video8 (HR?) capture in 2026

[ido22]

Source is home vids PAL.

a. Camcorder (w/TBC) -> frame TBC -> JVC (LSI) DVD recorder (720x576 XP 10 Mbps or 352x576 FR155 3320Kbps for >1h tapes) -> RIP CD's -> leave mpeg for archive + convert to x264 for online ?
pros: Good LSI Chroma NR + mpeg2 encoder + least calibration needed; no tinkering with drivers and settings
cons: reencoding lossy to x264 loosing more detail ? (not sure if this is a real problem though)


b. Camcorder (w/TBC) -> frame TBC -> USB Live2 (or another if you insist this is not worthwhile working with even if I own one already) -> HuffYUV + reencode for online.
pros: ??
cons: maybe need to buy a new USB capture card; I don't work with video much, so not sure which filters to apply to enhance quality (was hoping with JVC there will be less need for this)


I guess the questions are:
1. Is (high bitrate) mpeg2 is worthwhile in 2026 ?
2. If yes, should I record everything in 720x576 XP 10 Mbps and split long tapes to two DVD's ? or is 352x576 FR155 good enough and not noticeable for video8? If it make a difference, some tapes might be Video8 HR (but I'm not sure how to tell which were recorded on that kind of camcorder

[lollo]

Capture comparison between a JVC DR-M100 (considered the best in its class) and a Hauppauge USB-Live 2 I performed some time ago: https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-capture/12740-current-capture-device-3.html

The winner is evident.

[dellsam34]

Capture lossless or losslessly compressed AVI 4:2:2 720x576, this will give you the master files that you keep if you need further processing in the future, From this de-interlace, resize to HD (optional), and encode to h.264.

[Sharc]

.....-> USB Live2 (or another if you insist this is not worthwhile working with even if I own one already) -> HuffYUV...

Here a caveat for the USB Live2 which damped my former support for this device somewhat. Depending on driver it is prone to AGC issues when Y is >235. My verdict was perhaps a bit harsh, but I prefer the GV USB2 based on those tests. Also, I have not tested the recent new version of the USB- live2, so I can't comment on the latest live2 model+drivers.
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/418254-Info-Hauppauge-USB-Live-2-capturable-range#post2780834
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/418973-Info-IOData-GV-USB2-capturable-range#post2781949

[aramkolt]

If you're going the DVD recorder/MPEG2 route, (and I totally see why one would choose to - no drivers to worry about, no PCs for capture, built-in TBC effect, no audio sync issues, interlacing preserved), then I'd recommend doing it with a DVD recorder that also has a hard disc drive and then just pulling the files off of the drive occasionally with ISObuster software. Doing it that way is going to save you a lot of time ripping all of those DVDs, that is, unless you want the DVDs for backup copies.

Lossless capture will give you better results at the cost of complexity and a lot more hard drive space used, but many people find MPEG2 to be good enough as long as the bitrate is in the 8+ range. There was a YouTube comparison done sort of recently where the experimenter really couldn't tell the difference between the recorder's 8Mbit output vs 15Mbit MPEG2 recordings made by the same DVD/HDD recorder so I don't know that you'll necessarily gain much going beyond 8 or 9Mbit/s.

[rgr]

1. Is (high bitrate) mpeg2 is worthwhile in 2026 ?

No.

[lordsmurf]

1. Is (high bitrate) mpeg2 is worthwhile in 2026 ?

No.

Yes, it can be.

[Sharc]

1. Is (high bitrate) mpeg2 is worthwhile in 2026 ?

No.

Yes, it can be.

And keep in mind that mpeg2 is also a valid blu-ray format. Some earlier Blu-rays were released in high bitrate mpeg2. Also, a mediocre mpeg2 encoder will benefit from higher bitrates even for SD. And most real-time mpeg2 encoders perform 'mediocre' at best.
Whatever, capturing to lossless 4:2:2 is still the preferred way to go if one is prepared to take a certain learning curve.

[rgr]

1. Is (high bitrate) mpeg2 is worthwhile in 2026 ?

No.

Yes, it can be.

"Can" is the key word.