Sounds like a load to me.....

[Xylob the Destroyer]

I have a JVC S-VHS unit that I use when I wish to exercise my Federally protected right to make back-ups of the VHS media that I have obtained via legitimate means.
But, when I want to use my ATI AIW as a "VCR" for recording television programs to be watched later, I utilize it's built-in tuner.
My buddy tells me that I am an idiot for doing so, and that I would get far better results if I used the S-VHS unit to pick up the cable signal and captured it on the AIW via the S-Video connection because S-Video + dedicated L/R audio = vastly superior A/V than the coax going into my card.
Basically, he's telling me that the S-Video+RCA-audio coming from the S-VHS unit is a superior source than the coax coming from the wall.

I say he's a moron........

Here's my reasoning:
It doesn't matter if I connect the coax from the wall to the AIW or the S-VHS, because either way, it's ultimately the same freakin' source -- CATV.
The VCR receives the exact same signal that the capture card does, right?
It's just a VCR, it's not gonna magically change the quality/format of the audio & video.

I'm using a JVC HR-S4800U S-VHS VCR and an ATI All-In-Wonder 9000 Pro.

Besides, this VCR was obviously made mostly to edit tape-to-tape from another similar if not identical unit. I have noticed that it's tuner kinda sucks -- I get better picture from CATV using my cheap-ass Sanyo VCR that only has composite video-out.....

So, who's right? Me, or him?
And if I'm wrong, what am I missing in this scenario?

TIA!

[MOVIEGEEK]

In general the order of video quality is(best to worst):
DVI
Component
S-Video
Composite
Coaxial
If the source was from a DVD then your friend is right,if the source was from CATV then you are right...the differance probably isn't noticable.

[canadateck]

I get better Quality running through my VCR then the Card because I find the VCR has a better tunner and Processes the signal better with both A/V.

[junkmalle]

It depends on whether ATI's tuner is better than the cable box's tuner plus whatever additional degredation you get capturing via the s-video cables. There's probably little difference between the two.

I get slightly less noise and slightly more color saturation when capturing via the cable tuner and s-video, compared to direct from the coax. But direct from coax is a little sharper.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

It depends on whether ATI's tuner is better than the cable box's tuner...

no cable box here...
I'm paying $60.00 a month for cable, I'll be damned if I'm gonna shell out even more for digital service PLUS an extra $20.00 a month for each box....
screw that noise!
and the capture card's tuner is definitely doing a better job than the one in the VCR does

[junkmalle]

It depends on whether ATI's tuner is better than the cable box's tuner...

no cable box here...
I'm paying $60.00 a month for cable, I'll be damned if I'm gonna shell out even more for digital service PLUS an extra $20.00 a month for each box....
screw that noise!
and the capture card's tuner is definitely doing a better job than the one in the VCR does

Sorry, so yes, it depends on which device has the better tuner, your VCR or your capture card.

[ima2hd]

So has your friend based his opinion on this because he has seen both what your VCR tuner is capable of vs. the tuner on the card? Ask him this why would I want to degrade my signal even further by sending it out the s-video vs. what the card does internally? Of course if your vcr has awesome reception & your card has terrible reception then you would want to use the vcr.

[non-linear]

Either of you could be right, it all depends on your particular setup and the quality of your connections. Personally I haven't used a coax connection for recording in years (i've spent the last 4 years avoiding cable TV like the plague).

The thing I would suggest to you is do a test with both and see if you notice any improvement. If you don't see any noticable improvement by using the SVHS deck, then stick with the tuner on the ATI card since it would offer you more flexibility in terms of recording and setting up timers to record when you're not around.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

thanks all, i think you've all pretty much validated my point(s) on this issue

[edDV]

I have a JVC HR-S4800U S-VHS VCR as well. That model has only a simple tuner unlike the higher end S-VHS models that have nice comb filter NTSC decoders.

So in your case, the ATI AIW may have somewhat better bandwidth but the VCR may be better at tuning the RF. Basically a tossup.

Same goes for TV sets, high end ones have comb filters that allow them to decode luminance above 3MHz. This makes the difference between 240 lines vs up to >400 lines horizontal luminance resolution.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

too bad there isn't a way to upgrade the video card's tuner....
what about inline filters and/or signal amplifiers? would they clean the image quality up, or are they just a waste of money?

[edDV]

Those wouldn't help. Your cable company should be able to clean up the signal. You have a reason to complain if it looks bad plugged into the TV closest to the input to the house.

They should tune up your connection for no charge. Often they will charge if cables inside the house are at fault.