Capturing video from a Cable Box

[Acoriola]

First, let me say sorry if I am asking something already answered.My cable company settop box with dvr is going to be traded for a new one in about 1 month. I have lots of stuff saved on it. I need a way to save it all, preferably to x264 coded video to save on HD space. The video is not HD and the box has a Scart and a those Red/yellow connectors that I forget the name.
Is there something out there (preferably inexpensive) that can save those videos with minimal interaction to a hard disk ?


Thanks for any help you can provide.

[hech54]

to a hard disk ?

No. What you are talking about (with SCART and composite/RSA connectors) would be capturing or recording. You'll need a capture device between the box and your computer....or you'll need something like a DVD recorder.
Be warned...."Capturing" to H264 is something for a robust, healthy, powerful computer.....not a run-of-the-mill PC or laptop....especially a laptop.
I capture from my cable box all of the time with this:
http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_usblive2.html
but there is a learning curve for someone who has never done this sort of thing.
And I don't capture to H264.....I use MPEG2/DVD.

[jagabo]

You can use a Hauppauge HD PVR (hardware h.264 encoder) to capture standard definition video on a modest computer. But they are fairly expensive solutions for standard definition.

[Acoriola]

Thanks for the information both of you,


Would this http://www.ezcap.tv/usb-video-capture/ezcap116-capture-card work also ? Seems similar to the one hech54 suggested.


I need something that does not involve a lot of my intervention.
I expect that capturing to MPEG/DVD would also work. I think I could handle the recoding to h264 in handbrake.
I just didn't know which kind of hardware I should use.


Thanks both!

[hech54]

Thanks for the information both of you,


Would this http://www.ezcap.tv/usb-video-capture/ezcap116-capture-card work also ? Seems similar to the one hech54 suggested.

If you ONLY BUY IT FROM THAT WEBSITE.....that is a genuine EZCap......ALL of the rest are fake crap.....and I mean ALL of the rest are fake crap.

[jagabo]

Would this http://www.ezcap.tv/usb-video-capture/ezcap116-capture-card work also ?

Yes, it will work. But you won't be able to capture directly as h.264 (at least not with decent quality and small file size). You will have to capture with a lossless or low-loss codec first, then convert to h.264.

[Acoriola]

Thanks both,

I have now bought one directly from them to avoid the fakes. I guess I will have to recode each file after capturing them. I think I saw a batch mode on handbrake. So it will not take too much of my time since all the files should have the same resolution and overall quality.
Again, thanks, both of you, for the help.