Channel hoping?
Unfortunately though, there is no EPG of any sort and recordings must be scheduled manually. Until very recently HTPC users could have made better use of Colossus under SageTV, but Google acquired SageTV on 18 June 2011 and as such the software is no longer available for purchase.
No tuner, but a useful interface for those with a vintage TV or gaming YouTube channel to support
Aside from the Component, HDMI and SP/DIF inputs, there is an auxiliary connector that allows the use of a daughterboard to give you composite and S-Video inputs. This, however, is not included with the Colossus so I found myself using an AV receiver to pass other input types through the Component input.
Input selections : Composite and S-Video are options with an optional daughterboard
Colossus also includes an IR remote and IR blaster system that can be used to control both the WinTV software and a set top box. Hauppauge claims most boxes are compatible as they include over 200 IR code sets, but if you find yours isn’t included, the blaster is fully programmable using your existing remote to teach the codes.
XBox moments: anything on the screen can be captured from the console's component interfacing
For those of you hoping to use this with an Xbox 360 or PS3 just be aware that using HDMI is likely to be a stumbling block, so use the component interfacing instead. Indeed, the recording quality over component is excellent, but HDMI compatibility is lacking and I would expect to experience issues with HDCP content if Colossus is employed as a PVR.
Verdict
Having tested a variety of different inputs, I am pleased to say that the Colossus delivers a recording quality very much true to the original source. Still, you'll need to perform video capture on a regular basis to justify the £140 price-tag. ®
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Hauppauge Colossus HD PCIe card
COMMENTS
Sledgehammers and nuts.
Surely you'd be better simply connecting your console to a second input on the screen, or if it doesn't have one, using a £10 HDMI / DVI switch.
Or were you referring to playing your console in a window on your desktop, which I would have thought would be an awful experience.
...missing the point.
This is not supposed to be a single box solution.
> The software was clunky
This is something that you use together with suitable 3rd party software just like you would any other video device or card. Whining that this thing doesn't come with it's own software is much like whining that a GPU doesn't come with it's own games.
The software that comes with this thing is really just to let you make sure the card is working before you try and integrate it with something else.
aren't there laws about false advertising ?
I've had a few Haupage cards in the past. None were as good as the adverts claimed. The adverts were correct, but the clever wording always lead you to believe their cards were more capable than they actually were. Their support was non-existent. Luckily I was able to sell the cards on for the price I paid for them.
So here we have an over priced card with misleading claims - sounds like Haupage
re: No HDMI or DVI out?
"Has the reviewer made a mistake? Is there not even DVI out for DVI to HDMI (which is just a connector and does support HDCP)"
You know it's not a graphics card, right? The only thing it can output (on component) is whatever it's being fed from the input - nothing from the PC. Not great not having an HDMI passthru, but not life threatening for what it's intended.
Agreed!
Yeh I bought one of those. That was my first (and last) Hauppage purchase. The software was clunky (even for its time) and it was a real git to get working. I seem to remember software updates were few and far between, and soon after I bought it Hauppage quickly moved on to their next TV card (and that was, it seemed, the end of support for the WinTV PCI). I vowed never again, and I think having seen the screenshots for this card (not particularly slick IMO) I'll stick to my vow.
Now when I consider buying either a capture or TV receiver card I try to wait at least 6 months from launch date to work out whether it's worth the outlay (i.e., by checking the forums to see just how many issues a card has and whether the manufacturer is actually doing anything to fix them). There are just too many factors that can result in problems (drivers, hardware compatibility with motherboards / BIOS, etc) and being an early adopter in this area just isn't worth the grief IMO.
