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  1. I am a novice for video for linux. I have a quick question. I have
    many Hi8mm tapes that I would like to save on my RedHat 7.1 linux(PIII 1GHz SMP with 512MB, 40GB IBM HD(7200rpm,<8.5ms accesstime)). If the HDD speed is not good enough for this, I am thinking of using RAID on the motherboard(VP6), HTP370. I would like to capture the video image as best as possible with 640x480 or more resolution at 25fps or more into preferably mpeg2. After researching and reading so many web pages, I am still not sure if this is possible or not using Linux.

    What PCI video card should I buy? I do not want TV viewing on my
    linux(video capture only). My buget is about $100-$200 for the card. Is this possible? I do not need much video editing function now.

    I am moderately familiar with Linux. Thank you very much for help.
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  2. Member SHS's Avatar
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    I think your out of lucky when come to Linux on some of this at this time far I know any eles has any idea.
    As for Viewing TV that not a Problem just about any TV card will work
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  3. Thank you for the comments. Does that mean then that I have to convert analog Hi8 to MotionJPEG using such card as DC10Plus, and there is no card available to directly put into MPEG2? Is it possible then to convert M-JPEG to MPEG2 using Linux? If so, is the picutre quality reduced due to another conversion? Is this how it looks with Linux for Hi8mm to MPEG2? Could anybody help please? Thank you. :(
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  4. Member SHS's Avatar
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    Hi jkmin like I said your out lucky with Linux but with Windows there lot option out there for realtime hardware mpeg encode.
    I don't know when the WinTV-PVR drivers for Linux will be done been this only card that any one has took a crack at for realtime hardware mpeg encode under Linux.
    http://pvr.sourceforge.net/ the last update was Nov,2001.
    You copuld alway buy this BMK-Elektronik Kfir-based Encoder which dose have Linux drivers but I have hear this card has very poor quality.
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  5. Thank you for the comments again. I would like to use and support Linux as much as possible, and that is why I am looking for Linux solution.

    I read an article on the web that the quality from DC10+ using M-JPEG is very good. But since I want to put the video eventually on DVD using MPEG2, I am not plunging into DC10+, unsure of the video quality after conversion to MPEG2 from M-JPEG. If the video quality is no good, I would not consider the BMK-Elektronik Kfir-based Encoder.

    I will look around some more. I welcome any further comments. Thank you.
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  6. Any card with the Brooktree chip (BT8*8) on it will work under linux (though you'll have to find the drivers). Even though you don't want it, most also come with a tv tuner on the card. I don't know about different codecs for linux, so you may be stuck capturing uncompressed video. You're harddrive will fill up very quickly and you may end up reencoding into mpeg2 in chunks.

    MJEG quality is just fine, though I don't know of a linux version of the codec. Check around and maybe you'll find one. There's got to be a linux website that has a video capturing section somewhere. Other people must have done this before. I also don't know of any linux mpeg2 encoding software. Another thing to look for.

    I bought a Provideo PV951. I have yet to test it under linux, but everything I've read tells me it will work if I get the proper drivers (which one can probably find with a web search). I like the card. There's also a cheaper version without the tv tuner, I believe. My card was 60 US/95 CDN.

    You can do this, but it's probably going to take you quite a bit of work to cobble together a codec so your harddrive won't fill up, and mpeg2 encoding software for linux. I don't know of too many hardware options for linux.
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  7. Thank you very much for the reply. Your comments sound like an oasis in the desert.

    I looked up the Provideo company web site, and there seem to be video capture card that I have been looking for. I am trying to use Linux RH7.1 since it is SMP(PIII 1GH). But, if there is no Linux support for the MPEG2, I am thinking of buying the card that captures best among low-end cards using Win98.

    I found 2 websites that explains in detail how to implement DC10+ in Linux. I do not know the addr off-hand. If someone asks, I will post.

    I am still learning digital video, and I am still very ignorant. I have a question. I know that there are many different prorietary codecs in MPEG1, MPEG2..etc. If this is true, and if I make a dvd(in the future), how will the regular DVD player(for TV) knows how to decode the compression algorithm. Does the regular DVD player stores all the different codecs inside?

    If there are so many different codecs, do you know if the Provideo product video quality is better or worse than others such as Dazzle DVCII, and USB Instant DVD?

    Also, I saw on the Provideo website that there are video capture card, encoder card, codec card:"PV147 PCI Video Capture Card", "PV251 MPEG-2 Video CODEC Card", "PV256 PCI MPEG-II Video Encoding/Decoding Card". What are the differences? Does the video capture card not encode?

    I very much welcome further comments. Thank you.
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  8. Originally Posted by jkmin

    I looked up the Provideo company web site, and there seem to be video capture card that I have been looking for. I am trying to use Linux RH7.1 since it is SMP(PIII 1GH). But, if there is no Linux support for the MPEG2, I am thinking of buying the card that captures best among low-end cards using Win98.
    Well, my PV951 is the only video capture card I've ever owned, so I can't give you a comparitive commentary on the quality of their products. My roommates think it looks as good or better than watching an actual tv and if I do a good MJEG capture, they can't tell if I'm watching live tv or the recording. That's good enough for me. Your mileage may vary though.

    Originally Posted by jkmin
    I am still learning digital video, and I am still very ignorant. I have a question. I know that there are many different prorietary codecs in MPEG1, MPEG2..etc. If this is true, and if I make a dvd(in the future), how will the regular DVD player(for TV) knows how to decode the compression algorithm. Does the regular DVD player stores all the different codecs inside?
    The typical stand alone DVD player has a hardware decoder for both the MPEG1 and MPEG2 compression methods. However, they often will only play videos at a certain resolution, bitrate and framerate and with a certain sound bitrate. Some are more flexible than others. If you make a DVD in the future, remember to have the framerate for your region correct (NTSC is 29.97 fps and PAL is 25-- most DVD players seem to also be able to handle film (23.97) framerate as well) as well as the bitrate, resolution and sound (frequency and bitrate).

    Originally Posted by jkmin
    If there are so many different codecs, do you know if the Provideo product video quality is better or worse than others such as Dazzle DVCII, and USB Instant DVD?
    Well, I've never really tried anything other than software encoding with my one capture card. But I can tell you this. USB tops out at 10 megabits per second, which is much slower than your PCI slots. From what I've heard, USB capturing devices are not always prefered for high resolution MPEG2 captures (like DVD quality). If you want some samples from one of ProVideo's products go here: http://steve.kittelsen.com/pv231/
    It's an MPEG1 card though, rather than an MPEG2 capture card.

    Originally Posted by jkmin
    Also, I saw on the Provideo website that there are video capture card, encoder card, codec card:"PV147 PCI Video Capture Card", "PV251 MPEG-2 Video CODEC Card", "PV256 PCI MPEG-II Video Encoding/Decoding Card". What are the differences? Does the video capture card not encode?
    It looks like the PV147 (and the PV147DV) are both just capture cards with no onboard hardware encoding. I think they're the "model up" from my PV951 and may come with MPEG encoding software (probably just windows versions). The PV251 CODEC card looks like a hardware decoder, but I found no mention of it's encoding capabilities. It looks almost like a TV out card to put out a movie from DVD drive directly to your television. It also can capture, but I saw no mention of hardware encoding, only MPEG 2 decoding.

    The PV256 is a MPEG2 encoding card that will capture a video source directly to MPEG2 format. The only problem is that I didn't see DVD standard resolutions on the list of resolutions it could capture (NTSC is 720x480 and PAL is 720x576). I don't play with MPEG2 files very much, so I don't know how difficult it will be to convert it to DVD standard resultion. The hardware decoding on the card probably requires that you use the bundled software. I doubt you could get it to work under Linux. Send Provideo and email though. I've heard their customer service/sales are fairly responsive.

    I'm fairly new to this whole video capture thing myself. I'm quite enthralled though. Let me know how this all works out and if you can get everything to work under Linux as you'd like it to work. Definitely post any links you might find to Linux codecs and capturing programs. I may end up putting Linux back on my machine in the future, so I'd like to know.
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  9. Thank you very very much for your detailed reply. I still have some questions. 1. If I decide to buy PROVIDE products, where can I buy in So CA, LA area? 2. What is output video format from the PV147 PCI Video Capture Card if it does not do any encoding? Is it AVI format? Then Can I use the MPEG2 codec on the output of the PV147 PCI card? 3. I thought MPEG2 is 720x480, but if PV256 is MPEG2, how come the spec says it is 704x480, not 720x480? Is that normal?
    I looked at the MPEG1 example you mentioned, and I can notice that there is difference in picuture quality. I hope the MPEG2 is not that different in picture quality.
    If the bitrate, resolution and sound (frequency and bitrate), and etc can be set at MPEG2 encoding, then I guess the different MPEG2 codecs do not really matter. Is this correct?
    If I can get it to work under Linux, I will definately post it here.
    I am also trying to get some more info from the PROVIDEO company by sending e-mail. Again, I really appreciate any further comments. Thank you.
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  10. Originally Posted by jkmin
    I still have some questions. 1. If I decide to buy PROVIDE products, where can I buy in So CA, LA area?
    I don't have a clue. Try emailing them and asking for a retailer or distributor in your area.

    Originally Posted by jkmin
    2. What is output video format from the PV147 PCI Video Capture Card if it does not do any encoding? Is it AVI format? Then Can I use the MPEG2 codec on the output of the PV147 PCI card?
    It looks like the software it comes with can output MPEG2 by software encoding. They quality may be poor though (as software captures directly to MPEG usually are). There's also no way of knowing if that card will work with Linux at all (probably not). It will put out an AVI, the software it comes with may let you use a vaiety of codecs, or you could capture with other software like VirtualDub or iuVCR. I don't quite understand the second question, but if you're asking if you can take the AVI file and re-encode it into MPEG2 for writing onto a CD, DVD-r or to just play off your computer, then yes. I know you can do all that with software available for windows, but I don't know about Linux versions or alternatives.

    Originally Posted by jkmin
    3. I thought MPEG2 is 720x480, but if PV256 is MPEG2, how come the spec says it is 704x480, not 720x480? Is that normal?
    DVDs (which contain MPEG2 encoded video) are at 720x480 (at least in North America), but MPEG2 video itself can be pretty much anything. You could encode in 240x631 if you really wanted to do so. DVD players generally only play the standard resolutions which, for the region we are in, is 720x480 for DVDs and 480x480 for SVCDs. Some DVD players are more flexible than others. MPEG2 is an encoding standard, while DVD, SVCD, and others are format standards (resolution, sound frequency/bitrate, video bitrate, framerate, that sort of thing).

    Originally Posted by jkmin
    If the bitrate, resolution and sound (frequency and bitrate), and etc can be set at MPEG2 encoding, then I guess the different MPEG2 codecs do not really matter. Is this correct?
    It's functionally correct. MPEG2 codecs either play MPEG2 standard video or they don't. They're either MPEG2 compliant decoders/encoders or they're not. You can set the format standard to whatever you want. A given DVD player may only handle certain formats (like DVD players playing only files of a certain resolution and bitrate/other factors). If you want to make a DVD, you make your video comply with DVD standards for you dvd player, for an SVCD, you'd make it SVCD standard. They're both MPEG2.

    Provideo may or may not be the card manufacturer for you. I know little about linux.Here are some links though:
    http://www.nmt.edu/~kscott/video/
    http://www.linuxtv.org
    http://bytesex.org/xawtv/index.html
    http://www.metzlerbros.org/bttv.html
    http://www.softlandmark.com/Linux/VideoCapture.htm
    http://sourceforge.net/projects/v4l/

    That sight is a little sparse but it does directly deal with your asking about. There is even a MPEG2 software encoder for linux called SAMPEG-2. And for an AVI MJPEG codec for linux: http://mjpeg.sourceforge.net/ Though I don't think this will work with Provideo's cards.

    Anyway, Let's look at the problem again: You want to capture Hi8 to MPEG2. What do you plan on doing with this MPEG2? Putting it on standard format DVD-Rs? SVCDs? Just run them off your hardrive?

    I'm very interested in getting video capturing/mpeg2 encoding working under linux as well (as I'm planning on returning to Linux very shortly). Your computer speed is just fine, as is your harddrive. I do all my avi capturing to a 17 gig 5400 rpm drive so you're find with your harddrive.

    Let's look at the steps needed to get a final product:
    1. Get the video from the Hi8 source to the computer in some sort of file format that will be able to be reencoded/manipulated as needed.
    2. Format the video appropriately for the media used (DVD, SVCD, files burnt onto CDs, whatever)
    3. Burn them to their respective media

    For #1 we need a capture card that will a) work under linux and b) accept input from a Hi8. I know very little about a Hi8, what cables does it have to connect to other machines? Regular COAX RF cable? Composite? S-Video? Something else? We'll need a card that can actually take the input.

    Then we'll need the appropriate drivers and capture software for Linux. There are a few that I found just with a quick google search.

    Here's where we hit our problem. I can't seem to find any good codecs for Linux. 40 gigs of uncompressed video happens very very quickly. This is the bottle neck for me. Under Windows, in Virtualdub or iuVCR I can capture to an AVI at 640x480 or 480x480 and have 3 hours of good quality MJPEG video take up about 7 gigs. For decent quality stuff (for reencoding into VCDs or DivX, I can get 2 hours in a 3 gig file and rencode it down to a 700 meg DivX file. Or I can rencode it into a nice big MPEG2 file for writing onto a dvd (not that I have any sort of DVD writer). I'm not finding the codecs to do that under linux. I'm only really finding uncompressed capturing mentioned in the majority of these pages. I'll continue to look though.

    2. Assuming we find a way to capture a decent amount of video into a format other than uncompressed, there appears to be two or three decent linux MPEG2 encoding programs to get the files into DVD or SVCD compliant formats. This won't be a problem.

    3. I don't know much about buring CDs or DVDs under Linux. In the past, I've never taken the time to get my burner working under Linux. I know I can, I've installed the drivers and monkeyed with a few programs, I just never made a test cd. This shouldn't be a problem though.

    So basically, a card needs to be picked and software found for it. I've already bought my card. All I need now is a good codec. So I'd say browse through the pages on video for linux and see what cards strike your fancy. You may indeed end up going with a card with a BT8X8 chipset just because they have the best support under linux. Then you'll be in the same boat as me: looking for a way to capture to something other than a massive uncompressed AVI (though you have more harddrive space to play with than I do).
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  11. Thank you very much again for the long and detailed comments. It takes time for me to digest all your good information, with a regular job using NT and Unix at work.
    Basically, I want to save my family's Hi8mm video tapes onto DVD-R, so it will last long long time without degradation(hopefully), and easy to view on TV, and make copies. Secondly, I want to put my video on the net in good quality using Realnetwork's Realserver or Quicktime using Darwing QuicktimeStreaming Server. I already tested both on my Linux, and they work well. I use Intel Pro Webcam on my WinME to import my Hi8mm video into AVI using 320x240 or less, and then I QuickTIme Pro to convert to .mov file format to be used by the streaming servers. They are quite good, but I would like to capture 640x480 or better quality, and put it on the web page on the internet using ADSL or Cable Modem(in the future, I do not have fast acess yet, but I am practicing for that now using my home intranetwork). It is really cool to see live video by clicking on the web page.
    My Hi8mm is Sony handycam with S-Video jack and component jack(if has white, red, yellow for Audio-L, Audio-R, Video). I have more than 15 these 2hour hi8mm.
    I may have to buy a video book and study in earnest. I did not expect this task of putting video into MPEG2 this difficult.
    I have one question. The Hi8mm has about 400 vertical scan lines, but then when the video is captured, how 400 vertical lines can be captured into 480 vertical DVD lines? Is it scanning the same 400 Hi8mm lines more than once to make it 480? Is it the same as scanning a 35mm negative films at 1200 or 1600 or 2400 dpi? Is there an advantage in capturing the 400line Hi8mm video into 480 vertical lines instead of 400lines?(TV has 4:3 ratio and 3 is vertical & 4 is horizontal, so in case of Hi8mm, it is 533x400=4:3, if my reasoning is correct). For the same token, does making 533 horizontal lines into 640 or 720 make sense for better picture quality?
    The PV147 card is to me out of the league since it captures as follows. The following is from the PROVIDEO e-mail to my questions.
    --------------
    PV147 Capture card which capture and save as avi
    file; resolution 160*120 / 320*240
    PV256 It's hardware encode/decode card which save as
    MPEG I / II file encode by H/W.
    resolution 320*240 / 704 * 576
    -----------------
    What is the output video format from the PV951? Is it good enough for MPEG2?
    I need more time to study the remaining of your reply befere I can comments. Thank you very much again.
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  12. 704x480 is treaded the same as 720x480. So, 704x480 is DVD compatible. 704x480 has 8 pixels cropped on each side of the video image, so there is basically no difference between 704 and 720 horizontal pixels, you will not see the 8 missing pixels on each side on a TV set.
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  13. Originally Posted by jkmin
    My Hi8mm is Sony handycam with S-Video jack and component jack(if has white, red, yellow for Audio-L, Audio-R, Video). I have more than 15 these 2hour hi8mm.
    With s-video and component, most capture cards will work just fine. They're pretty much standard now. Just make sure whatever card you get has them on there, just to be sure.

    Originally Posted by jkmin
    I may have to buy a video book and study in earnest. I did not expect this task of putting video into MPEG2 this difficult.
    This site probably has more info on it than any book you'll find. If you do find a good piece of reference material, let me know what you get.

    Originally Posted by jkmin
    I have one question. The Hi8mm has about 400 vertical scan lines, but then when the video is captured, how 400 vertical lines can be captured into 480 vertical DVD lines? Is it scanning the same 400 Hi8mm lines more than once to make it 480? Is it the same as scanning a 35mm negative films at 1200 or 1600 or 2400 dpi?
    I guess it converts it somehow. I never really thought about the source being different than the final product. Perhaps it does go over it twice, extrapolates the info or does something similar to the photo thing. I don't really know "how."

    Originally Posted by jkmin
    Is there an advantage in capturing the 400line Hi8mm video into 480 vertical lines instead of 400lines?(TV has 4:3 ratio and 3 is vertical & 4 is horizontal, so in case of Hi8mm, it is 533x400=4:3, if my reasoning is correct). For the same token, does making 533 horizontal lines into 640 or 720 make sense for better picture quality?
    Well, 480 is DVD compliant. Considering you want these things to work on the DVD players of yourself, family and friends, that's probably reason enough. As for quality, I don't imagine there'd be any difference at all.

    Originally Posted by jkmin
    The PV147 card is to me out of the league since it captures as follows. The following is from the PROVIDEO e-mail to my questions.
    --------------
    PV147 Capture card which capture and save as avi
    file; resolution 160*120 / 320*240
    PV256 It's hardware encode/decode card which save as
    MPEG I / II file encode by H/W.
    resolution 320*240 / 704 * 576
    -----------------
    That PV147 is really bad. THose are pretty low resolutions. So much for it being a model up from the PV951.

    Originally Posted by jkmin
    What is the output video format from the PV951? Is it good enough for MPEG2?
    The PV951 does no onboard conversion. It captures either directly to an uncompressed AVI or to a compressed AVI using a codec (MJEG being my favorite one to use). Then the AVI can be converted into an MPEG2 using a variety of software (there's even Linux ones available). There are programs out there that capture directly to MPEG2 but I don't think they produce as good quality as encoding it from an AVI yourself.

    Any video capture card witht he BT8*8 will work under linux. For your uses, it also needs S-video and component inputs. The PV951 is one example of many cards. The specifications on the Provideo website don't mention the PV951 having S-video or composite, but when I was at a local computer shop checking out video capture cards, the one they had did have them. I don't know if they all do or not. The PV951 card is the only one I've had and I've not captured anything but TV with it, so I don't know how it will work for Hi8 (It should work fine). If you're still going the Linux route, just figure out which card with the BT8*8 chipset (mine has the BT878-- I don't think it really matters). I don't really know what the differences are between the various BT8*8 chipsets. They're all generic ones that will work under linux though. You're not married to Provideo, so take your time and shop around for a good card. There are lots of reviews of various BT8*8 cards out there. I'm sure you'll be able to find a good one locally for quite cheap. The only thing still to consider for Linux is the lack of a codec like the MJEG ones available for Windows. I'm still looking for one before I move my capturing/editing over to Linux.
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  14. Thank you, skittelsen for commenting on 704x480 vs 720x480. I figured that 8 pixels on the 19" monitor(800x600 resolution) amounts to .14", which is a little more than an 1/8 inch on both sides( 14"(horizontal length of 19" monitor) * 8 pixels / 800 pixels = .14), if my calculating logic is correct. So, if the TV monitor is like 32" or larger, then it may be a little bit more noticeble, I think. Thank you.
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  15. The Old One SatStorm's Avatar
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    My 2 EuroCents for the subject:
    The cheapest and almost the BEST capture card for linux: Hauppauge win TV primio FM.
    With any machine above 500mhz, you doing impossible things with this card....
    My little experience is based on mandrake 8.2 Linux distribution.
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  16. Hello, CauCauCau.
    I saw the following posts on the forum by SHS.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I was helping out a WinTV user he was asking for the ulr to the TV Card-out hack so check to see if the site was still there and give it a real quick look over and what do I found at the end of the page hehehe damm this is not fair ho it a WinTV-PVR 350.

    SHS

    Joined: 11 Oct 2000
    Posts: 295

    Posted: May 15 19:35

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I final go ok to post this so here you go the WinTV-PVR 350 spec.
    Philips FM1236 TV/FM Tuner
    Philips SAA7121 Video DAC
    Philips SAA7115 Video Digitizer
    Micronas 4448G Audio Processor
    S-Video/Composite output socket to connect to VCR or Camcorders
    1/8 stereo mini socket audio line-out
    S-Video/Composite input socket to connect to VCR or Camcorders
    1/8 stereo mini socket audio line-inInternal audio line output
    IR 1/8 mini receiver socket
    IR remote control

    iCompression iTVC15 spec
    Video Encoding
    . High-quality real-time encoding (I-, B-, and P frames)
    . Supports MPEG-2 (MP@ML, SP@ML) and MPEG-1:
    - 525/60 (NTSC) up to 720x480 @ 30 fps
    - 625/50 (PAL) up to 720x576 @ 25 fps
    . Variable and constant bit rate up to 15 Mbit/sec
    . Programmable GOP lengths
    . Adaptive field/frame (motion compensation type 8 DCT)
    . Field/frame motion estimation:
    - B-frame: ±296(H) ´ ±184(V)
    - P-frame: ±326(H) ´ ±202(V)
    - Half-pel accuracy
    . 4:2:2 to 4:2:0 conversion
    . Speckle noise reduction
    . Sharpness control
    . Recursive noise reduction
    . Inverse telecine (3:2 pulldown)
    . Scene change detectione
    . Adaptive quantization
    . Supports Program and Transport streams
    . VBI extraction

    Video Decoding
    . Supports MPEG-2 and MPEG-1:
    - 525/60 (NTSC) up to 720x480 @ 30 fps
    - 625/50 (PAL) up to 720x576 @ 25 fps
    . 144-tap horizontal up and down filter
    . 64-tap vertical up and down filter
    . Letterbox conversion from 16:9 to 4:3
    . 3:2 pulldown
    . Supports Program and Transport streams
    . Picture-in-graphics display
    . Closed captioning

    Audio Encoding and Decoding
    . MPEG-1 Layer II
    . Sampling rates of 32 KHz, 44.1 KHz, and 48KHz
    . Compressed bit rates up to 384 Kbit/sec
    . Supports 16-bit samples

    Interfaces
    . Video input: 4:2:2 YUV CCIR-656
    . Video output: 4:2:2 YUV CCIR-656
    . Audio input/output: Stereo Sony I2S
    _________________
    SHS Unofficial WinTV-PVR
    SHS Unofficial 3Dfx FAQ & Download for Windows 2000-XP
    SHS Unofficial SBLive! WDM Drivers for Windows 98SE-ME-2000-XP


    *****************************************
    I am looking at the wintv-pvr350(model# 990) and wintv-pvr250(model890). Someone is working on the Linux compatiblity for this product according to SHS reference. This is interesting to me. Please take a look at this see how you like it. Thank you.
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  17. Originally Posted by jkmin
    I have one question. The Hi8mm has about 400 vertical scan lines, but then when the video is captured, how 400 vertical lines can be captured into 480 vertical DVD lines? Is it scanning the same 400 Hi8mm lines more than once to make it 480? Is it the same as scanning a 35mm negative films at 1200 or 1600 or 2400 dpi? Is there an advantage in capturing the 400line Hi8mm video into 480 vertical lines instead of 400lines?(TV has 4:3 ratio and 3 is vertical & 4 is horizontal, so in case of Hi8mm, it is 533x400=4:3, if my reasoning is correct). For the same token, does making 533 horizontal lines into 640 or 720 make sense for better picture quality?
    You've got the axes mixed up. If vertical lines are stacked side by side, then surely the resolution they define is horizontal?

    Vertical resolution in analogue systems is always fixed(480 visible horizontal lines out of 525 in NTSC), so it's rarely mentioned. Horizontal resolution, however, does not consist of real lines so it must be measured and then quoted in the technical specs. The measurement also assumes a square display device, so the amount of vertical lines must be multiplied with 4/3 to get the horizontal resolution.

    This means that Hi8 resolution is about 533*480 and anything above that should be enough to capture all detail unless the capture device has poor horizontal scaling.
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  18. Originally Posted by wumbus
    Yes, you can use a DC10plus with Linux as well as some other MJPEG compression cards.

    Useful links concerning Linux and video capture:
    Thank you for the reply. I have a question. After you capture analog video to MJPEG, is it possible to convert to MPEG2? If possible, is the quality of the MPEG2 fromMJPEG better or worse than that of MPEG2 directly captured and encoded from analog video? Or the same? Thank you.
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  19. Originally Posted by RemoteCtrl
    Originally Posted by jkmin
    I have one question. The Hi8mm has about 400 vertical scan lines, but then when the video is captured, how 400 vertical lines can be captured into 480 vertical DVD lines? Is it scanning the same 400 Hi8mm lines more than once to make it 480? Is it the same as scanning a 35mm negative films at 1200 or 1600 or 2400 dpi? Is there an advantage in capturing the 400line Hi8mm video into 480 vertical lines instead of 400lines?(TV has 4:3 ratio and 3 is vertical & 4 is horizontal, so in case of Hi8mm, it is 533x400=4:3, if my reasoning is correct). For the same token, does making 533 horizontal lines into 640 or 720 make sense for better picture quality?
    You've got the axes mixed up. If vertical lines are stacked side by side, then surely the resolution they define is horizontal?

    Vertical resolution in analogue systems is always fixed(480 visible horizontal lines out of 525 in NTSC), so it's rarely mentioned. Horizontal resolution, however, does not consist of real lines so it must be measured and then quoted in the technical specs. The measurement also assumes a square display device, so the amount of vertical lines must be multiplied with 4/3 to get the horizontal resolution.

    This means that Hi8 resolution is about 533*480 and anything above that should be enough to capture all detail unless the capture device has poor horizontal scaling.
    Thank you for the reply. When I said '400 veritcal scan lines', I meant that 400 horizontal lines. I am a novice in video area, so I do not understand your comments well. Could you explain it in easier way? or Where should I look on net to know more on this, if you know off-hand any web site? Thank you very much.
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  20. Originally Posted by jkmin
    Thank you for the reply. When I said '400 veritcal scan lines', I meant that 400 horizontal lines.
    No you didn't. 400 vertical lines is the correct figure for Hi-8. Only, they are not scan lines because scanning is done in the horizontal direction. To sum it up:
    Horizontal resolution = 4/3 * amount of vertical lines (a measured number).
    Vertical resolution = amount of horizontal scan lines (a fixed number).
    Originally Posted by jkmin
    I am a novice in video area, so I do not understand your comments well. Could you explain it in easier way? or Where should I look on net to know more on this, if you know off-hand any web site? Thank you very much.
    If anything, things get more complicated as other factors are added. Try this collection of links: http://www.uwasa.fi/~f76998/video/
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  21. Originally Posted by jkmin

    Thank you for the reply. I have a question. After you capture analog video to MJPEG, is it possible to convert to MPEG2? If possible, is the quality of the MPEG2 fromMJPEG better or worse than that of MPEG2 directly captured and encoded from analog video? Or the same? Thank you.

    There is a program for linux called FFMPEG (try a google search
    or freshmeat.net) that tries to do mpeg1, mpeg2, and mpeg4 (divx)
    software compression.

    I think bbmpeg is open source, and I think it has been ported, in whole
    or in part, to linux.
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  22. Originally Posted by RemoteCtrl
    If anything, things get more complicated as other factors are added. Try this collection of links: http://www.uwasa.fi/~f76998/video/
    Thank you for the reply again. The web site has a lot of good information on video. I will read them and learn more on video. Thank you.
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  23. Originally Posted by incognito
    There is a program for linux called FFMPEG (try a google search
    or freshmeat.net) that tries to do mpeg1, mpeg2, and mpeg4 (divx)
    software compression.

    I think bbmpeg is open source, and I think it has been ported, in whole
    or in part, to linux.
    Thank you for the info. But then do you know if the video quality converted to MPEG2 from MJPEG is good or not by any chance? I learn that every conversion made on video format degrades the video quality. But the MJPEG to MPEG2 may not reduce video quality since MJPEG is intraframe compression? I know that DC10+ captures 640x480 at 30fps. Can this 640x480 @30fps be converted to MPEG2 704x480 or 720x480? If possible, then final MPEG2 video quality is the same as the MPEG2 704x480 or 720x480 directly captured from analog Hi8 video? Thank you.
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  24. One word.. OSPREY
    The have one or two cards that work with linux.
    They are the shiznet..
    http://www.viewcast.com/products/osprey.html
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  25. Originally Posted by Linuxboy00
    One word.. OSPREY
    The have one or two cards that work with linux.
    They are the shiznet..
    http://www.viewcast.com/products/osprey.html
    Thank you for the reply. I went to the web site and found that Osprey-100 is supported by Linux. But sInce I am a beginner in digital video, I do not know if the card Osprey-100 suits my purpose or not. The web site says it is for the streaming video, and it does not seem to say in detail what is the video output format from the card. Thank you.
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  26. Hello, I made some progress in video capture in Linux.

    First, I bought PV147(www.provideo.com.tw, $30 for the card & $30 for S&H(I also bought PV256C for the same S&H, PV147=bt878a based card) and installed on my RH7.1 VP6 SMP motherboard.

    I installed the bttv and then bttvgrab on it. The bttvgrab installation is not completely successful all the way. It had an error in installing kgrab, but still the bttvgrab seems to work.

    Finally, I was able to see the clean and good video 720x480 from my Hi8mm videocam using bttvgrab. So far, that is it.

    Now, I have to save it in some file format or convert it to mpeg2.
    I have not done it yet, and it looks like it needs lots of testing and researching to understand all the file format that bttvgrab saves as. I did some searching with no good avail. If anybody has any references on the web on the bttvgrab file format, could you please let me know?

    I will keep my progress posted. Thanks.
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  27. Guess I arrived to late here to help, but I would definitely mention the Iomega BUZ as the Best Capturing Solution on Linux. Even though its production has been discontinued, it lets you capture at full Betacam SP quality under windows 95,98 and ME at 720 x 480, and has a very fast ultra SCSI2 controller. Its only flaws is it cannot capture timecode and does not work on win XP or NT. But anyway, you want to use it with Hi8, so no problem at all. Under Linux it limits to 640 x 480, but still with the best quality, due to the Zoran/Philips/Advansys chipset combination. It captures on MJPEG, and in features it's similar to the miroVideo DC product line. It is closer to the DC30 than to the DC10, and is CHEAP. about $20 - $40 dollars on eBay. You can find Linux drivers at sourceforge.net for free.
    It has the nicest breakout box, too.
    If you want to compress to MPG2 at realtime, look for a Hi-end card instead. But I say you better stay with software encoding after capture.
    In this industry, Sadly, The future was yesterday.
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  28. Guess I arrived to late here to help, but I would definitely mention the Iomega BUZ as the Best Capturing Solution on Linux. Even though its production has been discontinued, it lets you capture at full Betacam SP quality under windows 95,98 and ME at 720 x 480, and has a very fast ultra SCSI2 controller. Its only flaws is it cannot capture timecode and does not work on win XP or NT. But anyway, you want to use it with Hi8, so no problem at all. Under Linux it limits to 640 x 480, but still with the best quality, due to the Zoran/Philips/Advansys chipset combination. It captures on MJPEG, and in features it's similar to the miroVideo DC product line. It is closer to the DC30 than to the DC10, and is CHEAP. about $20 - $40 dollars on eBay. You can find Linux drivers at sourceforge.net for free.
    It has the nicest breakout box, too.
    If you want to compress to MPG2 at realtime, look for a Hi-end card instead. But I say you better stay with software encoding after capture.
    In this industry, Sadly, The future was yesterday.
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  29. Member SHS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2000
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    Vinita, Oklahoma
    Search Comp PM
    jkminas as for linux drivers for the WinTV-PVR 350 it non know rigth now
    it could be possable wirte heck drv "The eazy way we need the doc and source code and some real skill linux programer" for capture mpeg recording then use the decode side of the iCompression iTVC15 pipe it out to the S-Video/Composite output for perview mode that would do alway with one of the biggest problem with linux has rigth now no Soft MPEG Decode drv (InterVideo LinDVD is dead no thank to the MPPA for this one).
    The only other option wa the BMK-Elektronik Kfir-based Encoder card but it dead.
    Rigth now thoses boys doing the linux WinTV-PVR drv seem be cop out BS story oh my harddrive die oh my video card is dead oh I'am waiting for new harddisk man talk about lame why don't just say they can't do it and say we sorry we try are best but it above your programing skill hehe.
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