Yeah but it uses the same chip that's in all those HalfPCI cards that come in things like the Asus Digimatrix and and some Sony Vaio desktops et al and some free software anyone can d/l...what makes it so good?David Pluggedin said:just for reference we have a capture card that is perfect for this, and uses RGB for best picture quality. See www.pluggedin.tv/sweetspot for more information.
best wishes.
I was referring to the Philips SAA7118. And my gut feeling is they'll be everywhere soon. I think your card is a goodthing(tm) in terms of hardware, but just using dscaler leaves a lot to be desired -- I'd prefer to reduce quality somewhat to y/c and use a Hauppage-based PVR for the ability to do timed recordings, have a remote control, etc.Alex Simon said:Well, the Philips SAA7118 chip is doing all the A to D work on SweetSpot. That has a fantastic reputation and is a "best in class" product. The Conexant Fusion BT878A which I think you are refering to is there to create maximum compatability and does no conversion at all. It simply interfaces with the WDM drivers and/or DScaler in the best way possible. This is to provide compatability with all your favourite PVR applications.
But the main reason why SweetSpot outperforms other cards is the quality of the components. The soldering/connectors/board layout/etc are all of the highest quality. The manufacturers of the card are a Home Theater company and also produce high-end video scalers.
The other reason why it can outperform other cards is that it is the lowest priced card to feature RGBS and Component inputs. RGBS is particularly interesting to SKY users as the only alternative on many boxes is lowly old Composite.
There is plenty of discussion on SweetSpot on www.avforums.com should you require further info
Hope that helps
Alex