I need a new tv card

[DoPeFiSh]

Hello all, I currently am using two old internal Hauppauge 250 cards, they have been great cards but I'd like to do an upgrade, mostly so I can actually read text on the screen of recorded shows what I would like to get is one card for both of my STB's probably PCI-E, my two STB's have coax, s-video and RCA outputs on them, can anyone suggest a good card with a higher resolution than the 250 cards and I don't have any HD channels.

Thank you

[Fuzzy]

The 250 card you have can already capture all the pixels that box might be putting out on s-video. You'd need an HD box and channels if you wanted better quality. Depending on your provider, you might go with a digital tuner card, which may be able to tune in the channels directly, instead of using a STB, or perhaps a cablecard tuner, if the cable provider encrypts the channels you want.

[trk2]

Fuzzy's correct that switching to a modern card won't improve the resolution. Your limiting factor is the quality of the source, not the quality of the capture. You would probably see a small improvement if you changed to a modern capture device, an HD-PVR for example, because it would capture using a more modern codec but I think you would probably still be unsatisfied.

Have you tried maxing out the recording quality (bitrate etc...) of the 250? Did that help at all? I used to own one of those cards and I seem to remember creating a custom recording setting for it in Sage.

[Fuzzy]

I think his problem (regarding reading text on the screen) is that content producers do not produce with SD displays in mind anymore, so text is usually much smaller than it used to be. HD is the expected norm now.

[DoPeFiSh]

but when I plug the STB directly into the TV it's crystal clear, maybe the issue is the video card? I have the following card installed.

https://www.cnet.com/products/ati-ra...-128-mb/specs/

Thank you

[Fuzzy]

What connection type between the STB and the card? What connection type between the STB and the TV when you tested it? What connection type between the video card and the TV?

[Tiki]

Also, what is the recording quality set to?
With analog recording devices there is a big difference in recording quality depending on what settings you use.

[DoPeFiSh]

Both STB are using S-video to the 250 TV cards
It's Digital video out to HDMI on the TV from the video card.

When I tested it I used STB RGB directly to the TV

The recording quality is on "Great Format: DVD @2.0 GB/HR"

It is an older projection TV, maybe that's it
Thank you

[trk2]

Originally Posted by DoPeFiSh

Both STB are using S-video to the 250 TV cards
It's Digital video out to HDMI on the TV from the video card.

When I tested it I used STB RGB directly to the TV

The recording quality is on "Great Format: DVD @2.0 GB/HR"

It is an older projection TV, maybe that's it
Thank you

There's a couple things that could be going on here. How clear is the image from the HTPC to the TV when not viewing recorded TV? It it a nice clear image? What resolution are you outputting to the TV and are you sure the ATI overscan settings are set correctly? Can you connect your TV directly to the STB using S-Video to make sure your STB is not doing anything funky?

When you connected your STB directly to your TV your were probably feeding it a 480i resolution. Most HDTVs have a built in upscaler to improve the image of SD signals. This upscaler will work when connected to the STB but will not work when being fed a SD recording from an HTPC outputting an HD resolution.