Which capture card

[mpwr5]

I would like to capture some of my VHS tapes, recording either to SVCD, or at some point when the format wars settle down, to DVD+/-R. I want to preserve as much of the information as possible, so I thought I might capture segments with huffyuv, then compress. I could use some advise about the choice of a capture card.

One possibility is the Pinnacle DV500+. It seems like this would do what I want, but reading various posts, it sounds like this card can be flaky and could have a lot of compatibility/installation problems.

Another choice is the Canopus DVRaptor (RT?) coupled with the ADVC-100. This sounds like a reliable combination that people like. But there would be two compressions involved, first analog to dv in the ADVC-100, then the final compression before burning the disk.

Another possibility would be a video card with video in, like the ASUS 8200. But the specs for this show that it can only capture at 702x480, not the full 720x480.

I'd appreciate any recommendations!

[Hiei]

Pinnacle DV500+

Hardware:
DV500 PLUS PCI card
Breakout Box

Software:
Adobe Premiere 6.0
Pinnacle Systems' TitleDeko RT
Pinnacle Systems' Impression DVD SE
Pinnacle Systems' DV Tools
Hollywood FX Copper
Hollywood Alpha Magic
Pinnacle Systems' INSTANT Video
Adobe PhotoShop® LE
SmartSound Quicktracks

System Requirements (Minimum):
Pentium® II 450 MHz or faster compatible processor
1x32 bit PCI 2.1 slot
128 MB RAM (196 MB RAM for Windows 2000)
500 MB hard disk capacity
4 GB video hard disk (SCSI 2/UDMA-IDE)
16 bit display adapter with DirectDraw drivers
CD-ROM drive
Sound card
External video monitor
Windows XP,2000, NT, Me, 98SE and 98

System Requirements (Recommended):
Pentium III 550 MHz
1x32 bit PCI 2.1 slot
256 MB RAM
4 GB Hard disk capacity
18 GB SCSI video hard disk (SCSI ultra-2/UDMA-IDE)
24 bit display adapter with DirectDraw drivers
DVD-ROM drive
CD-ROM drive
Sound card
External video Monitor
Windows XP,2000, NT, Me, 98SE and 98

Technical Data:

Hardware
32 bit PCI bus mastering expansion card
Data Rate
Two streams of DV data (25 Mbits per second per stream)
Frame Rate
30/25 frames, 60/50 fields per second (NTSC/PAL, US Version NTSC only)
Digitization and Playback
In real-time. 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL/SECAM) in 4:1:1 YUV (NTSC) or 4:2:0 YUV (PAL),
true color
Video Inputs
1 x composite video (CVBS), RCA (cinch) jack, high quality comb filter
1 x S-Video (Y/C) mini DIN
2 x IEEE-1394 (FireWire®/iLink) six pin connector
Video Outputs
1 x composite video (CVBS), RCA (cinch) jack
1 x S-Video (Y/C) mini DIN
2 x IEEE-1394 (FireWire/iLink) six pin connector
Video Standard
NTSC, PAL (US Version NTSC only)
Video Systems
DV, DV Cam, DVCPro, Digital8, S-VHS, Hi8, VHS, Video8
Adjustable Parameters
Brightness, contrast, saturation, image correction filter
Real-time Effects
2 channel mixer with real-time bit manipulation of transitions, filters, audio and video
Real-time multi-track audio mixer with gain and pan adjustments
Video Overlay
Video overlay chip for real-time monitoring on computer screen
Audio Inputs/Outputs
Input: Stereo, 2xRCA (cinch) jack
Output: Stereo, 2xRCA (cinch) jack
Audio Input Level
0dB, -20dB, selectable
Audio Recording and Playback
In real-time directly to/from hard disk in full CD/DAT stereo audio quality

[Craig Tucker]

Have you considered the ati 8500 dv all in wonder, 64mb ddr memory, TV tuner, and DV in. I currently have the 32mb all in wonder 128 pro, and am considering upgrading to the 8500.
Craig