Video Asylum

TVs, VCRs, DVD players, Home Theater systems and more.

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RE: Is there a good method to record programs to a computer, then to a dvd?

Posted by Bubba on June 5, 2008 at 15:34:39:
Generally the best quality is by recording to DV format, not compressing on-the-fly to MPEG2. DV can be edited frame-by-frame, which isn't easy with MPEG2 because video is compressed over groups of frames. The downside is the staggering amount of disc space required, but with 500 gig drives for around $100, that shouldn't be an issue.

The WinTV PVR cards do a pretty good job of capturing direct to DVD-compatible MPEG2. I made DVDs of my sister's home videos that way. For what it's worth, the Hauppauge cards will capture from both NTSC and PAL sources. They're also said to be quite good at dealing with the somewhat non-standard video signal from a VCR.

If you've bought a DVD-RW drive as an add-on, (or a digital camcorder), it probably came with some usable video editing and DVD-authoring software. If not, older versions of editors can be bought on eBay fairly cheaply. (For about $40 I got a legit copy of Pinnacle Studio along with a PCI video/Firewire capture card).

For DVR recordings, you may be able to pull the hard drive and read it directly into the computer. Searching should turn something up. That will avoid losing quality by recapturing analog video.