If the program suffers from major or minor flaws, there will always be kind people who can fix these flaws for free or for little money. Computer TV tuner software is no exception.
The main differences between alternative programs for controlling a TV tuner:
- P fully Russified interface or ru
sification. - Individual settings of all possible parameters for
each channel. - On-screen display of the current time, channel number and its
names in Russian. - Ability to download TV programs from the Internet to
russian language. - Powerful Image Enhancers (Systems
deinterlacing, noise reduction, etc.) - Extended possibilities of working with steletext.
- Advanced DVR functions.
- Support for remote controls other than those offered by the manufacturer
tV tuner driver; for full-fledged work the drivers
no driver required - There is no connection to a specific type of tuner. Alternative software
supports many different chipsets, and replacing your
the tuner is new, you can continue to use the
program.
The owners of some devices are lucky - for example, the software Aver-Media can be called good, and the Multimedia Center from ATI is very good. PixelView Play-TVpro devices come with terrible software. In this case, in order not to suffer for the rest of your life, you need to download a suitable program.
In general, it makes sense to try an alternative software in any case, at least to compare the capabilities of the program and the quality of the picture, which largely depends on the algorithm by which the interlaced TV scan is converted to progressive. Moreover, in alternative programs you can find tons of useful functions.
JTV
Let's start with one of the most popular programs today - JTV. The program is designed to work with tuners based on the Bt848 / 878 chipset (AVerMedia TVPhone / TVCap-ture, PixelView, FlyVideo, etc.) and does not require a driver from the manufacturer. All JTV functions are available after pressing right button mouse on the TV window. It is worth noting immediately the fully Russified menus and help, which will be useful to inexperienced users.
When configuring the program, you first need to specify the tuner model. Channel tuning is done automatically. Then you should name the channels and select the color system for each (by default SECAM). All JTV settings can be saved in a separate file.
The main disadvantage of JTV is the impossibility of disproportionate scaling of the window (sometimes it interferes with viewing widescreen movies). Among the advantages are high accuracy in determining the frequency of the channel, displaying the name of the channel, its number and current time, russified teletext with a developed page caching system. Each function has its own key combination.
The most interesting feature of JTV is the support for working with the TV guide. It is enough to download the corresponding file from the Russian page of JTV once a week (there are programs of central and regional TV companies) - and there is no more need to look into a newspaper or magazine. Program titles and story information will be displayed automatically.
The JTVRemote utility allows you to control from the remote control not only the TV tuner, but also the WinAMP and WinDVD players.
FLY98
The second worthy program is FLY98. Unlike JTV, FLY98 has an interface customizable using "skins" - the manufacturer's website contains about 15 skins for different tastes. The program has a number of interesting functions, in particular, you can save individual settings for each of the 255 memorized channels and start FLY98 with a timer. The size of the TV window is adjustable from a 1x1 pixel square to a 800x600 pixel rectangle, you can set the display mode on top of all windows.
Remote allows you to control not only the WinAMP player and other players, but also the mouse cursor.
The program is capable of working with tuners on Bt8X8 chips from Aver, Zoltrix and PixelView. When tuning channels, you can specify the scan step. But main feature FLY98, perhaps, is the "The Fly Capture" function - built-in means of capturing sound, images and individual frames (you can memorize frames in BMP or JPG formats by timer or by pressing a key). The DVR is also equipped with a timer - just set the computer to automatic switching on in the right time (for example, late at night), and the program will record the TV program itself. However, FLY98 does not have its own capture driver, so the screen size, color depth and compression parameters are limited by the capabilities of the TV tuner driver.
bTV Professional
The programs discussed above are free (this is partly why they are so widespread), and therefore you should not impose too high demands on them in terms of image quality. Here you have to use complex algorithms, the development of which is not always available to artisans, even talented ones.
Therefore, higher-end programs are distributed for money, albeit not very large ones. For example, BorgSoftware (www.borg-tech.org) offers softwaremu bTV Professional, a personal license for $ 20. It can be issued on the manufacturer's website. On the Internet, of course, it is easy to find a hacked version, for example on the website tu- ner.ixbt.com.
The bTV program is specially designed to work with tuners based on Bt848 / 849/878/879 chips and is capable of competing with high-end TVs in terms of functionality. bTV does not have a familiar interface, all service windows are invoked using key combinations. Initial setup takes 1-2 minutes: you must select a card model and a tuner type from the proposed lists. Tuner type data (eg Philips PAL DK) can be found on the shielded receiver housing.
The program includes autocontrol of the frequency of a weak and unstable signal and a "safe" mode of operation is provided in which direct access to the computer's memory - DMA is not involved (sometimes its use leads to the system freezing). A built-in color scale is offered for fine adjustment of image parameters. You can search for channels in two ways - either on the fixed channel frequencies of specific countries, or across the entire frequency range. In our country, the second option is preferable.
Despite the fact that the interface is English, the channels can be given Russian names. For each of them, individual settings are provided. it important function: The TV tuner does not have an automatic picture correction system, so that different channels may appear differently, such as shifted or with different brightness. Sound and teletext parameters can also be set individually.
The teletext reception function allows you to select the display method: as a separate window or on a TV image with a transparent or black background. All pages can be saved in HTML format for future use.
But the most important advantage bTV - image high Quality... This is achieved through the use of effective filters and TV signal adaptation algorithms. By manipulating the deinterlacing options (combining even and noteven fields for outputting the entire frame), you can achieve an almost ideal picture, free from the effects of "comb" or "comb". You can set any aspect ratio and image scale, including full screen.
bTV compatible with most of the remotes known today remote control... A small utility btTool displays the state of the internal variables of the system in real time, which is useful for setting up programs and TV channels.
DScaler
The DScaler software video processor will conclude our review. (deinterlace.source-orge.net) This is a rather unusual product. DScaler receives from a TV tuner or other source (VCR, DVD / LD player, etc.) analog signal interlaced and converts it to progressive scan. Then it is optimized for the required resolution for viewing on a monitor or, for example, on a projector. Unlike most original TV tuner programs, DScaler uses sophisticated deinterlacing algorithms to produce high quality images. The aspect ratio of the screen is controlled automatically. The interface of the program is nothing special - a usual window with menu items. Here are just some of the main features: automatic setting channels (there are preset frequencies of the main Russian channels); manual selection color systems; switching with one key of all possible deinterlacing modes; zoom mode from 1 to 4 in steps of 2; on-screen menu displaying comprehensive information about the current state of the signal processing system; overscan mode; adjustment of image parameters, including U and V components. You can select pixel width, filters (gamma, linear correction, noise reduction), test color scale etc.
We can say that DScaler is one of the best software video processors for PC. Moreover, it is absolutely free.
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