Hardware or software codec?

[nezza_42]

I currently use a Celeron 400 with Matrox G400 Marvel with hardare MJPEG codec which I use for video capture.

I'm about to change to an AMD T'Bird (1Ghz)with Gigabyte GA-ZX7R mobo system. Would I be better off changing my capture method to s/ware (eg PicVideo or whatever)?

Will the CPU be fast enough for full frame capture, or is the G400 (regarded as one of the better hardware codecs) gonna be good enough?


Appreciate your comments.

Nezza

[iant]

As a fellow G400 Marvel owner, I'd say stick with the hardware assisted capture. ( Unless you're using Win2k or XP in which case you'll have to use a software codec as the hardware MJPEG of the Marvel is not supported. )
If you have lots of disk space, you might want to try a non lossy capture codec like Huffyuv. If you're like me and only have around 15 gig to play with, again stick to MJPEG. ( Either hardware assisted using the Marvel or Picvideo. )
Good Luck
Ian

[Cart Wheel]

It's possible that the G400 Marvel uses a Zoran chipset that can only work with hardware MJPEG encoded video. If this is the case, then you won't get any higher any quality by using an external codec. Huffyuv would look identical but have a much higher file size, and most other codecs would cause a decrease in quality.

-Cart
http://www.geocities.com/lukesvideo/index.html

[AndrewDV]

Hello,

Just in case no one knows this, the Marvel G400-TV has a hidden YUY2 ability. If you go to http://www.matroxusers.com/Utils.html, look for the Flying Dutchmans YUY2 patch. Make sure that you read the readme file. If you have any questions about this patch, the author (and many users) of it hang out in the Desktop Video forum (http://forums.matroxusers.com).

I've used this with some fairly good results. The captured files using Huffyuv or PIC MJPEG (Q=20) can get higher bitrates than the Matrox MJPEG codec. The difference is noticeable in creating VCDs/SVCDs (much cleaner looking). As with other YUY2 captures, you need a good machine to capture full-frame.

If you are primarily dumping to tape, it does not make much sense to not use the hardware assist. The Zoran gives a very nice color boost.

[tacosalad]

Before trying any hacks, like the Flying Dutchman patch, check to see if uncompressed video modes already work (like RGB and YUY2).

Matrox's drivers have been supporting these modes for quite some time without any hack.