Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Post EyeTV 250 Screenshots?

ronni3 said:
Joony -

I have been trying to figure this one out but have yet to get any answers. Since you live in the Chicago area, could you more or less tell me what channels you have been able to get using the TVMini HD through your schools cable line.

I plan on getting this, eventually, and want to be sure it will be worth my money.
Click to expand...

I go to school at UIUC, and they have Insight cable down there. Through QAM, I am able to get Fox, ABC, NBC, NBC Weather, PBS, and Tube. CBS is supposedly comming soon! I would get a few more channels (CBS, CW) if I put an antenna up, but it wouldn't be worth it.

Back in Chicago for antenna, I get a ton of channels. Take a look:
 

Attachments

  • Picture 1.png
    Picture 1.png
    36.3 KB · Views: 95
FireArse said:
I couldn't agree more. Do they still have analogue broadcasts on? Where in the frequency table are they broadcasting it? I know London had a trial recently - but I wasn't able to onto it for testing.

Only other way is to download while you're at work, and watch the TV/Mac when you're at home.

F
Click to expand...

Don't you Brits have some DVB thing for free digital TV?

Good ole ATSC :)
 
These are all digital channels, so they're fairly crisp even if it's not HD.

At minimum, they are all 480i.

During primetime, all the major networks broadcast something in HD.

That would be CBS2-HD, NBC5-DT, WLS-HD, WGC, WTTW, WCIU-TV, WFLD-DT, and WPWR-DT.

WTTW is 720p 24/7 :)
 
Only one person has an EyeTV 250 to give a screenshot (poorly jpeg'd to make it look terrible)?

Anyone care to share a screenshot that isn't severely compressed beyond recognition?
 
TheSpaz said:
Only one person has an EyeTV 250 to give a screenshot (poorly jpeg'd to make it look terrible)?

Anyone care to share a screenshot that isn't severely compressed beyond recognition?
Click to expand...

I don't know why you gotta call me out like that. :)

My feelings are too hurt that I cannot possibly post another image.
 
why is everyone overlooking the eyetv hybrid. Its cheaper than the other two tuners mentioned, and ever review i've read about it has been stellar. It even integrates with the apple remote so you don't need to use another one.


I know that once I get my mac mini, i'm getting the hybrid to use as a dvr.
 
zioxide said:
why is everyone overlooking the eyetv hybrid. Its cheaper than the other two tuners mentioned, and ever review i've read about it has been stellar. It even integrates with the apple remote so you don't need to use another one.


I know that once I get my mac mini, i'm getting the hybrid to use as a dvr.
Click to expand...

I can't answer for anyone else, but for me, the reason I'm not getting a hybrid is because of the lack of QAM. For me, that's the deal killer.

ElGato had a great device that did ATSC and QAM, but they discontinued it and sort of replaced it with the Hybrid. However, they replaced the QAM with NTSC. For me, recording NTSC is easily accomplished with my VCR. I don't need a PVR for that. I want HDTV recording abilities.

I guess I could go with the Hybrid's ATSC tuner and use an antenna, but it's much easier and more consistent to use a QAM tuner.

Other than finding an EyeTV 500, the Miglia HDTV mini is the only other Mac product that does QAM.

Personally, I don't have anything yet. I'm waiting for the Macworld Expo and CES to see what new products are introduced.

ft
 
iKwick7 said:
I don't know why you gotta call me out like that. :)

My feelings are too hurt that I cannot possibly post another image.
Click to expand...

That's not calling you out... it's just... I tried asking for a screenshot to see the "quality" of the video you can get with this device but, then you compressed your image down and made it un-realistic to get an idea of the quality that you're getting.

I'm sorry if that was hurting your feelings. That's like if I politely asked for a brand new piece of paper and then you folded it up a few times, creased it, and then handed it to me... it doesn't make any sense.
 
ftaok said:
I can't answer for anyone else, but for me, the reason I'm not getting a hybrid is because of the lack of QAM. For me, that's the deal killer.

ElGato had a great device that did ATSC and QAM, but they discontinued it and sort of replaced it with the Hybrid. However, they replaced the QAM with NTSC. For me, recording NTSC is easily accomplished with my VCR. I don't need a PVR for that. I want HDTV recording abilities.

I guess I could go with the Hybrid's ATSC tuner and use an antenna, but it's much easier and more consistent to use a QAM tuner.

Other than finding an EyeTV 500, the Miglia HDTV mini is the only other Mac product that does QAM.

Personally, I don't have anything yet. I'm waiting for the Macworld Expo and CES to see what new products are introduced.

ft
Click to expand...

I have a question, because maybe i'm a bit confused. If I had a digital set top box to do the tuning, and fed that in using component cables to an eyeTV 250, I would not be able to display or record the HDCP encoded channels, right, as the eyetv doesn't support HDCP (and every step in the chain needs HDCP), right? Never mind, I realize now that the 250 won't do hdtv anyway.

thanks.
 
this is all confusing even after reading the entire post.

what would you reccomend to get if I just wanted to get cable, digital cable (as most apartments only have cable hookups) and having an input for vcr, camcorder and maybe a satillite box(when at parents)

pretty much I want to watch everything i could on a tv without having a tv (as I cannot really justify getting one just yet)....scifi, discovery, espn, etc

Also in addition to the above, can any solution do all that and be able to let me hook up say an n64 or 360 so I can use my monitor or do these all have lag issues?

many thanks as well
 
dukebound85 said:
this is all confusing even after reading the entire post.

what would you reccomend to get if I just wanted to get cable, digital cable (as most apartments only have cable hookups) and having an input for vcr, camcorder and maybe a satillite box(when at parents)

pretty much I want to watch everything i could on a tv without having a tv (as I cannot really justify getting one just yet)....scifi, discovery, espn, etc

Also in addition to the above, can any solution do all that and be able to let me hook up say an n64 or 360 so I can use my monitor or do these all have lag issues?

many thanks as well
Click to expand...

EyeTV Hybrid, it does HDTV if you have an antenna, or analog cable. Also has inputs fo s-video and composite (yellow), without any lag.
 
Joony said:
EyeTV Hybrid, it does HDTV if you have an antenna, or analog cable. Also has inputs fo s-video and composite (yellow), without any lag.
Click to expand...

when looking at the comaprison to the 250, it says it can connect to vcr and camcorders but then another comparison says it cant convert vhs tapes to digital files. it seems that if you san connct the vcr, you could make the file. is that right


also I have heard about slingbox. how does that compare to this with those that have tried it?
 
Just an update:
I received the EyeTV 250 last night and I think it's great! This is one of the coolest Mac hardware devices I've used in a while. The quality is very good on most of the lower channels and some of the higher channels but, a lot of channels (the higher ones) come in very very fuzzy/noisy. I think it's the very very old (4 way) splitter I'm using. I'm wondering now if the splitters of today's day-and-age are a lot better and give out a better signal. As a test, I unhooked the main cable going into the splitter and connected it directly to the EyeTV 250 and all channels came in virtually fuzz/noise free.

Does anyone have any recommendations on what type of splitter to use? I need at least a 3 way (one in and 3 out). Thanks!
 
Regal 3 Way splitters on eBay. These are what cable installers use.

Also, your cabling might be an issue too. Make sure you're at least using RG6 (or RG6 quad shield if you want even better), rather than the old RG59. Having proper fittings is another thing to keep in mind, compression type connectors are the best, compared to crimp and screw on (eww).

EyeTV is awesome!
 
fall3n said:
looks good. The eyeTV 250 also has an HDTV antenna option. Anyone know if Vancouver, BC gets HDTV airwave broadcast? One thing, the Miglia doesn't have "game mode" does it?
Click to expand...

Can anyone explain to me where I get this "HDTV antenna" option for the EyeTV 250. Everywhere that I see says that the EyeTV 250 does not support HD content. Is this true? If I can get an HDTV antenna, where do I get it and how much are they?
 
TheSpaz said:
Can anyone explain to me where I get this "HDTV antenna" option for the EyeTV 250. Everywhere that I see says that the EyeTV 250 does not support HD content. Is this true? If I can get an HDTV antenna, where do I get it and how much are they?
Click to expand...

There is no such thing as an HDTV antenna. All of the OTA stuff, analog and digital, use the same range of frequencies. So if you have an antenna that works for analog, it'll work for digital.

Now, the EyeTV 250 does not do digital, therfore, it does not do HD. No antenna in the world will change that. You'll need something with either an ATSC or QAM tuner. ATSC is for digital OTA and QAM is for digital cable.

Look at the new Miglia TVmini HD+. It does all three, NTSC/ATSC/QAM. Wait, they haven't updated their website yet.

ft
 
ftaok said:
There is no such thing as an HDTV antenna. All of the OTA stuff, analog and digital, use the same range of frequencies. So if you have an antenna that works for analog, it'll work for digital.

Now, the EyeTV 250 does not do digital, therfore, it does not do HD. No antenna in the world will change that. You'll need something with either an ATSC or QAM tuner. ATSC is for digital OTA and QAM is for digital cable.

Look at the new Miglia TVmini HD+. It does all three, NTSC/ATSC/QAM. Wait, they haven't updated their website yet.

ft
Click to expand...

Okay, just as I thought. Thanks. I still really really like my EyeTV 250. I did a little extra research today and found out that my area only gets like 2 free-to-air HD channels and the signal strength is pretty weak. So, I feel like I made the right choice now.
 
Slingbox AV

Just thought I'd share a screenshot of the Slingbox AV at work. Enjoy!
 

Attachments

  • Slingbox Video.JPG
    Slingbox Video.JPG
    45.2 KB · Views: 100
im confused. lol, im in chicago and have basic concast cable, no digital etc. so if i want to connect to that and get ota HD (basic cbs,nbc,abc,wgn,fox etc) what do i need?

thanks.

keith

edit, i didnt see the Miglia TVmini HD+ post til after i posted, is this what im really wanting? i googled it and saw that its cable ready and ota hd and the unencrypted digital. it seems that this is what im really looking for.
 
Does anyone know how video games look on the 250? Would it be useful to use hardware encoding as in better picture quality (if you have a 1.5 ghz PB with 1 gig of ram) than non-hardware encoding? I am usin the Hybrid right now and the cable and video game play does not have decent res at all.

Edit: Is the res affected much if you are recprding whilst on hardware encoding like it does when using processor power?
 
VicRattlehead said:
im confused. lol, im in chicago and have basic concast cable, no digital etc. so if i want to connect to that and get ota HD (basic cbs,nbc,abc,wgn,fox etc) what do i need?

thanks.

keith

edit, i didnt see the Miglia TVmini HD+ post til after i posted, is this what im really wanting? i googled it and saw that its cable ready and ota hd and the unencrypted digital. it seems that this is what im really looking for.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing that Comcast in Chicago does indeed have digital cable and HD. With a QAM device, you would receive any digital channel that Comcast doesn't encrypt, as you've pointed out.

If you check out avsforum.com and the check out the HDTV broadcast forum, you can see what others in Chicago can get through Comcast. Keep in mind that Comcast doesn't make it easy to find the unencrypted channels and they tend to move them around every so often.

ft
 
I can verify that Comcast in Chicago has most major local channels unencrypted!

I was watching the Bears-Packers game on new years eve on buddy's Sony TV that did QAM :)

Channel surfed a bit and found quite a bit more channels.

Go for it!
 
Mac-Jack said:
Does anyone know how video games look on the 250? Would it be useful to use hardware encoding as in better picture quality (if you have a 1.5 ghz PB with 1 gig of ram) than non-hardware encoding? I am usin the Hybrid right now and the cable and video game play does not have decent res at all.

Edit: Is the res affected much if you are recording whilst on hardware encoding like it does when using processor power?
Click to expand...

Anyone know or can contribute anything?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back