Newbie Questions on Capture Setups

[PacificSurfer]

Just some random newbie questions Im trying to understand better.


1) Why is using FireWire > Capture Card, better than using a S-Video cord? Or is it equal?
According to LordSmur @ DigitalFaq, he says here "s-video will always be better, "

2) In the Lossless capture method such as a capture card using VirtualDub+Huffyuv.... the files are massive. Like 50GB an hour. How is that possible for an old 8mm tape? Does that mean a 90's 8MM tape holds the equivalent of 50gb worth of data?

3) According to this guide
A Lossless capture method is:
TBC HandyCam > S-Video Cord > Capture Card (ATI TV Wonder 600 USB) > PC w/ VirtualDub.

Why not just connect the camera directly to the computer via an Elgato USB/RCA Capture Card like this? The ATI Wonder 600 plugs in via USB just like the Elgato does.
It also has S-Video if that is better than RCA. Is there something inferior about these adapters?

[Bwaak]

#1 - Is it better? Depends on whom you ask. Depends on your definition of "better". For details feel free to peruse the forum search.

#2 - 625/50: 576 visible scan lines, 25 fps. 525/60: 480 or so visible scan lines, 30 fps. Three color components per pixel like RGB (without alpha channel).

Say, 8 bits per color component. Standard number of samples per scan line is 720. For NTSC: 8×3×720×480×30 = 249 Mbit/s. Divide by 2 with 4:2:2 chroma sampling: 124 Mb/s = 15.6 MB/s

For 625/50 ("PAL") with 10 bits per component and 4:2:2 chroma sampling: 10×3×720×576×25/2 = 156 Mb/s = 19.4 MB/s.

#3 - What do you mean "directly"? In your example a camcorder is directly connected to the ATI card, which is directly inserted in an expansion slot of a PC. Analog should be converted to digital somewhere. An Elgato dongle is such a converter.

SVideo is better than composite.

[PacificSurfer]

#1 - Is it better? Depends on whom you ask. Depends on your definition of "better". For details feel free to peruse the forum search.

#2 - 625/50: 576 visible scan lines, 25 fps. 525/60: 480 or so visible scan lines, 30 fps. Three color components per pixel like RGB (without alpha channel).

Say, 8 bits per color component. Standard number of samples per scan line is 720. For NTSC: 8×3×720×480×30 = 249 Mbit/s. Divide by 2 with 4:2:2 chroma sampling: 124 Mb/s = 15.6 MB/s

For 625/50 ("PAL") with 10 bits per component and 4:2:2 chroma sampling: 10×3×720×576×25/2 = 156 Mb/s = 19.4 MB/s.

#3 - What do you mean "directly"? In your example a camcorder is directly connected to the ATI card, which is directly inserted in an expansion slot of a PC. Analog should be converted to digital somewhere. An Elgato dongle is such a converter.

SVideo is better than composite.

#1 - Is it better? Depends on whom you ask. Depends on your definition of "better". For details feel free to peruse the forum search.

#2 - 625/50: 576 visible scan lines, 25 fps. 525/60: 480 or so visible scan lines, 30 fps. Three color components per pixel like RGB (without alpha channel).

Say, 8 bits per color component. Standard number of samples per scan line is 720. For NTSC: 8×3×720×480×30 = 249 Mbit/s. Divide by 2 with 4:2:2 chroma sampling: 124 Mb/s = 15.6 MB/s

For 625/50 ("PAL") with 10 bits per component and 4:2:2 chroma sampling: 10×3×720×576×25/2 = 156 Mb/s = 19.4 MB/s.

#3 - What do you mean "directly"? In your example a camcorder is directly connected to the ATI card, which is directly inserted in an expansion slot of a PC. Analog should be converted to digital somewhere. An Elgato dongle is such a converter.

SVideo is better than composite.

2) Ah wow, much more complicated than I realized. Now it makes sense for the file size to be enormous.


3) Yeah I guess your right, it is directly connected. I for some reason thought using the ATI USB Adapter meant it was not connected directly because it is external, because it is not a built in I/O port on your computer, like some of those capture cards (BlackMagic Intensity Pro for example) that slide into the actual motherboard port. I thought that was more "direct" and true.


....On the Firewire vs S-video, I found an answer (Or opinion) on that from DigitalFaq: "Firewire" is DV compression. You lose quality lots of quality. Also realize that's literally a 1990s conversion method, for use with low-power Pentium III computers of that era. By 2000, it was already becoming obsolete, due to lossless conversion."