[kakashi]

Just saw that this was ready and being sold all over now. I ordered one but am impatiently waiting for it to arrive. Is there anyone out there that has one and has some experience with one yet? It looks great...thanks

[joe]

No, but am very interested in hearing your observations / experience when you get it. It's about time we got some working PCI video cards again. The external USB and Firewire devices are nice. But I'd prefer an internal solution for my G4 Tower.....joe

[angelmb]

Hi, I have the Televio TV pci card since May, it works really nice, and this with only a Yosemite G3 350.

With your G4, it works very well, and you can record from TV just flawless, I tried it with a G4 400 Tower, pretty impresive at least for me.

And with the last software revision, the Televio soft is very good, and they really support Mac OS X, you can even use the remote control to handle the apps in your system, not only the Televio app.

There are several topics about Televio here, you can find them with a search.

My experience with Televio said this

[kakashi]

Angelmb,

Yeah I had performed a search before I posted. Yes, I saw your posts. I guess I was looking for a little more insight into it--e.g. a more thorough review. I know there was one by a german mac site, but I don't understand German. Any other comments that you would care to make on the Televio? Thanks!

kash

Originally posted by angelmb:
Hi, I have the Televio TV pci card since May, it works really nice, and this with only a Yosemite G3 350.

With your G4, it works very well, and you can record from TV just flawless, I tried it with a G4 400 Tower, pretty impresive at least for me.

And with the last software revision, the Televio soft is very good, and they really support Mac OS X, you can even use the remote control to handle the apps in your system, not only the Televio app.

There are several topics about Televio here, you can find them with a search.

My experience with Televio said this

[The Placid Casual]

I too am really interested in one... looks like a great product.

However, I am waiting for a few more mainstream reviews before purchasing...

[angelmb]

Maybe it would be more easy if you have special question about Televio in mind.

[kakashi]

Any idea if it's possible to connect video game consoles up to it and play them on your computer? This was impossible with the eyeTV since it had a 2-3 second delay before each button was pushed.

Also, how much cpu % does it take while running in a window on your desktop?

If I think of any other questions I'll ask.

Thanks!
kash

Originally posted by angelmb:
Maybe it would be more easy if you have special question about Televio in mind.

[angelmb]

Hi kash,

yes you can play videogame systems on your computer´s monitor really, I can play my Nintendo GC and N64 with the composite signal cable. It can be better with the Nintendo´s S-Video cable, but I have not it.

Here you can follow a topic I started a time ago about this, playing GAMECUBE on Apple TFT

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=164543

Running in a window it takes something between 50% and 60% of CPU, but keep in mind that this is with a Yosemite G3 350 Mhz.

[joe]

Originally posted by angelmb:
Maybe it would be more easy if you have special question about Televio in mind.

Thanx for offering I have several questions. I'd like to be able to replace my Formac Studio dv/tv with a Televio. I have no complaints about the Formac Studio, I just want an internal solution like the Televio that works in OSX. For whatever reason the older PCI tuner cards are lacking OSX support. This makes the Televio the only internal option for OSX that I'm aware of.

My questions:
1 - can iMovie capture video from the Televio?
2 - is the remote control software, hardware, both? Does it use a USB port?
3 - can you resize the Televio window and maintain the aspect ratio?
4 - can you define presets for the window size?
5 - can you schedule recordings? Are they scheduled by time and date or can you use a web site like the EyeTV and Formac Studio?
6 - what resolutions can you capture video at (320*240, 640*480, 720*480)?

Sorry if that's too many questions. If you wouldn't mind, could you add your opinion as to the good and bad points of the latest Televio software? Also, how often is the Televio software updated?

Again, sincere thanx for your observations. regards.......joe

[surferboy]

With Apple System Profiler, under PCI, it says "slot B" and "PC Card" does this mean I have a slot that you can stick this card into?

sorry if it seams like a dumb question....

[Kenneth]

I want to know more as well... in $149.. a good deal.

ex Formac iProTVRAID and Studio DV/TV user... looking forward to the Televio

[angelmb]

Sorry for the lack on info today, I was out, and now I am with my Pismo, so I will speak from memory...

joe wants to know...

1 - can iMovie capture video from the Televio?

I have not iMovie installed on my computer, so I am sorry that I can not tell you about this.

2 - is the remote control software, hardware, both? Does it use a USB port?

Both, you have a floating window and a nice hardware remote control unit, this remote control uses a port in the rear of the Televio card, not a usb port required.

3 - can you resize the Televio window and maintain the aspect ratio?

You have several options here, 25%, 50%, 100%, Other size, Full screen and Optimized full screen mode.

4 - can you define presets for the window size?

I think no, you have those options .

5 - can you schedule recordings? Are they scheduled by time and date or can you use a web site like the EyeTV and Formac Studio?

Actually not, maybe in a future, that is, this people of Meilenstein is OK for request of their customers, very nice people really.

6 - what resolutions can you capture video at (320*240, 640*480, 720*480)

yes, lot of options here, same as QuickTime due is based on it.


surferboy said:
With Apple System Profiler, under PCI, it says "slot B" and "PC Card" does this mean I have a slot that you can stick this card into?

what Mac do you have?, iMac?, I am sorry for you, but you need a PowerMac tower based with real pci slot, that is, the slot of e.g. my Pismo is pci bus based but of course I can not stick the Televio on it.


If more info is needed, just ask.

[kakashi]

Well, my televio shipped today. Unfortunately they estimated it arriving within 7-14 days. Hopefully it won't take that long, but seeing as how it is coming all the way from Germany, I don't expect it to arrive any sooner. I'll post back with a review after it arrives!

Many thanks angelmb for all the info!

kash

[Nebrie]

Originally posted by kakashi:
Any idea if it's possible to connect video game consoles up to it and play them on your computer? This was impossible with the eyeTV since it had a 2-3 second delay before each button was pushed.

Also, how much cpu % does it take while running in a window on your desktop?

If I think of any other questions I'll ask.

Thanks!
kash

Yeah, that's due to the fact that it's caching the picture for recording, thus the delay; just like tivo has a delay.

[joe]

Originally posted by angelmb:
If more info is needed, just ask.

One last question. How well is the audio/video sync? Do live broadcasts stay in sync? Do long recordings (1hour+) play back in lip sync? thanx......joe

[angelmb]

Nebrie said: "Yeah, that's due to the fact that it's caching the picture for recording, thus the delay; just like tivo has a delay."

Televio has not delay for me playing GAMECUBE in the TFT as was showed in another topic, this with a Yosemite G3 350 and a Sawtooth G4 400.


joe said: "One last question. How well is the audio/video sync? Do live broadcasts stay in sync? Do long recordings (1hour+) play back in lip sync? thanx......joe"

Recording with my G3 350 produces skips frames, but with a G4 400 (1 GB RAM, ATI 8500) records flawless, remember you can choose a lot of compression methods or just no compress it, like QT. As I was able to test several betas of Televio, there was only a sync problem on old betas, they are aware of it, but I think they go back to QT and the only one problem is, rarely, a distorsed sound, just press mute up and down tv channel and undo-mute and working again fine (that is a trick if you are playing with your video game console) I noticed this on my G3 SoundSticks but not in the G4 400 so maybe is a SoundSticks issue.

[joe]

Oh hell, it sounded so good that I just ordered my own Televio directly from Dr Bott It's backordered though - won't ship for about 2 weeks. I haven't used any PCI slots in my Tower yet, this will be the 1st!........joe

[kakashi]

Backordered? You could try ordering directly from www.televio.com. Mine said it would take between 7-14 days shipping but it shipped the next day--it's possible I got lucky because I ordered almost right after I heard the announcement of it shipping with the new software..who knows..I can't wait!

kash

Originally posted by joe:
Oh hell, it sounded so good that I just ordered my own Televio directly from Dr Bott It's backordered though - won't ship for about 2 weeks. I haven't used any PCI slots in my Tower yet, this will be the 1st!........joe

[kakashi]

So, the card arrived today. Seems pretty good so far. Angelmb, i'm having trouble getting the remote control to work. It doesn't seem to respond to any of the buttons. Any ideas?

Originally posted by kakashi:
Backordered? You could try ordering directly from www.televio.com. Mine said it would take between 7-14 days shipping but it shipped the next day--it's possible I got lucky because I ordered almost right after I heard the announcement of it shipping with the new software..who knows..I can't wait!

kash

[kakashi]

Just to give a little feedback on the card. Quality seems excellent--video quality I mean. The software itself doesn't seem as solid as EyeTV's software was, but it is still pretty good; however, I need to use it more to verify how well the software really performs. There is one little annoying quirk that bugs me. On my old EyeTV i could push the # of the channel i wante dto go to on my numpad; however, with televio the # ont he numpad corresponds to some other # system they use. It happens to be one number off the channels that I have..e.g. when I type 4(Fox here) i actually get channel 5. Something I will get used to quickly I'm sure, but it would be nice if 4 actually corresponded to the station '4'. I'll post more info as I use it more.

[angelmb]

kakashi, just try to unplug and plug again the infrared receiver. That sometimes also happens to me, Meilenstein said to me that sometimes they have noticed this and suggested to me that.

About the channels, just open the Preferences menu (note, the menu, not the app prefs) clic on Tuner and drag and drop the channels the way you want to have them, Note that once you clic one channel, a rectangle is drawed in the mouse pointer, then you can arrange it.

[videian28]

what video capturing options do you have? I have some home movies on high 8 I would like to import and edit in iMovie

[Link]

I love the idea of the card.. but $179.. not to mention it's kinda 'funky' to say the least..
nothing surprising however

And seeing it gets big picture.. that's a plus. A friend of mine said he tried one and wasn't impressed. The thing that bugs me bigtime is the pricetag.

[videian28]

considering that you can get a better card with many more functions for a pc kinda pisses me off...but hey, what for mac isn't expensive lol

[angelmb]

kakashi, Have you removed the plastic label between the battery and the enclosure?

videian28, you can import with all the QT codecs. There is a composite input, s-video input, audio input..

[kakashi]

Yeah I had done that. Actually i have my vcr hooked up to it so it's actually easier for me to control it via my vcr. Works great.

Originally posted by angelmb:
kakashi, Have you removed the plastic label between the battery and the enclosure?

videian28, you can import with all the QT codecs. There is a composite input, s-video input, audio input..

[eliotw]

Does the Televio support dual monitors? Can i watch full screen on one monitor while doing other stuff on the second?

Thanks,
Eliot

[kakashi]

After using the televio for a long time, I noticed it seemed to 'blur' when the motion was fast. Then I noticed there is an option under the preferences menu called "optimize for motion". If you get this card MAKE SURE you enable this. Not sure about the dual monitor thing. I may be able to grab a monitor to test..I'll have to check if I can.

[angelmb]

Originally posted by kakashi:
After using the televio for a long time, I noticed it seemed to 'blur' when the motion was fast. Then I noticed there is an option under the preferences menu called "optimize for motion". If you get this card MAKE SURE you enable this

Exactly, you will note this mainly with sports events, but I do not use it with e.g. movies.

Sorry, I can not check the dual monitors set up.

[joe]

Got my Televio Friday - YEAH!!! This thing RULZ!!! I love the borderless window! It took me a while to figure out how to get the video-in-dock feature to work because of the hidden buttons. But that's an excellent feature too. And the wireless remote is just too cool

I've got one problem that I hope some Televio expert here might be able to help out with. I'm getting some sort of interference. It looks like white horizontal flashes that are blended in with the live TV image. They're not fuzzy or out of tune. They don't show up in still image captures - though they do show in video captures. It's definitely not the CATV cable as that still works perfectly with my Studio dv/tv when I plug it back in. I'm guessing that white interference is why it had such a hard time finding my cable channels during the auto-scan setup though. It only found about 5 out of the 77 channels my cable company provides. I sent an email off to Dr Bott product support. They're closed for the weekend so I don't expect a response right away. But if it's something simple, maybe one of you might have seen it before.

Anyway, once I get this straightened out my Formac Studio dv/tv is being sold. No regrets on my Studio - it kicks ass and still has some unique features (like DV compression in hardware). But for what I need the Televio seems a better fit .........joe

[Uncle Skeleton]

Originally posted by joe:
Oh hell, it sounded so good that I just ordered my own Televio directly from Dr Bott It's backordered though - won't ship for about 2 weeks. I haven't used any PCI slots in my Tower yet, this will be the 1st!........joe

how did you know it would be 2 weeks? I ordered one 2 days ago and yesterday they informed me it was "Availability: Backordered from manufacturer, ship date unknown." I hope I don't have to wait too long

also, I'd be interested if you still like it as much after the proverbial honeymoon is over. I can't find one complaint about this product anywhere!

[tr]

i've been reading these televio posts, and i'm thinking of getting one, but i'm still not understanding the capture thing, maybe you guys can clear some stuff up for me. so, i can watch tv on my mac...okay. now, if i want to capture, what do i do? do i go into the provided software, and hit capture? and do i have to pick a QT encoder? and if i do capture, is the encoding done on the card, or will the capture/encoding process peg my CPU?

right now, i've got an ADS Instant DVD hooked up to my Sawtooth, which i use to basically capture shows in mpeg1/2. the reason why i like this box is that it encodes in real-time through the box's hardware, which means no time waiting to encode on my G4. i'm more interested in archiving stuff, than watching tv on the mac.


tr

[Uncle Skeleton]

from DrBott.com:

Works With QuickTime™

The video is displayed with a special Televio QuickTime™ video digitizer component (a.k.a. vdig) and thus available in third-party Mac applications such as BTV Pro. You can capture movies with every QuickTime™ codec available on your system.

I can't find anything about the native codec of the card (like if there's a hardware DV encoder or if your cpu is responsible for that), but the fact that it says "Record video with encoders provided by Quicktime" suggests it doesn't have its own encoder. Anyone know for sure? Also, does it work with iMovie?

FYI, I'd be moving up from a Dazzle (whose left audio channel at some point dropped to about 1/10 volume). I consider this a step up because of one less device on my desk and on my powerstrip, and because of the tuner (so I can turn off the VCR that I use now for that) and for the remote (which apparently works for all apps). I don't have a DVD player so I prefer to compress to mpeg-4 (3ivx) instead of mpeg-2

[joe]

Originally posted by Uncle Skeleton:
how did you know it would be 2 weeks?

When I placed the phone order with Dr Bott (US) they told me it was backordered and gave me an estimate when the next shipment would arrive. It turned out to be very accurate

'also, I'd be interested if you still like it as much after the proverbial honeymoon is over. I can't find one complaint about this product anywhere!

I've had it a week now and there've been a few problems. I emailed Dr Bott and Meilenstein and have received prompt, courteous email replies fromm several contacts. Still working on it though. This is a new product, there are bound to be startup problems. So far I don't regret buying the Televio. But I hope it doesn't take too long to work out the bugs.......joe

[joe]

Originally posted by tr:
so, i can watch tv on my mac...okay. now, if i want to capture, what do i do? do i go into the provided software, and hit capture? and do i have to pick a QT encoder?

You click on the record button, enter a filename (or accept the default based on channel number and date), and it records until you click stop. It displays the video perfectly while recording. You can also use the keyboard shortcuts instead of clicking buttons: command S to start, command . to stop.

and if i do capture, is the encoding done on the card, or will the capture/encoding process peg my CPU?

By default, the Televio captures component video (uncompressed). They average about 3.5MB/s for 320*240 and 17.5MB/s for 640*480. However, I've been using MPEG4 instead. This saves a lot of space and can be edited from within QuickTime - VERY cool. The downside is that it uses a lot of cpu as you mentioned. I have no problem capturing at 640*480 at the full 30fps NTSC with my 1.456GHz G4 Tower. It uses 90% cpu so I don't try to multitask when I'm recording. However, it also displays perfect video without dropping any frames while it's recording. I also used MPEG4 with my Formac Studio dv/tv rather than the hardware dv codec. MPEG4 is way more compressed than DV. However, with my 1GHz G4 Cube I was only able to capture 320*240 without dropping frames. I could also capture 640*480 but would only end up getting 13fps. IIRC, 320*240 captures only took about 50% cpu on a 1Ghz G4 though. So unless you're 500Mhz or less, you should be able to capture 320*240 MPEG4 easily. If not, the Televio will drop back one more size (quarter size) to 160*120......joe

[joe]

Originally posted by Uncle Skeleton:
I can't find anything about the native codec of the card (like if there's a hardware DV encoder or if your cpu is responsible for that), but the fact that it says "Record video with encoders provided by Quicktime" suggests it doesn't have its own encoder. Anyone know for sure? Also, does it work with iMovie?

I haven't tried iMovie, but the Televio records component video by default. You can select any codec installed on your Mac (presumably from QT). But those are software based on rely on your cpu.

...and because of the tuner (so I can turn off the VCR that I use now for that) and for the remote (which apparently works for all apps). I don't have a DVD player so I prefer to compress to mpeg-4 (3ivx) instead of mpeg-2

That little Televio remote KICKS ASS!!! It is too f'ing cool. You can sit across the room and switch it to full screen on the remote, change channels, volume up/down, etc. I havne't used it with other apps though I hope it can be programmed for the 8x scan forward in the Apple DVD player app

I also use MPEG4 for Televio captures. You'll need a beefy cpu if you want to capture 640*480 without dropping frames. What is your Mac hardware setup?.....joe

[Uncle Skeleton]

I have a dual 1ghz quicksilver. I think it will be enough; 3ivx is a faster encoder than Apple's MPEG-4. Otherwise I can drop to 576x432 or use DV.

I have a few questions for you. You mentioned a software DV encoder; is this a new codec provided by Televio or just Apple's codec (which has gamma issues)?

Also, what exactly were the problems you asked tech support about? and what did they say?

Thanks for all the info

[joe]

Originally posted by Uncle Skeleton:
I have a few questions for you. You mentioned a software DV encoder; is this a new codec provided by Televio or just Apple's codec (which has gamma issues)?

I assume it's an Apple codec. It appears as a drop down menu in the Televio video compression tab along with nearly 2 dozen other codecs ranging from Sorenson to Motion JPEG to none. That last one makes me realize that the Televio default "component" codec must be different from having no compression at all. There are actually 2 component codecs listed: Y'CbCr 8bit YUV and Y'CbCr 8bit 4:2:2. I forget which of those is the default since I've had it set to MPEG4 since I installed it.

Also, what exactly were the problems you asked tech support about? and what did they say?

I'm getting some sort of interference in the video. It doesn't happen when I plug the same cable into my Formac Studio. Customer support has been very professional and is on-going. I'm hoping it will be resolved soon because I'd much rather use the Televio than the Formac Studio. I have no complaints at all about the Formac Studio though - it's an exceptionally high quality piece of hardware and the software has evolved into an equally fine app. But since buying a G4 Tower I'd prefer an internal setup. With 4 PCI slots available why not actually use one The Televio is the 1st expanion I installed in my tower aside from swapping out the stock GF2MX for a GF4Ti.

Good luck with your Televio. Please post your experiences too regards......joe

[Kevlar]

What kind of interference are you getting? I thinkk I might have the same problem.

[joe]

Originally posted by Kevlar:
What kind of interference are you getting? I thinkk I might have the same problem.

There are white horizontal lines / bars blended in with the video. They're not solid white because the video shows through. They seem to scroll or bounce all over the TV display whether it's in window mode or full screen. Another factor is that they sometimes vanish briefly - but they always return.

However, there's been a lot of progress made thanx to Mellenstein tech support and (more recently) Giga-Designs. Some observations:
-installing my original dual 533MHz G4 Apple CPU board eliminates the noise about 95%.
-downclocking my 1.467Ghz Giga Designs G4 to 1.0GHz has the identical effect (noise 95% eliminated).

So things are definitely moving forward. Hopefully they'll have the problem fixed before too long. regards........joe

[Kevlar]

That sounds alot like my problem. The lines seem to move from right to left and I think they are more clear on a black screen. I though about posting a pic but the image was about 800K.


QS 733
348 ram
ATI Radeon 9000

[joe]

Originally posted by Kevlar:
That sounds alot like my problem. The lines seem to move from right to left and I think they are more clear on a black screen. I though about posting a pic but the image was about 800K.


QS 733
348 ram
ATI Radeon 9000

My 1st question would be - are you sure you've got a good signal (cableTV or antennae)? If you connect a TV set to the same cable, does it show the interference? If your TV gets a noise-free image on the exact same cable connection than please contact Mellenstein tech support ASAP. This could be very helpful in troubleshooting the problem. Especially since you seem to be running a stock G4 Tower. Right now Mellenstein seems to be concentrating on Giga-Designs as the source of the interference on my Tower. But if you're getting a similar interference with the stock Apple 733Mhz cpu, they will certainly need to know this. Are there any other changes in your QS Tower from stock? regards.....joe

[Kevlar]

I'm using a signal from my satellite dish and going through channel 3.

Looks like this:

[Kevlar]

Well I hooked up my vcr to my televio and the interference is gone....I think I'm going to buy a satilite receiver and try it a little closer to my computer.

[Arcayx]

Oh, I paid for one, so I guess I purchased it. But got nothing for the money.

So I ordered a Televio card (direct from the company) and they charged my credit card for it. I never got anything and the company would not give me any further information. They told me they shipped a "second" card, but it never arrived. This company took my payment in July and I still haven't gotten a product from them. They now refuse to return my e-mails. Looks like I got taken for a ride.
Televio - huge ripoff
Buyers beware.

-Alex Downey

Edit: About a month after I posted about my story in various places on the Internet, I was contacted again. They decided to refund my money, asking me to remove the bad reviews.

[Footy]

Originally posted by Arcayx:
Oh, I paid for one, so I guess I purchased it. But got nothing for the money.

So I ordered a Televio card (direct from the company) and they charged my credit card for it. I never got anything and the company would not give me any further information. They told me they shipped a "second" card, but it never arrived. This company took my payment in July and I still haven't gotten a product from them. They now refuse to return my e-mails. Looks like I got taken for a ride.
Televio - huge ripoff
Buyers beware.

-Alex Downey

You'll probable get both of them tomorrow. I'll buy the second one for a 100 bucks.

[-Q-]

Originally posted by Arcayx:
Oh, I paid for one, so I guess I purchased it. But got nothing for the money.

So I ordered a Televio card (direct from the company) and they charged my credit card for it. I never got anything and the company would not give me any further information. They told me they shipped a "second" card, but it never arrived. This company took my payment in July and I still haven't gotten a product from them. They now refuse to return my e-mails. Looks like I got taken for a ride.
Televio - huge ripoff
Buyers beware.

-Alex Downey

I assume you told you credit card company about this? But let us know if you ever get it...