connect virgin box to pc

[Hennah04]

Hi guys, sorry if this has been answered elsewhere, I have tried searching the forums and on google but haven't found any answers.
I have a subbed pace box with virgin and would like to connect it to my pc so that I can record programs (I don't have a vcr or dvd recorder).
I have a tv card but it only seems to produce a low quality image without sound (I have tried up-to-date drivers etc.)
Could someone tell me how to connect the box to my pc? Do I need a specific type of tv card? special adapter? Any information will be appreciated. Thanks

[TheCoder]

You present card should do the job but if your connecting through the RF cable then your never going to get particularly good results. Not sure why your not getting sound but maybe you simply haven't set the card for the UK sound system.

For better results, a video capture card that allows composite video input could be used. You'll need to select a card that matches the output and connectors of your stb (RGB, comp video etc) and also buy the appropriate cabling to connect the two.

[abu baniaz]

With regards to the sound, have you double checked what settings you have for the input on your TV card? This should normally be "Line In", the blue one as opposed o the pink Mic socket. Have you checked that the selected input is not on muted under the volume settings of your PC?

May be able to offer more help if you describe what cables you are using.

[Hennah04]

I'll double check what have been trying, I packed all the stuff up. I think I used rf cable from the stb which would explain the picture quality. Is there a particular type of tv card or capture card that would be better? I've seen dvb-c dvb-t etc. mentioned? What kind of connection would give the best quality, audio and picture from an stb?

[Hennah04]

The stb I am using only has rf or scart output and my tv card isa PCI card Pal I with S-Video, Audio In, Video-In and CATV (rf?). If rf only gives out a low quality image is there an adapter for scart to s-video? or scart to he video-in adapter?

[abu baniaz]

Hi, as posted above, your card should do the job so I wouldn't buy another Capture card until you've tried the composite cables.

The "-T" at the end stands for Terrestrial, "-C" for Cable and "-S" for Satellite.

I am using a cheapish Scart unit with the three phono sockets and the switch to select input or output. I bought the cables from Poundland and they seem okay for me. The yellow one, will transfer the video, the red and white will do the audio, but you will need an adaptor to convert it to 3.5mm.

SVHS is meant to be better, but I could never get it to work as most scart cables have SVHS in, as opposed to SVHS out. ( "Out" from STB and "In" into the capture card)

The codec/settings you use for recording will affect the quality/size of the recordings too.

[nibblitz]

I personally wouldnt bother with a capture card and faff about with different cables and such, you'll never get a decent recording from your STB doing it that way..

Why not spend a few pennies for something that'll be easy to use and do the job properly, like, Argos do a DVD-Recorder that also has Freeview built-in, its only 78 quid , although out of stock at the moment.. But most high street places do DVD Recorders for under 100 quid nowadays.. Ebay would be a place to get a bargain on one too..

[Cafe.Rcaer]

You'll need an analogue capture card, preferably one with on board encoding (otherwise the PC does the processing).

Best results, and certainly watchable, for me was from the scart (with the Pace box set to RGB output) and an RGB -> S-Video Convertor inputting into the S-Video on the Analogue card.

Then, if you're using Media Center or Media Portal or something like that, you have the IR Blaster stuck to the front of the STB, so the software can wake-up the STB and change the channel in order to record something.

Analogue cards that encode aren't cheap - still £60-£80. The RGB-S-Video converter cost me about £70 from Keene, and I spent a fair bit on cables and faffing around. In fact, I still have all the stuff, somewhere...