Improiving image quality

[SHP]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I just purchased a Kworld V-Stream capture card with the latest Conexant chipset. I had been usin Pinncacle DC10 card before.

I captured some of the same Hi-8 video footage that I had captured, edited and burned using the Pinnacle card and software. This time, I used Power Director Pro to capture with the settings on best quality. Studio 8 would not let me capture in mpeg. I imported the video clip into Studio 8, edited a bit and then burned a disc.

It definitely rendered the footage much, much faster than the motion jpeg version I had done before. BUT, the quality is far worse.

Why is that? In the end, both are mpeg files. Is there anything I can do to improve the quality? I love the V-Stream because it saves me time rendering but I can't live with the poor quality.

[bottle-necked]

SHP

What is the frame size & bitrate at the quality setting "Best Quality"?

I think the help files on that program will say it somewhere. Give us that and maybe we can help ya.

[SHP]

bottle-necked:

The setting I used w/ PowerDirector Pro was actually called DVD/High Quality (also called DVD NTSC). The programt does not tell me the info you requested. But, I can selected a different option that let's me select from MPEG-1, MPEG-2 or AVI encoding and lets me set the "Video Size", the Compression rate (from 192 to 8000kbps), lets me choose deinterlacing or not, smoothing or not, noise removal or not and has a sliding scale for speed/quality. I can save any custom setup for future use.

I'm just not sure how to get capture the best video. I believed that buying a card that had "hardware" MPEG compression (via the Conexant chipset) that I'd be able to capture high quality MPEG in realtime.

I hope you can help. Otherwise, I think I'll return the card and just go back to the Pinnacle DC10.

[bottle-necked]

I've seen software setting that say "High Quality" that actually were only capturing at 2.0Mbps. Using unknown settings can give unsatifactory results.

One of the simplest ways to uncover these unknown values I can think of is by using Ulead VideoStudio. In that program you simply right click a video clip, choose properties, and it tells you all these unknowns. Pretty easy.

I've captured from my Hi8 camera on many occasions and here's what I've been using for simple capture / crop out unwanted portions / then burn. (no editing intended)

NTSC DVD
MPEG2
720x480
Interlaced
Max. 8Mbps VBR
224 48k Stereo
Quality set to max.
No filters. No extras. No reencoding.

Some will say this is overkill and it probably is. I've tested different bitrates and frame sizes trying to put out the best possible picture from my camera and that's it for me. Yours may be different.

Good luck.

[vhelp]

@ SHP,

Hi, just curious why you choose to change from your DC10Plus card to this
new V-Stream one. For those just curious, I posted the link w/ add'l info.



Web location: http://www.audioexchange.com/noname40.html

I see it has:
* Integrated cable-ready TV tuner, DV and Analog video interface

See link for more info

I like the DC10+ and it's quality. I don't use it much these days, since I
have my ADVC100, but I still have it connected to my 2nd pc, along w/ my
Osprey-210 card. All these cards work well together in this particular setup.

Anyways, I know the DC10+ is hardware MJPEG and all, (only) and no
hardware MPEG-1/2, but in the end, unless you really need speed
(and decesant quality) from these hardware MPEG-1/2 cards, I can't think
of a better reason to switch to one, other than for experimenting, and just
out of curiosity and things

But, I do hope you are having fun w/ your toy in any case
-vhelp

[SHP]

bottle-necked:
Thanks for the settings. I'll try them today.

Vhelp:
I switched (as an experiment) because the VStream card 1) can supposedly encode MPEG-2 in high quality real-team (which would save me time when I need to render) and 2) has a DV input for when I (eventually) take the plunge and go digital.

I will say that I was happy with the quality of the video from the DC10 and very pleasantly surprised by the Studio 8 software. It's been very stable and easy to use. Even if I can get the Vstream card to work, I'll probably keep the Pinnacle software.

I may also try the Canopus, ADS Pyro, or VideoData box.

[donpedro]

I do not recomend MPEG2 for editing. As soon as you start editing, Pinnacle Studio version 8 will re-encode. Capture in DV AVI if you can (cacorder passtrough or somethink like that)