eyeTV

Not sure if this is the best place to post this question but here goes.

I'm using an Intel Mini as a media hub in my living room and got the eyeTV hybrid to start recording TV to it.

The picture quality, however, is lousy. It's okay more or less but in patches it gets extremely pixilated. The sound keeps going, though, no problem.

When I export TV shows to iTunes the picture quality improves, more or less, but the show seems sped up and the sound is compacted. That's the best way I can describe it. Last night, for example, it sounded like they were dropping every other word of dialogue.

I'm in the process of experimenting and figuring out what's wrong with it, adjusting preferences, etc. Any advice, tips, help would be greatly appreciated!

Oh, random stats:
eyeTV hybrid with most recent software (2.2, I think)
Mini has 512 RAM, 80gig hard drive, with external 500gig drive
Core Duo Intel processor, all software up-to-date

power book, iMac (PPC), Mini (Intel), Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Posted on May 13, 2007 9:28 AM

22 replies

VobidoV

Level 1

0 points

Jun 5, 2007 6:11 PM in response to Patrick Ellis1

OK. I have been in contact with both Miglia and Elgato in regards to this problem. I am working with their support teams to figure this out.

I am using the Miglia TVMax with my iMac 24" and am suffering problems I think are synonymous with what is described above. When I open the program, the image displayed is normal, but as I watch, over the course of either minutes or hours, the image becomes progressively more pixelated with what I can best describe as a digital interference. This happens whether the program is being recorded or just watched live.

I am going to try to reinstall the 2.3.3 version of the EyeTV program and see if that resolves the issue. I am severely discomforted by this issue because this set up is my only form of TV in the household. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You

iBook G3 14" 30G Airport, 24" iMac Core 2 Duo, 5g 30G iPod (black) Mac OS X (10.4.9) EyeTV Max

MBKB

Level 1

4 points

Jun 11, 2007 1:00 PM in response to dr.scott

You need more RAM.

RAM is very cheap right now.

You can pick up 2GB (2x1GB) for ~$70, shipped.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208314

for example.

It is the single best investment you can make. Everything will be faster.

Jun 15, 2007 10:25 AM in response to Patrick Ellis1

Hi Patrick et al:

Thanks for the positive note, I did try to upgrade my RAM in the Mac Mini and I still noticed the same issues that were pertinent before. There were intermittent sound "surges" a little crackle here and a little pop there. It doesn't matter how much RAM I put in the machine.

That said, I also notice that this problem persists more so when the machine has been on longer. The only other thing I can think of is radio interference like our baby monitor? We also have an AirPort Express about 5 feet away from the machine, but other than that... I don't know? Thoughts... anyone? Thanks in advance.

- Jay

AngieM

Level 2

350 points

Jul 19, 2007 12:29 PM in response to Jason Trainer

I get the poping too - very annoying. I don't think it's down to poor signal coz I get it when backing up DVD's plugged in from a DVD player (not the internal DVD) and the signal from that would be strong. I've just ordered some extra ram to see if what the others say holds true. (after all my mini is only a solo with 512 Ram). I haven't noticed it when recording from TV. So it could be interference as others have suggested.

CraigRu

Level 1

51 points

Sep 6, 2007 10:21 AM in response to AngieM

Thanks for sharing lots of information in this interesting thread. I began thinking about EyeTV recently, searched and found your discussion, and have posted new threads in two forums, Apple QuickTime (not much happening so far) and AudioVisual Science (with one helpful poster):
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1109613
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11537727

So if you're still subscribing to your original thread, and you have anything to add in it or in either of these two new threads, your help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Craig

Link69

Level 1

0 points

Oct 9, 2007 9:49 AM in response to dr.scott

Hi,
I just bought the eyeTV thing, and I can't open the application.
It is strange, because I have two users in my computer and in one it worcks and on mine it just doesn't open.
Please help!!

Oct 10, 2007 5:34 AM in response to dr.scott

Having read all the replies, I think there are two possible main causes.

1. Poor reception, often computer TV tuners are less forgiving of weaker signals than a real TV.

2. The Mac is struggling to do the analogue to digital conversion in software. I am making the assumption that you are using analogue rather than digital TV.

If your Mac really has only 512MB of RAM then this is certainly the first thing you should address. I would go all the way to 2GB.

Elgato say an Intel Mac should be able to do the software analogue to digital conversion, but they are probably assuming you have a decent amount of memory.

Based on my own experiences, the hard disk speed will not be a problem, and as long as there is enough memory a Mac mini CoreDuo is fast enough (for digital TV). I don't use analogue TV so I cannot comment on that.

The current Elgato model that best does analogue is the new 'EyeTV 250 plus' this includes a dedicated processor for doing the analogue to digital conversion so your Mac does not have to do it itself in software. See http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyetv250

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