capture cards vs graphics cards

[camino]

When I built my first pc 18 months ago I was under the distinct impression that 'graphics card' manufacturers had moved away from pci based graphics solutions due to bandwith issues (especially with games). But on coming here I've noticed that 'capture cards' appear to be pci based.

Is there an achitectural difference which requires the use of the term 'capture card', or is it simply 'nerd' thing with video enthusiasts?

My graphics card, an ati Sapphire 9500 128mb attached to the AGP slot, has performed above my expectations, until that is, I tried tried to 'capture' video from my Sony DV via firewire and witnessed frames being dropped -'is it 'coz I 'as no capture card?'

Oh, and high everyone, first post

[SLICK RICK]

What software are you using to capture to your hard drive?

SLICK RICK....

[camino]

Pinnacle Studio 9

[Donny661]

I would say check out this guide: http://www.digitalfaq.com/capture/droppedframes.htm. You probably just need to change something in your capture process to avoid dropping frames.

Your problem isn't because of you not having a capture card. A PCI firewire card or firewire built into your motherboard is all you need to capture DV from a camera.

From what I have heard, PCI and AGP versions of graphics cards are nearly identical in performance. So, I'm not really sure why the industry has gravitated extremely towards AGP; it might be hat AGP is optimized only for graphics and that makes it easier to develop or cause less conflicts with your other computer periphrials. Capture cards are almost always PCI because they are like any other expansion card, and the AGP slot is usually occupied with a graphics card

[edDV]

...

My graphics card, an ati Sapphire 9500 128mb attached to the AGP slot, has performed above my expectations, until that is, I tried tried to 'capture' video from my Sony DV via firewire and witnessed frames being dropped -'is it 'coz I 'as no capture card?'

Oh, and high everyone, first post

I looked at the Sapphire 9500 128 and saw no evidence of a IEEE-1394 port connector on that card. I may be missing something. Do you have IEEE-1394 ports on the motherboard?

I have the ATI AIW-8500DV and the only way I can get that card to work properly is to disable the IEEE-1394 ports (dip switch) and use the IEEE-1394 ports on the motherboard instead. I've never had a problem with frame drops.

If you don't have the ports on your motherboard, buy an OHCI (open host controller interface) compliant IEEE-1394 PCI card like this
http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/ieee-1394_host_adapter_card.html

Some issues to consider with DV capture (or any video capture).

- Capture to a different partition from the Windows OS. Better yet, capture to a different drive on a different EIDE channel from Windows. That way Windows can do its thing with the OS drive while the capture software has exclusive control of the capture drive.

- Capture software usually requires setup of a "scratch" or "temporary" capture buffer. Make sure this is placed on the separate capture drive.

- Make sure the capture drive is defragmented. Don't let it get near full or dropouts will occur.

- Shut down background tasks such as Anti-Virus while capturing.

Let me know if you are still having problems.[/url]

[lordsmurf]

That ATI port for DV sucks. The 8500DV and cards like it are the worst ATI cards ever.

If you need IEEE1394, get a real card to do it. Not an "included" port.

[edDV]

That ATI port for DV sucks. The 8500DV and cards like it are the worst ATI cards ever.

If you need IEEE1394, get a real card to do it. Not an "included" port.

Just what I thought I said. BTW, the AIW-8500DV works fine with the DV port switched off.

[ofbarea]

Last weekend, I went from an AIW 9000Pro to an AIW 8500DV that I got for $50; the chipset of the firewire portion of the 8500DV was made by Agere (Lucent). Since Agere firewire chipset are OK, The problems must be related to the AGP to PCI Bridge.

So far I captured over 3 hours of DV home movies through its firewire port. I ran a few benchmarks and this card is faster than the AIW9000Pro that it replaced. I also attempted some S-Video captures and the quality was on par with previous captures done through the 9000Pro.

The only problem I detected is that the tuner chip is nosier (and a lot hotter) than the analog tuner found in other AIW cards.