Diamond VC500 Level Defaults in VirtualDub

[theseeker2]

Do these look like the correct defaults for a Diamond VC500 USB capture device right out the box? I just purchased one brand new. In case it helps, the model on the box is listed as VC500SE inside the yellow sticker on the back that says Made in China, the left end of the box with the UPC symbol just says VC500, and the black inside flap on the box says "33061 VERS 8 Rev 3".


[Attachment 85134 - Click to enlarge]

Hue at "3" seems a little weird, but I'd like to hear from those of you use this device for VHS capture. Thank you!

[theseeker2]

So here's something interesting...

I ordered this Diamond VC500 from Amazon (the "PC" version rather than the "Mac and PC" version), and the seller was "amazon.com" so it should be legit. Copyright on the box by the way is 2021.

I did a few tests, and noticed right away that the full capture range was available as hoped (i.e. blacks were not crushed below y=16), but I also noticed the picture quality wasn't great. I did a little more digging and found this device has ID 534D and PID 0021, which is apparently an EasyCap device!

Here are a few relevant links:
https://www.devicekb.com/hardware/usb-vendors/vid_534d-pid_0021
https://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Talk:Easycap

Official name is "MS210x Video Grabber [EasierCAP]" from vendor MacroSilicon.

Apparently the hardware ids match this device: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NPFJJ7K?psc=1&tag=daj0e-20
(I got this info from https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/usb-uvc-video-capture-device-not-working/17268)

That likely explains why no other VC500 users are chiming in here, because I bet they aren't using an EasyCap device! I bet the level options are different as well.

Can anyone who has the VC500 with the 2018 copyright on the box let me know what the hardware id and pid numbers are for their device? Just don't want to get burned again if it is yet another EasyCap device on the inside! Thanks.

[lordsmurf]

VC500 has aggressive/wrong/bad AGC issues. No amount of tweaking can help that.

So are you saying that you stumbled across as mislabeled (or fake) VC500 card?

[theseeker2]

Maybe others will have better luck, but when I ordered the PC Version of the Diamond VC500 from Amazon, I received a device that inside was an EasyCap. Maybe the VC500 has always been that way, but I kind of doubt it since others have mentioned Conexant-based chips in the past.

[lordsmurf]

Well, Diamond is a pure rebadger, so I'm not surprised. Dollars over quality. If they can stuff garbage into the same box, and reuse the same model number and SKU, that's what many will do.

And thanks for the vindication! Some people on this site don't believe me when I constantly say that "model number doesn't always matter" because "model numbers (and SKU) are often recycled". Pinnacle and Hauppauge are really bad about this, but they're far from the only vendors doing it. Sometimes cards are different only internally, but some are obvious externally. Internal changes can be slight alterations, or entire replacements. LinusTechTips has mentioned this many times on his video, for various computer parts, and people never argue with him over this well-known "not a secret" fact.