PCI capture card not showing in various capture software (GV-MVP/GXW)

[ThaKarra]

Hi all,

I was at a thrift store today and came across what looks to be an old Japanese PCI capture card (I-O Data GV-MVP/GXW). - The card has a TV tuner, composite and s-video input on the back interface. I can't find much about it online in terms of support, but it seems to be exclusively Japanese.



For a couple of dollars I decided to pick it up. The box is a little worn but honestly I don't think the card has ever been used. It was still sealed in plastic by the time I brought it home. - Now I know the TV tuner function of the card is pretty defunct by this point, but I thought I could have a little fun with the composite and s-video inputs by capturing some of my old VHS tapes.

I slotted the PCI card into an old PC I had under my bed. I tried to install the driver on Windows 10 but quickly found that it wasn't compatible. So I rolled back and installed a copy of Windows XP, which is probably the era which the card was designed for. This time I managed to successfully install the driver and it even showed in device manager.


[Attachment 71136 - Click to enlarge]

All seemed to be going pretty well...

My plan was to discard all software on the disc (because I can't read Japanese) and just use something like VirtualDub instead. But after trying both VirtualDub and VirtualDub2 the capture device was nowhere to be found under sources. So I tried AmaRecTV, Virtual VCR, iuVCR and even Windows Media Encoder. - None of the software was detecting any kind of capture device on my PC, the drop down menus to select a video source were completely blank.

So my next option was to obviously try the "MagicTV" software on the disc. I fumbled my way through the Japanese text and managed to install it. - There was no configuring the software, it seemed to just automatically detect the card and it worked! I could see my LG VCR/DVD in the preview window.. However... the picture was black/white and kinda "overlayed" looking. Unfortunately I couldn't mess around with any of the settings within the application to try fix the picture because the software couldn't render the Japanese text and replaced everything with "???????" (yes I tried installing a Japanese language pack in Windows).



So although the picture is messed up in MagicTV, I can clearly see the PCI card works and my PC is detecting it. My question is, why can't any other software see it? It's showing up in device manager, so why isn't it showing in up VirtualDub? - Is there anyway I can make it work in VirtualDub? I would love to muck around with this card and have a bit of fun capturing old home videos etc. But I don't want to be stuck trying to figure out the MagicTV software, especially when I can't even translate the text.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

EDIT: So I know why the video preview was messed up in the MagicTV app. It's because my VCR/DVD player that I had hooked up is PAL and the capture card is obviously NTSC. - I tried plugging in my Japanese NTSC GameCube and the picture was perfect! - However I would still love to get this working in external software like VirtualDub.

[DB83]

Well, from my own experience with a Hauppauge PCI card, it never worked beyond XP since drivers could not be written.

Assuming you do have a 'real' XP installation now and not just some 'rolled back' compatability mode the issue is different. But current capture software expects Direct Show drivers whereas this card only installs the original Video For Windows.


Yet even if you get over that hurdle you have hit the major stumbling block since the card only accepts NTSC. And not NTSC-M but NTSC-J.


So I doubt you will ever get this working.

[ThaKarra]

Well, from my own experience with a Hauppauge PCI card, it never worked beyond XP since drivers could not be written.

Assuming you do have a 'real' XP installation now and not just some 'rolled back' compatability mode the issue is different. But current capture software expects Direct Show drivers whereas this card only installs the original Video For Windows.


Yet even if you get over that hurdle you have hit the major stumbling block since the card only accepts NTSC. And not NTSC-M but NTSC-J.


So I doubt you will ever get this working.

Hi thanks for the reply!

I'm using the PCI card in an old PC that was built in the Windows XP era, so yes I'm running a real XP installation. I have no expectations to run it on new hardware.

So I guess the fact it only accepts NTSC-J kind of makes it game over then? No way of getting around it?

[oln]

Virtualdub does have a VFW option virtuadub can access that that api via the "WDM image capture VFW" device I think but not sure how well it works in practice. Might be mpeg2 only as well. Presumably the capture apps will have a TV system setting if it's available, most video ICs were multi-system though 3D Y/C chips might have been more special so idk. If it accepts NTSC-J it will accept NTSC-M too at least, the black levels are just going to be a bit off if it doesn't auto-adjust.

Interesting card, looks like it might be using 3D Y/C and video ICs from NEC.

[jwillis84]

IT should work very well, ViXS is a late model MPEG2 output chip.

There are only a few video capture software that can natively handle MPEG2 output directly; most famously Cyberlink PowerDirector.

For Window XP though you might have to go all the way back to PowerDirector 10, it will notice both analog and digital TV encoder front-ended MPEG2 capture devices.

Windows MediaCenter should be compatible with the MPEG2 stream, but probably won't understand the Japanese version of the Microsoft BDA architecture.. it might.. but that only affects channel changing.. otherwise.. as a composite or s-video device it might work.

Noël Danjou AMCap is also capable of capturing from MPEG2 output cards... the latest versions won't install on WinXP.. but he had/has a version that will.. I bought a copy.. the later Win7/8/10 API kernels forced him to drop XP compatibility in later versions.

MPEG2 hardware encoder capture cards were an odd, if lame duck by the time Apple had decided H.264 MP4 would be the way forward.. only MediaCenter focused on hardware MPEG2, that and DVR recorders.

History was it pretty much jumped from DV (.AVI) style hardware compression cards and file straight to H.264 (.MP4) style hardware compression cards.. many hardware chips even dual purposed MPEG2 (or) MPEG4 .. which was a loose preamble to H.264.. kind of jumped the gun standards wise like Netware did with IPX/SPX back in the day.

SnappySoft also captured from Japanese NEC hardware MPEG2 compression chips but favored the rarer direct to MPEG2-PS format (ready for DVD burning) instead of the broadcast indirect MPEG2-TS format (ready for broadcast).. TS was more tolerant of dropped signals in a broadcast environment.. where PS was not. PS would buffer, where TS would not. SnappySoft also did some other unique things.. but was killed overnight by a GNU patent lawsuit.. they did not pay for usage rights of some software ip rights used in their product.

But basically.. I'd get a copy (even a trial of) PowerDirector.. it almost certainly will work.. next you might look at Roxio video capture software for Mac or PC for the PC.. that should also work.. but its a far cry from PowerDirector.. Roxio is meant more as straight to DVD burner software.. not edit.. it will capture clunkily. Odd thing about Roxio is it uses MyDVD technology which George Lucas sponsored and developed at Lucasfilm way back in the day for some of the earlier nonLinear Editor efforts.. but was dumbed down and eventually went into the Roxio Toast (Mac) and Roxio Creator Pro (WinXP) products.. but really Cyberlink PowerDirector was the only one that produced a nice .. if maddeningly hard to active product. PowerDirector had to license the MainConcept MPEG2 and H.264 encode decoder in their product.. and those conk out after the 30 days trial, unless you can get them activated.. I've been experimenting recently in whether paradoxically Roxio ever licensed those fully activated.. but don't know yet.

As a proof of concept.. installing a Trial of PowerDirector 10.. or any PowerDirector version that will run on your Windows XP operating system may be very workable with that card.

Another thought is ArcSoft ShowBiz .. AverMedia used to bundle that with their hardware encoder capture cards back in the day.. and they also licensed the MainConcept codec library.. many Game Capture bespoken apps use the ArcSoft DirectX mpeg.ax filter "library" to do that same thing.

The Japanese cards are usually a step above what we ever got here in the states.. they were fanatical about off air and DVD video capture.. and very adept at timebase correction and file and frame synchronization.. they just wouldn't let that stuff slide.. but their stuff is hard to get in the US.. and its export banned from their country for the most part. As time goes on more and more of the legacy stuff slips across their borders.. but its the origination borders that block its export.. they don't want it leaving their country. Some sneak out via Korea and then hit the US.. but i wouldn't know anything about that.

China isn't so hard to get stuff.. like from Yuan under different labels.. MacroSilicon is found in a lot of the more recent stuff.. but its re-inventing the wheel and hasn't reached caring about tbc or frame sync problems yet. - MacroSilicon is pursuing the UVA, UVC path of "driverless" video capture products.. their chips have an ancient 8051 chip acting as a universal translater for those ancient protocols which basically dictate to the device "capture it in this format and send it to me" which it does.. but UVA, UVC is very old and like Windows 3.1 days old.. and only had like maybe three update levels with increasing resolution and capabilities.. i don't think it even reach beyond HDTV 1.0 or 1080p 60 fps in feature sets.. its sort of popular in recently defunct Game Capture devices.. but 2K and 4K resolutions are rapidly making UVA, UVC useless.. but its seeing a slight revival in do it yourself at home VHS to MP4 video recorders.. direct to memory sticks.. the PC options are limited and very clunky. I had a direct to SMB network share capture device in my hand.. but it only had capture from HDMI or Composite (not Component.. Composite!) and no S-Video option.. i was literally a grown man crying looking at that.

one crazy thing MacroSilicon is doing however.. and this is bizarre

they are capturing at double sampling rate and Upconverting low resolution SDTV video and then outputting it at 1080p 30fps video or 720p .. maybe to get around the limitations of UVA, UVC ? maybe ? its making my brain hurt .. i see those yuan MacroSilicon based capture products coming out for $9 or $19 and what they are doing boggles my mind .. the old stuff made so much more straightforward sense.. and this stuff.. i dunno.. they seem to be pandering to the "It Uploads to YouTube direct" mindset .. i gather they are using them for Twitter links they send to Grandma.. but really(?) does Grandma use Twitter? I think GrandMa more likely to be on FaceBook or Meta these days

gosh.. looking at a PCI card edge is like looking at an ISA bus card to me today.. even PCI-e is starting to look way old.. ancient even.. video capture has come so far in ten years.. but there is so much lost history.. and turn over .. its fascinating in a way .. like looking at troupe movements from World War II

OBS Studio obviously won't be an option on WinXP since it required DirectX 11 "minimum" and was more H.264/MP4 focused.. if you tried using it for recording.. but I think you could try Vista 32bit ? maybe.. the driver would work, and there might be a version of OBS Studio that would work.. but too much real effort to make that work for my taste

VirtualDub and AMRec are more raw.. field and frame capture focused and don't really like the taste of anything hardware compressed.. Avery Lee did make one exception for the TDK/MicroNas/WisGo7007 chip thanks to Sailor Moon in College .. but thats kind of a moot point unless your into Plextor Convertx or early Dazzle video capture products.

The French CaptureFlux program also handle hardware compressed video capture.. but only for brief clips in my experience.. and its not very good at bumps in the road if you have regular signal loss.

See.. vampires does rise from the grave once is a while.. to suck your personal time away .. if you happen to read this entire reply.

Hmm.. i hesitate to mention Intervideo or TotalMedia .. 352x244 is a weird capture format and they weren't trying to appeal to the hi-fidelity crowd.. think Fuzzy 1980's Home Theater

The ultimate of course is roll your own.. go back to Noel's website and install GraphEdit and capture the MagicTV directx table output of the running program and create your own filter chain to run through a GraphEdit session.. you can save that to a file and load and run it whenever.

No one to my knowledge has ever documented very well using GraphEdit as a daily driver.. but it is possible.

I kind of wish someone had done a nice "load your GraphEdit design and hooked it up to controls similar to AmaRec, its part way there.. but the people who could construct those programs never wanted to mess with hardware compression.. or those capture devices were too expensive back in the days and at odds with the "free software" costs of things like VirtualDub.. that probably explains the lack of the "perfect" software.

VideoStudio and PowerDirector having origins from Japan and their keen obsession with video quality and compression formats probably explains why there is nothing like them today.. and why Corel Canada sort of became their final resting place.

[Brad]

The gist is that this card is evidently locked to MPEG-2 hardware compression only, so it won't work in programs like VirtualDub.

I have the I-O DATA GV-MVP/RX3 (which can be forced to work in VirtualDub) and the I-O DATA GV-MVP/GX2 (MPEG-2 only; no VDub).