# HD Tuner Card



## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

Finally bit the bullet and picked up an HD tuner card for my PC. 

Went with the Hauppauge HVR-1850,....
I'm still playing with it, the Software is, um, fair and for the most part the picture is good. Does have a flicker/line right down the middle on the horizontal. Not always but too often. Tuner on the other hand, contrary to many others' experience, works very well. Clear QAM, Cable, OTA, no problems. 

Still undecided on if it was worth it??? Hoping for some drive and other software updates,... though I hear Hauppauge is rather slow on this front. Think I need some more time with it before I make up my mind.


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Try using the MS Mediacenter software and you'll likely have a better experience. Spring for something like snapstream if you really want to get into DVR-ing.


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## dradius (Sep 10, 2008)

I've thought about getting one myself. Would be nice to watch some HD TV on the projector. Eugovector, do you think installing Media Center OS really makes the picture look better? I would do it if that is the case, but to me it isn't worth the hassle if it is just a prettier interface.


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Mostly a prettier/more usable interface, but in terms of picture quality, you should be getting any lines/flickers with a clean digital signal. That I have to chalk up to a software problem along the line, and since Hauppauge usually has pretty solid drivers, I have to think it's their included software.


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

Yeah, that's what I keep reading about. Unfortunately I do not have Media Center, still running XP home. I also think it is the WinTV 7 software that is the problem. Another oddity I have discovered is about 80% of the time I start Win TV 7 it does not work, no picture or sound. Close it out and it starts 100% of the time on the second go 'round. :dontknow:


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

Couple screen shots to show what I'm seeing. Re-sizing to upload kinda mess with them, but I'm sure you can see the issue. Bit tough to capture a screen ficker


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Oh yeah, that's not right at all. I'm a little out of my depth here, but it looks like a video overlay issue. Does it do that all the time, or is it an intermittent issue?


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## the_diyr (Sep 16, 2009)

When i had my projector I had the haup HD card as well in a computer and used a program called Win TV and also some ATI and Cyberlink software as well.. Also you can stream tv with the VLC media Player.. I had the same flicker happen and it turned out to be a signal issue .. I ended up nuying a really good graphics card and it stoped most of the problem.. What typ of graphics card are you using?? Also I learned to buy seperates and not the ATI all in one stuff.. Well I got to go pay attention to my wife .. I would say more but I forgot to say good morning to her so she is balling... It's gonna be a long day


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

What do you mean by signal issue? I've never seen a digital signal distort in that way and a graphics card wouldn't help if it did.


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

I am still running some rather old stuff (in computer age  ) The video card is an ATI X800XL, should be plenty capable.

Signal issues??? Hmmm there is a thought. I do have the signal split a number of times. I'll look at that and see if it makes a difference.


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

Nope,... worth a try, but I didn't think so. 
Any other ideas? onder:


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Snapstream has a free trial. Give that a shot. If it solves the problem, at least you know it's software, not hardware.


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

Well,... it seems to be a software problem. 

Had high hopes for Media Portal, spent most of the afternoon configuring but in the end was very disappointed. Not ready for prime time. Does not even have a simple way to just change channels.

So, I figured I'd give Sage TV free trial a go,... not bad, easy set-up and fairly decent. This one is not ready for prime time either especially considering the price tag. This is the only tuner software I have tried that the program/schedule actually worked.

On the bright side, my HD Tuner works just fine. The flicker is gone on both Media Portal and Sage TV. Wonder how long it will take Hauppauge to fix this. 

I really hate to pay for a third party software to make my hardware work properly. Anyone know of any free software that works better than the Win TV 7 ?


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

It's not free, but seriously, check out snapstream.


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

Ok,.. gave Snapstream a shot,... it seems worse than all the others. Cannot figure out how to get it to recognize Digital/HD programming. Analog seems to work ok,... help.


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Okay, it's been a few years since I've used it, but my dad is currently using it. I'll ask him, but in the meantime, try re-running the setup wizard. It should ask you quite clearly if you'd like to use digital or analog.


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## drbrousters (Aug 24, 2009)

If you have not already downloaded it, try the new Win-TV Version 7 found here:
http://hauppauge.com/site/support/support_wintv7.html

Here's another thought:
Buy an upgrade for Vista Home Premium and use Media Center. Amazon has an "old version" for less than $70 and some of their other stores have it for less. You'd just need to do the downloads to get it "current." 
Microsoft is offering a free upgrade (well, a $9.99 upgrade) for Windows 7 if Vista Home Premium is purchased "between June 26, 2009 and January 31, 2010." See the offer here:
https://om2.one.microsoft.com/opa/V...-ac70-438f-9304-4bd05de66415&LocaleCode=en-us

Just in case you were wondering -
“What Operating Systems are supported by the WinTV-HVR-1800?
•	Processor requirements: 2.2 GHz P4 or equivalent (minimum) required for displaying ATSC high definition TV. on your PC screen 
•	Microsoft® Windows® XP Home, Pro or Media Center Edition. Also Windows Vista Premium certified* 
•	Windows 7, both 32-bit and 64-bit version” 

Anyway, that's my plan (for my Hauppauge 2250).

Doug


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

Hi Doug,

I have been using WinTV 7, even the latest release v.1.2a has the same issue.
Had Vista on one machine,.. no thanks. We'll have to wait and see what Windows 7 has to offer.

Quick specs on this rig;
DFI LANParty UT NF4 SLI-DR
AMD Opteron 170 OC'd to 3.0 GHz
OCZ Gold 1024 MB
ATI X800XL
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR1850
Windows XP Home SP3


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## drbrousters (Aug 24, 2009)

Re: Vista

NOT Vista; Windows 7 for $10 (if you purchase Vista Home Premium in the next week), then use Media Center. 

I'm in virtually the same situation you are. I need to be able to use Media Center and have XP Pro on my HTPC. I bought a copy of Vista Home Premium and intend to upgrade. (I'm sure you know, you can't upgrade from any XP version to Windows 7.)

By the way, I have Ultimate on my home computer and HATE IT:hissyfit:...but my son-in-law has Vista Home Premium on his laptop, networks it with his XP HTPC and it works flawlessly...but...he is using Snapstream and an analog tuner.

Again, from what I've read, the Media Center in Vista or Win7 appears to be the best approach...or you can use SageTV and avoid an operating system change...at least for now. The price would be about the same...and it isn't cheap:spend: but beats the problems you're experiencing.


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