jerky/lost frames, weird, only on certain parts!

[Exulus]

Hi all. My first post and yes ive done some searching and cant find the answer, unless im being dense, sorry

Anyway, I have this odd problem. I'm trying to capture a part of a video i have. When viewed in PCTV software it looks smooth and works fine. However as soon as i hit the record button it starts going jerky, and dropping a lot of frames.

Now, the weird thing is, is that it doesnt do this on other tapes! On other tapes it'll record fine with no jerkyness. I've also tried recording through virtualdub and the same thing happens.

Any ideas? I just dont understand how my computer can sucessfully show the video smoothly, however once recording it it goes jerky. If it helps anyone to diagnose the problem, a lot of the video is very dark, almost black. Although i doubt that is the problem? Not sure. I've also put as much info as i can remember in my profile i think (when signing up the other day).

Cheers guys!

[Exulus]

no one?

[garbman1]

Is this a tape that could have copy protection?

[Barnabas]

Try lowering the res you are capturing at. In VirtualDub, try capturing with out displaying the video. With a 750 mhz cpu, (like me), I suspect that on that one tape, your computer does not have enough power to display and capture with out dropping frames. Some tapes just don't capture well without using a Time Base Corrector. There are some tapes that don't play well on a given VCR as well.

[Exulus]

ok cheers guys, i'll try out all these suggestions.

garbman1, the odd thing is, is that earlier in the tape it will capture fine, but at the point that i want to tape (sods law) it doesnt work as well. I also tried switching the VCR around which made a *slight* difference but nothing major. Oh and i also tried using the composite in but i couldnt get anything on the screen, but thats another problem i guess

[akbor75]

wether capturing from vhs goes right has to do with the resolution (as mentioned), but also the codec parameters (e.g. codec type, bitrate), and last but not least the quality of the tape.