Software that Works with TV@nywhere

Question

I'd like to hear from others as to what their experiences have been with 3rd party software using the TV@nywhere card. This information may help others who also own this card and would like to experiment with different software.
I own the TV@nywhere Master card, here is my experience with the software listed below. Some of this software can be trained to use the remote control with the program GIRDER. I rely on GIRDER for use with MSIPVS, PowerDVD, and Showshifter.
MSIPVS (WINDVR2) and FM Radio - Work very well. However, recorded shows (no matter what format they are recorded in) have a slight slur in the audio where the levels go slightly up and down. Also, timeshifting often causes sync problems between video and audio. The audio is just NOT steady and stable. Picture quality is very good. Not terribly flexible in recording formats. MPEG-4 support is there but it really sucks and can't be tweaked.
WinDVR3 - Unfortunately this software cannot tune my channels. When it tries to autoscan, it holds the channel for 2 seconds and drops it. This program is unusable. The remote control also does not work with this program; although I've heard there is a workaround for the remote where you can copy files from MSIPVS into the WinDVR3 folder.
Cyberlink PowerVCR - Excellent picture and audio. However, recorded shows have poor audio with pops and hisses. Timeshifting also can have some sync problems. Remote control doesn't work with this program either. Not very flexible with different recording formats.
Snapstream BeyondTV 3 - Wow, very cool package. Even has a built in channel guide that can be used in Canada. Groovy graphics, setup and options. But oh my god the picture quality totally SUCKS. The tv channels are murky and saturated and no degree of tweaking makes any difference. This program is proof that a slick package means nothing without the TV Quality to back it up.
Showshifter - Showshifter has some great options. It also has excellent audio and video quality. The only downfall with this program is that it uses Windows task scheduler to schedule recorded shows. As a result, many recordings don't work or disappear after they've been saved. If this program had a built in scheduler such as PowerVCR or WinDVD, it would be a terrific solution. On the other hand, if you don't record shows all the time, this is an excellent solution for the TV@nywhere card. It allows recordings to be created in VCD, DVD, SVCD, AVI (Divx), etc. etc. Excellent options. The program generally keeps CPU usage between 13-20% and the recording quality is superb. If you install Girder, you can even use your remote control with this program by adding the appropriate group.
IUVCR - works ok but is nothing pretty to look at. Scheduler also uses Windows task scheduler which is unreliable. Can be set up to use DIVX for recordings, etc. Functional, but not the best of the best.
SageTV - forget this program, didn't even recognize my TV Tuner Card.
Fly2000TV - Another program that I played with for several hours but couldn't get it to recognize my TV Tuner Card.
Hopefully this information will help some of you who are seeking other software solutions. If I've missed some compatible software packages, I'd be very grateful if others of you would add to this thread and provide detailed information as to your experiences.
Thanks
TVeith

Answer 1

Quote
Originally posted by tveith
Sorry for the late response.
1 - No, I did not need to do this workaround for MSIPVS. It worked fine when set to Canada. This is obvously due to the deal MSI arranged with Intervideo.
2 - No I never had to uninstall/reinstall to get it to work, it worked the first time I tried it.
Have you given Showshifter a try yet? It is the only program I've come across that has been 100% reliable with the MSI TV@nywhere card. Not to mention that it has a Show Guide capability. I should mention that I purchased the program last week and the support I've received has been outstanding.
TVeith
I tried Showshifter but I found on my system, it was not removing the interlacing, which was annoying. With my current uncertainty of whether or not the MSI card is working normal, I can't say that that problem is not unique to my setup.
The current state of my card is that, after all the jerking around I had to do to try to determine the cause of the MSIPVS freeze up, the card no longer allows itself to be setup. It no longer accepts country location, or cable signal source but always reverts back to Afghanistan and antenna. This prevents a cable scan from taking place and I am no longer able to tune any stations. I can therefore do no more testing to try to determine cause of the original program freezing problem. I don't believe that any tv tuner program using the Windows drivers will work with this card now. I would have concluded that finally the card has bit the dust except for the fact that I can use an alpha version of Dscaler to control the tuner and tune all the appropriate stations on my cable hookup. I am working with the developers to add sound support for this card to the program. The unique aspect of Dscaler is that it controls the card directly instead of using the Windows drivers. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the next version (5) being developed will use the Windows drivers.