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  1. Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
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    Pittsburgh, PA
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    Hello Everyone:

    I have been visiting this site for some time as I have been interested in capturing several of my home videos on VHS onto DVD. I recently purchased the Hauppauge WinTV GO capture card as many have recommended it as a cost-efficient and high-quality card. I installed the card in my machine which runs a Pentium 4 2.0 GHz processor, 512 MB RAM, 128 MB Asylum Geforce 4 TI4200 video card, and a 120 GB 7200 RPM hard drive. I also installed all of the accompanying software including the WinTV2000 application.

    Using the WinTV2000 application, I was able to view both TV and VHS movies successfully through the card. I have posted two links below to snapshots of the TV image as it appears through the application. The first picture is small, and the quality is pretty good. Keep in mind that the TV from which these were taken does not have a cable connection. The second shot is of a higher resolution. The quality isn't too bad, but you notice the fuzzy lines going through the image. They reduce the quality.

    http://www.bryanrmeyer.net/CaptureTest/tv_sample_3.jpg
    http://www.bryanrmeyer.net/CaptureTest/tv_sample_5.jpg

    The following two snapshots are from a VHS movie that I own and played through the card. The first shot is of large resolution, and you can notice the fuzzy lines that appear as in the TV snapshots. In addition, you can see white lines that show at the bottom of the image. The lines move when the video is playing. In the second shot, both of these problems exist. However, in addition, you can see a colored bar at the top of the image. This appears throughout the playing of the movie. Keep in mind that both shots are from the same VHS movie.

    http://www.bryanrmeyer.net/CaptureTest/movie_sample_5.jpg
    http://www.bryanrmeyer.net/CaptureTest/movie_sample_6.jpg

    I do not know what to adjust or if I can even improve this quality. I tried the VirtualVCR application with minor improvement but not enough. Should I try installing the btwincap drivers? Would I still then be able to use the WinTV2000 application? I'm basically looking for suggestions and any help you could give. From the reviews I read, I thought I should be able to get much better quality out of this card. All help is appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Bryan
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  2. Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
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    The State of Frustration
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    If you know how to install the btwin cap drivers, go ahead. You will still be able to capture at higher resolutions and in my opinion, I was able to get better captures with it. Virtual VCR is the the one that mentions a lot around here, but you may find Virtual Dub friendly as well. I still have Win TV Go installed in my system, even though all my captures are DV through my camera now.

    Now the if the distortion at the top comes from a tape, try the tracking. The bottom distortion is not a malfunction. It is called overscan, and is called by the rotating head in your VCR. It does not show up on TVs, as VCRs are designed to display these overscan lines off the TV screen.

    If you own a video camera with pass through to a fire wire card, this is a cost efficient, yet high quality capture procedure as well. Hope this helps.
    Hello.
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  3. Member tekkieman's Avatar
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    Mar 2004
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    Over the hill
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    Nice to see there are still a few of these gems floating around. I still use mine to cap from my Hi8 cam. I also use VirtualVCR.
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  4. Member
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    Dec 2004
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    Pittsburgh, PA
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    That helps quite a bit. Thank you. I had read that the btwincap drivers can give better quality captures, but I didn't realize it could do so at higher resolutions. I just have to make sure to uninstall my original drivers, correct?

    As for VirtualDub, will it work on my system? I thought the drivers are WDM drivers that come with the card and that VirtualDub assumes some other type of drivers. I tried downloading the program and installing it before I posted, but I had no luck. It wouldn't seem to recognize my capture card. Anyone else ever experienced this?

    The information about the overscan and such is greatly appreciated. I'm sure there are some decent programs to crop this out, correct? The tracking tidbit is also welcome news. I noticed not all of my VHS tapes produced this colored bar at the top. So I thought it's a quality of the tape.

    Finally, the audio on some tapes is static-y. I know that the card only captures in Mono, but isn't it possible to connect a cable from the VCR directly to the card (instead of the cable running from the capture card to my sound card) to get stereo sound? Should this help with the static?

    I apologize for so many questions. I am learning but am a quick learner. I look forward to all of your good input.

    Thanks,
    Bryan
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  5. Member
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    Apr 2002
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    The State of Frustration
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    As I said, I use your card. I also use Virtual Dub and btwincap drivers as well. I believe I had to go to Hauppage to get some updated drivers for the the btwincaps and to recognize my card.

    And bypassing the audio input is a choice. I have been successful doing both.
    Hello.
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  6. Member
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    Dec 2004
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    Pittsburgh, PA
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    TommyKnocker:

    Thanks for all of your help. My final question to you is: were you able to acquire better quality with your card than that shown in the pictures I linked to?

    Thanks,
    Bryan
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  7. Member
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    Apr 2002
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    The State of Frustration
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    Yes, I have. I no longer capture from TV anymore, as I live in Italy, and the military channels really gives us crappy resolution to begin with.

    But my video camera work is okay. That is, until I moved up to DV.
    Hello.
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