Chipsets: HVR-2250 vs HVR-950Q?

[New2OTA]

A follow up question.

My HVR-2250 has a NXP SAA7164 chipset. Is the chipset used in the HVR-950Q a substantial improvement?

[stampeder]

Does the HVR-850 have the same chipset? I'm about to order in the HVR-950Q if its still the best thanks

Here's a comparison of those 2 products as well as the older 950:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/show...3&postcount=12

[PPL4GOLF]

Originally Posted by New2OTA

A follow up question.

My HVR-2250 has a NXP SAA7164 chipset. Is the chipset used in the HVR-950Q a substantial improvement?

Some said the 2250 is 2x1250 inside. I don't have a 2250 myself but I dig the form factor and the internal signal split.

I rank the HVR-1250 slightly above the 950Q...my 950Qs occasionally don't get 57.1 which I find unacceptable, meanwhile my Samsung TVs and 1250s are still happy.

The bottomline is they are all pretty good and you pick what's the best form for you. Any laptop usage, USB stick is the way to go. mATX mobo and need dual tuner, get the HVR-2250 for sure. No frills, best tuner for your buck, nothing but the HVR-1250 - $60-70 gets you a good tuner with a functional remote for Media Center.

[danbcman]

My email about the two cards
Yes, both the WinTV-HVR-1250 and the WinTV-HVR-2250 use the NXP 18271 TV
tuner.

Regards,

Hauppauge Sales Team

[New2OTA]

Stay tuned for an informal side by by side comparison. I've ordered two 950Q to go with my 2250. Yes 3 OTA tuner cards in one machine!

[PPL4GOLF]

Originally Posted by New2OTA

Stay tuned for an informal side by by side comparison. I've ordered two 950Q to go with my 2250. Yes 3 OTA tuner cards in one machine!

1+1+2=4!!

[stampeder]

The NXP tuner is only one part of the chipset - the more critical component is actually the demodulator because it is responsible for all the ATSC functions like error correction, multipath rejection, maintenance of signal lock, etc.

Originally Posted by danbcman

both the WinTV-HVR-1250 and the WinTV-HVR-2250 use the NXP 18271 TV tuner

Find out which demodulator chips those products use. If they are the same, and the tuners are the same, then the only real question is whether the different fabrication processes of those 2 cards (boards, assembly lines, other components) affect their performance in any way.

Don't get too focused on just the tuner, as important as it is.

[stampeder]

Yes 3 OTA tuner cards in one machine!

Hee hee... only three?!!! You're not trying very hard! How about my HTPC:

2 pcHDTV PCI cards (1 ATSC, 1 NTSC each)            = 4
2 Hauppauge 950Q USB (1 ATSC, 1 QAM, 1 NTSC each)   = 6
1 Hauppauge 950 USB (1 ATSC, 1 NTSC each)           = 2
2 Hauppauge 150 analogue cards (1 NTSC each)        = 2
-------------------------------------------------------
Total number of tuners                               14

BTW the older pcHDTV cards (with Generation 5 chipsets) have more sensitive tuners than the Hauppauge 950 and 950Qs so I prefer them, even though the latter have Generation 6 chipsets. The pcHDTV tuners are just better quality.

[New2OTA]

For the record HVR-2250 allows two simultaneous inputs but only has one Digital OTA tuner.

You can have one OTA tuner and two set top boxes connected but you can only record from:
1. Two different set top boxes simultaneously
OR
2. One OTA tuner and one set top box.

Just to clear it up if anyone is considering an HVR-2250. FWIW I'm happy with the tuner.

[danbcman]

the site states two tuners...
ATSC over-the-air digital TV features:
Dual ATSC over-the-air digital TV tuners. Supports all ATSC formats, up to the highest definition 1080i format.
Watch one ATSC digital TV program while recording another ATSC program to your PC's hard disk using high quality MPEG-2. TV recordings will typically consume 5 GB of disk space per hour for ATSC high definition.
Built-in antenna splitter allows you to make one connection to an ATSC antenna but watch and record up to 2 channels

[mlord]

That'll all depend upon the software you use to drive it.

MythTV users can use the 2250 to record two OTA physical channels simultaneously. Other software may vary.

EDIT: yes, that's two physical channels, each of which could have 1-5 different programs airing simultaneously, all of which can be recorded simultaneously with the right software.

-ml

[New2OTA]

Well the two HVR 950Q's came in. Installation was easy and I was up and running in under 15mins.

My tuners are connected to a roof mounted channel master 4228 with the Balun hack done. Preamp is not yet installed. The coaxial from the antenna feeds a 4 port channel master preamp.

My four tuners are my Sharp Aquos 42inch HDTV, an HVR 2250 and two HVR 950Q's. I did my testing on RF49 Buffalo and RF18 chch Hamilton since those are my weakest channels. The Hamilton station I can ocassionally get a lock on and the RF49 comes in but drops out every 2 or 3 mins.

Results:
The 3 computer tuners seem to be pretty equal I couldn't discern any difference between one or the other. My aquos tuner seems just slightly weaker that the computer tuners.

So in my limited unscientific experience there is no real difference between the 2250 or the 950Q that is to say they are both very good tuners in my opinion.

[danbcman]

LGDT3305 demodulator is on the 1250 wintv hvr
The signal monitor reads the LGDT3305 demodulator and displays the info at the top bar of the monitor display