Quarter Circle Forward Hardware Review: Hauppauge! HDPVR

If you're like me, then you enjoy making videos about the video games you play. Bullet Heaven is just one of the many video series I've been involved with revolving around my personal game play style and interests.

I got into video editing in the summer of 2007. The idea was to create video blogs which, at the time, were very uncommon on the sites that I was a part of. My weapons of choice were a Sony Handycam Mini-DV camcorder with DV out, A Sony Cybershot 6 Megapixel digital camera with only 3X optical zoom, and all-important Pinnacle USB-710, which allowed for capture of 480p video through composite and S-Video inputs. It did its job admirably for four years, and has led to serise such as Press Pause Radio's own Bullet Heaven, which has been successful for two full seasons.

But the camera broke, the Cybershot is never charged and new, better capture devices are available to capture glorious high definition gameplay. It was time for an upgrade.

I decided on the Hauppauge! HDPVR, a choice that, while not particularly expensive isn't really that cheap either; it will cost you $230.00 if it's not on sale (and even then, it cost me $170.00 - a pricey proposition for someone with a part-time income.) It comes packaged with all the drivers you need, Arcsoft Media Extreme software for recording, a component cable (which is a nice touch since you normally have to by those separately), a USB hookup and an "IR Blaster" cable for a TV remote to be used with it. It can also be purchased with a dedicated remote.

Pictured: a sexy beast.

First, the good news: Recording in HD is a snap, though recording in 1080i requires a bit of muscle in the CPU, graphics and RAM departments. But for 720p recordings which, for all intents and purposes, are just as good visually, even low end laptops like mine can handle it, as seen here;

Not bad, not bad at all. The capture came through crystal clear with no stutters and at 60 frames per second. So if 720p is handled so well, let's see what we can do in 480i and 480p.

So, if I can record in 720p and 480p so easily - and at 60FPS, no less - how about hooking up that NES? Woah, not so fast there, hotshot, it seems as if the Hauppauge! has a problem with the older ladies.

"Listen, you're old enough as it is but jeez, you want your mother in on it too??"

After spending some time playing with the various inputs it provides - Composite, S-Video and Component - I've come to find out it isn't exactly the most optimal of devices for recording game play from systems such as the NES, SNES, Master System, Genesis or even the Nintendo 64; if your resolution going in is less than 480i, you're going to encounter an odd occurrence. When attempting to record a signal less than 480i, the software will stutter and crash, to the point that you have to close your software and even power down the Hauppauge! HDPVR itself. This isn;t sn isolated issue; many other users complain about the same issues when attempting to record from thier NES or SNES.

After thorough testing of every video game system outside of the current generation I have with composite/S-video capabilities, here is what will and will not work with the Hauppauge! HDPVR:

Atari/Coleco classic systems via VCR - No

NES - No
Super NES - No
Nintendo 64 - No
Gamecube* - Yes
Turbografx-16 - No
Master System - No
Genesis - No
Saturn - No
Dreamcast - Yes
PSone - No
PS2* - Yes
Xbox* - Yes

[*System was Component-ready]

There is one interesting thing about recording from your PS2 and PS3; You will not be able to record from the PS2 if you're playing a PSone game, though if you put the very same disc into a PS3, you will be able to record just fine.

Although the systems above will not record because of the bizarre 480 resolution minimum, they will still display through the Component out on your TV completely normally, making the Hauppauge! HDPVR ideal for connecting an older composite device to your HDTV or an S-Video system if your HDTV does not have an S-Video port, as most modern sets don't.

So the final verdict: If you're looking to record in HD, this is a good fit, though you need a beefy system for 1080i recordings. If you want to capture classic systems, such as the Saturn, SNES, NES and TurboGrafx, a Standard-definition-specific capture device such as the Pinnacle Dazzle or Pinnacle USB-710 is sufficient.