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For some reason Amazon is posting reviews for the gaming edition or the 1512 here, which is bound to cause some confusion if you rely heavily on reviewer's advice before purchase, as I do. If you are looking for information about the model 1212 HD-PVR, make sure the review you're reading is for the right product.
That said, let me add that I've been using the 1212 for almost two years and find it indispensable for saving HD programs from my cable pvr and Roku. That is what this unit is designed for. If that's what you are wanting to do, don't let all the complaints from gamers and people who don't even have HDTV dissuade you. Hauppauge makes a unit for gaming, and the 1212 is not a gaming unit. Nor does it handle 480i very well; c'mon, modern HDTV's don't even handle interlaced SD very well when compared to analog CRT television sets. The 1212 is designed for recording HD content; it will also, however, do a great job with progressive scan SD (480p) if you set your source to display at 720p. In fact, I do all my recording at 720p and it looks great on my 55" 1080p set. The 1212 HD-PVR does record at 1080i, but I find that the higher resolution is a trade-off when it comes to picture quality; I prefer the progressive scan 720 to the interlaced 1080 resolution. Some may disagree with that, and there are arguments for both sides, but I find the flicker irritating. To me, this unit makes great 720p videos.
The first thing you need to do is go to the Hauppauge website and update the firmware, then the software. After you've done that and have the software up and running you need an HD component signal. My cable pvr has both hdmi and component outputs; if yours does not, let me recommend the Hd-View "Two Input HDMI to RGB Component YPbPr / VGA 2x1 Switch Converter Support 5.1CH Surround Sound" sold here on Amazon for well-under 100 bucks; it is the best converter you can buy next to the $250 HD-FURY PRO (that can only be bought from overseas). Beware of cheaper converters that off-set the image and/or produce artifacts and color shifts. Some reviewers have complained that the 1212 doesn't support hdmi, but that is for good reason. If you try to record video via hdmi you will get garbage. Hdmi is designed to prevent recording of content, what the industry calls "piracy", due to the hdcp protocol built into the hdmi interface. The Hd-View converter includes an optical digital audio interface, which you will want to use if you want AC3 digital 5.1 audio in your recordings (it also has a 2 channel analog stereo output as well).
Now that you have your video displayed in the TME capture program, select your container. I've found the best choice to be TS. It is easily edited and works with MultiAVCHD if you are planning to burn to DVD-R or BD-R. Then go into the video preferences and select a bitrate. The choice you make will be a determination based on video quality vs disk space or desired file size; the higher the rate, the larger the file size. A good place to start is around 8 Mbps. Record five minutes and see if the quality is where you want it. Transfer the file to a thumb drive and view it on your tv if you want to be sure. How about file size? If the video is to be an hour, multiply the size of the file by 12 to get an idea of the space required. The 1212 will record at up to 13.8 Mbps (h264, MAIN profile, at L4.0). I find 8 or 9 Mbps constant-bitrate to be perfectly acceptable for most television programming. I have also used 13.8 with a variable-bitrate, which works well for programs that don't have a lot of action scenes; the filesize is small and the quality is good. Again, it's all a matter of preference and what you find acceptable. You can set the recording time within the program as well so you don't have to babysit the process.
Once you've made your recording, you can trim the start and end points & cut out any commercials quite easily, without re-encoding, using a number of programs designed for that purpose. The best program I've found is Smart-Cutter by FameRing. It is fast, easy to use, and stable; it also allows cutting at any frame (called "frame-accurate editing") and works without lengthy re-encoding. Avidemux is another good editor now that the bugginess of h264 decoding has been ironed out. The program requires you to cut only at I-frames, however, so you will not enjoy the frame-accuracy that Smart-Cutter provides. For the latest 64bit version of Avidemux go to the "nightly builds" download area.
This is just a quick overview to get you started and clear up some confusion you might have due to conflicting reviews. My setup includes a 4X2 hdmi matrix switch which allows me to watch a dvd or Roku while recording off my cable box with the Hd-Pvr simultaneously. That way I don't have to sit there and watch something I've already seen but want to keep. It frees me to watch something else while recording.
I think the 1212 is a great recorder at this price. I tried a couple cheaper ones and they were crap, to put it bluntly. The cheaper ones require your cpu to do all the work and result in choppy and unpredictable results. The 1212 doesn't require more than a Core3 laptop for great results. Five stars, definitely.
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Product information
| Product Dimensions | 13 x 8 x 3.75 inches |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 1.2 pounds |
| ASIN | B0018LX0DY |
| Item model number | 1212 |
| Batteries | 2 AAA batteries required. (included) |
| Customer Reviews |
4.3 out of 5 stars |
| Best Sellers Rank |
|
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Date First Available | April 29, 2008 |
| Manufacturer | HAUPPAUGE |
| Language | English |
Warranty & Support
Product Warranty: For warranty information about this product, please click here. [PDF ]
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All it takes is research, parts, and knowledge for this product
I've had the original HD PVR for 5 years now. Well everyone needs to understand regarding compatibility, whether its modern consoles, retro consoles, VCRs, or Digital TV. Let's breakdown the facts. HD PVR is a high-def capture card with Component, Composite, and S-VIDEO Input. It's bundled with several accessories such as the AC Adapter, USB Printer Cable, Installation Disc to name a few. Compatible displays are 480i~480p for NTSC, 576i~576p for PAL, 1080i and 720p. Nowadays this is how I want you to setup your HD PVR. Never use the installation disc that came with the HD PVR, you need to download and install Hauppauge Capture from the manufacturer website while it's turned ON and plugged to USB 2.0 (or 3.0) port because it still works on Windows 8.1. Will it work on Windows 10 next month? You might need a Video Distribution Amplifier (Component, Composite, S-Video?) and its AV cables for a few reasons, you don't have to use the Component Video output on the back HD PVR because what if you have technical problems with your TVs? What if you still don't have an HDTV? Connect a video cable (hooking up a PS2, Gamecube, Wii, Wii U, PS3, cable/sat provider) to the distribution amplifier before you connect two more to the TV and HD PVR. That's the way setups should be. However, if you're going to hookup a PS2 to the HD PVR, beware that not all PS2 games are 480i because I've seen a few games that uses 240p in some parts of the game, WWE SmackDown SYM and Namcollection are some of the examples but it'll handle PS2 games fine but not PS1 due to the 240p resolution. Speaking of retro game consoles, you need a used DVD Recorder because it's also an 480p upscaler if I'm gonna record some gameplay footage of the old NES, N64, Super Famicom, Mega Drive, there's already Youtube tutorials for that.
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2013
- Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2011
Top reviews from other countries
- JoeReviewed in Canada on August 27, 2012
Finally, a product that works to my expectations
- NukemasterReviewed in Canada on July 5, 2014
Working good for me so far. Easy to setup.
- BARTHELEMI jmReviewed in Canada on March 31, 2016
I was most pleased with this converter
