tell me your opinion which is the best capture card

[rg_add]

Hi, I looking for good capture card for PC P4, I want buy this but I not sure which capture card is the best for prepare video material for DVD?
Ofcourse I interesting universal card - this mean analog/digital I/O etc.
If you have good expirence with own card, tell me about.
best regards - rg_add

[FulciLives]

If you have the money get a Canopus ADVC-100

You can actually get even slightly better quality out of other cards but most other cards will have some sort of A/V sync problem.

THAT can be a nightmare to deal with.

No such problems with the Canopus ADVC-100

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[oldsparky66]

I use both an Nvidia with VI/VO and an ATI TV WONDER PRO. Your capture software is nearly as important as your card and you should consider how you will be encoding the video.
I have no dropped frames and I dont have any audio-video sync problems and I capture an mpeg2 at 720x480 resolution.The NVidia composite input has a clean and crisp look but the ATI does also and when you add the use of the optional filters with the ATI setup it works in somecases better on older vhs-dvd video conversions.
If you choose the ATI you will need to apply a HYPER-THREADING patch for the capturing to work stable and correctly. Other than that both cards work well and I would recommend either one.

[SatStorm]

You are in Poland, so you are PAL

Canopus is expensive but excellent (based on the reports of the users). I don't know if you can handle it (based on the salaries you have there)

If you need a lower cost solution, then try to find a second hand Asus 7700, or Asus 6800 card.
They are nvidia based , with excellent picture quality and fair support (3rd party always...)

For real cheap, go the classic bt8xxx root. Kworld cards for example (cheap cards but fair quality). You do a couple of steps more with those bt8xxx cards to succeed the top results, but the top results are possible, and that is what really counts at the bottom line....


ATI cards are not so good for us, the PAL users. Only the very latest and very expensive ones, offer a better PAL support (the older are crap, read the card reports from the PAL users). So, I don't suggest them for your case.

[Zetti]

ATI cards are not so good for us, the PAL users. Only the very latest and very expensive ones, offer a better PAL support (the older are crap, read the card reports from the PAL users). So, I don't suggest them for your case.

I have an AiW 9000PRO, using it with Ulead Video Studio has been bringing me good results, but I am on NTSC atmosphere;
Whatever way, if you get an ATI AiW card, I suggest to skip the defective ATI MMC crap software and use a higher end product like Ulead or Pinnacle Studio, that generally comes bundled-in;

Zetti

[fmctm1sw]

I've had a hauppauge wintv card for about 2 years now. I use it with virtualvcr and when paired with decent VCRs, I rarely have any trouble at all. Further, I did a lot of research when I bought it. It was supposed to be unaffected by macrovison. As far as I can tell, it is. I've captured numerous tapes (including Disney) without the least bit of trouble. A new cap device isn't even anywhere near the top of my proposed upgrades list. And it was cheap and well supported..

[SatStorm]

@Zetti: You are from Brazil, so you use that hybrid I guess (half PAL, half NTSC). That explains why you don't have issues with your captures, like the ones the rest PAL users face.

@fmctm1sw: Win TV is a bt8xx based card from what I know...

[fmctm1sw]

@Zetti: You are from Brazil, so you use that hybrid I guess (half PAL, half NTSC). That explains why you don't have issues with your captures, like the ones the rest PAL users face.

@fmctm1sw: Win TV is a bt8xx based card from what I know...

Guess I didn't read close enough. Damn, that was a good post too...

[mikesbytes]

Which ones are capture cards?

http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/non-PARTS.pdf

[thecoalman]

Ofcourse I interesting universal card - this mean analog/digital I/O etc.

Don't worry about the digital, any firewire port is sufficent. If you don't have one firwire pci cards are fairly cheap. You'll need one anyway if you consider buying the Canopus. Stay clear of any external USB device that is not using the USB2 standard.

[Zetti]

@Zetti: You are from Brazil, so you use that hybrid I guess (half PAL, half NTSC). That explains why you don't have issues with your captures, like the ones the rest PAL users face.

Hi Sat,

In Brazil the TV color system is PAL-M, which is 29.97 fps, 60 Hz, 720 X 480;
Indeed, there are issues, I've updated DirectX but have been getting some problems lately,
When capturing NTSC from VHS tapes, it's OK;
So, I tend to agree with you.....
I am not sure though if I should blame the ATI card for the troubles or the quality of the reception at my home (Antenna),

Zetti

[Mr.Computer Video]

I bought one of the DV/AV/TV combo card from this company and it works great in my Pentium 4 based system. Thought you might want to check it out too(http://www.acevio.com/webstore/nfoscomm/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=28)

You are in breach of the forum rules and are being BANNED.
/ Moderator offline

I love the smell of spam in the morning... NOT

[dinkob]

For about three years I have had hauppage WinTV card that at the time I bought it was about 100 bucks. This one WAS slightly expensive model because of the SVideo Input I believe instead of RCA which found on WinTV Go models I think.

I don't think it's available anymore but I would always believe their hardware.

Also here are some interesting facts that I came across.

Drivers change very often but newer ones are not the best.

I don't know the exact versions but there are the filenames for drivers and Wintv application:

w2kdrv311.exe
wintv2k40_21126.exe

These are not new however they perform the best for me. The newer ones have some deinterlacing function and the picture is not as sharp as it is on those drivers (even though it's interlaced picture it doesn't look like computer interlaced movie - it's just razor sharp picture and it looks quite good).

Also the Win2k drivers do not ignore macrovision. WinXP drivers DO.

One more issue is that I can't capture in NTSC above 480x480. PAL I can go 720x576 though. Have no idea about this.

[SatStorm]

When I have to deal with a bt8xxx card, I use only the btwincap drivers. And they don't care for macrovision on my w2k PCs....
Of course, I can't use the tuner that way, but I never used it first place...

@Zetti: I don't know why they call PAL - M "PAL". It is almost like the NTSC with one difference (invert colours).The differences it has with all the other variations of PAL are huge: Different framesize, different framerate.
And if you think about it, at the digital world, 2 things count: The framesize and the framerate.
For example when you face a file that it is 720 x 576 @ 25fps what you gonna think? That it is PAL / SECAM.
But when you face a 720 x 480 @ 29.97 you gonna think that it is NTSC.
Well no: It could be also from a PAL M broadcast or even PAL 60 (fake VCR "system") capture.
Personally, I consider PAL M as an advance form of NTSC that combines things from both worlds. And you gain all the benefits that way, the NTSC users have. Like the excellent use of the older ATI cards.

[rg_add]

Many, many thanks for your all answers,
You give me fiev idea how make my video system.
I will try card with VIVO, but I read more good thigs about Canopus too.
The cheap card just like bt8.. not work well in my computer, dropped frames and quality is realy not satisfaction.
Once again thanks - rg_add

[lordsmurf]

Major fan of ATI All In Wonder cards. They've done well for me during the past 3 years. Never a dropped frame or A/V sync issue to complain about.

If you're NTSC, and you get a suggestion for a DV capture device for converting analog video (VHS, tv broadcasts, etc), realize they ONLY capture 4:1:1 and not 4:2:0 or 4:2:2 like other cards. That can leave compression distortions on your final DVD (color quality issues mainly). Sure, great A/V sync, but at a major price. If you're PAL, then DV is 4:2:0 and is fine option too.