for the help!

DS248

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#126671 28-Apr-2008 00:14

Nova 500 + 8600GT + Core 2 Duo 3Ghz should adequate to provide a good picture with PowerCinema, at least in Vista. (Note, AFAIK the HVR-2200 does not include PowerCinema).

I have an HVR-4000 + 8600GTS + 3Hz quad core + Vista64. Though it doesn't fully use HW acceleration, it typically uses only ~17% CPU ave for TV1 and ~22% for TV3 (very rarely fluctuates above 38%). Given that, I would expect a Core 2 Duo to handle the decoding without being over-stretched.

I did make some minor changes to the TVSettings.ini - in particular added "enable_dxva2_vista = True" to the [TV] block), which seemed to reduce the CPU usage ~3 - 5%, but it clearly is still not fully using the graphics card. PQ of both live & recorded TV (DVB-T) is excellent.

waynezy

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#131012 14-May-2008 22:02

HI Promax computers have the Hauppauge WinTV-NovaT 500HD PCI Dual Tuner TV Receiver with powercinema.. Freeview supported..