WinTv pci capture problem

[s19642]

I´m using wintv pci card to capture from my camcorder (videobut i can never go over 320*240 in framsize because problem with framdropping (20-30%).
I´m using a PIII 1ghz, 512 mbram, ATA66 40gig disc, DMA enbaled.
Runing bencmark i virtualdub say OK up to 576*480 in framesize.
Is this a standard problem for us wintv owners?

Please help
Regards
Kenny

[Tomppa]

Have you tried to capture from other sources (such as antenna), and still dropping frames?
Are you capturing in compatibility mode? Don't. It's slower. Try also without dynamic audio synchronization.

[Battra92]

I have found the only way to get a good capture with low frame drops (about 20 per movie at the most) is to capture to a second hard drive. Though I am sure there must be a way to capture onto a single hard drive with out getting rediculous frame drops.

[colin@60n]

While there may be other configuration issues with your system - who's doesn't? - the problem is likely to be centered on your hard disk setup.

I capture using an old WinTV PCI card at full frame 25fps PAL using VirtualDub and Huffman at best settings without dropped frames from either source, tuner or composite.

My system is similar to yours but I have a 2nd hard disk on its own controller channel purely for capturing to. It's a IBM 40Gb ATA100 5400rpm drive and can easily manage the 8-9Mb/sec or so data rate.

My P3-800 did have to work hard to keep up with the compression calcs which is where the upgrade to a 1.2GHz Athlon has helped.

[thxkid]

I have one hard drive(ATA 100) with 2 partians, 8 gig(C) and 20 gigs(D) and I capture to D drive, I can use either 352x240, 29.97 frames and capture from Divx to uncompressed AVI with about 1 frame drop out every 1000 frames, at the most, or 480x480, 29.97 uncompressed AVI with overlay turned off.
I am using the happauge PVR which has the WIN TV Go built on with a Thunderbird 1.2 gig, 512 megs of pc 133 ram.
I use VituralDub 1.4.7

[neily]

You don't say what codec if any you use for capture.

Also you don't mention whether you are using compatability mode or normal mode for capture.

If you are capturing above 352x240, you will be capturing potentially in preview mode, which eats a lot of CPU cycles.

I would suggest trying the most conservative settings initially and working down from there.

1. Capture in compatability mode.

2. Don't show preview whilst capturing (Capture..Hide on Capture).

3. Capture BTYUV or RGB15 before trying YUY2 or RGB.

4. Capture uncompressed before trying a compressed format such as HuffYUV or PicVideo MJPEG.

5. Don't capture audio and don't lock the video to the audio clock.

If this still does'nt work with no frames dropped, reduce capture size, or get a faster HD subsystem.

I also found the Hauppage capture program comparatively undemanding on the CPU.

BTW, as good a program as VirtualDub is, for capture I would suggest using AVI-IO. It is the only program I know that maintains A-V synch whilst enforcing an exact frame rate, which is very handy for later joining clips together.