Capture perfectly at 720x480, frames dropped at 720x576

[funkydude74]

I've just discovered something with my STUPID STUPID STUPID computer !!! When I set the capture setting to 720x480 (NTSC standard) it captures video perfectly without dropping a single frame but when I capture at 720x576 (PAL standard) I get heaps and heaps of frames dropped . And as I'm using PAL I need 720x576 resolution but there's just no way I know of to stop the frame droppage. I swear this is so weird, why does it not drop frames at 480 lines but drops heaps of frames at 576 lines????? I'm now wondering if it's my capture card or whether it's my PC?

My capture card is:
128Mb Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4200 video and capture card with video in/out

Does anyone here use this sort of card????? And can anyone tell me if this card can or cannot cope with 720x576 capture????? Is my card a CRAP CARD?????

Sorry to sound angry but I'm just soooo frustrated and just don't know what to do anymore, I feel like I'm flogging a dead horse trying to capture perfectly at 720x576. Anyhow if anyone can help me solve the problem I'll be forever in your debt!!!

[nick1977]

Sounds to me like either your PC can't keep up, or more likely the source isn't stable enough. Easy way to test: try capturing at 352x288. If you still drop frames then it's the source material. What I do to get around this when necessary, is to capture at 720x560, and then add black borders in virtualdub to make it 720x576. For some reason, capturing at this resolution works fine. If 560 still drops some frames, try dropping it to 544, and keep lowering until it works!


<edit> Don't use 720x560, use 700x560, and add black borders to make 720x576, or your ratio will be out!


Hope this helps.

Nick

[funkydude74]

Hi Nick. My card works perfectly at 352x288 as I've made VCDs in the past but that resolution is hopeless for when I want to retain the realism effect for studio TV show stuff as it makes them look like movies due to the fact that the fields are blended together. I'll have a go at the other resolutions you specified but it might make a mess of the fields and also take away the realism of the picture making studio clips look like movies. I'll take a shot at them anyway and hope for the best. I'm now wondering whether to get a new capture card as I read some tid bit about Nvidia GeForce 4 cards accepting only up to 480 lines.

Anyways thanks for the advice.

Cheers
Troy

[funkydude74]

Just recently discovered that recording at 480 horizontal lines doesn't stuff up the fields when converted to 576 lines for PAL. I've recorded a few minutes of video at 720x480, converted it to SVCD (480x576) and put it on a blank CD-RW and played it on the DVD player and it played like the original studio video recording (not like a movie). I assume it will of course make the edges a little jagged in areas though but I can live with that. So I guess until I fix the frame droppage for 720x576 I'll have to stick with 720x480 and convert it to 720x576 for DVD.

[RoopeT]

What software is used for capturing? What codec? Colorspace?

Some more information please!

[Gazorgan]

I can't use the BTWIN8x8 drivers. They force me into PAL land when I'm exclusively NTSC. You may have the reverse of that, you have NTSC flavored drivers. I suggest an update of your capture drivers. I know it's not supposed to matter, but it can. Try a different capture program as well, like IUVCR and see if the problem persists.

[RoopeT]

I can't use the BTWIN8x8 drivers. They force me into PAL land when I'm exclusively NTSC.

Have you tried switching to NTSC with Amcap? (WDM misc utils on Btwincp site)