[King_Rat]

I have been looking at three different formac video converters: the Studio DV, the Studio TVR, and the Studio DV/TV. I know that the DV is a converter which converts analog to digital and digital to analog at 720 X 480. The TVR is the same thing, except that it has a built in TV tuner. However, I am not sure if the DV/TV is a different name for one of the above products, or if is is something different. Does anyone know what the Studio DV/TV is? Thank's

[zoid]

As far as i know, the DV/TV is the predecessor of the TVR. I think it's got an older firmware with less features and a silver casing instead of a white one.
So i would recommend the TVR because it should have less bugs.

[Diggory Laycock]

There are two models - the DV (no tuner) and the DV/TV (includes TV/Radio Tuner)

Studio TVR is the name of the PVR software that Formac provides for the DV/TV model.

[Kenneth]

Originally posted by Diggory Laycock:
There are two models - the DV (no tuner) and the DV/TV (includes TV/Radio Tuner)

Studio TVR is the name of the PVR software that Formac provides for the DV/TV model.

Right. I used to own the Formac Studio DV/TV (silver case) back in 2001 with my TiBook/400. It was good. I like the 720x480 format tho. Now, I have the Televio/AlchemyTV since it can fit inside my PowerMac.

[King_Rat]

Thank's. That partly explains my confusion. BTW, when did the current DV/TV come out? I currently have one that has a white case and copyright sticky on the bottom that reads 2000 / 2001. I got it used, so I am trying to figure out if I have the current model, or an older one.

Also, do any of the other video capture devices give the full 720 X 480 resolution? When I looked at some of them they spent most of the time bragging about the TV features without telling me what resolution they ran at.

[joe]

Originally posted by Diggory Laycock:
There are two models - the DV (no tuner) and the DV/TV (includes TV/Radio Tuner)

Studio TVR is the name of the PVR software that Formac provides for the DV/TV model.

You're right. However, some of the confusion is because the dv/tv model was discontinued and replaced by the TVR model. So Studio TVR is currently the name of the software for both versions - but also the name of the current hardware.

Also - there are 2 major differences between the dv/tv and tvr hardware. The dv/tv includes a Radio and TV tuner while the TVR only has a TV tuner. And the TVR is suppose to have an improved hardware DV codec vs the older dv/tv. Personally, I never got much use out of my dv/tv radio tuner. Formac only supported it in OS9 - though Vidi (awesome 3rd party software) supported it in OSX.

I sold my dv/tv a while back but miss it. I'm trying to decide whether to get a TVR or maybe the new EyeTV 200. I'm leaning towards the EyeTV200 which has all the advantages of the TVR but with MPEG2 compression instead of DV. Of course that could be a disadvantage to some since using DV allows the TVR (and dv/tv) work with iMovie and iDVD. But going direct to MPEG2 should be a major time saver if you plan to make video DVDs. Both products are going to be much higher quality than the USB TV tuners. regards.......joe

[Volanges]

If you have bought a used unit it may not be very compatible with iMovie 3.

Formac ran a firmware update program a year ago on the pre-TVR units (the DV/TV) for all people with firmwares below 1.06

They still show this information in their FAQ section:
http://www.formac.com/p_bin/?cid=hel..._studiodvtv_up

You may not be able to access that link if you're not logged in. I'm not sure why they do that. Anyway, if you look under preferences/TV-FM tuner info (like joe says above they stopped the FM tuner capabilities with TVRs yet there it is in preferences anyway -- ha ha) then you can see what firmware you have. If your unit isn't upgraded you will have audio hissing when you use it with iMovie 3 (anyone here used their TVR with the newest iMovie? I don't own it yet).

[King_Rat]

Thanks! I currently don't have iMovie 3, but I may someday get it. If I do this may save me a lot for trouble.