On Sat, 12 Jul 2003 00:45:51 -0500 Paul Onley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I am just getting started with Freevo. I like the look and feel of the
> program but I need to replace my aging ATI AIW card as neither Freevo
> nor linux like it. I am looking at the Matrox G400 Tuner/Capture/TV
> Out card based on what I have seen written in this forum. Is this the
> wisest choice? Does the tuner on this card work with Freevo? How much
> difficulty will I have setting up the TV Out? Having just seen linux
> and Freevo shoot down my old All In Wonder card I guess I might be
> just a little gun shy.
The G400 with capture and tv - the Marvel G400 - is going to be more
trouble than you're looking for.
It's capture interface is a Zoran mjpeg codec, which made a lot of
sense before computers had enough spare cycles to compress raw frames on
the fly. Today, that mjpeg codec is actually going to add cycles to the
process of compressing live video - it doesn't compress anywhere near as
well as mpeg4 codecs, so you'd be capturing jpeg only to decompress it
and convert it to divx or something else.
Also, freevo does not have native support for the overlay-mode
tv-watching capabilities on the Marvel cards - which are excellent.
In short, the G400 Marvel will give you the same sort of trouble your
AIW gives you. Get a G400 dual-head card, build or buy the tv-out cable,
and get a bt878 based tv tuner card as well. You'll use two slots, but
you'll be a lot happier. I highly recommend the STB and 3DFX pci tv
tuner cards that are seemingly always available on ebay for about $20.
- Eric
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