audio/video noise for a second in some scenes

[jmrendo]

Hello,

I have a USB capture card "Hybrid HD NotonlyTV LV5HD" (Chipset NXP TDA18271 + PC ATI Theater 750 HD TV). I use it to capture VHS (with Virtualdub program). I am very happy with the result: no drop frames, no movement artifacts, ... But in some scenes (few and always the same) I get audio/video noise for a second several times. On television, however, there is not noise in the same scenes.

Perhaps you know some way to solve this problem or you can recommend me other capture card (more sensibility?). Thanks in advance.

NOTE: sorry for my english, I am from Spain.

regards

[themaster1]

post a sample so we can have an idea of what kind of noise it is

[jmrendo]

Thanks for your help!!!

http://youtu.be/Xgc_Wj6tPCA

More information: I use W7/virtualdub 64bits (core i7, 8GB Ram)

[themaster1]

There is no luck with that kind of noise video or audio, the only solution is to remove it

If your tape is displayed fine on Tv then something is wrong with the capture card you use, i have no idea what it is though , probably a codec problem try to capture with huffyuv or lagarith video codecs

[sanlyn]

Looks like intermittently broken connection (bad connector somewhere? break in a connecting cable? Bad solder joint or processing chip?), or other capture gear defect.

[jmrendo]

Thanks for your responses,

themaster1
I use now huffyuv, virtualdub don't allow other. Could you recomend me any other capture software for ATI Theather and Windows 7?. Althought, I could try with 32bits or Windows XP ¿?.

sanlyn
It always fail in the same scenes (not other)...It doesn't seem to be a gear defect

Regards

[sanlyn]

sanlyn
It always fail in the same scenes (not other)...It doesn't seem to be a gear defect

I see, I misunderstood that part of your description. So you are saying that all of your tapes display correctly on TV when you connect your tape player directly to the TV. But some specific tapes have this disturbance in the same scenes when played thru capture to your PC.

But aren't you talking about two different capture adapters? The NotOnlyTV and the ATI PC HD 750 are two different devices, aren't they? The ATI unit is a PCIe capture card, I believe. In any case, does the same thing happen on your PC when you use either of these devices?

[jmrendo]

Hi sanlyn,

Your fist paragraph is correct. About second, "Hybrid HD NotonlyTV LV5HD" is the capture card and "PC ATI Theater 750 HD TV" is the chip inside the capture card (there is only 1 device). I need to practice more my english, sorry.

regards

[sanlyn]

No problem. The ATI 750 HD can also be purchased by itself as a PCIe capture card, without the NotOnlyTV or other USB device. They are found under the Diamond brand name nowadays, but older ones can be found as "ATI" only. You might have to search around a bit, but the 600 and 650 models are supposed to be more reliable -- it's a close call between the 600's and 700's. USing the card alone, there's no need for a USB device.

[jmrendo]

Thanks sanlyn,

I'm using a laptop, so I can't use PCI . In Diamond web I can only see http://www.diamondmm.com/VC500.php, but I don't know the chipset. I will look for other models in Internet, do you recomend me any?

I have tried Windows XP 32bits and other capture software (amarectv, graphedit) but I get the same problem. The frecuency of the noise change a little if I use other scart, but not dissapear. I suppose it's a problem of sensibility in the capture card.

[sanlyn]

If you are limited to a laptop (it is trouble enough to be limited to USB for video work, to say nothing of trying to work with video on a laptop), then there are other USB dvices made by Hauppauge and Pinnacle. But they are no better or worse than what you have. Before spending time and money, you should test your NotOnlyTV on another computer to see if you can isolate the cause of the problem. If you test it with another computer and the same problem occurs again, it's probably due to a defect with the capture device. However, if the device works perfectly on another PC, then your laptop's speed or USB response speed is to blame.

Also, there is apparently something happening in parts of a few specific tapes. Any device that captures or records from video sources that have playback problems (such as damaged tape) must be able to respond quickly to severe variations in the input stream. Many capture setups use a line-level tbc to help manage such variations, and sometimes a frame-level tbc will also be required in the capture setup. But such precautions are expensive to manage with USB and a laptop. Remember as well that the total response of your capture setup is limited by USB and the slower hardware usually found in laptops -- laptops have slower CPU's and slower hard drives than the full-sized PC's, in order to prevent damage from heat build-up inside those thin and poorly ventilated laptop enclosures.

The first step would be to see if your NotOnlyTV device gives better performance in another computer, especially a larger and faster PC.

[jmrendo]

Thanks sanlyn for your help,

I'm using this laptop (core i7, W7 professional 64bits, 8GB SDRAM, SATA 5400rpm, USB2). I'm afraid my family/friends don't have a better computer }. I have installed XP in other partition (to try 32bits, other drivers and no other programs) but the problem is the same .

I didn't know TBCs. I use a Philips VR703, but I don't known if it has onboard TBC. Is there any external capture card with onboard TBC?

[sanlyn]

USB capture with built-in TBC: Canopus ADVC-300. But it's expensive ($400 USD) !. The line-tbc itself would make an improvement, but this does not mean that lack of a tbc is your original problem. The only way to determine if the problem is your capture device or your laptop is to try the capture device in another computer. However, all of the advertising for the product shows the NotOnlyTV connected to a laptop. Canopus does make a lesser device (ADVC-110) but none of their products are inexpensive.

Almost all laptops have a 5400-rpm hard drive, that is the standard HDD for laptops.

If you could use your device on another laptop. . . . But considering that other owners seem to be able to use this device on a laptop would make me believe that the problem is in NotOnlyTV, not in the computer.

Another way to obtain a line-tbc: you can use a DVD recorder as a pass-thru device. Most DVD recorders have built-in line tbc's, but not all of them can be used for pass-thru. The brands that can be used in this way are Panasonic, Toshiba, and Magnavox. This does not have to be a new recorder. You use the recorder as a pass-thru by connecting your VCR to one of the recorder's inputs (always use Line 1 input on Panasonics). Turn the recorder on, then connect the DVD recorder's output directly to your NotOnlyTV input. You don't actually record to the DVD recorder, you just use its input/output as a connecting (pass-thru) device. (On the other hand, if you have an available DVD recorder you wouldn't really need the capture device!).

I still think that the likely problem is your capture device, or perhaps some of its settings. But there are other possibilities.

[jmrendo]

Hi sanlyn,

I have just tried with 2 other computers (one is a laptop) and the problem is the same. I have tried to change device settings but not solution. I assume it is a capture device problem.

I'm going to look for the solutions that you say: DVD recorder, other capture device. Thank you very much for your help. This forum is lucky to have you as a member.

Regards

[sanlyn]

Thank you for the compliment, but it was more more less an "educated guess" about the capture device. You seem to have eliminated other causes. Good work.

[CodilX]

I know this is an old topic, but I do have the same problem with the same device, and I wanted to share what I found.

The noise parts don't happen necessarily at the same parts for me. Usually I find that it happens when there's been a pause in the video (I'm digitizing VHS tapes as well). Some parts are prone to this more than others, it seems that it happens when there is more of a signal loss or something. But I'm not sure, as some parts seem perfect when they aren't "noised" like this on another play-through. The noise parts sometimes seem random to me, maybe the chip can't handle the load?..

However I did find that if I set the priority for the software recording to Real time, I experience fewer of these instances. But I'm using a quad core PC, with 8gb ram, a fast video card. Make what you will of it, maybe i7 with 8gb ram isn't enough?.. I dunno..

I've ran the card through several programs and they all have this issue. I've used 2 different sets of drivers, one that came with the device on a CD, and different a version of them from the manufacturer website. Nothing changed or resolved the noise parts.

So I guess this does have to do with the capture card. I wish I knew about this sooner, I would've bought a different capture device. Maybe someone who will be searching for what analog capture device to buy they will skip this one. The quality is good though, I have no problems with it at all, it's just these noise parts that make this unusable for high quality capturing. I guess you could record the same tape a few times and replace the noise bits, but that's just a massive workaround.

My advice: skip this device and maybe even the ATI 750 HD TV chip, as that chip is the component inside this USB dongle. I doubt that the dongle itself could be the culprit, it's just a container for that chip. Or maybe the drivers are faulty.. I dunno.. Just skip this device if you'll be recording from an analog source (dvb-t works just fine btw).