Capturing PAL-60 with EasyCap problem!

[neoflame]

Hi everyone, this is my first post here but I've read alot of stuff on here and it seems like a great place to get some advice.

I bought an EasyCAP USB 2.0 capture device to record from my XBOX 360 (which outputs PAL-60) but I can't get it to work properly. The EasyCAP uses a Philips SAA7113H Chipset for the video processing and the drivers I have for it call the device a "Syntek STK1150". In the device settings I can choose the video standard but I only have: NTSC_M, NTSC_M_J, PAL_B, PAL_D, PAL_G, PAL_H, PAL_I, PAL_M, PAL_N, and SECAM_L. Click here to see a screenshot the device settings panel.

When I choose NTSC (to display the PAL-60 signal) it shows up in black and white (LIKE THIS) but when I select PAL I get a STILL image in colour but very distorted/overlapping (LIKE THIS). There are a number of videos on YouTube showing people getting EasyCap to work on PAL-60 by selecting NTSC_433 however I don't have this as an option even though the chip in the device should support it.

I have tried many different programs to handle the capturing: ULead Video Studio, AMCap, VirtualDub, Virtual VCR, ChrisTV, DScaler but they have all had the result I described above.

So what I'm asking is: Is there a way to 'force' the device into PAL-60/NTSC-433 mode or some software that can help? If not what is my best alternative? eg. buying a signal converter.

Thanks if you actually read all of that, I know I went a bit overkill but I wanted you guys to have as much info as possible .

Thanks again,
Stephen

[fenberry]

Hello Stephen!

I have been having some very similar issues as well. I have the Easycap108 - http://www.szforwardvideo.com/product/Pro_7_6.html

I am PAL gamer over in New Zealand, and I love playing my Japanese Imported games (NTSC_J)

This easycap was cheap one I got off Ebay, and though it works absolutely fine for 50Hz PAL games (none of which ironically I want to record...), however I get exactly the same results as you. When I plug in the easycap and run my Win XP's Windows Movie Maker (I've tried Virtual dub, Debut, and a few others too, as you have), I have exactly the same issues - on PAL it gives that strange issue of overlapping still images, on NTSC I actually had nothing first.

After advise from http://forum.easycap.co.uk/index.php/board,4.0.html, I was able to download Video Grabber and the newer drivers for the Easycap

http://www.szforwardvideo.com/support/Supp_2_2.html

Which now has given me the black and white images you have at the moment when you're trying to use the NTSC_M and NTSC_M_J settings.

I have been tearing my hair out over this, as you can imagine.

I own a PAL Gamecube, PS2 and Wii. All of my consoles are PAL, and ofcourse I have a number of PAL games to play on them, without a problem. I can capture these PAL games with good sound, reasonable quality and everything works wonderfully.

Unfortunately, the main reason I got the easycap in the first place was the fact that I want to be able to record myself (directly from the TV, since I don't have a Camcorder) playing all the imported Japanese games which I have for my consoles. These games are all (bar 1... One Piece Grand Adventure for the Gamecube is NTSC-US) are in NTSC-Japan.

My issue is, that when I use my Freeloader to play the games on each of the PAL consoles, I am now only able to get sound, and Black and white picture. That is, I use a PAL console to play an NTSC game, and the video format doesn't seem to reach the Easycap properly, or the EasyCap cannot handle it. I have thoroughly tested with this a number of different settings on Windows Movie Maker (as I am unable to get the ulead software to install properly) on both my Vista and Windows XP laptops, so I don't believe it to be a computer based problem.

In the past few months, I have been able to piece together a large amount of info about the different formats, what they mean, and how/when they apply in Video capturing. I have come to the conclusion (as if you google 'easycay 60hz' or similar, you should find forum after forum of the same thing), that the Easycap 108 simply cannot deal with the 60hz frequency. As a USB device, this seems unusual, as the signal should still carry over.

In desperation, I purchased http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=350139240627 an NTSC to PAL converter, thinking that the issue was that the signal (since I use freeloaders) was being mixed up between the PAL console, and the NTSC game being forced to play on it....this was a complete waste of money...

After reading around alot, I have noticed many different capture devices cannot capture in true 60hz - though people find this out AFTER they purchase it (as I have...). This is a problem many have faced, and only a few have ever been able to really get sorted out.

My final and only hope at the moment is to look for a capture device which supports NTSC 433

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpJ_ps_Rj5k

This video may explain a bit better than I can as to the benefits of NTSC 433 - which only a handful of devices (other than expensive DVD recorders) actually do the job. I'm hoping and praying that the latest Easycap DC60+ does the job

http://cgi.ebay.com/EASYCAP-DC60-USB-2-0-VIDEO-CAPTURE-XP-Vista-MAC-OS_W0QQitemZ110339800104QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_Defa ultDomain_0?hash=item110339800104&_trksid=p3286.c0 .m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240 %3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

OR

http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-2.0-VIDEO-CAPTURE,-XP,-Vista,-MAC-OS_W0QQitemZ320329968169QQcm...0106113008r911


I am not sure, and may not be sure for some time, though if I find any more information, I will let you know.

Kind Regards,
Fenberry

[ffxx68]

Hi,

as said above, EasyCAP makes use of the NXP chip SAA7113H (http://www.nxp.com/acrobat_download/datasheets/SAA7113H_2.pdf). Briefly reviewing that datasheet, I noticed that the chip itself is able to process NTSC 4.43 (see pages 2 and 44, for example).

I think (but I may be wrong) that the issue is solvable only finding the proper software driver to exploit that chip feature.

If so, the issue is: does this driver ever exist?

Fabio

[ffxx68]

Some more piece of info that I found around the net.
EasyCAP DC60+ makes use of a different chipset: "eMPIA Technology USB 28xx", and DC60+ is for sure one that support NTSC 4.43 or PAL-60.
I guess under the same name "EasyCAP" there are several different pieces of hardware...

[neoflame]

Yea I had heard that the DC60+ would support it but very few places seem to actually say "Supports PAL-60" and I don't want to buy something else that doesn't work. Fenberry has sent me a few from eBay which both say they support it so I may buy one of those.

If you want to take a look, here they are:

http://cgi.ebay.com/EzCAP116-VIDEO-CAPTURE-Vista-MAC-New-EasyCap-DC60_W0QQitemZ110340801969QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_V ideo_TV_Cards?hash=item110340801969&_trksid=p3286. c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|2 40%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

http://cgi.ebay.com/EASYCAP-DC60-VIDEO-CAPTURE-USB-APPLE-MAC-XP-Vista_W0QQitemZ110340805254QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_D efaultDomain_0?hash=item110340805254&_trksid=p3286 .c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1| 240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

[themaster1]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TERRATEC-CINERGY-HT-PCI-TV-CARD_W0QQitemZ270334980390QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Co mputing_Computer_Components_Graphics_Video_TV_Card s_TW?hash=item270334980390&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_t rkparms=72%3A1301|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

This one should support pal60. I got the previous version of the cinergy which is aso pci.It works flawlessly with pal60, secam, pal since 2 years now.

If you live in europe i highly suggest terratec products they make very good cards for dvb-s-c-t also.

[fenberry]

For Further information about capturing with Easycap, the differences between DC60 and DC60+ and the reason why so many people tend to have issues with Easycap, please see my post at

http://forum.easycap.co.uk/index.php?topic=63.0

...as it goes onto decribe all the research and issues I have had. For toe records, I haven't actually received my Easycap 108 DC60+ yet, however it should arrive here in the next days. I promise to thoroughly test this and get back to everyone here at videohelp.com in order to finish my findings.

Thank you all for your patience, please PM me if you have any further questions...

Fenberry

[dionescu]

Hi,

Are you able to capture audio too or only video? I have DC60 and I can't capture audio. Instead it get the audio captured by my PC's microphone.

Any suggestions, please?

Thanks,
DIONESCU