capture card with proc-amp capabilities

[smartel]

my old ati all-in-wonder ve is showing signs of old age and i'm thinking of replacing it in the near futur

is there any recent capture card with something comparable to the old videosoap ?

that can capture avi (huffy) and configurable mpeg and maybe others (mp4 , etc ..)

Thx

[usually_quiet]

There is nothing comparable to Video Soap available anymore. ATI Multimedia Center was retired in 2005 or 2006, and capture devices made afterwards come with with Catalyst Media Center instead, or nothing in the case of the latest ATI offerings, the TV Wonder 750 devices.

Based on your VideoHelp computer details, I'm guessing you want something for Windows XP. The ATI TV Wonder 600 and ATI TV Wonder 650 provide proc amp controls that work under Windows XP, and can provide uncompressed output for avi capture with HuffYUV. While these are no longer made, they may still be found on eBay at times. The ATI TV Wonder 650 also offers hardware MPEG-2 encoding. The ATI MPEG-2 software encoders provided with these should work with Catalyst Media Center and Graph Studio capture graphs. The USB version of the TV Wonder 600 is supposed to be the best device among recent ATI products for VHS or other analog capture. It is a slightly different product from the internal version.There are PCI versions of the ATI TV Wonder 600 and ATI TV Wonder 650 too if you want an internal device and don't have a free PCI-e slot.

[smartel]

and what about non-ati cards ?

maybe i should look into the used market

for the more recent ati videosoap capable cards .. (!??)

but used is used sometimes may not be that good

[usually_quiet]

and what about non-ati cards ?

maybe i should look into the used market

for the more recent ati videosoap capable cards .. (!??)

but used is used sometimes may not be that good

If you want Video Soap, you will probably have to look for a used All-In Wonder card. I can't remember which ones are the better models. However I'm certain the most recent All-In-Wonder cards, the All-In-Wonder HD and AIW5000 don't work with ATI Multimedia Center.

The AverMedia HD DVR came up in a recent thread involving capture cards with proc amp controls, but it isn't ideal for VHS capture. It is very sensitive to drop-outs and other imperfections in the signal, so a good TBC is vital when using one for capturing analog tapes.

[smartel]

i have a tbc-1000 that helps me for rocksolid captures

[usually_quiet]

There is one other thing about the AVerMedia HD DVR that may pose a problem in an older system. It has PCI-e interface. However there aren't a lot of current capture devices with a PCI interface. You may have to look for a USB device.

[smartel]

i've got a little usb device called Encore enutv-2 (s-video in , rca video in , 1/8 audio in and cable in)
never really tried it , if i remember correctly it's pal and ntsc
with a sort of tv tuner ... i think it's s/w mpeg encoding not really tweakable

anyway not much info on the net and i'm not a fan of no-name gizmos

i may upgrade to windows 7 just for gpu and newer directx , is it worth it for VHS captures ??

been on XP long enough , so i can find solutions easily , affraid i may get lost a little on 7

if i ever go into w7 i'll still keep a 2nd system with xp . guess they'll interact well

[usually_quiet]

i've got a little usb device called Encore enutv-2 (s-video in , rca video in , 1/8 audio in and cable in)
never really tried it , if i remember correctly it's pal and ntsc
with a sort of tv tuner ... i think it's s/w mpeg encoding not really tweakable

anyway not much info on the net and i'm not a fan of no-name gizmos

i may upgrade to windows 7 just for gpu and newer directx , is it worth it for VHS captures ??

been on XP long enough , so i can find solutions easily , affraid i may get lost a little on 7

if i ever go into w7 i'll still keep a 2nd system with xp . guess they'll interact well

I found it relatively easy to adapt to using Windows 7, but my old scanner and tablet didn't make the transition because there were no Windows 7 drivers released for them.

Upgrading to Windows 7 won't be helpful for VHS capture. Many older cards won't work with Windows 7 because Windows 7 won't accept their existing drivers, and their manufacturers don't want to write new ones for discontinued products. It also seems like Windows XP users have more information available to them about PC capture devices that are good for VHS capture than is available to Windows 7 users.

There are devices other than the AVerMedia HD PVR that may have the ability to do some of what you want. Hauppauge and AVerMedia both offer TV cards that are compatible with Windows 7 and employ software for capture, so they should provide uncompressed output, but information about proc amp controls and other advanced features is hard to find. There are some Windows 7-compatible name-brand USB-stick type capture devices around too, but information about proc amp controls and other advanced features isn't available for them either.

I know more about ATI/AMD's Windows 7 compatible products than the others, so I will tell you what I know. Unfortunately, the ATI TV Wonder 650 and ATI TV Wonder 600 capture devices don't have functional proc amp controls under windows 7, except in the case of the TV Wonder 600 USB. While its proc amp controls do work, driver installation is complicated because ATI did not release Windows 7 drivers for it, making it is necessary to install the drivers manually and employ some trickery. Windows 7 driver installation for the TV Wonder 600 USB is explained at https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/331817-Best-MPEG-2-Capture-Device?p=2059630&viewful...=1#post2059630

TV Cards equipped with AMD/ATI Theater 600, Theater 650, and Theater 750 chips offer 3D comb filters and good DNR. However, they aren't perfect. ATI TV Wonder 650 is prone to false Macrovision detection which screws up the AGC, although a good frame TBC should fix that problem by cleaning up that part of the signal. I don't know if the Windows 7 or Windows XP drivers for the TV Wonder 750 provide functional proc amp controls. There is one member here who hated his Diamond TV Wonder 750 card because it often messed up some frames, but I don't know if his complaints are typical, or he had a bad one.

[vhelp]

I don't know if the Windows 7 or Windows XP drivers for the TV Wonder 750 provide functional proc amp controls.

i can confirm that the pro amp works and are visible under xp home on my netbook..just tried it.

[smartel]

I don't know if the Windows 7 or Windows XP drivers for the TV Wonder 750 provide functional proc amp controls.

i can confirm that the pro amp works and are visible under xp home on my netbook..just tried it.

so .... how ? with virtualdub ? and .. will it help with ati 650 AGC's issues (blown whites)

i just got a 650 a few weeks ago , would it work under vista too??

the 650 is still in my XP pc and thinking of putting it in a vista box to try it's media center

[usually_quiet]

I don't know if the Windows 7 or Windows XP drivers for the TV Wonder 750 provide functional proc amp controls.

i can confirm that the pro amp works and are visible under xp home on my netbook..just tried it.

so .... how ? with virtualdub ? and .. will it help with ati 650 AGC's issues (blown whites)

i just got a 650 a few weeks ago , would it work under vista too??

the 650 is still in my XP pc and thinking of putting it in a vista box to try it's media center

The TV Wonder 750 devices have the same AGC issues as the TV Wonder 650 devices. If you want an ATI capture device that does not have AGC issues and has proc amp controls, you will need to find a TV Wonder 600 USB, and it must be the USB version, not the PCI version. I have a TV Wonder 600 USB and the normal Vista drivers work for Windows 7 as well as Vista, in case you are interested.

[Edit]Available Proc Amp controls are brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, and sharpness.

[usually_quiet]

Duplicate post

[smartel]

in virtualdub i have access to the capture filter
luma , contrast , hue , saturation and netteté (my system is in french) are availlable

AND to it's noise reductions filtering . including luma coring
and adaptive cross chroma and luma with threshold and value

not really shure what they do BUT would they help with blown whites ?

is that capture filter from virtualdub or from the 650 driver i don't know

i would prefer to tweak my capture a little to prevent damage than buying another app

[jagabo]

will it help with ati 650 AGC's issues (blown whites)

No. The levels are adjusted after the brights are crushed. So the brights will be darker but there will still be no detail in them.

[smartel]

that's too bad , theirs no way around this ?? c from the tuner maybe not

but from from anaog devices like a vcr , hope it's still good ( or acceptable) for fainted tapes

[usually_quiet]

that's too bad , theirs no way around this ?? c from the tuner maybe not

but from from anaog devices like a vcr , hope it's still good ( or acceptable) for fainted tapes

I don't think capturing from the analog tuner will be better.

Whether the TV Wonder 650 is good enough or not depends on personal preferences. It doesn't look like captures from a TV Wonder 650 were good enough for jagabo. If you are used to using an old All-In-Wonder card for capture, it may not be good enough for you either.

[jagabo]

I've only used the ATI 650 with external analog sources (VCR, cable box, DVD player). The AGC problem has occurred with all of them. It's a fatal flaw with the device. Too bad because it's great in every other respect.

[smartel]

and maybe not for file converting ... it can convert from file like in the old ati library