PVR-350 problems duplicated in lower spec cards?

[fieldeffect]

I've officially abandoned my PVR-350 TV Out because it was hanging, losing audio/video sync, etc. etc. everything that everyone has complained about a thousand times before. I've switched to an XCard for TV output and a few glitches aside it's pretty good.

So I just need a hardware encoder. I was *thinking* that i'd just keep the PVR-350, and that by just using it as a puny tuner it wouldn't get hot and have problems.

In my main system (lots of space in the case, enough cooling) this seems to be holding up, but one of my new projects, a fanless Mini-ITX based machine, still loses audio/video sync even when only using the PVR-350 as a tuner. I'm confident that this is because it is getting hot (I swear when I just opened the case after half an hour of use I could have slotted a slice of bread between the PVR-350 and the XCard and had a toasted sandwich)

So my question via this roundabout route is.... do all Hauppauge cards lose audio/video sync when they get hot? Or does that even extend to all TV cards period? The loss of sync problem has (on these forums at least) been pretty exclusively blamed on the PVR-350.

Having spent a little while testing this setup I should probably add a quick note on the hardware and performance in case anyone does a search looking for whether this sort of thing is stable ( I wasn't 100% sure until I tried it):

"Silent Bob":
VIA Epia 5000 533Mhz Fanless Mini-ITX board
Travla C137 case
256Mb RAM
40Gb half height HDD
XP Professional
Encoder : Hauppauge PVR-350
Decoder: SigmaDesigns XCard
Sage 2.2 Release version (one box solution, not just a client)

Performance:
- Record/playback/timeshift all lightning quick in "best" quality
- Interface response instant if not using XCard OSD output
- Interface very fast and responsive using PVR-350 TV-Out and OSD, but *very* quickly starts to overheat and crash.
- If using XCard OSD output interface response time about 3 seconds
- When PVR-350 gets hot after about half an hour running audio/video starts to lose sync.

Hopefully my fruitless night of playing around will save someone else having to buy these bits These forums should have a proper, structured, hardware setup/performance list (i.e. something better than people just listing their setups in forum posts).

Cheers,

Nick.

[stanger89]

First off, I don't recall ever having sync issues with my PVR 250. Note that my 250 is an old one that uses the CX23415, or the exact same encoder/decoder chip as your 350.

Originally Posted by fieldeffect

I'm confident that this is because it is getting hot (I swear when I just opened the case after half an hour of use I could have slotted a slice of bread between the PVR-350 and the XCard and had a toasted sandwich)

If it's getting that hot, I wouldn't trust anything to work right.

Of course the newer PVR 250s and now the 150s use the CX23416, and run cooler.

[cummings66]

Originally Posted by fieldeffect

I've officially abandoned my PVR-350 TV Out because it was hanging, losing audio/video sync, etc. etc. everything that everyone has complained about a thousand times before.

So my question via this roundabout route is.... do all Hauppauge cards lose audio/video sync when they get hot? Or does that even extend to all TV cards period? The loss of sync problem has (on these forums at least) been pretty exclusively blamed on the PVR-350.

I don't think it's the PVR 350 causing your audio sync problem. I'll explain. I have that card, and it lost sync all the time when I use the hardware decoder, and once I switched away from it and turned it off I have yet to lose audio sync. So, I don't know for a fact it's the encoder causing it.

I'm wondering since you said you have a VIA chipset and that is a chipset known for having problems with the card, did you update the 4 in 1 drivers?

[fieldeffect]

Originally Posted by cummings66

I don't think it's the PVR 350 causing your audio sync problem. I'll explain. I have that card, and it lost sync all the time when I use the hardware decoder, and once I switched away from it and turned it off I have yet to lose audio sync. So, I don't know for a fact it's the encoder causing it.

That's what I used to think (had similar experience with the problem going away when i turned off hardware decoding), but the fact that I have had another test machine (a P4 non VIA chipset machine) that has bad ventilation and does eventually cause loss of sync even without using hardware decoding leads me to the conclusion that the only reason that the problem goes away when you switch off hardware decoding is simply that the card gets less hot. If you do something else to make it equally hot (like stuff it in a mini-itx form factor case with no fans) the problem recurs.

I guess adding extra cooling to either the card or the case in general is the answer for the PVR-350 (all the other problems can be worked around), but the thing is I now already have a totally stable Sage system (the one in my sig with an added XCard), I just want it to be tiny and silent too (in the grand tradition of never being satisfied with anything).

Originally Posted by stanger89

Of course the newer PVR 250s and now the 150s use the CX23416, and run cooler.

I didn't know that. That gives a ray of hope, since the 150 is cheap enough to be able to buy and experiment with (my living room is turning into a very expensive PVR graveyard )

Thanks for the advice Stanger.

Nick.

[cummings66]

Well, my machine runs fairly cool and maybe that's why I don't have audio sync issues when I'm using the software decoding.

I will say that chip gets pretty hot and it does cause problems, and for that adding a fan is the only work a round available. I use a slot cooler for mine.