Why does firewire seem clearer than using ADStech instant dvd usb 2.0?

[jbitakis]

As some of you might have seen in another post of mine, something is wrong with my used panasonic dv-gs14 mini dv camcorder-I can't get the firewire port to work and transfer my video to my computer. So therefore, until I get a new mini dv camcorder, I am using my ADStech Instant DVD 2.0 USB device called the capture wiz, to get my video off my camcorder. The way it works is I use the av out port of camcorder-other end has the red,white, yellow video/audio cords which I plug into the capture wiz, then from the capture wiz I use a USB 2.0 cord to plug into my computer to capture the video onto the computer. Well it works, but the captured video does not look as crystal clear as the firewire transferred video. My question is why?
Also, once I get the video to the computer it captures it as MPEG 2 which is supposed to be DVD quality. I have not yet burned it to an actual dvd yet, so maybe it will look as clear as firewire once burned to dvd; yes, no?
Also, is there a devise out there that can give me the red,white,yellow video/audio ports to my laptap, that way I can bypass the capture wiz and go directly from camcorder to computer.
James

[guns1inger]

DV over fire is basically a data transfer from the tape to your PC. What you get is DV quality as it was shot - no re-encoding.

When you transfer via your USB device, you are

1. Using analogue outputs (and probably composite video), which lowers the quality

2. Encoding on the fly to mpeg 2, which is lossy, and lowers the quality

3. Probably encoding at a relatively low bitrate in either CBR or single pass VBR mode. CBR is good for high bitrates, not so good for lower bitrates.

Basically, you are using a lower quality option, and getting lower quality results. No mystery.

Get the firewire working if you want the quality back.

[jbitakis]

Is there no other way to get close to firewire quality since my firewire is shot on my camcorder? How about using the av out on the cam and plug directly into the dvd recorder?
Or getting av/video/audio inputs for my pc and doing it that way bypassing the capture wiz.??
James

[crjackson]

Is there no other way to get close to firewire quality since my firewire is shot on my camcorder? How about using the av out on the cam and plug directly into the dvd recorder?
Or getting av/video/audio inputs for my pc and doing it that way bypassing the capture wiz.??
James

gunslinger already answered that. the av out is composite video, if you want dv quality you will have to get your firewire fixed, or get a new camcorder. that's all there is to it...

[jbitakis]

So crjackson, the video won't be any clearer going from the av out on the cam DIRECTLY to the dvd recorder with NO encoding? As compared to using my capture wiz inbetween my camcorder and my pc, and then encoding on my pc?
I know of course firewire would be way better, but I am looking now for the next best thing.
James

[guns1inger]

If you camcorder has s-video out and the capture device has s-video in then you will improve your quality substantially using this instead. You may have to take the audio through the AV connection. I know my Panasonic DV camera has a separate s-video in/out, so when I use it in pass-through mode I run the audio through the av cable, and the video through the s-video connection.