Quality capture card questions

[JAYEDIN]

I have been following the recent threads on video capture with great interest.

I have a need for a capture card for the following uses:-
1) I also like many other in this forum need to transfer >100 VHS tapes to DVD.
2) Allow posibility of capture in raw lossless HuffyUV format for some of the tapes that need more cleanup.
3) Allow the card to become part of a PVR setup.

I currently have a PVR setup with a Haupp Pvr150 which is adequate for capturing from an aerial signal BUT being in the UK there are very few of the boxes such as the Sky dish, VCR that have a SVHS output (most are scart sockets)
so I have been forced to rely on the composite signal
to feed to the pvr150, and picture quality is not great from via these sources.

So I am planning on some equipment investment to give me higher quality captures so my list of planned aquistions after reading this forums is:-

1) Panasonic NVSV121EBS S-VHS Video Recorder is the only one avail in UK with a TBC.

2) JVC DR-M100 DVD recorder for quick VHS tape conversion to DVD.

3) Capture card - The only card that I can find in my price range that does not rely on composite/svhs is the Pluggin Sweetspot RGB capture card
http://www.pluggedin.tv/sweetspot.
This card allows a better interface to my other boxes and the vendor claims:-

"SweetSpot isn't just a high quality playback solution,
it also allows you to record high quality video to disc.
Think of the possibilities, you can finally say good bye
to those old VHS tapes by capturing them all to hard disc.
Alternatively you can record from your satellite receiver
and save those recordings for viewing later on,
or copy them on to DVD for playback on a conventional player."

a) I am not not of how it will cope with video and audio synchronisation as there is no audio input on the card ??

b) Is there any one who has experience of this card for video capturing who would care to give feedback on this matter ??

Regards

[junkmalle]

I currently have a PVR setup with a Haupp Pvr150 which is adequate for capturing from an aerial signal BUT being in the UK there are very few of the boxes such as the Sky dish, VCR that have a SVHS output (most are scart sockets)
so I have been forced to rely on the composite signal
to feed to the pvr150, and picture quality is not great from via these sources.

I can't answer about the capture device you asked about but I wonder about why you don't like the PVR-150. Aren't you going to have to capture from the composite output of your VCR regardless of what you're capturing with?

I've captured (with a PVR-250) from both the composite and s-video outputs of my DV camcorder (simply because it's a nice clean source for testing) and there's very little difference between the two. The s-video is very slightly sharper but with a low res VHS source you probably won't be able to tell the difference.

In case you aren't aware, there are some third party tools that let you adjust the sharpness, temporal and spacial noise filtering, even change the GOP settings. And obviously you can use the WinTV2000 controls to adjust brightness, contrast, color saturation, and hue.

Check out these sites for some of the utilities:

http://www.cask-of-amontillado.com/htpc.html
http://www.shspvr.com/

I often capture at 15,000 kbps CBR with my PVR-250 and then down convert to lower bitrate MPEG (2 pass VBR, or, mor often, Constant Quality) or XVID AVI. The results aren't much different than using a "raw" capture card (which I also have), capturing to HuffYUV encoded YUY2, and encoding to MPEG or XVID.

I would like to hear more about the PluggedIn SweetSpot card though! I suspect audio sync will often be a problem...

[The_Doman]

I can't answer about the capture device you asked about but I wonder about why you don't like the PVR-150. Aren't you going to have to capture from the composite output of your VCR regardless of what you're capturing with?

I can understand that.
The quality of the composite inputs of the PVR150/500 for PAL users is pretty bad. (severe COMB filter problem)
How bad it is you can see here:
http://rapidshare.de/files/4679241/PVR150_Comb_Test.zip.html
(Use the Free download link!)

[junkmalle]

The_Doman, Thanks for the samples. I can see now why JAYEDIN doesn't want to use the PVR-150's composite inputs! I don't know if it's a 150 vs 250 issue or a PAL vs NTSC issue, but my PVR-250 doesn't have problems like that when I capture NTSC video via composite cable. Do you know if the situation is any better with NTSC on the 150? Is it better at higher bitrates?

Regarding the audio: the samples after applying the registry patch were much better but they were still a little distorted. Was that in the source or is that simply the best the 150 can do?

[reboot]

I don't see any of the combing effects on my Hauppauge cards (PVR-500 and PVR-250).
Using the drivers from www.shspvr.com for both, along with the hauppauge tweaker from amontillado.
Maybe this is a PAL issue?

[The_Doman]

I don't see any of the combing effects on my Hauppauge cards (PVR-500 and PVR-250).
Using the drivers from www.shspvr.com for both, along with the hauppauge tweaker from amontillado.
Maybe this is a PAL issue?

Correct you are..
It's really is a PAL only problem!!
Probably bad designed hardware which can't be fixed.
Because of that they disabled the whole COMB filter in the lastest drivers which results in a less sharp picture.
The tuner input has the same problem because it is connected internally with the composite input of the card.
For me the whole composite input is totally unusable!

[The_Doman]

I don't know if it's a 150 vs 250 issue or a PAL vs NTSC issue, but my PVR-250 doesn't have problems like that when I capture NTSC video via composite cable. Do you know if the situation is any better with NTSC on the 150? Is it better at higher bitrates?

The 150 is ofcourse another (cheaper) design.
I am pretty sure it is only a PAL problem and i don't have here NTSC signals available to test.
Bitrate has nothing todo with it, even when using a uncompressed live preview those Combing artifacts are there on the composite inputs.
But as you can see it results in bad compression artifacts.

Regarding the audio: the samples after applying the registry patch were much better but they were still a little distorted. Was that in the source or is that simply the best the 150 can do?

Yes, the source already sounded a bit weird/strange but that was done on purpose of the clipmakers I believe. (Audio Bully's/Shot you down)
With the right combination of (older) drivers and register tweaks it will sound ok.
The big problem is the Hauppauge people don't seem to know how the audio works on those newer cards.

[JAYEDIN]

Doman,

Is there the same PAL issues with the SHS video input on the pvr150 as there is with the composite input?
I hav'nt been able to test the svhs input as yet.

[The_Doman]

Doman,

Is there the same PAL issues with the SHS video input on the pvr150 as there is with the composite input?
I hav'nt been able to test the svhs input as yet.

The S-Video (SVHS) inputs have NO comb filter problems and give a very good and sharp picture.

[junkmalle]

The_Doman, when you run WinTV2000 can you see the comb filter problems in the live preview? Or are they only in the captured MPEG files?