video capture with Compro e900f

[V_J]

Hello,

I have an old Compro e900f, installed my Windows 10 computer. The tuner part works perfectly in various software, but I cannot figure out how to use the capture aspect (it has analog inputs for composite, s-video and yPbPr). It works on the Compro software, but that software is quite limited; I would love to use the inputs in more standard software.

Any suggestions/ideas?
OBS Studio for example sees it as two BDA-capture devices, which I suspect is due to the double tuner. I'm not sure if there is some driversetting or something like that that allows me to view the analog inputs.

Jörg

[dellsam34]

Try vdub or AmarecTV.

[V_J]

Thanks; vdub shows it (haven't tried AmarecTV). I haven't yet tried to capture but it looks like it will work. And vdub also even allows to tune the TV, and for the first device of the two (both tuners), it allows to change the video source to composite, svideo or yPbPr.

And I was stupid: I checked again in OBS Studio, and there it also shows up, under the option crossbar: the first tuner has options for the other inputs... But OBS Studio cannot seem to tune (not important to me - analog and DVB-t are switched off here, I just wanted the capture)

Thanks!

[V_J]

Turns out I was too optimistic... I can select the input, but no signal is detected....
I've tried with 2 composite sources that show an image on another device... However, Compro's only software also does not show an input signal. In OBS Studio, when I create the media sources, I select the device.
In "configure video" I have three tabs:
1. private options: 3D comb filter
2. Video Decoder: allows to select video standard ntsc/pal/secam, shows signal detected (shows 0), shows lines detected (shows 0), and has two greyed out checkboxes "vcr input" and "output enable".
3. Video Proc Amp
No matter what I set in video standard, it always reverts back to ntsc_m (but that is the first in the list); on none of the standards it show a signal detected.
In "configure crossbar" I can have input, where I can choose 0 (tuner), 2 (composite), 4 (svideo) and 6 (yryby in); and output where I can just select 0 (video decoder out) or 1 (audio decoder out)...

I see the same dialog boxes in vdub under Capture filter (but here it does not revert back to NTSC_M) and respectively Crossbar.

The driver is obtained from Windows update and is "Compro Technology Inc - Streaming Media and Broadcast Devices - VideoMate SAA716X AvStream Video Capture: https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/ScopedViewInline.aspx?updateid=40b37c4b-272a-...0-7bcb656a579c

Any ideas?
I haven't tried s-video or component inputs.

Or would reinstalling Windows be a good idea?

[Skiller]

That driver is dated 12th of May, 2010. Use Windows 7.

[V_J]

Yes... but unfortunately I cannot go back to Windows 7... I had hoped that the driver would be ok, despite its age, because the driver comes through Windows update and is signed. But it does predate Windows 10... A bit puzzling that it is still pushed if it does not work fully.
I've completely deleted the drivers and the device, to make sure there are no remaing drivers from Compro, but it changed nothing, prior to updating. I've tried installing the Compro supplied driver (which has the same version but is not signed) in compatibility mode for Windows 7, but it also made no difference...
I've also made sure there is no other software using the capture card at the same time - I uninstalled any software that could be using it.

I never really used the capture part of the e900f, but now suddenly I have a need for capturing and was hoping to just use the hardware I have... I've found there are more recent drivers on Github for linux (for the SAA716x chipset based cards), but also not an option for me...

I've also found that some analog capture devices are impacted by the camera privacy settings introduced in Windows 10 build 1803, but mine seem to be set ok...

I still plan to reinstall Windows 10 soon, maybe that will change something...

It seems to be so close...

[lordsmurf]

You just need to use a newer quality card with Win10 drivers.

I vaguely remember that Compro card, not in a good way.

[V_J]

Yeah... It just seems wastful to me to abandon old hardware when it may still be capable enough... Next you'll tell me to ditch my Firewire 800 card!
So I try to maximise the lifetime, but I know at one point the hardware just becomes obsolete.

I have planned to reinstall my Windows (other reasons), so I'll hold out till then - maybe it makes a difference. And then I'll see. Either way the Compro card becomes less useful as DVB-T is switched off here in favour of DVB-T2... but I was thinking of some network tuner to replace it.

Thanks!