Is BM Intensity Pro good enough to capture VHS?

[Krazern]

Is Intensity Pro good enough to be used to capture VHS tapes? I can buy it for around 33€ or 43€ with breakout cable. Intensity Pro 4K doesn't seem to be good at it, but what about the older model? I already have Hauppauge Live 2 but i think about trying hdmi capture with Sony RDR-HXD895 that has hdmi output. Can it capture 576i on hdmi input? Does it handle vhs signal through composite and s-video well?

[Skiller]

Does it handle vhs signal through composite and s-video well?

No, very badly. I have the Intensity Pro and it's useless for capturing VHS via it's own analog inputs. It has the same issues that the 4K still has.


However, it's HDMI capturing is perfectly good!

Can it capture 576i on hdmi input?

Yes, it does capture 576i if whatever device on the other end does support 576i as well.

[Krazern]

Does it handle vhs signal through composite and s-video well?

No, very badly. I have the Intensity Pro and it's useless for capturing VHS via it's own analog inputs. It has the same issues that the 4K still has.

However, it's HDMI capturing is perfectly good!

Can it capture 576i on hdmi input?

Yes, it does capture 576i if whatever device on the other end does support 576i as well.

What about using it with vcr with TBC or Panasonic DMR-ES10? Hauppauge Live 2 doesn't do well without any kind of tbc but when it's added it performs good. Does Intensity Pro work fine with such DMR recorder passthrough or can i safely pass on breakout cable while having Hauppauge Live 2?

Do you think that 33€ is a good price for that card?

[Skiller]

What about using it with vcr with TBC or Panasonic DMR-ES10?

The former does not help here, the latter gets rid of the picture dropping out to black frames and missing audio on the slightest hiccup on the tape. But there are more problems which cannot be solved. For example, the white point ("contrast") is slightly different every time you start a capture. It is completely erratic. The analog inputs are entirely useless on this card if you want quality.


If you want to try the HDMI route, get the Intensity Pro and a Panasonic DVD or DVD/HDD recorder with HDMI out. If not, you are better off using the Hauppauge Live 2 with some DMR recorder in passthrough.

Do you think that 33€ is a good price for that card?

Yes, that is a good price.

[Krazern]

If you want to try the HDMI route, get the Intensity Pro and a Panasonic DVD or DVD/HDD recorder with HDMI out. If not, you are better off using the Hauppauge Live 2 with some DMR recorder in passthrough..

That Sony RDR-HXD895 tbc isnt as strong as Panasonic one but it's still pretty good. I want to use it because it has much more capture settings than DMRs and i can avoid clipping whites with level adjustment and AGC.

From what i have read the HDMI Panasonics TBC is worse than DMR-ES10 one and they still have clipping issue that can't be really controlled.

Here i posted some samples comparing its TBC to DMR-ES10 (s-video out).
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/410057-Passthrough-DVD-recorder-but-it-is-SECAM-L-...35#post2695035 The second video is the best example i think. Other doesn't show the difference that much. Sony has weaker frame sync but TBC is not that bad, it seems good enough for good tapes.

[lollo]

I have the Intensity Pro and it's useless for capturing VHS via it's own analog inputs.

Same here. For analog capture Intensity is bad, just use the Hauppauge USB-Live 2, which really needs a TBC correction and a Y/C input.

However, used just to "dump" the HDMI digital stream from a Panasonic (which play the role of a digitizer) to a PC is perfect. I have no experience with the Sony device.

User latreche34 also uses the BlackMagic to "dump" the SDI digital stream from a BrightEye75 with excellent results.

[Skiller]

I have no experience with these Sony machines either.

From what i have read the HDMI Panasonics TBC is worse than DMR-ES10 one and they still have clipping issue that can't be really controlled.

Yes, the line-straightening abilities of the DMR-ES10 are the strongest, but what most people won't mention in the same instance is that compared to machines with the slightly less effective line-straightening, the ES10 is more prone to losing vertical sync (picture rolls up or down). In my opinion, that's a draw...

The clipping appears to be much more pronounced with Panasonics made for the North American market (native NTSC machines). I have a European DMR-EH 575 (HDMI) and never ran into significant clipping with it.

[Krazern]

I have the Intensity Pro and it's useless for capturing VHS ...

So i bought that card and is there any way to check if that card is working properly without hdmi splitter that will remove HDCP? My laptop detects that after plugging hdmi the second screen has been connected but there's nothing in preview of input signal on intensity. Sony recorder is obviously not working as well.

[Skiller]

HDMI input format setting of Intensity Pro must match actual HDMI video format, otherwise there will be just a black screen. There is no auto detect.



[Attachment 72230 - Click to enlarge]

[oln]

The analog inputs are entirely useless on this card if you want quality.
.

Is it also the case for the component input? That worked well at least on the Intensity Shuttle USB3 for capturing output from es10 and similar. Have to have them set up with right output format of course. Though with both hdmi and component output of dvd-recorders, I believe some US models only output progressive mode, not interlaced 480i over component and/or HDMI so have to also check for that if planning to go that route.

I have the Intensity Pro and it's useless for capturing VHS ...

So i bought that card and is there any way to check if that card is working properly without hdmi splitter that will remove HDCP? My laptop detects that after plugging hdmi the second screen has been connected but there's nothing in preview of input signal on intensity. Sony recorder is obviously not working as well.

See prev post, though also, both Sony or panasonic dvd-recorders basically act as if nothing is hooked up if whatever the HDMI out is hooked up to does not support HDCP. So they won't do anything when connected directly to the intensity, at they don't with the intensity shuttle usb3.

(It's different from some other capture cards like the avermedia I have which does apparently have some hdcp thing in it so it handshakes but shows copy protected content warning instead of image - that did not happen on the BM intensity shuttle.)

You also want to set the output resolution in the dvd-recorder settings manually once it's connected to something over HDMI it recognizes and those settings are available. It can be a bit finnicky to set up the first time.

For checking if it's HDMI input on the card is working I guess an option if you have it is to hook the output from a different computer instead, I don't think that has HDCP enabled by default other than Apple Macs.

[Krazern]

Yes, the line-straightening abilities of the DMR-ES10 are the strongest, but what most people won't mention in the same instance is that compared to machines with the slightly less effective line-straightening, the ES10 is more prone to losing vertical sync (picture rolls up or down). In my opinion, that's a draw...

The clipping appears to be much more pronounced with Panasonics made for the North American market (native NTSC machines). I have a European DMR-EH 575 (HDMI) and never ran into significant clipping with it.

I finally had some spare time to compare them both with different output and capturing devices. I used JVC HR-S7500 (PAL) with Panasonic DMR-ES10 and Sony RDR-HXD895. I captured ES10 with hauppauge live 2 usb and Sony with both hauppauge s-video and HDMI with Intensity Pro. It seems like Sony adds a little green tint and its line TBC obviously isn't as strong as ES10 one but i think it's not that bad after all. With ES10 i rarely get clipped whites (they are not severe and at first look i didn't use to notice it, only after comparing to other captures). Sony allows to completely avoid black crush and clipped whites though.

Going to my main idea of HDMI capture- it definitely looks cleaner to me compared to s-video capture with hauppauge but I would still choose DMR-ES10 s-video capture over HDMI with sony or simillar pioneers. JadHC user also noticed green tint on his pioneer compared to es10.

Here is a link to single frame comparsion with TV test pattern: https://imgsli.com/MjA5ODcz/0/2
I uploaded there 3 images:

• Sony s-video frame 35
• Sony hdmi 35 frame
• ES10 s-video frame 55

The test pattern is on vhs from 90s. It was overrecorded and lasts about 2 seconds. My JVC struggled to keep tracking here thats why i chose different ES10 frame.