ive recently acquired the above card & all i want to be able to do is record tv programs onto dvd.
i am new to this so dont have much of an idea what im doing.
currently im using the winfast software to capture the tv to the pc & then burn to dvd. when ive done this using the DVD setings format, the result is the picture quality is not too great
i also used the burn direct to dvd option which worked much better but i got some audio sync issues.
can someone please tell me what settings such as profile, format etc i should use to capture with & whether its ok for me to use nero to burn the end result
When you capture TV, the source is interlaced, and doing a direct encode to dvd, results in very poor video. Deinterlace during capture if you can, or deinterlace during encoding if you capture to AVI.
When capturing, use a resolution of at LEAST 640x480 (not dvd spec) and preferrably in the aspect of your dvd region. 720x480 NTSC. (I forget what PAL is at the mo).
i would prefer to capture to HD first & then copy to dvd but i found the capture a bit grainy & also a tiny bit jagged. thats why i tried the direct to dvd which worked better???
im also just using the winfast software rather than any other capture programs as i dont know what to use?
You can capture to HD at the same quality as directly to DVD. It's all a matter of software selection, and the settings you use during EVERY step.
If you capture to mpeg-2, you need software that won't drop frames. You should also capture to a separate hard drive, not the same one your operating system is on, and not just a separate partition.
If you need to edit the captures, then AVI would probably be better, if you have the room to capture uncompressed, or choose a compression codec wisely.
Then learn how to frameserve from VirtualDub directly to a good encoder to make the mpeg-2 for authoring to dvd.
If you don't need any editing at all, capture to DVD spec NTSC or PAL, depending where you live, at the correct aspect ratio/size and framerate. Author directly to DVD.
If the software you're using is losing quality, try something else.
There's over 50 more capture programs to choose from here. Also look at VirtualDub for AVI capture, it's free, and has a ton of filters, including deinterlace.
Author in Rejig for a simple autoplay dvd.
Author in DVDLab if you want menu's, chapters, etc.
Burn with whatever burning program you want. There's even a few free ones, Fireburner, etc.
