Quality of analogue capture

[AngusEm]

The composite input on my video card seems to capture most signals just as
well as my TV does, but I have this one tape w/some amateur segments
on it, of medium quality. It seems to be too bright in some places
and/or the contrast is too low. That's on TV where it isn't so bad,
but it looks much worse when captured. The capture version seems to
have lower contrast and/or higher brightness, and less saturation.
I've tried compensating for these in the settings of my capture s/w,
but it doesn't do much to fix the problem.

Is this an analogue problem, that two video input devices will show
the same thing when receiving a signal of professionally-prepared
images, but one will break down if the signal is from images that
weren't recorded in an ideal environment? I don't have any S-Video
devices, so all my capturing (and displaying on TV) were done using
the composite connector.

[Tommyknocker]

You may want to try with a TBC.

[AngusEm]

You know, I just might want to do that. What's a TBC?

[Tommyknocker]

A time based corrector. It usually is a little box that you run video signals through to correct them. They start at about $150.00, so you can decide whether or not it is worth it.

[AngusEm]

That won't take me wrong to decide.
But what I really wanted was an explanation of what the problem is. Is it a poor video card, since it seems to have a harder time reading than my TV does.

[Tommyknocker]

Sorry. It seems to me to be a simple matter of medium quality form your tape. TBCs can usually clean the signal up so it is more usable.

[bottle-necked]

AngusEm

You need some real good cables from your a/v source to your capture card. This will make a world of difference.

You don't want to use any strange connectors like "Y" connectors, splitters, adapters, etc. between your source and your capture card. You want as strong a signal as possible.

You can adjust for contrast, brightness, color, etc, before capturing that might help with this low quality tape. You could also just capture in AVI/Huffy interlaced, then spend hours upon hours trying to filter and enhance, then encode that footage to MPEG2. If thats your plan then create a short clip with different problem areas (like 5 minutes worth) and filter/enhance that first, then tackle the entire project with your findings.

Lastly... Your TV isn't showing these defects live, so it may not show them from the captured file either. That can be tested with a short clip and a DVD-RW disk.

Good luck.

[AngusEm]

Well, I could spend a lot of money on a serious video cable (and they are more than one would expect for a composite video cable) but I wouldn't have any control over whether or not it would work. If the cable I'm using is good enough for my TV then it should be good enough for my capture card.
I thought of the possibility that a monitor would highlight imperfections (but change the saturation and screw w/the contrast??) so I tried connecting my TV-Out to the TV, and sure enough, the captured movie looked bad on TV.
It looks like I'm just going to have to cut my losses on this one, and never buy Gainward again, I suppose. Bugger

[bottle-necked]

For the cables to hook up my capture card to my video units I've got over $180 US dollars invested. I was surprised how it increased the quality of my captures. I also, like you, thought my old cables were sufficent. They were also new and larger than your cut of the mill cables. But after I took the plunge and did it right with all good cables the difference was noticable even to my wife, and she doesn't notice anything. :P