I have both configurations you are asking about e.g. The WinTV-HVR-1800 card on one computer (my desktop machine) running XP Pro and using the Win-TV Software and another machine with the same card on a system running Windows 7 Pro with the Windows Media Center as my Home Theatre HD Over the Air DVR. Using the HVR-1800 with Windows Media Center is a far better configuration. Very impressive.
The WinTV software works, but not nearly as impressive. Btw I use an ATI Radeon 4350 video card (no fan. Good for quiet theatre environment) that is a fully blown HDMI interface including onboard audio decoders in addition to the video. If you plan to drive the TV through an HDMI interface, you really need to use a video card that is a full blown HDMI implementation.
It can be made to work with DVI output to HDMI, but there can be some problems. Said by: I have both configurations you are asking about e.g. The WinTV-HVR-1800 card on one computer (my desktop machine) running XP Pro and using the Win-TV Software and another machine with the same card on a system running Windows 7 Pro with the Windows Media Center as my Home Theatre HD Over the Air DVR. Using the HVR-1800 with Windows Media Center is a far better configuration.
Very impressive. The WinTV software works, but not nearly as impressive.
Btw I use an ATI Radeon 4350 video card (no fan. Good for quiet theatre environment) that is a fully blown HDMI interface including onboard audio decoders in addition to the video. If you plan to drive the TV through an HDMI interface, you really need to use a video card that is a full blown HDMI implementation. It can be made to work with DVI output to HDMI, but there can be some problems. My new video card will also be here about the same time as the tv card it's an MSI N220GT-MD1G NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 220 PCI-E 2.0 X16 1GB (» ). I just hope it works the way I want it to.
Miss a few shows that come on when I want to watch something else or comes on after I go to bed. Thank You for your reply. For analog cable channels, there are a few things to note. First, yes, it will never look awesome on an HDTV for many reasons. It also depends on how well the set handles the signal, even after upscaling from the graphics card. In my case, my ATI card upscales some SD content pretty good, while other channels/shows just won't ever look all that good, even with a clean cable signal. That being said, media center has 'zoom' options available for filling the screen which is a good place to start.
If you right click the middle of the screen while playing/watching, you will see 'zoom' as usually the 3rd option. Settings 2 and 4 are usually what you're after. Option 2 is good for shows that, when shown in original aspect ratio (which is always option 1), look like a rectangle in the middle of your screen - basically, 'letterboxed' within a 4:3. These shows, when zoomed with option 2, should filll a widescreen TV's screen. Option 4 is 'dynamic' zoom. It's basically 'sretch-o-vision' but it doesn't totally stretch the center area.
Now, the tricky part is that even when your PC display settings are set to fill the TV screen (1080, or 720?), you may run into channels that, even when 'zoomed' still have a very small amount of 'underscan' and show a very thin border on the left/right edges, or top/bottom, or both. If you see any of that, after zooming (or, even with full HD channels), you may have to tweak display settings to be slightly outside (OVERscanned) the edge of your display. I've had to tweak mine to overscan by a few pixels (can still see my taskbar and startmenu easily though) so that some zoomed content is correctly filling the screen. Some still has a VERY small border at the left/right edges, and I may still tweak further. HD channels are aligned very well though, and I'm hesitant to mess with it too much further since I may end up with too much overscan and cut off too much of the edges.
It's all about finding that sweet spot and compromising as best you can. Those settings are usually done in the graphics card's control panel. NVidia control panel, in your case, should allow this if you really need it.
Once that's done, you may also need to re-run the media center display setup to make sure it's also using the custom resolution. Also, I don't know if nVidia does this, but my ATI allowed to 'maintain aspect ratio' when tweaking the custom resolution. Can't recall from memory what it was, but it ended up being some weird #'s, but they did indeed still end up being 16:9 ratio.
Try the standard 'zoom' functions first and see if that helps your SD content.
WinTV v7 Note: the WinTV-HVR-1800 and WinTV-HVR-1850 are identical, except that the WinTV-HVR-1850 includes an on-board Windows Media Center compatible IR receiver/blaster. All software for the WinTV-HVR-1800 will run on the WinTV-HVR-1850.
Note: If you have run HCWCLEAR, you must reboot your PC and leave the WinTV-HVR-18xx installed. After a reboot you will see the Found New Hardware Wizard installation message. Hit Cancel then continue below.
WinTV v7 application and TV tuner driver download package Note: A valid WinTV application CD-ROM (WinTV v6 or WinTV v7) will be needed to install this WinTV v7 version Any WinTV 7 application CD can be used during the install. If you do not have your original WinTV CD-ROM but would like to update to WinTV v7 or WinTV v8, you can for $9.95 To install the WinTV v7 application update. Download the WinTV v7 installation package to your PC. After downloading this file, the file is normally saved in the Download directory on your PC. Insert your original valid WinTV CD in your CD-ROM drive. Run wintv7cd from the Download directory on your PC Download. Installation notes: A valid WinTV application CD-ROM will be needed to install this WinTV v7 version.
Any WinTV v6 or WinTV 7 application CD can be used during the install. If you do not have your original WinTV CD-ROM but would like to update to WinTV v7, you can for $9.95 If you have a WinTV v7.2 CD-ROM with Extend, then the latest version of WinTV Extend will also be installed. To install WinTV v7 on a PC or laptop without a CD-ROM drive If your PC or laptop does not have a CD-ROM drive, do the following:. at the conclusion of the installation a dialog box will pop up saying 'Activation required'.
Click Enter Product Code. You will find the Product code on your WinTV v7 Installation CD. Enter the Product code including dashes and dots Release notes for WinTV v7 version 3.9G:. Update to the WinTV-HVR-955Q driver to fix problems seen when switching channels quickly.
Fixed an error 'You do not have access to make the required system configuration modifications.' . Increased Pause Buffer bar size. Fixed TitanTV tvpi file association bug.
New WinTV-NOVA-HD-USB 2 driver to fix issues in Turkey and other countries with low symbol rates. New WinTV-HVR-1975 driver to fix issues with 6875 Symbol rate. Fixed no Extend tab showing on upgrade installation. The WinTV-HVR-1800/1850 will work with Windows 7 or Windows Vista Media Center. Just use the driver provided on the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR Installation CD.
Since the WinTV-HVR-1800 is dual tuner, you will be able to watch and record analog cable TV channels and ATSC digital TV channels at the same time. Vista Media Center does not currently support clear QAM digital cable TV. The WinTV-HVR-1800 can be made to work within the Windows XP Media Center application provided you have the latest updates (roll-up 2) for MCE installed. This update provides support for digital (ATSC) tuning and will allow MCE to recognize the WinTV-HVR-1800 as a tuner in its configuration. Without the latest updates MCE will give the error message “No tuner hardware found”.
Under Vista, there would not be any additional updates required for the WinTV-HVR-1800 to operate in Media Center. What type of channels will I receive with the WinTV-HVR-1850? NTSC Analog CableTV or over-the-air analog TV: You can use your cable TV from the wall to connect to the WinTV-HVR-1800 and receive all of your basic Cable TV channels. You can also use a roof top antenna to receive 'over-the-air' TV. Note: After June 2009, most areas in the United States no longer broadcast over-the-air analog signals. ATSC over-the-air digital TV: Supports all ATSC formats, up to the high definition 1080i format! Note: For ATSC digital TV, a rooftop/out door antenna is recommended for optimal results/signal strength.
ClearQAM cable TV Channels: Clear QAM digital cable TV channels are unencrypted digital cable TV channels. Clear QAM allows users to watch unencrypted digital TV channels from their cable TV provider without a set-top box. Note: WinTV v7, WinTV v6, Microsoft Windows 7 or Windows TV Pack 2008 for Vista are required for clear QAM reception Note: Check your local cable TV provider for clear QAM reception over your cable TV network. Can I receive high definition digital TV with the WinTV-HVR-1800 through Cable or Satellite Box? The WinTV-HVR-1800 has an ATSC over-the-air digital TV tuner built-in and supports all ATSC formats, up to the high definition 1080i format. The WinTV-HVR-1600 will support ATSC broadcasts that are currently being transmitted over-the-air. It will not be able to decode HD broadcasts that come through your cable or satellite box.
The HVR 1800 also will support clear QAM cable TV channels through your direct cable TV line if available from your cable TV provider. Can I listen to FM radio with WinTV-HVR-1850? Using the WinTV 7 application the WinTV-HVR-1800, will record in a transport stream (TS) For ATSC and Clear QAM digital TV recordings, the recording format and bit rate is exactly the same as the broadcast format (i.e. ATSC 1080i is recorded at 1080i).
For NTSC analog cable TV recordings, our HardPVR is used to create Transport Stream files (TS) Note: TS files can be converted to MPEG files using options in the WinTV 7 configuration menu. Note: The WinTV 6 application recording are in MPEG format for both digital and analog. Note: Not all recordings made with ATSC/QAM signals are DVD compliant Can I record one show while watching another with the WinTV-HVR-1800? If you are watching a digital TV channel and you see choppy video, no audio or a black screen, then it is possible your PC is not fast enough to decode and play the digital TV channel you are watching.
Please verify that your system meets the minimum requirements for using the HVR-1950 Digital TV, especially ATSC high definition digital TV, is very CPU intensive. Many graphics cards have special built-in hardware to speed up decoding of high definition TV channels. On graphics cards without special video decoding features, you can often improve the playback performance by using the Video Renderer settings located in the settings menu of WinTV 7. To open the setting menu click on the “gear” button located in the lower left of the WinTV 7 screen.
The default mode is EVR. The other modes are VMR9, VMR7 and Overlay.
Each mode uses a different process to render video. Try each mode and use the one which gives you the best results.
To use hardware acceleration put a check in the box “use hardware acceleration when possible. This will allow your graphics system to use hardware acceleration for video decode. Note: graphics hardware acceleration does not work on all systems. After making a change in video rendering settings Wintv must be restarted to take effect. If you are using WinTV 6 then the render options are part of a separate program called Primary. Changes in the Primary applet must be made with the WinTV application closed.
Open the Primary program by going to Start – All Programs – Hauppauge WinTV – Primary. After making changes close the Primary applet and open the WinTV application.
WinTV crashes on a Dell Vostro desktop. Digital Broadcasts (ATSC or QAM) The file size of a digital signal capture depends on the bitrate of the digital signal. The bitrate is set by the broadcaster and cannot be user configured.
Bitrates for digital signals can range anywhere from about 1.2 Mbits/sec up to 19.3 Mbits/sec. Most of the time these bitrates are variable and not constant. Capture sizes for ATSC & QAM recordings are approximately 1.7 Gigabytes per hour up to 8.3 Gigabytes per hour.
Analog Broadcast. The WinTV application has to convert analog signals to digital in order to record. There are four recording profiles. The following list shows recording file sizes for burning to 4.3Gb DVD: Best - Approx 1 Hour+ Better - Approx 1 1/2 Hours Good - Approx 2 Hours Fair - Approx 3 Hours WinTV v7 does not open or opens and then disappears? This can be caused by a corrupt Channel database so you will need to uninstall and reinstall. First you need to go to start, all programs, Hauppauge Wintv and in that folder run “uninstall Wintv7” (or remove Wintv7 using control panel 'add/remove programs) then you need to remove the backup channel database. Windows Vista, 7 and 8 go to C: program data ( this folder is a hidden folder so if you do not see it you need to “show hidden folders “ in your search Options) once you can get to this folder you will see a folder label “Hauppauge” delete this folder.
Windows XP go to C: documents and settings all users shared documents application data ( this folder is a hidden folder so if you do not see it you need to “show hidden folders “ in your search Options) once you can get to this folder you will see a folder label “Hauppauge” delete this folder. Then download the latest version of Wintv7 located in the support section of the website and reinstall (note: you must have your original CD to validate the download.). WinTV v7 error messages and what they mean First time installation of WinTV v7 or during a reinstallation: “WinTV board not found” or “No TV tuner available” Broadway while recording Step 1: Check the status of your Hauppauge TV tuner drivers in Windows Device Manager.
Click Windows Start, click on Control Panel and click on Device Manager. In Device Manager, click on Sound, video game Controllers. You should see your Hauppauge product Step 2: If the Hauppauge device has a yellow exclamation mark Click on the Hauppauge device to open it. If you see the following: 'Windows cannot verify the digital signature for the drivers required for this device.
A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source. (Code 52)' This appears to be a bug in Windows 64 bit OS since the Hauppauge Windows drivers are signed.
The following is the easiest fix to Error Code 52 on Windows 7 or Windows 8 64bit. In Device Manager, right click the Hauppauge product under Sound Video and Game Controllers with the exclamation mark and select Uninstall. If you have a USB product you might see multiple listings, please right click the first one on the list. (For this example we will use the WinTV-HVR-950Q. ). On the Confirm window please check the box for “ Delete the driver software for this device” and click OK. Repeat the uninstall for the other two WinTV-HVR-950Q entries (Note: you won’t be asked to ‘confirm device uninstall’ again).
Once the drivers are removed, right click on Sound, Video, Game controllers and click Scan for Hardware Changes. Windows should now look online automatically for the 950Q drivers. Take a look after a few minutes if the drivers are installed automatically properly under Sound Video and Game Controllers. If they still come back as “unsigned” try the procedure again Errors when running WinTV 7: “TVserver cannot Start” or “.NET framework' errors This can be caused by a corrupt WinTV v7 Channel Database. You will need to uninstall and reinstall the WinTV v7 application and the Channel database to fix this. To uninstall WinTV v7, click Windows Start, click on All Programs, click on Hauppauge WinTV run Uninstall Wintv7.
You can also or remove Wintv7 using control panel 'add/remove programs'. Then you need to remove the backup Channel database:. Windows Vista, 7 and 8: Go to C: program data ( this folder is a hidden folder so if you do not see it you need to “show hidden folders “ in your search Options) once you can get to this folder you will see a folder label “Hauppauge”.
Wintv-hvr 1800 Drivers For Macbook Pro
Delete this folder. Windows XP: Go to C: documents and settings all users shared documents application data ( this folder is a hidden folder so if you do not see it you need to “show hidden folders “ in your search Options) once you can get to this folder you will see a folder label “Hauppauge” delete this folder.
Then download the latest version of Wintv7 located in the support section of the website and reinstall (note: you must have your original CD to validate the download.) Settings.xml file is corrupt or missing Solution: Uninstall WinTV v7 and then reinstall WinTV 7. Click Windows Start - Control Panel and then click Programs and Features. Find Hauppauge WinTV 7 and double click on this.
This will start the uninstall process. When you are finished uninstalling WinTV v7, reinstall it from your WinTV v7 CD. Making connections to your WinTV Here is a chart which shows some of the things you need to know about each type of connection. Here are some common models (please order by model number or product code): Antenna Cable or satellite TV set top box RF output Cable or satellite TV set top box A/V output Cable TV wire from the wall Which type of TV can this connection be used with? Over-the-air TV Cable or satellite TV box Cable or satellite TV box Cable TV What types of video do I select when scanning for channels in the WinTV application (Device Setup Wizard)? Digital ATSC Analog TV External inputs (S-Video or Composite video) Digital QAM plus Analog TV (if available in your WinTV tuner) What remote control do I use to change channels?
WinTV remote control Remote control from your set top box Remote control from your set top box WinTV remote control Notes You can use a roof top antenna for best reception. Most set top boxes allow you to switch to Channel 3 or 4. When you scan with WinTV, it will pick up the TV signal on the correct channel. Some satellite receivers use channels 60, 70 or 73. But when you scan for Analog TV channels, WinTV will pick up whatever channel is being used by your set top box. Most set top boxes have A/V connections on the back, which can go into the WinTV's A/V input. Some cable TV networks transmit analog TV channels, so we recommend scanning for both Clear QAM and analog TV.
Wintv Hvr 1800 Drivers
Not all cable TV networks transmit clear QAM. Check with your local cable TV operator for the availability of clear QAM in your area.