multiple tv cards

[fredw]

ok i really need some help on this one i'm building a new system for my home theater i have a mother board with 5 pci slots , which means i can have 5 video inputs. the way i've done it in the past is to use different video cards for each one. however i've just read that the folks over at beyond tv have built monster dvrs using 5 or more of the same tv card (hauppauge) now using mpc or dscaler its better to use cheeapo tv cards with no mpeg hardware on them. that way you get no lag on gaming units. so is it possible to use the same tv card in all 5 slots. will i be able to access them seperatlly ??? cause i can get a genric tv card for under 15 bucks .

thanks for the help
fredw

[BaddaBing]

I'm not sure you read that right, looking at the hardware requirements for Beyond TV it states:

Using a TV tuner card with Hardware encoding (recommended) (1) : Pentium, Celeron or AMD Athlon at 700 Mhz and above.

It goes on to state that using tuner cards without hardware acceleration requires a bigger, faster processor and that when using three or more tuner cards that multiple hard drives in a RAID configuration are needed to prevent data loss. Yes, you can buy cheap tuner cards but to build a multi-tuner PC based DVR that WORKS is not cheap when you take the rest of the requirements into account. Sorry, but here is no such thing as a free lunch...

[Marbles_00]

now using mpc or dscaler its better to use cheeapo tv cards with no mpeg hardware on them. that way you get no lag on gaming units.

I can't really answer your question, but this statement caught my attention. First, what do you mean by "no lag on gaming units"? Secondly, wouldn't hardware encoding cards always be better, especially if your using multiples as this eleveates the work that the CPU has to do? If you have 5 software encoding cards...each one trying to record to MPEG2 compression standards...I'm assuming that would take up some CPU processing power (not that with today's CPU's as powerful as they are, that would be a huge hit factor). I was also under the assumption that hardware encoding cards just compressed the video better leaving less artifacts and the sort.

Buddabing...you said what I'm saying more quickly...must be using multiple hardware cards

And actually looking at this site:
http://snapstream.helpserve.com/index.p ... cleid=1269
It looks like they are saying that you should only use hardware encoded cards and that cards without hardware encoding are not supported.

[fredw]

ok sorry i should have preread my post ..yes they used cards with built in encorders for the dvr ..i'm not building a dvr i just need to hook up multiple sources to my system ..kids hit button labled wii and card one starts up with what ever setiing that i have for that card.. kids hit ps2 button and card two opens with what ever settings. so back to my question will i be able to access each card on its own ???

fredw


p.s. marbles using a tv card that does not process the signal it self reduces or eliminates lag for playing game units via a computer

p.s.s if you can't tell i'm trying to elminate my switcher and have computer with touch screen doing the work

[Marbles_00]

Thanks fred, I didn't know that. Now I'm seeing where your going, I must say it is a very interesting concept. Though I'm still not sure how to answer your question, you've sparked my DIY interest in this.

[fredw]

oh great marbles now your wife can be mad at me too lol i do this now using a cheapo leadtekxp 2000 pro card. plus using mpc you can use all the inputs on the card seperatly i:e svhs wii, composite ps2 and tuner in directtv. i need 3 cards right now each using svhs in for the 3 units for a good picture later on when i finally get draged kicking and screaming into the hidef world i'll end up buying some sweetspot cards but at 180 bucks us thats gonna wait a bit.

fred

[BaddaBing]

This might meet your needs if video quality is not that big a deal as it only handles composite:

http://www.fgeng.com/video-multiplexer.htm

or if you want s-video you can use this remote switcher fedding one video input that can be controlled by xlobby via USB-IR

http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?level=SK&id=942290&cm_mmc=Froogle-_-Shopping%20Comp-_-Datafeed-_-Technology

or if neither of those two do it for you check here - verything from composite to high def switching that can be controlled by IR or RS-232

http://www.startech.com/category/audio-video/switches/list.aspx

[fredw]

thanks badabing i've already got a high end switcher does everything including optical and coax spdif, i'm really tring to eliminate a piece of equipment by using the computer as the switcher. i can get 4 different video cards all around 25 bucks or less, i was just wondering bassed off the fact that beyondtv built their monster dvrs using the same hauppauge card in all five slots , if i can get away with that using the 15 dollar card i found (it has svhs inputs so pic quality will be fine) i'm trying to make this a little easy for wife and kids ...did i mention WIFE. getting phone calls at work asking what did she just do wrong she has no picture gets a little old, using one thing to do all the works makes it easy for me to tell her to just reboot the damn system

thanks
fred

[Marbles_00]

getting phone calls at work asking what did she just do wrong

I feel your pain

[fredw]

ok has nothing to do wit post but years ago my mom called me up and asked what was worng with her vcr, i said i don't know hold the phone a little closer to it so i can tell.......wait for it .........SHE DID !!!!!!! took her a minute to figure it out still feeling the bruises from when she finally got her hands on me..

fred

[jji666]

TV tuner cards, especially real-time encoding cards, introduce enough video lag that I am not sure that playing a video game is all that palatable. Also, multiple cards can sometimes conflict - either an IRQ conflict or sometimes the software displays the wrong hardware tuner when multiple ones are installed.

[fredw]

umm ok not really sure if you,ve read my previous posts, but i am already doing this using 3 different cards , and yes as i stated above you can not use cards that have built in encoders as they will produce noticable lag to games. as far as the conflicts are you refering to using the same type of cards or different cards ?? i've never had any conflicts using the 3 different cards but i am concerned that there might be some if they are the same. i am now thinking about getting 3 (or more) of the pixel magic cards since they are known to play nice with dscaler. just not sure if i wanna shell out 180 bucks a piece. i might try asking over at beyondtv if they had any trouble using the multiple hauppauge cards .

thanks
fred