Firewire or PCIexpress

[saramalik]

Hi
i want to know what is faster way to capture video from camcorder, firewire or Svideo on PCIexpress.
i want to buy PCIexpress card within $100 any suggestions?

[JohnnyMalaria]

Same speed since it can be only as fast as the tape plays.

For a camcorder with FireWire it makes no sense at all to not use FireWire. It gives you a bit-for-bit perfect copy of the video. Using S-video requires an digital-to-analog-to-digital conversion.

[saramalik]

i am using a digital camcorder, which records on mini DV. according to the below link PIC express cards have much faster speed than firewire, so why not use PICexpress card. http://www.directron.com/expressguide.html

[jagabo]

It doesn't matter how fast the interface is. The camcorder will only send the video in real-time. An hour of video will take an hour to capture regardless of the interface speed (unless you tried to use something really slow like USB 1.1).

[JohnnyMalaria]

As I said above, whichever method the speed will be the same. This is because the DV camcorder plays the tape at the same speed. If you use FireWire, it sends 29.97 digital frames per second and the computer receives 29.97 frames per second. Via S-video, the camcorder sends 29.97 analog frames per second and your PCI-Express card digitizes 29.97 analog frames per second.

Just because PCI-Express communicates with the computer at very high speeds, it has nothing to do with how fast capture cards etc work. It's like having a highway with a speed limit of 100mph and you riding a rusty bicycle on it...with a puncture.

Via FireWire you get a PERFECT copy of the video on the tape. Via S-video, you don't.

[dadrab]

Save your PCIe slot (s) for something that can make good use of it - like a graphics card.