TOUGH ONE: Analong Video on a Laptop Display

[nakedape]

:/ What hardware/software would be necessary to display an analog video source on a laptop's monitor?

I need to stream the video, as if the laptop monitor was a T.V.

Thanks for the help

[redwudz]

I think you will need an external device. If you are talking analog video, such as TV, then you most likely need a tuner. If you mean video such as composite from a VCR or similar, you still need a card unlesss your PC has a analog input. Computers are only digital. With a analog source, you need some sort of conversion. Internally, if you have a SVHS input, you could use that.

There are several options, a PCMCIA card for video input or a external unit with USB 2.0 output or a unit with Firewire output with a PCMCIA Firewire card in the computer. I am assuming a laptop with USB 2.0 and without Firewire internal. Too many options to give a good recommendation. Give us some more info, thanks.

[nakedape]

Heres some info: I have a PC Card, USB 2.0, and 2 pin Firewaire ports. Let me know if you need to know something else.
Thanks

[nakedape]

Thanks Redwudz. You helped me find it. And for anyone who would like to set this up too.... http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1274230&CatId=1426

[redwudz]

Great. Let us know how it works when you get it. I looked at a few PCMCIA tuner cards in the past, but a little too pricey for me as I didn't really need it. Seems to have a lot of features, though. I wonder how much antenna it would need for over-the-air reception? I have a AVER PCI tuner card I have used a few times and it worked well.

[edDV]

When you get your video, view it with a deinterlacing viewer like PowerDVD or WinDV (assuming the input is interlaced). They both deal with optimizing gamma and levels for video on a computer LCD.

[nakedape]

I have WinDVD Platinum, does that qualify as a deinterlacing player? On that topic, what kind of quality can I expect this card to deliver?

[edDV]

I have WinDVD Platinum, does that qualify as a deinterlacing player? On that topic, what kind of quality can I expect this card to deliver?

Yes WinDV has deinterlacing. The quality depends on the input card and your laptop LCD. Older LCDs have issues with lag, nonlinearity and viewing angle. All computer LCDs have poor black levels.

A Laptop LCD will always be worse than a good CRT or a LCD optimised for video (Theater LCD). Use WinDVD to make it look as good as you can.

[nakedape]

Is it difficult to configure WinDVD to view the card's video input? Also, is "deinterlacing" a mode or setting that I have to set, or does it enable it automatically?

Thanks, I really appreciate your help

[edDV]

Is it difficult to configure WinDVD to view the card's video input? Also, is "deinterlacing" a mode or setting that I have to set, or does it enable it automatically?

Thanks, I really appreciate your help

I use PowerDVD mostly. It defaults to a reasonable display. Deinterlacing modes and other adjustments are selectable in the configuration menus.

These viewers work with overlay windows. Most graphics cards support overlay these days, even notebooks. Overlay allows all display modes like brightness, contrast, gamma, etc to be adjusted just for that window.

http://www.intervideo.com/jsp/WinDVD_Profile.jsp
http://www.gocyberlink.com/multi/products/product_main.jsp?ProdId=1