Resolution of signal being captured?

[jfrank]

Is there a program that will tell me the resolution of the incoming signal? My understanding is that there is no point in capturing at greater than the original resolution but how does one know what that resolution is? DirecTV can go as high as 720x480 but if their source material is less than that, as many of the outdoor and car shows are, then it comes across at the lower resolution. So how can I tell what the incoming resolution is so I can match my capture to that?

[lordsmurf]

You can't.

[bottle-necked]

I usually capture in MPEG. I generally use "time verses framesize/bitrate" when making a capture. If I plan on putting a bunch of hours on a single DVD and my intended bitrate is pretty low, then I capture with a smaller framesize. If it's a single file and I can afford a good size bitrate then I use a larger framesize. I try to use the general guidelines and they work best for me.

What you probably don't want to do is use 720x480 with a bitrate like 2.0Mbps, or 352x480 with 6.0Mbps.

Check out http://www.lordsmurf.com/. Loads of good information.

Good luck.