PCTV Pro can't do 640 x 480

[PcCowboy]

When I first installed Virtualdub it came up with the message that my PCTV Pro card could not capture at 640 x 480. And sure enough if I set the capture at anything over 352 x 240 I get an error message that it couldn't connect to the card. But the card came with Studio Pctv which has the settings for 640 x 480. And it works. But the problem is that the program runs to slow on my system. You click a button and wait 2 mins and then the button will go down and the option or window pops up. Most times it just locks up. So I went to Virtualdub to do my captures. But a avi at 352 x 240 looks great on the computer. But when I burn it as a Vcd it looks like.......... will like sub-vhs baddddddddddd!! Why won't Vdub capture at 640x480 while others will???

Pc

[Jeomite]

In order to capture ABOVE 352x240 for ANY card, you have to go into Preview instead of Overlay in VirtualDub (or any capture program). I also own a Pinnacle Studio PCTV Pro card, and am very satisified with it.

[species8472]

I also have a PCTV pro and am happy with it. In addition to using preview instead of overlay, definitely play with the field swap setting during capture or the filter afterwards. Increase the window size 2X and look for ragged edges. Getting the field order correct will definitely make a difference in your captures.

[PcCowboy]

Thanks for the info. Everytime I have started V-dub All I would get is a blue box. I would have to check overlay to get a picture. But I have never went back and re-checked preview. I will give it a try.

[vingadpr]

Help me plz!! ((
I have a PCTV Pro too..but when i try to capture with VirtualDub or any other prog. like WinVCR, i see this error message "Cannot open the video input device". I have my handycam in camera in player mode and my s-video cable is connected too. Whats the problem?? ((((((((((

[Jeomite]

vingadpr: it means you didn't install the drivers correctly.

[species8472]

You will get this message when using 640x480 and not in preview mode. Try dropping below 640.

[moraize]

But,what about the quality,when I do that,I can´t achieve the same quality as with the overlay selected,I always have ragged lines through the picture,can i fix it??

[SteveZ103]

ive been getting that too, all the edges look horrable, i think its some kind of interlacing problem, can anyone help? ive got an ATI Tv Wonder

[tacosalad]

"Cannot open video input device"

If you're lucky, there's any easy fix for this problem: after changing video settings, but before capturing, press P twice to toggle the preview on and off. There's a PCTV driver that doesn't initialize itself properly, but toggling the "Preview" function will initialize it. Cross your fingers and give this a try!

Even if it works, you'll have to do it every time you start your capture program or modify the video settings.

Ragged edges:

Most PCTV drivers swap video fields during capture. You can fix this in the captured video by exiting capture mode and loading the file into VirtualDub. Go to the Video menu and choose "Filters." Use the Add button to add a "Field Swap" filter, then click Ok and close the Filters window. Drag the slider and find a frame that has ragged edges in the input window, then look at the output window to see if the filter fixes it. (Note: you might still see similar ragged edges on things that are moving--that's something different.)

-tacosalad

[nsane]

I want to buy some card.
I have read the Pinnacle PCTV card features, and it says the card can capture only 384*288!

Than how you guys capture in 640*480?
Its a bit offtopic, but can you tell me which tuner card can capture bigger video than 384*288?

[droolian01]

Just a quick point to steve? moraize??
- It doesn't matter how bad your vid looks on the screen during capture, it seems that the actual video data is handled totally diferently to what you see on the screen. Have only just got my pctv card up and going but 'overlay' will not only look nice but cause dropped frames in higher resolutions. You can even disable overlay AND preview (just blank screen) and the card should still capture unaffected!!

Still experimenting but 352x576 caps with huffuv, then tick 2:1 verrtical resize (bilinear) (NOT FILTER) seems to produce some very clean caps - just what is needed for compression - on a relatively modest system. I think it allows you to cap bothe fields therefore maintainig vertical resolution, wheras horizontal res is not that crucial, so doing this reduces the cpu burden by half - no dropped frames.

P.s. if anyone cannot get the card to work with an onboard sis graphics chip (mine is sis 620) i have a quick fix- just ask here

[droolian01]

Sorry, those sizes were for pal.
Try 320x480 then do as i said previously, if you're capping ntsc tv than you need to release all the cpu burden you can as you have to maintain a 30 fps!