Leadtek TV2000 XP Expert on Vista64/ PVR2 captures 480/240 instead of 576/288 lines

[Poutnik]

Hi,

I recently moved my 3-4 years old TV card to new PC with Vista64. I am capturing Analog PAL TV by Winfast PVR2 TV application.

If I capture by PVR2 built-in MPEG2 codec, I get full 720*576 PAL(DVD ready) resolution.

But if I capture by any external codec ( 32bit as PVR2 ), the TV play instantly switch down vertical resolution ( resize, not crop ) and record has only 480 NTSC like lines. This occurs to all codecs I tried ( huffyuv, arithyuv, lagarith or x264vfw (lossless mode ))

The same occurs for PAL half, 288 goes to 240....
My old CPU Celeron 600 ( W98SE and W2KSP4 / PVR / 192 MB / TNT2 ) was able to capture 720 * 576 ( even not usable ).

I had an idea if there is any bottleneck because of low performance of integrated graphics and its data flow. But 384*288 should be for it a piece of cake.

GMA3100 has HW support of MPEG2, what could be a point for well behaving of MPEG2. But I thing ( can be wrong ) it matters for playback only.

Could it get well when having money to buy a graphic card ?
What about infamous Vista DRM ? :-)
( Maybe Vista and x64 is enough :) )

Edit: Note capture config dialog offers both NTSC and PAL common resolutions and I always choose 7xx*576.
PVR2 config shows correctly PAL as TV standard.

[Revgen]

Try Dscaler.

It's compatible with your card (it's a CX8xxx chipset).

Go here. http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=7420

Try downloading the 4.1.17 Test version which has updated support for Vista and 64-bit OS's.

[Poutnik]

There is CX23881 one in Expert model. Did not you mean 878 that is in other Leadtek cards like Deluxe ?
I know many 3rd party tv apps are compatible with 878.

"DSCsaler - An application that does scaling/deinterlacing/inverse telecine using a high powered PC and a bt8x8 TV capture card. Essentially, this software converts a PC into a good-quality line doubler/scaler/upconverter machine!"

In fact I was trying severel apps in the past, when all went OK with PVR. Some supported only 878, some were unable to tune channels or it would take ages to realize how to tune (VirtualVCR ? ).
Other problem in tuning is I have chanels with both PAL D and PAL B audio norms....

Thank you for replay.

[Revgen]

Dscaler is great because it doesn't use the drivers that come with your cards. It supports all connectix and BT8x8 chipsets by connecting to the hardware directly without the drivers. It should support every type of TV format there is.

[Poutnik]

OK, I will try DScaler.

Surprisingly, I was successful just now in Vdub/Lagarith ( and Veedub64/Lagarith64) capture. I have always thought Vdub is able to work with vfw drivers only. But, at least with capture, it can use dshow wdm filters as well. And capture has 720*576.
( both 1.8.0 exp versions )
Unfortunately, all seems to be done by very manual way.

The general problem with non winfast capturing is
automated channel and PAL norm switching a
nd record scheduling to substiture original Windast functionality.

Is DScaler able to do that ?

[Poutnik]

Hm, DScale install warnings sounds like "think twice before running me".

I for safety reason chose the option to use existing dshow wdm filters.
( VDub used them and it worked for 720*576)

[Revgen]

You can schedule with Dscaler using this program.

http://tomyeah.com/files/DScalerScheduler-final.rar

Extract the contents into the Dscaler directory. You have to type in the times into the .txt file.

[Poutnik]

I noticed Dscaler has own scheduler, but for some reason I cannot set channel to record.
And preview is very experimental, it failed, announced troubles, made DCaler crazy and Vista decided to restart...

[Poutnik]

Hmm, nice, i have no video in winfast anymore.....audio only and pureblack screen in all channels.
Dscaler works...

Well, I noticed since beginning ( before crash)
DSCaler works with Leadtek Expert (PAL), i.e. probably his own drivers,
even if I set him not to used them and use existing ones.

When switch DScaler input source from it to Expert WDM DShow video capture,
it has audio without video too.

So,DScaler probably twisted drivers....
Uninstalling DScaler helps and video in PVR2 works again.
Maybe I triggered mentioned possible difficulties in running other TV app after DScaler,
and just restart would be enough...

[Poutnik]

Interesting: I followed sudden idea and try to capture as admin.
I have created new capture profile with lagarith 768*576 and PCM audio - each account has own capturing profiles.
Now the capture has intended 768*576 resolution....

Very strange....