Theater 550 or 650?

[WoodsieLord]

Hello!
I'm still looking for a better capture card than my current 9600XT VIVO interface. I'm looking forward into upgrading my computer sooner or later.
A few months ago I was decided to go for a PowerColor 550Pro TV card, but I didn't buy it because I couldn't find it in PAL-N version.

But now, a newer version came out, I mean the 650 pro chip. So I would like to ask:
If my sources are PAL-N TV and NTSC VHS, totally ANALOG (HDTV does not even exist in Argentina)... and in a 75% I will be targeting Anime-like material. Right now, I'm using the VIVO feature, virtualVCR + virtualdub/mod + avisynth to filter and encode my captures.
Do you recommend me a 550 or 650 based TV/Capture card?

At last but not least:
The TV tunner cards I normaly see over here (including my old PCTV pro pci card) have analog TV tunners. If I'm not wrong, every theater550 card I found (bba, pwc, sapphire,...) had a smaller digital TV tunner...
I wanted to know, what the hell means "digital". Besides it works with analog sources, I would like to know if this means that any digital tuner will work with PAL-N+NTSC+SECAM like if it were managed by software. Do I need to look for a PAL-N version to take advantage of the digital tuner?

Thanks a lot for your answers,
WoodsieLord.

[Romario]

Theater Pro 650 is, of course, better choice. But, I am not sure about availability of that card in Argentina.

You probably know that VirtualDub don't work with Ati Theater 550 and 650 TV Tuners, but Chris TV Pro 4.99 does.

www.chris-tv.com

[kai0n7]

Theater Pro 650 is, of course, better choice. But, I am not sure about availability of that card in Argentina.

You probably know that VirtualDub don't work with Ati Theater 550 and 650 TV Tuners, but Chris TV Pro 4.99 does.

www.chris-tv.com

Actually, the Theater Pro 550/650 cards *DO* work in Virtualdub as regular capture cards... it simply bypasses the mpeg2 encoding step alogether, so you can capture losslessly. The 3DY/C and noise reduction will work as well, if connected to the card via composite cable.

[WoodsieLord]

Thanks a lot for your answers! anyways I still want to know if I should be looking for a PAL-N version and how does a digital tuner work...

Again, thanks for your answers and keep them coming!
WoodsieLord.

[kai0n7]

Thanks a lot for your answers! anyways I still want to know if I should be looking for a PAL-N version and how does a digital tuner work...

Again, thanks for your answers and keep them coming!
WoodsieLord.

I've never had to do it, but I know for sure that the 550 is a dual standard card... I would imagine that the 650 wouldn't be any different in that regard.