NVIDIA DualTV MCE - only one coax required

[AndyS]

Looks like they released a new version of the drivers (1.31) on 5/1. Has anyone tried these to see if they fix the dual-tuner problem?

Gerry - any joy on the MCE test? I'm hopeful this card will work with Win2k3 Server so your results will be of great interest to me.

Andy.

[AndyS]

I also found this interesting article that talks in a little more depth about the card.

Enjoy!

Andy.

[SHS]

I'm pettey sure it not new released nor a new version becuases the drivers ver seem to match what gplasky sent me sometime ago.

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by AndyS

Looks like they released a new version of the drivers (1.31) on 5/1. Has anyone tried these to see if they fix the dual-tuner problem?

Gerry - any joy on the MCE test? I'm hopeful this card will work with Win2k3 Server so your results will be of great interest to me.

Andy.

Those are the drivers that come on the CD. They just updated the website. But I'm hoping since they did that more drivers are on the way. I have NOT been able to get to the MCE test. Work keeps getting in the way. I will post as soon as I have more info.

Gerry

[AndyS]

If you look in their knowledge-base there is a question "Can I use this card if I dont' have MCE?":

=====================================================
The NVIDIA DualTV MCE TV Tuner card is designed and tested to be used under Windows MCE 2005 where MCE is the PVR application.

Don't have MCE?

The following software application providers have added support of NVIDIA DualTV to their applications. Please check with them for details of their support.

Yahoo! (Yahoo! Go for TV)

SnapStream (Snapstream BeyondTV)

ORB Networks (ORB Media)

Recommended Minimum System Requirements:

1.6 GHz Pentium 4, Celeron, or equivalent Athlon/Sempron CPU (2.4 GHz recommended for all CPUs)
256 MB of system memory (512 MB highly recommended)
Available PCI slot
Graphics with 64MB DDR, DXVA (motion-compensation), and Microsoft Direct X 9.0 support (128MB DDR recommended)
20 GB free space on an Ultra DMA (ATA/66) hard disk (40GB or more recommended)
DirectSound compatible sound card or integrated audio
CD-ROM drive (DVD-ROM or DVD recorder drive recommended)
Microsoft DirectX 9.0 or later
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) 2005 or later with the latest service pack
=====================================================

So although they don't say that they support XP Pro (probably due to MS limitations regarding validation of the product with MCE) if you read between the lines they say it should work. This is a good thing because it suggests to me that the drivers should work the same for XP Pro and MCE.

Andy.

[gplasky]

And everyone of those listed definitely work with ONE card installed in the system whether it is XP or MCE. The issue is installing TWO cards in the same system. Device Manager sees them fine and there are no IRQ conflicts or sharing. Currently I have on had time to work with Sage and the second tuner actually shows another set of video YUV sources and none of the sources from the second card works in Sage. Sage has the debug logs and will look at it but it may turn out to be a driver issue. So running on XP is not an issue for these cards. I was going to test 2 cards on MCE because that is what it is designed for and MCE will support 2 analog tuners. Just haven't had the time.

Gerry

[AndyS]

Originally Posted by gplasky

So running on XP is not an issue for these cards. I was going to test 2 cards on MCE because that is what it is designed for and MCE will support 2 analog tuners. Just haven't had the time.

Gerry

Understood. My point was that the behaviour will probably be the same under MCE, but I'm as eager as you are to see the result of your tests.

I also wouldn't be surprised if nVidia bring out a new driver soon that allows for two cards under XP. There are not many threads talking about this card and I suspect that they are monitoring what we are saying here.

Andy.

[idvsego]

has anyone tried using a second dual view card as a networked encoder in a client PC?

[AndyS]

I just found the following slide on the nVidia support forum. Notice that it talks about a non-MCE version. It's odd that they price it higher though...



Andy.

[mike1961]

I just got the NVidia card working but I'm just wondering where I can adjust the encoder settings (ie: brightness, contrast, etc).

Thanks,
Mike

[SHS]

XP Home and XP Pro with out MCE build in to XP Pro there is very little diff in two and MCE is just add applications.
AndyS what NVIDIA is ref to with WinXP Ver in that screenshot is retail base applications when I talk the Media PR pearson at NVIDIA a long time ago.

[AndyS]

Originally Posted by 95TBird

I also tried putting my 150 back in but was greeted by the nasty stuttering every time we changed channels using that tuner, So I purchased 2 Wintv-PVR-USB2 tuners & they are performing great with the Nvidia DualTV. So we are finally back up to 4 tuners!!!

Has anyone tried running PVR250-16s with this card? I'd love to know if they are able to co-exist peacefully.

Andy.

[gplasky]

Here's the official response from nVidia:

Hello Gerald,
Thank you for contacting us. The current versions of MCE do not support more than one DualTV tuner or any tuner card, and our driver is not designed to work with multiple instances of the board in one system. So for this reason, it wouldn't work with your SageTV program. Please feel free to check our web site periodically for driver updates.

Best regards,
NVIDIA Customer Care

Well this confirms it is definitely a driver issue. Now I don't have to load MCE because 2 cards won't work in ANY application. I do have this option in my email:

If this issue is not resolved to your satisfaction, please click on the link below.

Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.

And I'll be letting them know how disappointed the population at large is.

Gerry

[AndyS]

Gerry,

Can you publish the link here? I'd like to also voice my dissatisfaction.

Andy.

[idvsego]

I think we would all like to know how you contacted them to get that response. If we all submit our complaints, maybe it will help move the process along.

[gplasky]

OK folks-here's the deal.

If you have the DualTV card and you install the drivers and/or decoder using the install program on the CD you are also asked to register the card. I did. That gives you an official support site that you log in with user name and password. So you can't use that link.

I would suggest using their generic support site and see if there is an email address you can use there.

I sent them a response to their resonse and I'm going to see what their response is to the response I responded with and post back here.

Gerry

[idvsego]

Cool, thanks. My cards are on the way, so I will be able to use the official link.

[bhyman1]

Does anyone have this card working in the same box as a Fusion 5 Lite?

[Peanut-Butter]

bhyman1, I just installed my Nvidia DualTv card with my Fusion5 Gold. So far everything is working great.

The DualTv is giving me a much better picture than my old PVR-250 did! (Connected by svideo from Samsung TS-360 DirecTV box)

[idvsego]

Originally Posted by bhyman1

Does anyone have this card working in the same box as a Fusion 5 Lite?

hopefully tommorrow I will. My server should end up being 1 fusion 5 lite, 2 PVR 150s, and one dual view.