Hello,

Capturing using Vdub at 352x288, 25fps, Huffyuv, YUY2 using a Hauppauge WinTV PCI on a Dell 2.2Ghz, 80GB turbo HDD (typically 60GB free ALWAYS defragmented), 512MB RAM.

I can capture from TV flawlessly without dropped frames.
I can capture from "official" VHS without dropped frames
I can capture from "master" VHS where I have recorded a show myself from TV without dropped frames.
I can capture from my camcorder without dropped frames.

In an nutshell, I'm certain my hardware/cabling is up to to the job.

When I capture from some VHS tapes however (and there seems to be no obvious rule as to which will fail), I get loads of dropped frames. I have seen VCD's that were very obviously created from poorer source material than I sometimes use (e.g. they were created from really dreadful quality concert recordings), but my capture (perhaps a decent quality 3rd or 4th gen concert taped onto a brand new tape) can have over 50% drops.

Is there any way to optimise my captures, that anyone can think of. How do others deal with less than perfect source material? (and as I said, some of these sources are definitely better quality than some of the VCD's I already have)

I'm sure it's not to do with my machine/cabling/etc, as immediately after one of these failures, I can change to another VHS tape and capture for 60mins without a single dropped frame, but I can't fugure a way around it.

Any ideas on ways around this?

Thanks for any and all replies. Sorry if this is a bit of a ramble.

Steven