Can't capture more than 352 x 240 by Pinnacle Studio PCTV

[roh]

I am using Pinnacle Studio PCTV to capture from analog, but I cannot change to more than 352 x 240 in Virtual Dub. The message is something like 'unable to open the input video device'

I am currently using the default driver that I downloaded from Pinnacle website. In Vdub it says 'MiroMedia PCTV Capture' as the driver it has found. Is there any other driver that I should use

Also, I have another strange problem. When I set the format to more than 352 x 240, the picuture does become bigger but then I see some JAGGED lines near the edges of the objects that are moving. This is a very strange problem for me. Because of this, I will not be able to capture in SVCD format.

Thanks in advance for your great help.

Regards,
Rohit

[Anonymous65]

Turn off Overlay and turn on preview.

[Ronin2]

roh,
Have a look at the following thread, it contains the proceedure I use for capturing with great success using the PCTV Card. All of the programs for capturing, processing and burning have all been upgraded to the latest versions and I only capture at 480x576 now and don't bother with resizing as I only burn standard compliant SVCD's.

http://forum.vcdhelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=74588

Hope this helps,
Ronin2

[therick]

@Ronin2 - I gave up on my PCTV for many reasons for the following reasons:

PCTV:
http://mapage.noos.fr/stephane.leguevel/PCTV.jpg

Asus 8200:
http://mapage.noos.fr/stephane.leguevel/Asus-8200.jpg

This is NOT a field order issue...it looks terrible and there was nothing I could do...so the pinnacle sits on the floor of my room...

Windows 2000
Huffy (720x480) with YUY2
pctvcap.dll
Vdub

I know this is off topic but whenever I see PCTV I have to read

[deadpac]

Under Video > Set Custom Format

Do not use the default resolutions that Vdub gives you.
The set custom format fields should let you pick and choose
your own resolution or if you want there are two empty
fields at the bottom of the 'Set Custom Format' field that
allow you to enter in your own resolutions.

I haven't capped above 352x480 simply because my comp
isn't fast enough to handle the throuput of 24bit Uncompressed
RGB caps.

But my mouth is salivating at the thought of using this card in
my soon to be built rig

DUAL 1900MP's, 3.5gig DDR PC2100 REG,
NSYS RAID ................

32bit Uncompressed RGBA w/filters on.

[Sludgehead]

Pinnacle drivers suck. Plain and simple. I use the universal Brooktree drivers located here:

http://btwincap.sourceforge.net/

Using the above drivers I can capture 720x480 without any problems, using the Pinnacle drivers I can't capture anything above 320x240 in Windows 2000 & Windows XP, and anything above 352x240 in Windows 98SE.

The downside is the software suite provided by Pinnacle (if you are using it) will no longer work after installing these drivers. I currently either use Virtual Dub for capturing straight to uncompressed AVI or DivX format, or Cyberlink's Power VCR II for capturing to MPEG 1 and MPEG 2.

As for the Star Wars images linked to in a previous post... it's your driver not your PCTV causing that crap. Here's a screenshot in BMP format. It was grabbed from a VHS source so it's naturally not as crisp as DVD but you'll notice the lack of "jaggies" shown in the Star Wars image seen earlier in this thread.



http://mywebpages.comcast.net/kbranton/images/misc/snapshot(2).bmp

It is probably worth mentioning that you need a fast CPU and HD to avoid dropping frames during capture. I'm currently using an Athlon XP 2000+, Windows 2000 Professional, a cheapo Studio PCTV, 768mbs SDRAM, and a 60gb 7200rpm ATA100 HD.

[therick]

yeah man, I just found those the other day...I will have to try those out...yeah, I knew it was the driver, and there seems to be lots of people with this card, but no one has ever led me to a better driver...until now...thanks man...

[Ronin2]

Sludgehead,
Thanks for the info, I'll also give the driver a try. I currently use the PICVideo codec but I'm going to give the Morgan Multimedia codec a shot, have you tried it and if so how did you find it, or anybody else for that matter.

therick,
Which episode was the screenshots taken from and was the image taken from the captured AVI or the final MPEG.

Thanks for your input,
Ronin2

[therick]

that is episode 6 and yes that is the uncompressed AVI...those actually aren't my pics (someone I have talked with on another forum)...but they display my problem perfectly...I am also having a noise problem, but the lines are the most prevalent...

[roh]

Hello All

THANK YOU very much for the information. I have turned off preview and overlay and I can capture at a higher resolution.

BUT

I get lot of "jaggies" in the picture that I capture, specially when there is motion. What can I do?
Are there some new updated pinnacle drivers?

Thanks,
Rohit

[therick]

@roh - does it look like this?

http://mapage.noos.fr/stephane.leguevel/PCTV.jpg

[dphirschler]

I found those jaggies occur sometimes when I am in certain video modes (for instance 32bit color). Try switching down to 24bit or even 16 bit color for your video display. I don't think it affects your capture.


Darryl

[dphirschler]

I have a question about the improved drivers. It says all over the page that they are WDM drivers, and yet isn't VDub expecting VFW drivers? I see no one mentioning any conflict with that so maybe the driver is accomplishing both??

Also, currently I am using Pinnacle drivers under Win98 SE and get no lockups at the end of capturing. I read on that page that Microsoft's dll is the cause of the lockups that people are getting using that driver in Win98 SE and WinME. So it would stand to reason that I should be locking up at the end of my captures, right? Or did I read that wrong?

I loath to install the new driver only to have to uninstall it and put the Pinnacle drivers back in place. So any advice would be appreciated.


Darryl

The PJs on VCD Project:
http://pigseye.kennesaw.edu/~dhirschl/pjs

[therick]

Well, I never even attempted to capture in RGB...I stayed with YUY2(that's what I capture in with my WinTV)...I guess that was my problem...I had someone else tell me to capture in RGB...I guess I will have to try that...

[Ronin2]

dphirschler,
I tried out the new pinnacle driver and had problems with both VDub & AVI_IO. Ended up going back to the original driver. I'm back to capturing 480 x 576 with AVI_IO, PICVideo & RGB24 with no hang-ups or dropped frames at all.
I'm now going to try "bakers" suggestion of capturing at 352 x 576 for CVD standard to see how it comes out.
All the best,
Ronin2