What TV tuner card is everyone using for Foxtel

[dcviper]

Just wondering if anyone could post what card they are using for foxtel, and also how you got it to work.

I have just purchased a Avermedia dvb-t 777 (A16a) with the intent of using it with the AV inputs, but apparently they dont work in MCE. Would have been nice of them to mention that feature on the web page. I did however get the Svideo in to work in the software that came with the card, and was impressed with the quality of the foxtel. I have an old bt878 chipset card that i was using with showshifter with the svideo input but the foxtel picture always looked blurred, but not with this card.

Damm shame it dont work with mce though. I am now going to exchange the card for the avermedia M150-PAL non-digital card and I hope the quality is as good as this card with the svideo. Has anyone used this card ?

[Mike]

Hi there dcviper and welcome

I run the Hauppauge 250/150 MCE cards so I can't speak for the Avers - but there is a discussion in this thread that might help.

Good luck with your decision . . .
Mike

[NedKelly]

I'm using a Hauppauge 500 MCE card and an A/V Cable Set connected to the other header.

With 2 Foxtel STB's can make MCE into an IQ.

[BKCH]

Hi Guys, I have a Hauppauge PVR-150MCE for Foxtel but the quality is not what I was hoping it would be - it would be ok on a smaller TV but I have it connected to my LG 150cm LCD rear projection unit and in full screen the quality is maybe a 7 out of 10 (with 10 being the quality when the Foxtel STB is plugged directly into the TV)

Does anybody out there have a suggestion on if this is the best quality I can expect or if there is a better card or solution on getting Foxtel into my PC?

I'd appreciate any suggestions

(BTW DVD quality is fine so the issue is on the input side rather than output)

[NedKelly]

Originally Posted by BKCH

Hi Guys, I have a Hauppauge PVR-150MCE for Foxtel but the quality is not what I was hoping it would be - it would be ok on a smaller TV but I have it connected to my LG 150cm LCD rear projection unit and in full screen the quality is maybe a 7 out of 10 (with 10 being the quality when the Foxtel STB is plugged directly into the TV)

Does anybody out there have a suggestion on if this is the best quality I can expect or if there is a better card or solution on getting Foxtel into my PC?

I'd appreciate any suggestions

(BTW DVD quality is fine so the issue is on the input side rather than output)

Howdy BKCH

As I said above I'm using the Hauppauge PVR-500MCE. I am running this into my Samsung 155cm DPL rear projection TV via MCE2005 and the quality is only very slightly lower than direct into the TV.

I'm using the Scart from the Foxtel digital Pace STB into composite in into the TV Tuner and DVI out into HDMI in on the TV.

Using your rating system I would say it's 9 out 10.

About the only noticeable difference I can see is a very slight Smokey effect over the picture and that on screen writing like say on the scorecards in the cricket coverage are slightly shimmery.

I am hoping to get that back up to 10 by getting a good quality scart > Composite lead. The one I have now is crap that came with the pace STB at the moment.

My video card is a 6600GT and I'm using the Nvidia Decoder software. I had a ATI 9800 card in this same setup before hand and I found the picture pretty crappy.

I would guess one of the following may help;

Better leads?
Maybe you could try Hauppauge Tweaker: http://www.thegreenbutton.com/downloads.aspx
Update Video Card Drivers?
Use DVI output if your not already and if the TV has inputs needed.

P.S. Foxtel really need to get their finger out and improve the quality of their actually broadcast signals also, ESPN for example is just awful on any setup.

[colpeady]

Hi All,

I use SCART to S-Video in on a Hauppage PVR-150MCE and the quality is fantastic - I can't see any degradation from the native signal on my Philips 55" RPTV.

Regds,

Colin

[lodi007]

Originally Posted by colpeady

Hi All,

I use SCART to S-Video in on a Hauppage PVR-150MCE and the quality is fantastic - I can't see any degradation from the native signal on my Philips 55" RPTV.

Regds,

Colin

Are you using the SCART cable that is provided with your foxtel digital box???

[woohoo]

BKCH - to make you feel better, I use the PVR-150MCE as well with a very low rent TV (CRT 51cm with VGA input only) and get a 7-8 out of 10 image compared to STB direct to TV. I run a VGA cable from the STB to the PC, and another from my graphics card to the TV. I know my TV's the weak link, but I don't understand is why it's so much worse with MCE compared with direct from my STB (using VGA each time). Is this because the analogue PVR-150MCE which has to convert analogue-digital-analogue? But then that doesn't explain Colpeady's happiness...

[BKCH]

hmmmm... woohoo - I'm not sure if that makes me feel better or worse!!

colpeady: Are you using Svideo from a Foxtel STB or something else? My Foxtel STB (Pace digital) does not have a 'real' svideo output and when I rang to bitch at Foxtel they tell me the only STB with svideo is iQ - which would kinda defeat the purpose...

I've tried all sort of hacks / tweaks / pre-realease drivers to no avail with my PVR-150MCE - I'd say the best quality I've been able to achieve is nearly 8 :|

If anyone knows any better cards or has suggestions at all I'm getting real desperate...

[BKCH]

Alright!!! Breakthrough!

So Foxtel technical support isn't worth a pinch of #$%&! The Pace STB *can* do svideo output (setting on the STB allows this to be set). I've switched to svideo and estimate my quality is now ~8.5 and would say there is very little degradation of the signal compared to composite into my TV directly.