WinTV in a nutshell
The WinTV-HVR-1600 is a PCI TV tuner card. It provides the ability to watch, record, and/or pause television broadcasts on your computer. Attach a cable or satellite box and watch broadcasts or just plug your cable coaxial wire directly to the tuner card and watch broadcasts without a box.
HVR – acronym stands for “hybrid video recorder”. I could not locate a definition. I will assume HVR has to do with the hardware/software makeup of this tuner in comparison to a standard TV tuner, so please keep on reading.
This TV tuner is compatible with the following operating systems:
Microsoft® Windows® XP, XP Pro or Windows XP Media Center Edition, with Service Pack 2, and Windows Vista (any version). There is a beta Linux driver and application from LinuxTV.org.
Information on Linux compatibility can be found here:
http://www.hauppage.com/pages/faq/support_faq_hvr1600.html#1
Per Hauppauge, the maker of WinTV:
Dual format TV receiver for your PC. Watch ATSC and clear QAM digital TV or analog cable TV, in a window or full screen. Watch and record all digital TV formats, including the highest definition 1080i format
Includes TV scheduler, remote control and IR blaster to control satellite and cable TV set top boxes.
Included in Box & Specs
Included in the box are:
BEGIN QUOTE:
1) WinTV-HVR-1600 PCI bus card with 125 channel cable-ready TV tuner, ATSC receiver, hardware MPEG-2 encoder, dbx-TV stereo decoder, S-Video/composite and audio inputs.
2) IR remote control receiver.
3) IR Blaster (infra-red remote control transmitter), to control satellite and cable TV set top boxes.
WinTV-HVR-1600 CD-ROM includes: WinTV2000 application for TV in a window plus TV recording, pause and playback. WinTV-Scheduler for scheduling your TV recording, and with link to TitanTV.com.
Ulead® DVD MovieFactory™, to create your own videos on DVD or CD.
Processor requirements (minimum):
1.0 GHz Intel P4 or equivalent (for cable TV) / 2.2 GHz Intel P4 or equivalent (for ATSC digital TV)
Microsoft Windows Vista or XP with Service Pack 2. WinTV-HVR-1600 is Windows Vista Premium certified.
Available PCI slot. / Graphics with 64 MB memory (or greater). / Sound card. /DVD or CD writer for burning Video CD's, S-VCD's or DVD's (optional).
END QUOTE:
Additional Hardware Information:
Tuner card has the following external connections: Analog Coax Input, Digital Coax Input, S-Video/Composite Video Input, Audio Input, Remote Control (IR) receiver/blaster socket input.
A VCR or Camcorder can be connected to the S-Video input on tuner, I never tried doing so and I never tried using the audio input.
The following broadcast formats are supported by this tuner: NTSC_443, NTSC_M, PAL_BGHIDK, PAL_DK, PAL_M, PAL_N, and SECAM.
I use NTSC_M, chosen by default during installation and it works perfectly in conjunction with Comcast Cable and QAM tuning.
Installation
--Hardware Install--
In case you were wondering:
Tuner
is a PCI card so you must have an open PCI slot on your motherboard. It is
not a PCI express card.
There are no wires to connect from the tuner card to other pc components (sound card, video card, power).
Physical installation is simple and card is not overly crowded with circuitry unlike many modern video cards.
--Software Installation--
Simple process whether from CD or Web.
I recently removed all WinTV software and drivers from my computer and installed the latest software package from WinTV website, located here:
http://www.hauppage.com/pages/support/support_hvr1600.html
Download was 53mb’s
Fresh installation combined with one required reboot took approx. 5 minutes.
Running WinTV software for the first time (post driver/software install), automatically prompts “Would you like to scan for tuner channels now”. I clicked “Yes”. WinTV channel manager window opened. I scanned for all analog/digital cable channels, process lasted approx 10 minutes. Channel names and preset numbers populated the window while scanning progressed.
There are multiple options at play during the stage of channel discovery which pend on how your tuner card connections are hooked up. I have tried multiple configurations:
1) I previously had my Digital Comcast cable box working
2) I got direct connect to tuner working, with no box attached.
3) I got QAM channels working.
QAM = Quadrature Amplitude Modulation, to simplify: QAM is local high definition broadcasts without a cable box.
A splitter is necessary to work more than one broadcast configuration; tuner has two coaxial inputs because it has two tuners built in (1 Analog / 1 Digital). Digital tuner can only receive unencrypted QAM channels. Access to QAM broadcasting is dependent upon your cable service provider or the setup of a “Wideband” or “Highgain” antenna. Comcast broadcasts 109 QAM channels to my location, of which 16 channels are unencrypted and viewable by WinTV tuner. QAM channels run from 2001 to 2109 and WinTV automatically skips encrypted non-viewable QAM channels.
QAM channels are beautiful on my 22” LCD monitor and rival (I’m dead serious) HD on my 42” Philips LCD TV. I have found unencrypted QAM channels to be duplicates of existing analog cable channels.
Example: I can tune ABC in analog (channel 6) or QAM tune it in HD (Channel 2097).
Remote Control Details
-- Receiver Cable –
Included “IR receiver cable” (male) plugs into (female) mini-jack on tuner backing.
Wire splits into two units and has two heads, 1 receiver and 1 blaster.
1) The remote control receiver, roughly 3 ft 3 inches in length.
2) IR blaster for operating cable or satellite television boxes, roughly 6 ft 7 inches in length. (software configuration required).
For identification purposes: Remote receiver head is slightly larger than IR blaster head.
If used, IR blaster head must be within 2 inch radius of cable/satellite box remote frequency receiver.
From experience: Remote control must have a good line of sight to receiver head. I recommend placing head on top of pc or preferably close to monitor.
-- Remote Control --
Included remote control requires 2 AAA batteries. WinTV Infrared Remote app must be started in order to use the remote control. The WinTV remote is slightly smaller in size compared to a Comcast Digital Cable remote control. It can open & close the WinTV application, change channels, increase/decrease volume, toggle window to full screen and vice versa, pause live TV, record TV, take snapshots, etc.
Possible configurations:
No remote controls: Use a mouse only to operate WinTV app.
WinTV remote: Use this remote to control WinTV app
and cable/satellite box. WinTV remote can also be used to control
just the WinTV app.
Cable/Satellite Remote: Don’t use the WinTV remote at all. Stick with your cable/satellite box remote.
I have successfully used the WinTV remote and I also tried hooking up a cable box and using its corresponding remote, works perfectly. I never tried using the IR blaster only because I was lazy and always use the mouse to control WinTV app now-a-days.
WinTV remote is designed to fully integrate and operate the Comcast digital cable box including the on-screen menu (TV guide) and On-demand features.
Recording
Configurable MPEG Quality Levels for recording:
MPEG1 VCD 0.65GB an hour….MPEG2 2.0Mbits/sec (Full D1) 0.9 GB an hour….MPEG2 2.0Mbits/sec (Half D1) 0.9 GB an hour….MPEG2 12.0Mbits/sec (Full D1) 5.4 GB an hour….MPEG2 12.0Mbits/sec (CBR) 5.4 GB an hour…DVD Standard Play 8.0 Mbits/sec 3.1GB an hour….DVD Long Play 6.2 Mbits/sec 2.4GB an hour….DVD Extra Long Play 2.5 Mbits/sec 1.2GB an hour….SVCD Standard Play 2.5 Mbits/sec 0.8GB an hour.
DVD standard play is the default option setting for analog recordings. Digital recordings (QAM channels) are not configurable, default to “DVD 2048 bytes setting” not listed above and time frame ratio not listed in menu settings, plus hardware mpeg encoding changes somehow affecting ability to playback as mentioned further below in section.
There are 2 ways to record broadcasts.
1) Initiate an on the spot recording through the WinTV 2000 interface while watching a program.
2) Attach a DVR cable or satellite box to the tuner card.
Unfortunately the CD bundled applications “WinTV Scheduler” and “Titan TV” do not work with this tuner.
Per this link from the Hauppauge website:
http://www.hauppauge.it/pages/faq/support_faq_scheduler.html
For more info on those apps, see the software section below. I tried them out for the heck of it and there is absolutely no cheese at the end of the tunnel.
Recording clarity has always been of excellent quality for me. Analog signals are a piece of cake to work with whether recording, playing back, or editing.
Playback of QAM recording is difficult. Hardware mpeg2 compression is not configurable and set to DVD 2048 bytes “Quality Level” in WinTV preferences. Windows Media Player 11 can’t handle HD QAM recording play back by default and installation of free codec’s have left me
highly frustrated. QAM playback may work fine for you if you have the right codec installed (example: Maybe you have the latest greatest version of WinDVD software which automatically installed an mpeg2 decoder?). I make no promises, except what I experienced:
- QuickTime (v7.4.1) could not play back QAM recording.
- RealPlayer (v11.02) could not play back QAM recording.
- DIVX player (v6.7) could not play back QAM recording.
On the bright side:
Nero “ShowTime2” video player can perfectly handle playback of QAM HD recordings as is.
I am dead set against installing free video codec packages encompassing tons of useless codec’s and stuff I don’t need, possibly changing my O.S. behavior. Tried it in the past and it was a nightmare.
Note: Windows Media Player 11 can playback analog WinTV recordings with no problems (as seen in YouTube video referenced below
Personal Experiences
Hauppauge and Pinnacle are two of the main players in the TV tuner market. Originally I tried a Pinnacle USB TV tuner and quickly returned it due to poor quality reception, a
horrid software interface meagerly translated from Japanese to English. Long story made short, I decided on trying an internal tuner and going to the competition.
I spent $125 on the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1600 tuner at Circuit City almost 2 years ago and never regretted this decision. WinTV has not let me down and my tuner card works great. If audio is broadcast in stereo, than you will have stereo sound delivered by the tuner. Video is always very good quality on all cable channels and beautiful high def video is available in QAM tuning.
I recently changed the hookup to bypass the cable box and straight connect coaxial wire directly to WinTV card. Cable TV picture quality on my LCD 22” monitor is very good regardless of inclusion/exclusion of cable box and regardless if I watch broadcasts full screen or in a window. Software interface is easy to use (very customizable, multiple options) and relatively easy to master.
I spend almost half of my working day at my home office. The ability to discreetly (low volume) watch TV on my computer while writing up reports, sending emails/faxes, and making phone calls is great. I highly recommend it; just don’t let your work suffer. I’ll occasionally tune in while surfing the internet also.
Quality of recorded TV (video & audio) through software interface is excellent and looks the same as an actual broadcast. I have used the “snapshot” feature to take pictures of live broadcasts for fun and find this to be very cool indeed. I was pursuing a video snapshot scrapbook via this tuner (good idea huh?) at one point in time, but gave up on that.
Included Software
-- WinTV 2000 --
This is the primary application. Starting up this application is a must to watch broadcasts. It can be windowed or full screen. The included remote control interfaces with this app nicely. A computer mouse can be used instead or in conjunction.
Prominent window buttons are:
Channel Up/Down, Volume Slider (click and drag), Mute, Surf, Last Channel, Closed Caption, Snapshot, Freeze, Pause, Record, Toggle Full screen/window, Toggle always on top, & Menu.
“Surf” button is a great feature. 16 symmetrical box shaped screen captures will fill the broadcast window. Each box is a live broadcast screen capture of consecutive channels.
Example: If I am currently viewing channel 6 and hit the Surf button: channels 7,8,9,10,11, etc will preview on screen. I can click on one of the pictures and jump to desired channel. GREAT FOR BASEBALL and FOOTBALL SEASON!!!
Menu button features:
Change aspect ratios (4:3 or 16:9), Select Channel, Suite Manager, Scan for channels, Configuration of multiple settings (Audio, Color, Snapshots, Preference, Mpeg Record Settings, Display Settings), and help options.
Snapshot resolutions are as follows: 320x240, 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024, 1600x1200, or actual size.
On Screen Display configuration can be turned on/off from the menu button. Annunciator font and display length in seconds can be changed. Example: Switching to Channel 6 might be set to display “ 11-CBL ” for 3 seconds on screen.
-- Titan TV --
incompatible with “WinTV-HVR-1600”, info provided anyway
A free web based utility for:
Customizable TV listings, PVR (Personal Video Recorder) support, Favorites searches and program reminders. Registration is required and 100% free; a desktop icon is added when the WinTV pci card software is installed.
Titan TV synchronizes with your operating system clock; it’s a good idea to have the correct time set (Atomic Sync or Cable TV Sync). “PVR/Tuner Device Preferences” in account settings on Titan TV website does not have the “WINTV-HVR-1600” option as a choice, and the closest setting is “WINTV-HVR-950” which will not work, I tried. It’s a shame this service is not functional for the HVR-1600, because it has a lot to offer.
The Titan TV web based utility coincides with “WinTV Scheduler” which is installed during WinTV installation/setup. WinTV scheduler can be used alone. Titan TV provides a nice visual guide for seeing current and future TV listings. Again, to bad it’s not compatible with this WinTV tuner.
-- WinTV Scheduler --
incompatible with “WinTV-HVR-1600”, info provided anyway
This is the program to use for setting upcoming recordings. Interface is easy to operate. Upon startup, a list of scheduled recordings is presented and may be edited. Click on the “add program” button and a new window will pop up. It is easy to setup daily, weekly, or a one time recording. Recording length can be set to any amount of minutes, and recorded file name can be customized. “Background” recording option (if selected) keeps WinTV from running during recording. A reminder can also be scheduled and displayed instead of a recording from this program. FYI: WinTV Scheduler works in conjunction with the Task Scheduler service in Windows XP and Vista.
-- nanoPEG Editor –
This is one powerful Mpeg & VOB splitter. I have used at least a few different splitter programs in past years. nanoPEG blows the competition away in ease of cutting and
especially conjoin time. Unfortunately you can’t split/join wmv, avi, divx, etc.
--Ulead Dvd Movie Factory--
Create professional looking DVDs. Capture video from multiple sources like: Hard Drive, Digital Video Camera, and even other DVDs. Cut and combine multiple videos to create one video. Create your own chapters. Enhance video (anywhere) with text, music, sound clips, personal microphone recordings, and built-in addition of many visual special effects.
I’m impressed by the inclusion of a “Jog Wheel” allowing for easy editing with precision, by 100ths of a second.
Did I mention DVD image file creation is possible and a copy utility is included (disc to disc, disc to image, etc.)?
Did I mention DVD labels can be created? Capture a still from any portion of your video and turn it into a disc label, add text if you want, add images from your hard drive or camera.
Ulead also provides 39 different disc icons at your disposal. If you are wondering what a disc icon is, the simplest way for me to define: Please look at just about any movie DVD you bought, notice the small DVD Video logo? That is a disc icon.
Ulead also has a slideshow creation program which permits many altering techniques such as exposure editing, color saturation, transition effects, pan & zoom, color casting, sharpen and soften focus, “beautify skin” (remove blemishes, change skin or soften skin tones), addition of background music and/or recorded narration, rotation features, and zoom in/out focus while editing.
Slideshow application has one correctible drawback: DOS naming convention applies within proprietary program file explorer default view, so if you have pictures longer than 8.3 in name, get ready to see a tilde. This applies for the “Thumbnail” view mode. Thumbnails default view is 96x96 pixels.
Correction method 1: Increase thumbnail size by right clicking in window (select thumbnail size) and change to 128x128 or 160x160 pixels.
Correction method 2: Another fix is to switch to “List Mode” to see unabridged file names.
I consider this program on par with Nero DVD & photo editing in respect to powerful functionality. Ulead DVD Movie Factory also has an attractive interface and provides user with ability to showcase artistic knack.
Manual
The manual clocks in at 12 double-sided, non-numbered pages from cover to cover. Useful information abounds and illustrations are present. Manual is black and white. No table of contents or index. Information is well presented but you should have a basic understanding of computers before referencing.
Here are some of the manual section titles, exactly as printed:
Installing the WinTV-HVR-1600, Running WinTV2000 for the first time, Watch, Pause and Record TV, Record Mode, Pause Mode, MPEG compression formats & record directories, WinTV Scheduler, WinTV-HVR remote control, WinTV Mpeg Editor, Making DVDs from your WinTV-HVR recordings, and Troubleshooting
Disregard any mention of radio feature in manual, this tuner has no built in radio tuning capability. Manual is a one size fits all for a range of WinTV products.
FCC Statement:
The WinTV products have been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules.
YouTube Video by Me
Video Link (please copy and paste in browser):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_zIpu9B-RM
Video covers a good deal of territory. Please keep in mind the following:
I recorded on a HI8 tape w/ digital camcorder. I transferred video to PC. I did some editing. I uploaded to YouTube, hence video changed to Flash. Please realize a downgrade in video quality took place, especially since I filmed broadcasts and refresh rates also come into play. Everything you see in the video looks much better in person. Video runs approx 4 minutes.
Video Covers:
- CRT, LCD TV, & Tuner Card visual comparisons.
- Tuner Surf mode
- Tuner Recording
- Playback of recording in Windows Media Player
- Tuner card (snapshot) photo captures of broadcasts.
Thanks for reading my review!
© nonedude (Mike Glassboro)
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