DV to USB cable

[TPFKAS]

Not that I am interested to buy somthing like this, but I stumbled over this and am now very curious what this cable does?
http://www.pixela-1.com/captycable/
Anybody over here has any experience with such a cable? What comes out at the USB end? DV? Or is the piece of electronics in the cable a hardware MPEG encoder?

[JohnnyMalaria]

It's a DV-to-MPEG1 converter. (Note, MPEG1, not MPEG2 !!)

[TPFKAS]

So the chip in the cable is actually a hardware MPEG-1 encoder?

[hech54]

It's just data transfer for those who don't have a firewire input on their computer.

[TPFKAS]

So you are suggesting that there is DV coming out at the USB end? I have some difficulties to believe that.

[JohnnyMalaria]

So the chip in the cable is actually a hardware MPEG-1 encoder?

Yes.

It most definitely is NOT a way to get native DV into a PC. What comes out the other end is MPEG-1.

[TPFKAS]

Thanks.
So they decided to deliver their crap software now with ditto hardware I guess...
So why do they write: "Transfer DVD Quality video to DVD"if it is MPEG-1....

[JohnnyMalaria]

I don't know.

Their website seems to go out of the way to avoid telling you the reality. It has this big graphic claiming DVD quality vs. VCD, but, later on, it states that all the editing is done as MPEG-1, talks about creating VCDs and that you have to export the MPEG-1 as MPEG-2 to get it on DVD.

The specifications claim "Audio: DV audio" - well, that's simply PCM and "Video: NTSC or PAL" - very vague.

I remember digging around for more information on this cable months ago and, somewhere, I did find a statement confirming that it spews out MPEG-1.

[TPFKAS]

Yeah, you're right. In their software bit they only talk about MPEG-1 and VCD, so I guess you're right about it being a hardware MPEG-1 encoder.
People should be warned about the misleading info given on that website...

Well here its is:
Don't buy the "Firewire to USB 2.0 DV Transfer Cable"
Maybe people end up here when they Google for it

[gadgetguy]

Thanks.
So they decided to deliver their crap software now with ditto hardware I guess...
So why do they write: "Transfer DVD Quality video to DVD"if it is MPEG-1....

Mpeg-1 is part of the DVD spec. and therefore legally they can say that Mpeg-1 is DVD quality video. But it's definately not anything like what a reasonable person would consider DVD quality to be.

[hech54]

I saw it listed for $119 retail and available in NTSC or PAL versions.

[SingSing]

"NTSC or PAL" said it is an encoder.

$119 is enough to buy a low end DVD recorder, so why bother for such a product ?