Fancy sharing a HD movie of your best headshots from your console game with friends online? XBOX360/PS3 Compatible.
Product on Review: Hauppauge HD PVR Gaming Edition
Manufacturer: Haupauge
Street Price: £149 inc. VAT
Making Frag movies has been a popular past time for PC enthusiasts since the dawn of online gaming. Popular tools such as FRAPS enable the creator to record movies and using video editing software these movies can then be uploaded to your favourite video hosting site. For console users however, ripping video is not quite as easy as a console does not have this capability via software and thus Hauppauge have created a video recorder peripheral able record H.264 compressed movies in real-time from your XBOX360 or PS3 with resolutions up to 1080i.
This isn’t the first time we have seen the Hauppauge PVR however as the original PVR, while acceptable was not capable of HD recording nor was it specifically aimed at console gamers. The aptly named ‘Gaming Edition’ is designed from the ground up for XBOX360 and PS3 owners and is aimed to be easy to use, easy to setup and also comes as a complete unit with the bundled Arcsoft Showbiz software to edit your movie. One of the new features of the Gaming Edition is that it has pass through technology so there should no longer be any delay from playing to recording the game if you are watching the progress on both your TV screen and a PC monitor.
As this is our first time using the Hauppauge PVR, we will give you a complete rundown of how easy/difficult the unit really is to setup and get running and all things being well, a short movie will be uploaded by the end of this review. So without further delay let’s take a look at the specifications and features of today’s review product.
Headquartered in Hauppauge, NY, about 40 miles east of New York City, Hauppauge Computer Works has been bringing TV to the PC since 1992. The Company is the worldwide leader in developing and manufacturing PC based TV tuners and data broadcast receiver products. Hauppauge’s products allow PC users to watch television on their PC screens, videoconference and create both still video images and digital TV recordings. Hauppauge’s flagship product, the WinTV, is the leading branded TV tuner card for PCs.
Hauppauge Computer Works is a division of Hauppauge Digital Inc. In December of 2008, Hauppauge Digital Inc. acquired the Pinnacle PCTV product line from Avid, and now runs PCTV tuner products as a separate division. PCTV has their research and development labs in Braunschweig, Germany.
Features, Specifications & System Requirements
Record your Xbox®360 or PS3® game play in HD. Upload and share your best games online!
HD PVR Gaming Edition records high definition video from a Sony® PlayStation®3 or Microsoft® Xbox® 360, onto your PC in a compressed high definition H.264 format. The Gaming Edition includes a set of Xbox 360 and PS3 component video cables.
Record from your PS3 or Xbox 360 to make video recordings of your best game play. Upload your favorite games to YouTube in HD and share them with other gamers online! Or make a high definition movie of your game play to share with your friends or use it to discuss tactics with your clan members!
You can also play them back onto your PC screen, transfer them over your home network for playback on a PS3 or Xbox 360.
Amazing audio and video quality.
HD PVR Gaming Edition records using H.264 compression at HD resolutions up to 1080i. And with our optical audio input, you get amazing 5 channel audio from your game console.
The H.264 recording format is used by Blu-ray disks and exceeds other compression standards in quality and disk space consumption, providing a crisp image with amazing digital sound. And H.264 uses 1/3 the disk space compared with the popular MPEG-2 format.
With video pass through for no delay recording!
HD PVR Gaming Edition comes with real-time video pass through, so you can watch your game play on your HD TV while recording your game on your PCs disk drive. Simply connect the HD PVR in between your game console and your HD TV set.
Upload your best games to YouTube and share with your friends.
Make an HD recording or your game play, and upload to YouTube with the included Arcsoft ShowBiz. HD PVR captures videos in HD in the H.264 format, which is perfect for uploading to YouTube.
Software Included
HD PVR includes ArcSoft ShowBiz, which lets you capture, preview, playback, edit and burn your recordings onto a Blu-ray compatible DVD disc. Next generation Audio formats such as Dolby Surround, Digital 5.1 (AC-3), and DTS Surround used in Blu-ray discs are supported. HD PVR also records in formats which are compatible with playback on a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360.
Watch recordings of your best game play on your PC monitor or HD TV set
You can play back HD PVR recordings directly on your computer screen using the included ArcSoft ShowBiz application. You can also transfer the recordings over your home network to your PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, or other high definition media player.
Once your recordings are stored on your PC hard disk, you can play them back to your PC screen or HD TV set in HD with full 5.1 channel audio. Or burn them on a standard DVD-R or DVD-RW disk for playback on a Blu-ray DVD player.
HD PVR has video pass through for no delay HD recordings. Simply connect HD PVR between your game console and your HD TV set. The HD PVR Gaming Edition comes with a universal game console to component video cable set to make the connection easy.
Technical Specifications
Hardware encoder:
H.264 AVCHD video encoder
AC-3 audio encoding from optical S/PDIF (2 or 5.1 channel audio)
Recording datarate: from 1 to 13.5 Mbits/sec (user selectable)
Recording format: AVCHD (.TS and .M2TS) and .MP4 Resolution up to 1080i from component video (YCrCb and YPrPb).
Note: the video input format determines the recorded format. For example, 1080i input records at 1080i, 720P records at 720P, etc.
Size:
7.75 in wide x 6.80 in deep x 2.75 in high
Power:
5V at 2 amps
System Requirements
PC with 3.0 GHz single core or 2.0 GHz multi-core processor
Microsoft® Windows® 7 (32 or 64-bit), Windows Vista or Windows XP Service Pack 3
512 MB RAM (1 GB recommended)
Graphics card with 256MB memory
Sound card
220 MB free hard disk space
CD-ROM drive (for Software installation)
Included in this package
HD PVR Gaming Edition high definition H.264 personal video recorder, USB 2.0
5V 2 amp power supply
USB cable
Component video and audio cable for pass through
Component video and stereo audio cable set for Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3
Installation CD-ROM with WinTV v7 and ArcSoft ShowBiz applications
Quick Installation Guide
Bundled software applications
ArcSoft ShowBiz, with these features:
Video capture for recording video game play
Authoring, trimming and burning your video recordings onto a Blu-ray compatible DVD disk
Upload videos to YouTube
Contents & Packaging
The package is presented in a relatively small glossy white box. To the top of the package are various acclamations of how great this product is by various HD PVR owners. The sides show a diagram of which cable goes where (more on this later) and also includes the product specifications, features and contents on the adjacent side. The back of the package goes into fine detail explaining what the HD PVR does and how it achieves this.
Despite the boxes diminutive size, the weight is quite impressive. Upon opening the box it is clear why as there are cables galore! The inner box is compartmentalised into two sections, one holding the accessories with the other keeping the HD PVR separate. The cables however are very neatly, yet tightly wound which is no bad thing as they should reach you in perfect condition without you having to wrestle with a rats nest when trying to decipher which cable end goes into which port! There are two manuals, both fairly brief for what the product is however it is enough for the most part to prevent those head scratching moments as each guide is adequately, if somewhat briefly presented. There is also a software disk included which we will cover in the installation section of the review.
Here we can see the multi-functional XBOX360/PS3 cable which has both types of plug at the ends allowing for compatibility with each model. The component ends of the cables are colour coded to match the ports on the main unit so if the manuals are not clear enough, there should be no confusion as to which cable goes where.
Much the same as the console cable, the pass through cable which goes from the HD PVR to the TV screen is also colour co-ordinated and also labelled for ease of connectivity. All of the cables are well insulated and grouped together which should keep mess down to a minimum.
While the component cables are gold plated, the USB cable is not, which is a break away from the norm that we see these days. All of the cables in the package are of adequate length and also of good quality. I would perhaps like to have seen a longer USB cable included as this is the method by which the HD PVR is connected to the PC so unless your PC is close to the HD PVR, you may have difficulty in connecting everything up.
Let’s take a look at the unit itself…
Hauppauge HD PVR Gaming Edition
The unit itself is surprisingly small and light. Smaller than both consoles it serves and a lot lighter, it is formed with rigid, thin plastic. The top of the box has a faux brushed dark grey aluminium effect ‘lid’ while the main unit is a satin black. The unit feels fairly cheap due to the thin plastics used and while the light weight is certainly welcomed, I can’t help thinking that a steel or aluminium casing would have been better employed as an enclosure. That said as long as you take care, it should serve its purpose by protecting the components inside.
The front of the unit has a silver power-on/off button to the far left coupled with a status LED (blue on/amber standby). Adjacent to this is an IR receiver but strangely Hauppauge have elected not to include any remote control with this version of the PVR which was a shame as it is included with the non-gaming edition. To the right we see that there is an S-Video and composite ports to use if you don’t want/need/have the luxury of HD and only require standard definition recording.
The main connectivity is to be found on the rear though with a full suite of input/output component ports. Next to the colour coded component ports are optical in/out ports (no cable provided). The ‘Blaster’ port is for an infra-red remote extension (not included) and next to this is the USB port which connects to the PC. Lastly, there’s the power supply adapter port.
The unit itself doesn’t have a hard drive, a Blue-ray player or a TV tuner on board so nothing can actually be stored on the unit itself, hence the requirement to connect it up to a PC. Think of the Hauppauge HD PVR as a middle man; a tool to take video from the console and transport that data to your PC for encoding and storing. In the truest sense of the word, the Hauppauge HD PVR is not a PVR at all but a simple video capture unit as it has no ability to record video on its own unlike a traditional PVR such as a SKY+ box for example.
Let’s take a look at the setup and software installation required to capture video from our console…
Setup and Software installation
The included instructions and quick guide are reasonably written with the diagrams well labelled. The guide takes you through numerous steps to install the software and driver. If you follow this to the letter then you should not have any difficulties in setting up the system within minutes. For testing we used Windows 7 64bit (sp.1) coupled with an Xbox360 and despite my initial fears, everything went off without a hitch. If you have not used component cables with your TV it may be useful to have your T.V instructions to hand for reference as the biggest delay came from me trying it get volume from the TV. It wasn’t until I realised my error (putting component output audio cable into component output port , instead of input). Doh!
Here we see the back of the HD PVR with all of the provided cables attached. It looks a little daunting but it really isn’t rocket science as each cable is clearly labelled and/or colour coded. The one issue I found was there were two red component ports from the XBOX360, one for audio and another part of the component video. Sadly, these were the only cables not labelled which seemed a bit of an oversight from Hauppauge considering the pass-through cables were all labelled individually.
This screen is key to getting the most from your Hauppauge unit and therefore your recordings. If you have everything connected up right you will be able to select Hauppauge HD PVD from the Source drop down menu. Once you have selected your device a number of other options pop up such as the format and resolutions you wish to record in as well as PS3 and XBOX360 default settings. For ease of use, we selected XBOX360 and thankfully everything began to come alive with all options available. I should point out (as do the instructions in BOLD print that you need to set your XBOX360’s settings to 1080i output for HD recording. You can of course recording in formats lower than this should you choose.
Unlike the standard HD PVR, the gaming edition we have has a very bright green LED lid surround as opposed to blue. This LED lights up when the system is in use and capturing video. Sadly, it does not rotate, flash or glow. It just lights up when recording and extinguishes when you have finished. It’s a nice touch but other than aesthetics and showboating, there is little need for it as there is also a smaller red LED on the front of the unit which serves the same purpose of informing us of the current state of the product.
As stated above, the front of the unit features a standby (amber), power-on (blue) and function (red) LED. These LEDs are much more discreet than the green LED on the lid.
Recording your movies is simply a matter of clicking Capture on your PC and after a couple of seconds delay the recording starts. Despite Hauppauge’s claims, there was still a delay from what you see on the TV screen and what you see on the PC screen albeit only half a second or so. This was one of the faults users posted regarding the original HD PVR. It appears this has not been completely eradicated as despite my very best efforts, I could not get a perfect sync between the PC and the TV.
The recordings, both video and audio however were very good and thus I began putting my storyboard together. With all of your clips recorded it is simply a case of dragging and dropping them into the Storyboard. You don’t need Steven Spielberg skills here, just a basic understanding of what looks good and what doesn’t and of course, the story you want your movie to tell.
While George Lucas would scoff at such trivial effects Arcsoft Showbiz offers, for the average user it gives a good range of effects both in text and the movie itself along with transitions to merge one clip seamlessly into another. Adobe Premier Pro it most definitely isn’t but as bundled software it’s a great edition.
The default recordings for XBOX360 are made in Mpeg4 format but you can change this along with various other basic encoding settings. Once the video has been captured you can either store the file, burn it to optical media, or let the software do the hard work and publish it directly to YouTube (assuming you have a YouTube account). The encoding times will vary greatly depending on your PC hardware, the size of the movie and your encoding settings.
Overall, the Arcsoft Showbiz software is relatively user friendly but those looking for more professional effects and quality may wish to consider purchasing better video editing software. The program is basic and a little cumbersome at times but has enough features to get you going. The one frustrating thing I found was that the program would crash, not ideal when you have just spent an hour editing your movie only to be forced to start over!
The video above was encoded in 720p format and was created using only the Arcsoft Showbiz software. Video was captured from Gears of War 3 (full review HERE).
Conclusion
The Hauppauge HD PVR Gaming Edition is a great piece of kit for those who want to record their finer moments in game. It is easy to setup, easy to capture and (if the software doesn’t crash), easy to edit your movies to a respectable standard. We’re it cheaper then I’m sure many would be Spielberg’s out there wouldn’t mind giving it a go, especially if you like to show off your gaming skills. Sadly, the cost will be prohibitive to most gamers as at £150 it is very pricey for what you get. Sure the component cables are quality but the lightweight unit is not made from the best materials not is the software anywhere near as complete as other video editing tools out on the market. With this in mind I find it very hard to recommend this unit to anyone other than those desperate enough to want an all-in-one unit that requires the minimum of hassle to setup and use.
Herein lays the problem you see as recording gameplay can be done without the need for a PVR. A video capture card/sound card with component cables can do the very same thing, sometimes a lot cheaper assuming you already have some of the hardware required. Obviously, more technical know-how is required for this kind of setup but it is not rocket science and with plenty of internet support, is certainly within reach of the average PC user. What the Hauppauge HD PVR Gaming Edition does is make the whole process a lot easier which much less hassle. That in itself may be enough to tempt people to buy the unit. For many though, especially considering the price of the Hauppauge PVR, most people will opt to buy an upgraded soundcard and try their luck with a manual setup for the price it costs for the Hauppauge. £150 is also a lot to fork out for a unit that might not have the required input cables that future consoles will require so it may also be a little late to the party should future consoles prove incompatible.
Another flaw in the product was the input lag that is still apparent in this version. Regardless of my best efforts, I could not get the whole setup to sync perfectly so there was half a second delay between what was shown on the TV screen and what was displayed on the PC. This is despite the pass-through cables and of course Hauppauge’s claims to the contrary. The Arcsoft Software, while adequate is basic and clumsy to use. Sure you can make a half decent short movie but personally I wouldn’t like to edit anything more than a 10 minute mix of clips, especially when the software is prone to crashing halfway through!
To summarise, it is clear the Hauppauge HD PVR is a niche product but I fear it’s pricing itself out of potential sales. Were it below the £100 mark, the appeal of the unit would be much higher as despite my critique, it really is a very good product. Sadly, it’s cost is just too hard to stomach and therefore cannot be recommended unless you are the type of person who doesn’t mind paying over the odds for a simplistic and (relatively) trouble free product. For that select band of people, the product comes highly recommended as it has everything you need in one small box. All you need is a little creativity, flair and some pure ownage clips and YouTube glory can be yours.
+ Small enough to hide away
+ Good Component cables
+ Easy to setup
+ Easy to use
+ No encoding/video editing knowledge required
Cons
– Expensive for what it is
– Feels cheap and fragile
– Arcsoft Showbiz may be too basic for some
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net. Thanks go to Hauppauge for supplying todays review sample.
