kworld usb tuner problems

[fabian]

Hello, last week i brought a kworld usb digital tuner.
i have problems with it recording HD programs using the supplied software and driver.
using winxp, the colours are inverted, and recording HD only lasts for about 30 secs
then crashes the software, playback of the video file separately shows correct colours,
using media player clasic and zoom player

SD recordings are fine no problems i can record 2 programs at once.

i also duel boot with vista.

i tried tonite using vista home premium multi media centre, it was perfect playback
and recording , unfortunately the playback was only for asf, is there no way in
vista multi media centre to get it to record in mpeg2, so i can convert using flask+virtualdub?

or is there another way to convert asf to mpeg2??

I have amd x2 duel core 4000 chip
(about to upgrade to 5200 duel core chip+asus 8600gt)

I wasn't sure whether the amd x2 4000 duel core chip could handle HD recording/playback

thanks for any advice, not sure whether to take the kworld usb tuner back to the shop

cheers
fabian

[logifuse]

Umm, if it's a DVB-T tuner, then it's recording in MPEG2 in VMC as that's what's broadcast. The resultant files are DVR-MS - an MCE/VMC's MPEG2 format.

Which K-World tuner BTW? The 399U?

Justin

[fabian]

thanks justin, for you reply,
yes the kworld usb digital tuner is the 399U model?, do you know of it? have you heard
bad things about it?

Its working fine for SD recordings especially recording 2 shows at once under xp,
its the HD side of it that is a bit screwy under xp,

as said in my first post it records up to 30 seconds HD then crashes,
i don't know whether its my cpu and onboard video card, to which i am upgrading
tommorow to an amd x2 5200 2.7gh and asus 8600gt 512mb video card

Also under vista media centre i wasn't able to use twin view either, but i don't know why
but vista also recorded csi miami last nite in HD but only at 704x480 and not at full HD
of 1440x1088
maybe it is my amd x2 4000 chip 2 slow to handle HD streams live whilst recording HD

under win xp , vista seemed fine,
again that confuses me about the kworld usb tuner

cheers
fabian

[logifuse]

The 399U is very new & I've been thinking about buying one, so I'm happy to hear that it works in Vista Media Center. I'm not sure about the tuner's own viewing software - it doesn't sound too great & seems to ghave problems with HD.

Your HD problems in XP are more likely to be decoder related rather than the tuner itself. Do a search for decoder or codec & you'll start to see what I'm talking about.

The resolution tags on the DVR-MS files are all wrong (it's to do with the US centric nature of Media Center) - trust me, if you recorded the HD channel, it's HD.

VMC doesn't re-encode at all - it records the stream as is.

VMC doesn't have twin view (if you're referring to picture in picture?).

Make sure you get the latest drivers from the K-world site. Their latest version of their software should be there too if you want to try that.

Justin

[GlittaGirl]

Hi Fabian,

We've recently tested this TV Tuner (399U) in the office under Windows XP Pro and Vista Home Premium - and we didn't find any problems with recording HDTV.

Recorded fine and used about 4.3gig per 50minutes.

We used:
KWorld Hypermedia Center Software Version 3.01.3.30
Driver v7.11.20.1 (20/11/2007)
Both available for download from KWorld website

We were pleasently surprised by the Hypermedia Centre Software.

*Added 15/02/08
Test System Specs:
# AMD Athlon 64 CPU at 1.65ghz (1650mhz)
# 1.0gig of ddr400 dual channel memory.
# 7200rpm IDE HDD.
# 6600le nvidia 256mb PCI-e video card.
# Windows xp pro MCE (32-bit) sp2 dual boot with Vista home premium.

Hope this helps.

[fabian]

hello glittergirl,

Well i read your response but if you read my thread im not using a pci express card yet,

and i have win xp home edition with service packs applied, ok, so im assuming there
is something wrong with the software so im going 2 format my hard drive this week
just to resolve the issues im having with kworld and win xp home.

UNder vista home premium the program is funtioning although HD recordings are not happing
using the kworld software, but using vista media centre its a different story everything
is working fine including recording and playback HD.

I just installed a new amd x2 5200 2.7ghz chip tonite, next week i will be buying
a new asus 8600 gt video card with 512mb ram, and if that doesn't solve the win xp home
problems, and vista HD recordings then im buying a leadtek 2000 card.

You see im only using the built video card 6150 on my asus motherboard at the moment
which is fine for SD recordings

fabian

[wallaceff]

I have a friend who says the tuner does not come out of S3 standby on his Vista system. Can anyone confirm this?

[logifuse]

Originally Posted by wallaceff

I have a friend who says the tuner does not come out of S3 standby on his Vista system. Can anyone confirm this?

Not coming out of standby generally isn't a problem with the tuner device. It's usually a BIOS setting, particular motherboard chipset or a power supply problem.

Justin

[wallaceff]

Justin, I know what you're saying. However, he's had multiple other USB tuners and has a pretty beefed up setup. Its strange for him to be getting S3 standby problems.

[fabian]

Hello all,
I thought i'd give you all an update of the kworld usb tuner 399u,

I upgraded the cpu to an amd x2 5200 + gigabyte 8600gt 512mb videocard+ i added an extra 2 gigs of ram to bring to 3 gigs total ram
on my motherboard, which is an asus m2npv-vm.

Unfortuately i experienced the same problems again
under a fresh install winxp, recording HD using the
kworld software again freezes the picture and stops recording HD after 30secs.

I even tried on my mates xp64 edition with 3 gigs of ram, and the same
thing happend to him, he couldn't record HD either, crashed after 30secs.

Im going to try linux, as one last option, using myth tv software and
if that does help to record HD, then im going to send an email to
this kworld company and blast them for sloppy programming the
interface of the kworld hypertuner software.

cheers
fabian

[jpwjpw]

hey guys,

Just thought i'd add that I have one of these tuners and run it under Vista media center. I've come across the following problems:

1. The dual tuners show up in the TV signal setup but if i record a channel and try and change to another one I just get a black screen.
2. On channel change the sound will sometimes drop out and I have to restart media center to get it working.


These problems have persisted over a complete reinstall of Vista unfortunately.