New capture card recommendations with some specfic features?

[justin81]

In 2004, I began the process of converting my VHS collection to DVD-R. I was using the ATI All in Wonder 9600 as my capture system with Multimedia Center 9.x (can't remember exact revision I updated to). Incidentally, the CD came with version 8.8 so that is where I began.

Fast forward to August 2008. A power surge takes out my computer. I pick up a new machine, and assume that my old ATI card will work with it. Wrong. The 9600 card is AGP. PCI Express is the newest technology. So I go out and purchase the ATI All in Wonder HD 3650. This card's primary function is an HD TV tuner. The analog capture component seems to be an afterthought. The package included a composite audio to mini plug connector and a composite to S-Video connector for the video. Both plug directly into the card. The audio quality is spotty at best. I really had problems getting sound out of both channels. Sometimes it just randomly cut out on one channel for seemingly no reason. I think the problem is the cheap connectors that ATI supplied. I guess I can't blame them since analog is yesterday's news, and that is not the card's main function. I was also disappointed at how scaled down and basic the Multimedia Center was from the previous version I was used to, but that's neither here nor there.

Anyhow, I need a good capture card. Here are two features that are important to me:

- the ability to capture directly to MPEG2. I would rather go straight to MPEG2 as opposed to AVI and then having the added step of converting it to MPEG.

- the ability to turn off color totally (for capturing material filmed in black and white originally - some old shows I have).

Not too demanding, is it? My old ATI 9600 was capable of both tasks.

Oh yeah, I have seen some of the Dazzle and other cards that hook up to the USB. I wasn't impressed.

I would like to shy away from stand-alone DVD recorders too. I like the flexibility I get with the computer.

I have looked at some of the Canopus products. They look cool, but it doesn't seem like they come with any software. Any recommendations in that regard?

I'm willing to spend a few hundred bucks if need be.

Thanks in advance.

[redwudz]

I would look at the Hauppauge cards first. They would likely do most of what you want. http://www.hauppauge.com/

The ADVC devices are great, but you would need another conversion step to get the output to MPEG-2. They are great for extensive editing and good with filtering using simple programs like VirtualDub. But you do need a FireWire card. The transfer is simple enough, just use a freeware program like WinDV to get the file on your hard drive. Then you can process it with the program of your choice.

If you are doing extensive VHS conversions, then you probably need a TBC (Time Base Corrector) to stabilize the video from the VHS source. Some VHS decks like some of the JVC ones have a TBC built in. But either way, that's an additional cost.

Though you apparently don't like a DVR for this type of conversion, some work fairly well, especially when you are not converting commercial VHS tapes. Those may require some sort of Macrovision removal. A TBC or other external device can probably do that.

[justin81]

I'm bumping this because I just installed the Hauppauge WinTV HVR 1850.

Unfortunately, I have not been too impressed with WinTV. I can't even change the bitrate.

I can capture with the Hauppauge card through ATI Multimedia Center and use that to adjust the bitrate. Are there any problems with doing it this way?

Could someone recommend some decent capturing software? Some things I would like:

- adjustable CBR/VBR bitrates
- ability to turn color off for black and white capturing
- suppports MPEG2 capturing

and well, I guess that's it. I'm willing to spend some decent money if need be.

Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks,
Justin

P.S. - I'm using the DataVideo TBC between my SVHS machine and the card if that makes any difference. My SVHS VCR also has a TBC. Can I use both without issue? I don't think the TBC in the VCR is a "true" TBC. Sorry I don't have the model number of the VCR onhand. It is a JVC unit, fwiw.