My best capturing option

[ring]

The good news: I have a fast (3 GHz) new Dell with which I'd like to convert VHS tapes to DVD. The bad news: my graphics card is an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro, which lacks Video In (Dell doesn't offer the All-In-Wonder). What's my best option for capturing analog video? In browsing the lists here, all I'm seeing are a new video card, which probably wouldn't perform as well as the ATI I have now in other ways, or a box like the Canopus ADVC-100, which may be overkill given that I don't really need hardware conversion.
What would you advise I add to my system to capture analog video?

[holistic]

A cheap PCI capture card is your simplest solution.

https://www.videohelp.com/capturecards.php?CaptureCard=&Submit=Search&videoin=1&searchco...&Search=Search

A little more expensive but worth it if you are doing alot of VHS is the - Canopus ADVC-50.

https://www.videohelp.com/capturecards.php?CaptureCardRead=150#comments

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[disturbed1]

Dell doesn't work with Canopus. You need to update some drives first. More info at the Canopus forums.

Perhaps one of the USB 2.0 mpeg encoders could work for you too. Though with a 3ghz CPU, encoding a captured avi would take no time and yield the best results at the price of being a bit more complex.

You would be better off getting a capture card that captures both audio and video, not one that uses the PCs sound card. Cards that capture sound from the PCs sound card generate sync errors for lots of people. The capture card runs at one clock speed while the sound card runs at another. There are software solutions that can fix this by resampling the audio on the fly, again, more complex.

The hardware mpeg encoders, and the Canopus ADVCs capture audio and video together.

[ring]

Thanks much -- I'll look for an inexpensive capture card that has separate inputs for sound. A related question: how important is it to dub VHS using S-video rather than composite? My VCR doesn't have an S output, so I'd have to get a new VCR to do this. Does this really result in a noticeable video quality improvement?

[disturbed1]

Depends on how the tape was recorded.

In some cases using the S-Video cable will enhance the noise, while using the RCA jack will mask it a little. Most capture cards will use a comb filter with the RCA input, but not on the S-Video.

For home made tapes, RCA should be good enough, providing you have a good set of cables, and a good VCR. For studio production tapes S-Video can give better color quality.

I've notice with my anolouge capture cards (Bravado 1000, DC30) the RCA input apears softer, while the S-Video is sharper with a little bit more noise. I tend to use the RCA input a little more often compared to the S-Video input because of the quality of the tapes. With my BT878 based cards, there isn't a noticable difference.

If you capture from digital TV (DSS, Direct TV, Dish.....) the S-Video gives the best color and great sharpness, but the RCA will take most of the mpeg noise away.

I use a JVC HRS-9911U (for nasty tapes) and a JVC HR-S3900U for good-average looking tapes. I'm saving now for another 9911U.