Video Capture Device - Suggestions

[rancineb]

I'm looking to purchase a video capture device to capture video from a VCR or cable box. I was looking at the Pinnacle Studio MovieBox but read a bunch of reviews saying that it has issues with freezing up during the recording process or missing frames. Does anyone use this device and can give their opinion?


What other devices would you recommend? For ease of use, I'd like to get one that connects via USB cable rather then a card, but is a USB connection a source of problems like the Pinnacle devices has?

~Brian

[victoriabears]

These devices are either a big success with users or disasters, if you want to try one, make sure you can take it back for a refund. I would recommend a VCR a AVT870 TBC and a dvd recorder, far simpler and more guaranteed of a reasonable result.
How many tapes do you have?
or read this and turn yourself into an expert !

http://www.digitalfaq.com/guides/video/index-record-capture.htm

[rancineb]

Thanks for the website. It has a ton of information and I'll have to read through it. It looks like they suggest using an ATI All-in-Wonder card since it seems to have the best quality and most options (ATI vs. MPEG).

Haven't started looking at what ATI products there are, but any suggestions from those who have them?

[TheFamilyMan]

If you want to use your PC to capture from a VCR, the ATI Theater 650 pci-e card is a great capture/tuner card and can be had from ebay for about $30US new. Drivers downloaded from the AMD/ATI site will work fine for WinXP installs; Windows 7 will automatically install the drivers for this card. Be aware that this card will not successfully capture any copy protected VHS tapes unless an AVT-8710 TBC or simular type device is used. A USB version of the ATI Theater 650 exists as well but will probably cost a lot more.

BTW I recent upgraded from a 550 to a 650, which was purchased new from ebay and it works great. I use it for capturing via VirtualDub and watching OTA DTV using Win7 media center.

[rancineb]

I'm looking for something that will be able to take in many different devices, not just VCR. So it would need to have other inputs like S-Video and component. I know Hauppauge has a lot of products and not sure how good they are. I saw this on their website that looked pretty nice.

http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hdpvr.html

http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_colossus.html

[usually_quiet]

The Hauppauge HD PVR and Hauppauge Colossus are very good for capturing HDTV from a cable box, satellite box, or game console. Capturing analog tapes in acceptable quality is more demanding than capturing other kinds of video souces. VHS captures in particular often need some additional processing. You would be better off with something else for analog tapes that does not capture via hardware encoding in H.264, which is the only option available from Hauppauge's HD products.

The AVerTV HD DVR might be a workable compromise, since it uses software encoding. It only captures stereo audio (not 5.1 audio too like the Hauppauge HD products), but it gives you more choices as far as codecs that you can use for capture. (The codecs availble for capture depend on what your PC's CPU can handle.) Users report that a TBC of some kind between the VCR and the AVerTV HD DVR is a necessity when capturing from a VHS source, as it is very sensitive to drop-outs and time-base errors.

[rancineb]

I definitely want to have options to be able to choose how the video is encoded so it looks like the Hauppauge devices won't work for me. I've heard the same thing about dropped frames with VHS tapes. What is a TBC that you speak of to help with this problem?

[usually_quiet]

I definitely want to have options to be able to choose how the video is encoded so it looks like the Hauppauge devices won't work for me. I've heard the same thing about dropped frames with VHS tapes. What is a TBC that you speak of to help with this problem?

TBC = time base corrector. There are two kinds, line TBCs and full-frame TBCs, each of which solves different problems. Line TBCs are usually not seen as stand alone devices. Instead, they are one of the components built into the high-end SVHS VCRs for which you may have seen a recommendation at DigitalFAQ. DVD recorders often have circuitry on one set of line inputs that approximates some of the functions of a line TBC. Full-frame TBCs are stand alone devices. The AVT870 mentioned by victoriabears is one popular model used by video hobbyists for VHS transfer.

[Chopmeister]

+Hauppauge HD PVR and Hauppauge Colossus as capturing options, they are both good. I like the HD PVR - being USB you can use it on a laptop etc, which is a bit more portable than a desktop for capturing.

More information on the source would be helpful in advising you:

1. If you want to capture standard definition material over composite or SVHS then a TBC, or at least something to defeat macrovision, would be useful - if your STB outputs with this, or your tapes are encoded with it.

2. If you want to capture standard or high definition material over component then macrovision suppressor is also useful - from memory it goes on the green (Y) cable, not the blue (Pb) or red (Pr) connectors.

3. If you want to capture off the STB's HDMI output then something like an HDFury is also needed. I have the HDFury2, the HDFury3 is better but more expensive, avoid the HDFury1.

[Spektre]

If you want to use your PC to capture from a VCR, the ATI Theater 650 pci-e card is a great capture/tuner card and can be had from ebay for about $30US new. Drivers downloaded from the AMD/ATI site will work fine for WinXP installs; Windows 7 will automatically install the drivers for this card. Be aware that this card will not successfully capture any copy protected VHS tapes unless an AVT-8710 TBC or simular type device is used. A USB version of the ATI Theater 650 exists as well but will probably cost a lot more.

BTW I recent upgraded from a 550 to a 650, which was purchased new from ebay and it works great. I use it for capturing via VirtualDub and watching OTA DTV using Win7 media center.

Does the driver for the 650 PCIe card allow for access to the ProcAmp controls? The Win7 drivers for the 600 PCIe do not.

Thanks in advance,

Spektre

[usually_quiet]

Does the driver for the 650 PCIe card allow for access to the ProcAmp controls? The Win7 drivers for the 600 PCIe do not.

Thanks in advance,

Spektre

No, you can't use the ProcAmp controls if the 650 PCIe card is installed in a Windows 7 system. All the controls on the Video Proc Amp tab on the ATI AVStream Capture filter are deactivated.

[Spektre]

Does the driver for the 650 PCIe card allow for access to the ProcAmp controls? The Win7 drivers for the 600 PCIe do not.

Thanks in advance,

Spektre

No, you can't use the ProcAmp controls if the 650 PCIe card is installed in a Windows 7 system. All the controls on the Video Proc Amp tab on the ATI AVStream Capture filter are deactivated.

Thanks usually_quiet.

Do you know of any capture devices that have fully functional drivers for Windows 7? I am finding XP a pain to work in.

[usually_quiet]

Does the driver for the 650 PCIe card allow for access to the ProcAmp controls? The Win7 drivers for the 600 PCIe do not.

Thanks in advance,

Spektre

No, you can't use the ProcAmp controls if the 650 PCIe card is installed in a Windows 7 system. All the controls on the Video Proc Amp tab on the ATI AVStream Capture filter are deactivated.

Thanks usually_quiet.

Do you know of any capture devices that have fully functional drivers for Windows 7? I am finding XP a pain to work in.

Sorry, I don't know of any. Maybe you should start a new thread on this subject.