TV Capture and SECAM??....

[retroborg]

Hello.
What I want to be able to do is capture a movie from a TV antenna channel and save it as Raw AVI on my HD.
I also want to connect my multi-system VCR to my pc and capture from PAL, NTSC & SECAM VHS tapes to Raw AVI.

Once this is achieved, I’ll want to convert all these files into MPEG-2 (DVD) & burn them to DVD-Rom & play them on my DVD player or Sony PS-2.

I’ve searched the web and found these 2 cards:

Terratec Cinegy 400TV
http://productsen.terratec.net/modu...id=136&menu=400

Leadtek WinFast DV2000
http://www.leadtek.com/multimedia/winfast_dv2000_1.html

But…
At the Terratec site it’s not clear whether this card supports SECAM?

My VCR is multi-System SHARP VC-90ET (Supports all PAL, NTSC & SECAM) has RCA Input & Output (Yellow, Red, and White), Antenna IN & RF-Out. Will the VCR convert the SECAM VHS tapes to PAL before Output, in order for the Terratec card to recognise it? It only supports PAL/NTSC, but I've read that it can capture in better picture quality than the Leadtek Winfast DV2000.
Is this true?

http://productsen.terratec.net/modu...id=136&menu=400
http://www.m-e.dk/shop/

Max. Resolution: 1600x1200
Standard: PAL / NTSC
Interface: PCI/ IR remote
Record: SVCD / VCD / DVD
Nicam Stereo TV Tuner/ Text TV / DivX support


Also at the Leadtek site, it says it can capture directly into MPEG-1/MPEG-2/MPEG-4/WMV/VCD/DVD, but it doesn’t mention if it can capture in Raw AVI?
Also does this card support variable bit rate?

Could anyone that has tried these 2 TV tuners/Capture cards, tell me which one can achieve the best capture picture quality, either from TV antenna or VCR signal?

Video Quality of the final result is very important in my book.

Any help will be highly appreciated
Thanks in advance.

[retroborg]

Hhmm..

No suggestions anybody?

[indolikaa]

In due time, somebody will jump in on this one. But it may take some time, given the subject matter in question.

[retroborg]

I've had a lot more replies in other forums not specialized in Video Capturing, so I was expecting a bit more help here.

[SatStorm]

All the bt8xx based cards, with the btwincap drivers, are capable to capture that horror called SECAM (System Even Crapier AMerican's)

The way you capture SECAM is indentical the way you capture PAL.
The way you encode SECAM is indentical the way you encode PAL.

You just change the input setting of your card through software.


For the rest of your questions, the experts gonna answer you....

[pyrohydra]

Just curious, what makes SECAM so crappy? From what I've read about it, it's similar to PAL. Or is it just because it's incompatible with PAL?

[retroborg]

All the bt8xx based cards, with the btwincap drivers, are capable to capture that horror called SECAM (System Even Crapier AMerican's)

The way you capture SECAM is indentical the way you capture PAL.
The way you encode SECAM is indentical the way you encode PAL.

You just change the input setting of your card through software.


For the rest of your questions, the experts gonna answer you....

What do you mean?
"bt8xx based cards"

The Terratec Cinegy 400TV uses the Philipis SAA7134HL Video Decoder Chip.
The Leadtek WinFast DV2000 uses the Conexant Fusion 878Axxx chip.

btwincap drivers?

[SatStorm]

You can do your job with Leadtek WinFast DV2000 and the btwincap drivers you can download from here:
http://btwincap.sourceforge.net/

[retroborg]

Thats a great link.
Thanks!

But I don't understand one thing.
At the Leadtek site, it is stated that the card supports SECAM with the Leadtek Drivers.
Why would I need custom based drivers, to add something that's all ready supposed to be incorporated by the manufacturer Drivers?

[SatStorm]

Because those third party drivers might work better?

Basicly, welcome to the forum (I just noticed that you are a newcomer).

Now, let me explain you something:
On this hobby, testing yourself is the only way to learn about it.
Third party applications and drivers are usual in this hobby. They exist because the official solutions are not always the best ones.
Also read the reviews about your card, in our capture card database.

And test yourself anything suggested to you: Don't expect (unfortunatelly) direct guidence in this hobby. Grabb what you can and ask what you can't figure out...

[aurgathor]

All the bt8xx based cards, with the btwincap drivers, are capable to capture that horror called SECAM (System Even Crapier AMerican's)

SECAM is technically superior to the then contemporary standards (NTSC and PAL), so I'm not sure why some people come up with these distorted explanations. Sour grapes, perchance... ?

BTW, SECAM is very-very close to PAL (it corrects a checkerboard pattern problem) so making a PAL system to handle SECAM, or vice versa, is usually fairly trivial. That doesn't mean that manufacturers will do it, however.

[retroborg]

I all ready have.
I read A lot good comments about Leadtek DV2000 & not so many about the Cinergy 400.

I'm not sure if these are Biased opinions though...

[SatStorm]

In Hellas we used SECAM until 1991
SECAM works as it is supposed to, only on studio enviroment
It is excellent in theory and crap in practice.

NTSC was also excellent in theory

[retroborg]

OK.
If I use Huffyuv codec and VirtualDub, I’ll be able to capture Videos as AVIs half the size of the regular AVIs and all this without any quality loss?

If I use VirtualDub without Huffyuv codec, I’ll capture large RAW AVIs which are considered “uncompressed”

Once I capture AVIs with the Huffyuv codec & VirtualDub, what’s the best method to encode them into MPEG-1/MPEG-2/MPEG-4/WMV/VCD/DVD, while achieving the best video quality & frame rate?

I want to burn them onto DVD and play them on My SONY PS-2.

I read other opinions that it’s best to use the programs that come bundled with the card & capture directly into mpeg2 (DVD), rather than capturing into Raw uncompressed AVI and then encoding into mpeg2.


Thanks in advance.