TV on Macbook: Elgato EyeTV

Hi,
I am going to university this year and need a notebook. I am torn between a Vista Sony Viao and a refurbished Macbook.
One of the main tasks I need it for is to watch and record TV.
How good is the Eye 2 software on the Mac compared to Media Centre on Vista?
Any experiences or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

I've never used any Windows tools, but my EyeTV Hybrid and the EyeTV 2 software is my only receiver for HDTV in my house. I have an indoor HDTV antenna hooked-up to my EyeTV Hybrid and I can watch 26 channels in HDTV from over the air. I've never had any significant trouble with it or recording TV shows. The folks at El Gato have always kept their software up-to-date with Mac OS X and QuickTime. They'll even direct you to a beta copy of the software if they think it will address a problem you're having. I've had three different EyeTV boxes (the very first original EyeTV from 2002, an EyeTV 200 that they gave me a discount on when my original EyeTV died four years later and then the EyeTV Hybrid I got when I decided to drop cable TV in favor of over the air HDTV) and would have recommended each one when they were current.
-Doug

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DIY Fusion drive with elgato, eyetv 3

I've got the imac 27" 2011, and I have set up a fusion drive and generally I have no issues with it.
However when watching TV (a waste of an imac i know) with elgato eyetv, it pauses every so often. Generally if you listen during this its because the main drive as reving up as its gone to sleep, I know in the system preferences I can tell it not to spin down, but that will cause the drive to eventually fail.
My questions are really to those who have a fusion drive (from the apple directly as a preinstalled build) if anyone else is running the elgato eyeTV 3 and experience anything similar?
Or to everyone else can the Fusion drive be altered so that the live TV stream gets written to the main Hard drive rather than to the SSD?
Any thoughts?

The drive will fail no matter what you do with it. That is the fact of hard drives and drives in general.
So stop putting it to sleep and stop the waiting.
No it can't be altered as that is what a Fusion drive is. The System determines what data gets written to each drive not the user. If you want to make that choice then you should not be using a Fusion drive setup.
Also with ANY Fusion drive When, Not If, Either drive Fails they both fail and you are left with Nothing. Kind of like RAID 0 (Zero).
I personally would never use a Fusion drive setup. Better to have a slightly bigger SSD and a secondary spinning drive to store data on. Like moving your "i" tunes, photo and other User/library files, Doc and Downloads, to the spinner and leaving the SSD for the OS and programs.

Elgato EyeTV Hybrid tips & tricks

I didnt know where else to put this so im posting this here. I'm looking for any tips & tricks or whatever you want to call it with the Elgato EyeTV Hybrid for Mac. Reason this being is because im using an Xbox 360 with this and i feel my experience could be much better, with quality and responce time.
I know all the Converting/Encoding whichever is all being done by the iMac so i suppose id have to live with the response time but is there anything i can do to the settings for quality? Anything you want to suggest please do, id be happy to try it and give feedback.
Thanks

There is no interface with the Eyetv to the Dish receiver that would permit channels to return. Your Eyetv is only as good as the channel the reciever is set to. In other words, your Eyetv will retrieve any channels that are not regulated by a reciever to interpolate them, ie: "Over the air" and/or a "straight cable connection" without a set top box. Whether it be a Dish network or a local cable company, any circumstance of a set top box will not be compatible with Eyetv for the lack of it's abilty to change the channels on that box. The only circumstance I have ever seen is when a viewing/recording device has an IR blaster that transmits the channel selection to that set top box and changes the channels much the same as you would with a remote. That being said, there is still the issue of that particular device knowing the IR codes to your particular box.
Your Eyetv is good for "Over the Air" and/or a straight Cable coax connection only. Sorry.
Mac Mini Mac OS X (10.4.8)
Mac Mini Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Canopus ADVC300 vs Elgato Eyetv 250 for A to D video conversion

I need to digitize several shelves of old commercial and homemade VHS tapes and convert to DVD with iMovie/iDVD and Toast (I use iMovie 6). I have looked at the Canopus ADVC300 and Elgato Eyetv 250.
Would someone comment on how these 2 devices compare regarding quality, ease of use AV synch etc. Are there other products I should be considering.
Thanks,
Bill

Cannot comment on either, BUT:
I use the Canopus ADVC110 which does a superb job - and is cheaper than the 300!
AFAIK the Elgato is a TV tuner and recorder, but not a converter to DV that iMovie can use.

Tip: Elgato EyeTV, Plex, and Mountain Lion

I'm contributing this as a tip to the community. Hopefully others will find it useful.
Let me set the scene first... I use EyeTV on a couple of my Macs, including my Mac Mini acting as a media centre (HTPC). Historically EyeTV integrated with Apple's Front Row, but as we all know, Apple killed off Front Row on the Mac a while back. Now I liked Front Row's simplicity, and I liked EyeTV's integration. After the demise of Front Row, it took me a while but I converted over to using Plex (Plexapp and Media Server). It took a bit of effort on my part, but I now really like Plex too.
I primarily watch TV on the Mac Mini in full screen, so I like to use the (white) Apple Remote to interact. My use case is Apple Remote - to drive EyeTV - press-hold the menu button to switch to Plex - watch/listen media using Plex - Quit Plex to return to EyeTV.
EyeTV still retains the integration with Front Row. When using EyeTV, press-hold the menu key and EyeTV will try to launch /Applications/Front Row. Front Row is no longer available, but I now launch Plex instead.
I achieve this by using an Apple Script application, saved to /Applications, called Front Row. That's right, I fake Front Row using an Apple Script, it simply launches or brings Plex to the front.
Now each major release of MacOSX recently has caused me to alter my Applescript a bit. I recently upgraded from Lion 10.7.x to Mountain Lion 10.8.x, and true to form I had to revisit the Applescript. Purely empirically, I believe ML changed the behaviour of EyeTV on switching.
With previous versions of MacOSX you could see EyeTV switch by taking itself out of fullscreen mode, stop playing, then launching Front Row/Plex. With ML, EyeTV appears to remain in fullscreen mode and continues playing.
This appears to be causing an issue with "ownership" of the Apple Remote events. Plex was not receiving the Apple Remote events, instead the standard MacOSX overlays (volume up/down), iTunes (play/stop/ffwd/rev) interaction was occuring. It took a bit of a leap, but I figured this was due to EyeTV remaining in fullscreen mode and retaining first responser ownership. Since EyeTV was not the foreground application, I assume it simply bubbled the events up to the OS, bypassing Plex. Also, depending on your EyeTV audio preferences (play audio in background), you will still hear EyeTV.
My solution then was to alter my Applescript. My Applescript takes EyeTV out of fullscreen mode (seems to fix the Apple Remote issue), stops the play window, then launches Plex, waits until Plex stops running, and then reverses the EyeTV commands, start playing, jump to Live, enter fullscreen
Here's my Applescript, you may copy it and use it freely, but I offer no support nor warranty whatsoever. If it works for you great, if it doesn't sorry about that but you'll have to figure it out yourself.
-------- copy the lines below -----------
try
tell application "EyeTV"
if it is running then
stop
exit full screen
end if
end tell
tell application "Plex"
run
activate
end tell
repeat until application "Plex" is not running
delay 1
end repeat
tell application "EyeTV"
if it is running then
enter full screen
play
jump 0 from ending
end if
end tell
on error
say "Could not start Plex. Sorry"
end try
---------- finish copying the line above ----------
We are going to be saving the file to the Applications folder, so you will need an admin account to do this...
Start Applescript Editor (find it in /Applications/Utilities)
Copy and paste the lines above
Hit the Compile (hammer icon) button. This will tell you if everything is okay.
Now, from the File menu, choose Save As...
Call it Front Row, navigate to the Applications folder, and set the file format to Application, click the Save button.
Test it from EyeTV.
I hope this helps...
My versions
EyeTV 3.6 (build 7031)
Plexapp 0.9.5.2
Plexapp Settings of note:
Preferences > System > Input Devices
Standard
Always Running is off (this stops Plexhelper from continually running, seems to help with Apple Remote events)
Preferences > System > Video Hardware
Display Mode is full screen

Hello Paul,
thanks for the vote. Yes I had to change the script slightly too. Here's my current version:
try
          tell application "EyeTV"
                    if it is running then
                         exit full screen
                         stop
                    end if
          end tell
on error
          say "Something went wrong stopping Eye TV"
end try
try
          tell application "Plex"
                    run
                    repeat until application "Plex" is running
                              delay 1
                    end repeat
                    activate
          end tell
on error
          say "Something went wrong starting Plex"
end try
try
          repeat until application "Plex" is not running
                 delay 1
          end repeat
on error
          say "Something went wrong whilst waiting"
end try
try
          tell application "EyeTV"
                    if it is running then
                           enter full screen
                           play
                           jump to 1 from ending
                    end if
          end tell
on error
          say "Something went wrong restarting Eye TV"
end try
I hope that works for you (it's working for me )
I did log a fault with Elgato along with a development request for them to allow the switch to any selected application (not hard coded /Applications/Front Row). I just got the standard "Thank you, we'll think about it" reply.
I don't think EyeTV is currently top of Elgato's priority list at the moment (sigh!). They've been very quite for years now. For example, there's no real additions to the hardware compatablility list (excluding their own hardware). I've been asking them to support DVB-T2 format broadcasts and devices for over 2 years, still nothing, I guess Europe and Scandinavia combined are small markets and not worth the effort.
Don't get me wrong, EyeTV is a great product, but development activity appears to have slowed.

Elgato EyeTV. How does it work?

Ok I know this isnt technically OSX related but I am very interested in what Eye TV has to offer and I would like to know exactly what I would need to do to get it to record from my Sky Digibox. Elgatos website isnt the most informative, so I was hoping someone who has EyeTV would be able to answer my questions.
Basically if i bought EyeTV how does it hook up to my Sky box and is there anything extra I need to purchase to get it to work? What is a conditional access module?
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!
1.8GHz Dual G5, 2GB RAM, 256MB VRAM Mac OS X (10.4.6) www.stuartluff.co.uk

Basically if i bought EyeTV how does it hook up to my Sky box and is there anything extra I need to purchase to get it to work?
What is a conditional access module?
A conditional access module (CAM) is used for pay per view or subscriber cards to decrypt scrambled TV content.
Unfortunately you cannot use elgato's sattelite receiver to receive sky digital.
To record your sky digi box you would need the eyetv 200, this device will accept any video source though a composite or s-video input.
You would need to connect your sky box to the eyetv 200.
have a read of ifelix's eyetv guide.
http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/5050.html

FCP and the Elgato EyeTV 250 - Recording Live Gameplay

I have my Nintendo Wii connected to my Mac Pro, via the EyeTV 250. Due to the EyeTV's current limits, it is impossible to simultaneously record and play gameplay footage without a considerable amount of lag, using just the EyeTV software. The EyeTV FAQ suggests using a 3rd party program to get around this problem....
Another option is to use 3rd party software to capture what's happening on your display - you can isolate the EyeTV video window and record, while you're using EyeTV to play.
I am still fairly new to the world of digital video and editing (first year film student), and I am having trouble figuring this one out. How do I get this working? Any help would be appreciated!
Message was edited by: MuttonChopYaz
Message was edited by: MuttonChopYaz

I don't think there's any way to make FCP do this if that's what you're asking. You need some screen capture software.
SnapzPro is one, there are others.
http://www.eskimo.com/~pristine/screen.html
Message was edited by: J S Langham

Terratec Cinergy Hybrid T USB XS vs Elgato EyeTv 250 plus

Can anyone tell the difference in performance of those two. I have started to digitise my old VHS tapes and was wondering which will make it better.
Thank you

IMac and Elgato's EyeTV

I use and old iMac G5 1.8Ghz (Mac OS 10.5.3) as a TV using Elgato Diversity and Elgato EyeTV 3.0.2
For quite a few months now I have an intermittent problem. When I start up EyeTV after about 10 - 30 sec the iMac shuts down instantly as if someone pilled the plug on it. I start up again and it does it again, then it will behave itself for a while.
I have heard of some older iMacs having a shut down problems, however it only happens with EyeTV and the serial number of my iMac doesn't fall within the region of the problematic iMacs.
It had the same problem with EyeTV 2.
Any ideas are welcome.
Thanks, Jeff.

Hi jeff Leyshon 66-
Have you tried interfacing the EyeTV device via a powered USB hub?
It sounds like that particular stick is drawing too much juice from the Mac.
Luck-
-DP

Elgato video capture versus digital 8 camcorder to import hi 8 movies

Hi!
I have hi 8 video tapes which i want to import into my MacBook.
I would like to work on them with iMovie 09, cut them, set titles etc. put music on and so on.
Earlier I plugged my hi 8 camcorder into my panasonic DMR E85H dvd recorder with built in hdd.
Then i importet them via handbrake into my MacBook.
Then i importet them into iMovie 08 an did some cutting and so on.
Then i recognized, that there where horizontal interferences in the movie.
On the dvds the video is ok!
It doesn´t matter if i play the videos in Quicktime or in iTunes or iMovie.
If i would use a Elgato Video Capture to import or a digital 8 camcorder to import the videos to my MacBook would i be able to get a better result?
Which one should i prefer - i have to buy each of them!
Would the size of the camcorder-imported videos be bigger then with the Elgato device?
Now i´m using iMovie 09.
Thanks a lot for helping me out!

Based on your comments about horizontal interferences, it may be that you are seeing interlace artifacts. The solution may be to deinterlace the clips.
You might try checking the settings in handbrake to deinterlace.
You might also take the clip you have produced in HB and deinterlacing using a free tool like MPEG Streamclip or JES Deinterlacer.
Your MPEG2 on DVD is already compressed from the original on tape. Then HandBrake decompresses and recompresses it to h.264. You generally want to cut out compression steps in your workflow whenever possible, because each generation of compression will introduce noise and loss.
You could also reimport from DVD using MPEG Streamclip (and the Apple QuickTime MPEG2 Playback Component). You could deinterlace at this step if needed.
You could certainly import through a camcorder with passthru capability. It will be DV which will be a very high data rate and potentially high quality, but it will never be higher quality than the underlying analog material. But you will have eliminated a compression step so you will be closer to the original.
ElGato products will certainly work as well. I use the ElGato EyeTV hybrid to capture from a VHS Deck, as well as to record high definition TV shows. My ElGato will capture to MPEG2, although the newer models may capture directly to MPEG4 (not sure). You would then use the ElGato software to export to iMovie in an editable format such as h.264 or Apple Intermediate Codec.

Solutions for displaying s-video signal on Macbook Pro? (2006 model)

I looking around for ways to display an s-video signal on my Macbook Pro, but i've no idea the best way to this.
I'm not really after capturing or recording the signal, but I just need a means that I can view the signal, and to be able to switch to another program running on the Macbook. (switch back and forth from Mac app to viewing s-video signal)
Ive seen a few products but they look overblown for what I really need to do like the Elgato video capture, and the xlr8 provideo usb devices.
Is there a way that I could use the DVI socket on the Macbook? I have seem its possible to display the Macbook signal on an external display using this socket, but can it be used to take an input signal?
Message was edited by: jauqq
Technical note of what I exactly need this for: I have an old Roland sampler which can be used with an external monitor to aid in its editing. The outputs on the sampler are s-video and digital RGB. So that I dont have to buy an old bulky monitor I want to use my Macbook display for this while I also am running Logic Pro 8 at the same time. And to switch from Logic, to the displayed signal from the sampler.

The DVI out on your MacBookPro cannot be used for input. In order to see the s-video signal on your MBP display you will need an analog-digital converter like the Canopus ADVC-55, plus you will need to run software. You may be able to use iChat A/V, although I haven't tried it for this purpose. It will cost you more than the Elgato eyeTV device, however.
You will find it much easier & cheaper if you just get an inexpensive LCD display to use with your Roland sampler.

If you use EyeTV and AppleTV on a PowerPC, READ THIS!

I previously posted a thread about a weird failure with AppleTV disappearing from the Devices list after installing QuickTime 7.1.6, but it turns out that the problem is more complex.
I have a 1Ghz G4 iMac running 10.4.9, an Elgato EyeTV 250 connected on USB, and a new AppleTV on wireless. After installing the 7.1.6 QT update, the AppleTV disappeared from the Devices list in iTunes, and in addition, the new AppleTV-compatible version of EyeTV's software (2.40) started freezing and working like trash.
It turns out that the problem is a bad interaction on PowerPC Macs between EyeTV 2.40 and QT 7.1.6. It is not a failure of iTunes or the AppleTV.
Yesterday, Elgato sent me a link to a new build of 2.40 they came up with after receiving reports of this problem. They indicated they had only received problem reports from owners of PPC-based Macs (my fiancee's MacBook works fine with it all) and they patched the code.
A link to this patch is here:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/eyetvbeta/eyetv24_betabuild2654.zip
Be advised that this is a beta patch, download ONLY if you experience freezing with EyeTV after installing 7.1.6 and if you experience the disappearing-AppleTV problem in iTunes. It contains no new features. I expect that this is a temporary link, but if you're having the problem now, go get the patched code. It fixed everything quite immediately for me.

Interesting. Thanks. I've been freakin' out over ATV disappearing from iTunes without warning. I assumed it was a problem with Bonjour since I have another program (Teleport) that relies on the Bonjour network and seems to suffer the same as ATV. Using Bonjour Browser I see that the ATV's are missing from the device list when they stop showing up. iTunes is there but the ATV's are not.
I'll try the patch and report back. I'm running a PPC G5 Dual with EyeTV 2.4 and two ATV's with iTunes and QT 7.1.6. The bizzare thing is if I shut my computer off at night (and ATV is missing from iTunes), when I turn it on in the morning, ATV is right there in iTunes and both units show up on Bonjour Browser. Doing a cold reboot or restarting EVERYTHING including the G5, ATV's, Airport Base Station, router, cable modem, etc., during the day doesn't help. I have to shut down the G5 and wait overnight. Then everything is back. That has me totally baffled!!!
G5 Dual 2.0 PowerPC Mac OS X (10.4.9) Loaded to the Max

I need advice on purchasing a Macbook Pro

Hello!
I am seeking advice on purchasing my very first Mac (and notebook) very soon. I am a Graphic Design student and I'll primarily be using it for running the Adobe CS programs (photoshop, indesign etc). I don't really plan to do any gaming or major video rendering. Money is an issue here and I'll have to purchase the adobe software as well. I am looking at three options here:
13 inch Macbook Pro 2011 (2.3 GHz i5, $1,099)
15 inch Macbook Pro 2010 (Refurbished 2.4 GHz i5 $1,269)
15 inch Macbook Pro 2011 (Refurbished 2.0 GHz i7 $1,529)
The main concerns with the 13 inch MBP are the display size/resolution and the Integrated Graphics. Although I have a 22 inch external monitor at home, I am hoping the MBP's screen won't be an issue when I'm on campus or if I get a job. As for the Graphics, will it be sufficient enough for Motion Graphic programs such as Adobe After Effects or Apple Motion 5? If they aren't a problem, then I'll be leaning towards the 13 inch since I would also qualify for the $100 back to school promotion. As for the 15 inches, are the refurbished models the way to go? I'm a bit worried about purchasing a used MBP that's probably been used for around a year. If the 13 inch's screen size isn't sufficient and there are little to no problems with refurbs, then I might go with the 15 inch 2.4 GHz i5. Thanks for your time and input.

Elgato EyeTV registers the following issues on: http://snowleopard.wikidot.com/start
EyeTV Lite 1.3.2 (5247)
None.
EyeTV 2.5.3 (3313) Remote control problems. Using the play/pause and menu buttons when using EyeTV trigger Front Row and iTunes at the same time.
EyeTV 3.1.2 (5237) Some users are experiencing digital audio problems; refer to this page to get a beta preview of version 3.1.3
http://www.macintouch.com/specialreports/snowleopard/slcompat.html
says version 3.2 is already available and fully compatible. It would sound that the Wiki hasn't been updated to include those experienced with 3.2. Maybe you want to submit a wiki update when you get an Intel Mac. To confirm, Macintouch is not a typo:
http://www.elgato.com/elgato/na/mainmenu/support.en.html#Snow%20Leopard
It says version 3.2 is fully compatible. Version 3.1.3 which was a beta also mentioned on Macintouch is earlier than version 3.2. That's how they go about doing versions in the software world. So barring some unforseen bug, you should be good to go with EyeTV. Use both websites listed above to determine software compatibility. Sometimes one may be more current than the other. Apple has also made a current list of compatible printers and scanners here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3669
Regardless of the compatibility, upgrading you should always make a couple backups ahead of time, in case of hidden issues with your machine. See my FAQ* on upgrading:
http://www.macmaps.com/upgradefaq.html
If you find you need a Leopard 10.5 compatible Intel Mac for your other software, purchase a used or refurbished Mac that was made prior to August 28, 2009 with the guidelines on my FAQ*:
http://www.macmaps.com/usedrefurbished.html
- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.
Message was edited by: a brody

Using my Macbook as a monitor for my telescope

Any tips for using my connecting my Macbook to my telescope and using it as a monitor for my telescope images, I have a meade with a video out, but I'm new to Macs, and am not sure on where to even start on setting it up.
Thanks

no, the macbook won't read that as an input. There should be software to utilize the USB port for the data if you like...
would be cheaper to use an old tv or a screen that has an RCA input as an input device would be over $100...
IF you absolutely want to do this, get the Elgato EyeTV Hybrid. It lets you watch TV, HDTV, record, & convert.
It also comes with the INPUT adapters so you can watch / RECORD a video / audio feed! The newest one has an FM tuner too. $150 retail. Elgato sells refurbs on their side about $50 cheaper.

Watching cable tv on the macbook

I see plenty of forums about connecting the macbook to your tv, but I'd like to use the macbook AS a tv. My buddy, who is a PC guy, has his cable (tv connection) plugged into his pc and can watch the cable channels on his monitor. The instructions I found online for how to hook this up mentioned that it doesn't work for a mac. Is this true? Is there a way to watch the cable channels on my macbook? I don't have a tv, and it seems some adapter to get the channels on my computer would be cheaper than buying one.

What might be of interest if don't want to be limited to free TV:
http://www.terratec.net/en/products/TerraTecH791101.html?premium=1
I'm using this Terratec H7 myself including payTV Channels. It's capable of HDTV reception, but this requires the additional purchase of ElGato EyeTV 3 full version; the included EyeTV Lite is only capable of SDTV.

TV on Macbook: Elgato EyeTV

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