Good Composite / S-Video acquiring card for PC

[klode]

Hi,
I'm trying to get a new usable Acquiring Card that have Composite and S-Video inputs. My goal is to archive the source video LOSSLESSLY, and then working on it with AviSynth/VDub (the best software for Video Restoring!).

I can choose for PCI as PCI-Express card, but what about the USB Solutions? I think all of them will capture and send H264 video, so the source results compressed.

I'm waiting for your precious suggestions...

[usually_quiet]

If a USB capture device that outputs uncompressed video is installed in a Windows PC, it is usually possible to capture output from the device with third-party software such as AmaRecTV or VirtualDub2 that supports using a lossless codec for compression.

The Hauppauge 610 USB-Live 2 is a decent USB capture device for composite and S-video that is often recommended at VideoHelp and is widely available.

[dellsam34]

If you can go the PCIe route that's a much better choice, PCIe is more stable than USB for lossless capturing and the PCIe cards are usually much cheaper than USB devices, Some PCIe cards from back in the day included a full frame TBC but I don't have any brand on mind.

[lordsmurf]

think all of them will capture and send H264 video, so the source results compressed.

No. H.264 is a delivery format, not capture format. And for that reason, almost nothing captures H264, aside from some broadcast appliances.

PCIe is more stable than USB for lossless capturing

No.

and the PCIe cards are usually much cheaper than USB devices,

Not really. MSRP for PCIe was always higher. Sure, these days (maybe even back then), a good USB is more costly than a crappy PCIe.

Some PCIe cards from back in the day included a full frame TBC but I don't have any brand on mind.

I have never seen a (claimed to exist) on-card TBC do anything whatsoever. TBCs are more than just a chip or two welded to a card, and true TBCs are entire boards full of chips.

[usually_quiet]

think all of them will capture and send H264 video, so the source results compressed.

No. H.264 is a delivery format, not capture format. And for that reason, almost nothing captures H264, aside from some broadcast appliances.

To be fair, there are plenty of USB capture devices that do hardware encoding to h.264 although I have seen very few with composite or S-Video input connections. There is also a widely available USB capture device (Elgato Video Capture) that doesn't hardware encode but comes bundled with software that produces H.264 video, with no other encoding options mentioned in the product description.

[dellsam34]

PCIe is more stable than USB for lossless capturing

No.

I stand corrected PCIe native data transfer rate is higher than USB, in a modern OS with a lot of whistles going on the chances of dropping signal or the capture app freezes are higher on USB 2.0 (which most legacy capture devices require) than it is on PCIe port, I've experimented with it in Win 10.

PCIe cards even brand name ones are way cheaper than USB devices even the crappy ones like Elgato, the reason is not hard to figure out, most people own laptops and tablets nowadays. The expensive PCIe cards are the HD/4K ones because the pro and semi pro are still using them.

I have never seen a (claimed to exist) on-card TBC do anything whatsoever. TBCs are more than just a chip or two welded to a card, and true TBCs are entire boards full of chips

Because those external TBC's digitize the signal, process it and convert back to analog, a lot of steps. But if the TBC operation is done after the ADC then only one or two chips are required and from there to digital file.

[usually_quiet]

PCIe cards even brand name ones are way cheaper than USB devices even the crappy ones like Elgato, the reason is not hard to figure out, most people own laptops and tablets nowadays. The expensive PCIe cards are the HD/4K ones because the pro and semi pro are still using them.

Only older PCI/PCI-e cards that are long out of production are cheaper than the two USB capture dongles that I mentioned in my posts. However, old cards are often cheap for a reason. Maybe they don't have working drivers available for Windows 10 and can only be installed successfully on a Windows XP or Linux machine or maybe they need a proprietary break-out cable that is not included with them and must be hunted down and purchased separately.

These problems might not be a big deal for you since you collect all kinds of obsolete/vintage gear but they may be very inconvenient for a newbie.

[dellsam34]

PCIe cards even brand name ones are way cheaper than USB devices even the crappy ones like Elgato, the reason is not hard to figure out, most people own laptops and tablets nowadays. The expensive PCIe cards are the HD/4K ones because the pro and semi pro are still using them.

Only older PCI/PCI-e cards that are long out of production are cheaper than the two USB capture dongles that I mentioned in my posts. However, old cards are often cheap for a reason. Maybe they don't have working drivers available for Windows 10 and can only be installed successfully on a Windows XP or Linux machine or maybe they need a proprietary break-out cable that is not included with them and must be hunted down and purchased separately.

These problems might not be a big deal for you since you collect all kinds of obsolete/vintage gear but they may be very inconvenient for a newbie.

Not exactly true, There are tons of legacy PCIe cards that work just fine under Win10, 7 and Vista for SD capturing, I already mentioned that HD/4K cards are expensive because they are being used for HD maybe you glossed over that. In any case legacy devices PCI and USB alike are the preferred ones for capturing analog SD, HD cards and easycraps are not recommended and that was my point.

[usually_quiet]

Did I mention HD or 4K? No. I meant good used SD capture cards.

If you are going to suggest that people use vintage cards then suggest something that the OP can easily find and use on a modern Windows system. If you can't be bothered to do that what good is your advice?

[klode]

Thanks for this discussion really I have more appreciate. However, my intention is to get the more usable and good acquiring card based on your experience. I don't want you match about PCIexpress VS USB or whatsover.
If you says the USB is stable during acquiring on uncompressed format, I could accept it.
So, which are your best suggestions? Hauppage 610 and Elgato? What about EZ Grabber 2? The Elgato is too expensive, 130 EUR... What do you think?

[usually_quiet]

Thanks for this discussion really I have more appreciate. However, my intention is to get the more usable and good acquiring card based on your experience. I don't want you match about PCIexpress VS USB or whatsover.
If you says the USB is stable during acquiring on uncompressed format, I could accept it.
So, which are your best suggestions? Hauppage 610 and Elgato? What about EZ Grabber 2? The Elgato is too expensive, 130 EUR... What do you think?

What video sources do you plan to capture from? PAL VHS tapes? NTSC VHS tapes? Analog 8mm tapes recorded by a camera? Something else?

[dellsam34]

Did I mention HD or 4K? No. I meant good used SD capture cards.
?

Yes those good used SD cards that I was referring to, thanks for making my point.

Thanks for this discussion really I have more appreciate. However, my intention is to get the more usable and good acquiring card based on your experience. I don't want you match about PCIexpress VS USB or whatsover.
If you says the USB is stable during acquiring on uncompressed format, I could accept it.
So, which are your best suggestions? Hauppage 610 and Elgato? What about EZ Grabber 2? The Elgato is too expensive, 130 EUR... What do you think?

If you can go expansion card route go for it, modern USB capture devices are all junk made by Chinese companies to make a quick buck, Good USB capture devices from back in the day are tricky, do your home work and make sure you don't get fake clones, They range from $60 to $120 depends on the market place and location.

[usually_quiet]

Did I mention HD or 4K? No. I meant good used SD capture cards.
?

Yes those good used SD cards that I was referring to, thanks for making my point.

There are also current model SD PCI-e capture cards available from Hauppauge and Osprey, but they are more expensive than the USB devices that I mentioned and the OP has confirmed that he wants an inexpensive device.

Since you, not I, are the expert on good cheap vintage cards, where are your suggestions for models that will work in a modern system and are readily available? The OP is clearly new to this so telling him to do research is not much help.

[dellsam34]

Sure no problem as soon as the OP posts his computer info and what materials he is capturing, Is there any TBC or a DVD recorder in the loop, all this are missing in the original post and without them threads like this are waste of time.