SpacemanSpiff2000 wrote:But

Home › Forums › SpacemanSpiff2000 wrote:But

July 26, 2011 at 11:54 pm #5011
swoon

    [quote=SpacemanSpiff2000]

    But maybe I can shortcut it with this question. I’m not up on codecs and file formats. What are the best file formats for this stuff today? I take it from above that mpeg-2 is older.  If the 1414 does make this smaller by doing some work for me, I have little time and am already running out of space (due to my HD camcorder and a 18mo old), so that might be worth it. But I would need to know what file formats to look for.

    [/quote]

    You could get an older tuner that also includes a composite and/or S-video input with analog audio. The card will encode the video at MPEG-2 most likely. There is nothing inherently wrong with MPEG-2, it is just not typically as efficient as H.264 aka AVC (aka MPEG-4, Part 10) so MPEG-2 will take a larger file size to get the same quality as H.264.

    One issue you will run into is software. You will need to obtain capture software that can interface to those cards which may be an additional expense if it isn’t included.

    Another issue you may have is that the video quality may vary depending on how the card front-end filters were designed and the encoder quality.

    Personally, if I were dealing with precious home videos and memories, I would just go with the Colossus unless you are on a tight budget. It has excellent quality, encodes to H.264 and includes capture software that is very easy to use.

    [quote=SpacemanSpiff2000]

    Sacrificing a PVR also begs these questions: If I get the Ceton sooner than later, when I record the HD versions of the cooking shows to my HTPC, could there be issues with moving/using them? Something that could also be solved by re-recording via PVR?  I also figure if I don’t get a Ceton sooner (and this answer might influence that), if I start re-obtaining the cooking shows in HD on the DVR, I’ll need the PVR for those also.

    [/quote]

    FiOS is typically Copy Freely from what I understand. Maybe you can ask the question to other FiOS subscribers in your area to verify. With Copy Freely, there will be no problem using the recordings from a Ceton DCT on other PCs.