Video Capture Device

[jimlong]

Years ago, I sold my video capture device and software. Now I need to capture some VCR tapes again. I purchased a EasyCAP device from eBay that came with software. It captures in some format I never heard of before, in short it sucks.

I have the NCH VideoPad Pro and Debut. I need you find a capture device that captures MPG and will work with my software.

Any recommendations?

[Silv3r]

Recommendations

1. Hauppauge WinTV series
Model to consider: Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1250 or WinTV-HVR-955Q
Pros:
Supports MPEG-2 encoding directly.
Designed for analog and digital capture.


1. Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1250 / WinTV-HVR-955Q
Capture: MPEG-2, AVI
Inputs: Composite, S-Video, Component
Notes: Highly reliable for VCR capture; hardware encoding reduces CPU usage. Widely supported by Windows 10/11.

2. Diamond VC500 / VC500 USB
Capture: MPEG-2 or uncompressed AVI
Inputs: Composite & S-Video
Notes: Simple USB plug-and-play; works well with VideoPad. Affordable and still available on eBay/Amazon.

3. AVerMedia EZMaker 7 / 8
Capture: MPEG-2, AVI
Inputs: Composite, S-Video
Notes: Good driver support and stable capture for VHS. Often recommended for home digitization.

4. Pinnacle Dazzle DVD Recorder HD
Capture: MPEG-2
Inputs: Composite, S-Video
Notes: Very reliable for VHS-to-MPEG conversion; usually comes with its own software but works fine with NCH VideoPad or Debut.

5. Roxio Easy VHS to DVD 3+
Capture: MPEG-2 (DVD-ready format)
Inputs: Composite, S-Video
Notes: Designed for converting VHS to digital; files are compatible with NCH software, but it might require minor format conversion if you want pure MPEG files.

Important Notes

Most cheap EasyCAP devices only output uncompressed or MJPEG AVI, not MPEG, which is why your files are large and low quality.
Hardware encoding devices (Hauppauge, AVerMedia) are better for MPEG directly.
Software encoding with VideoPad or Debut is possible if you capture uncompressed AVI first, but MPEG capture on the device itself saves CPU and space.
Compatible with VideoPad and Debut (you can capture to MPEG or convert easily).
Cons: Slightly pricier than EasyCAP clones.

[Sharc]

By capturing and real-time compressing into mpeg2 (mpg) the quality will always be compromised (blurred, lack of details, blocking artifacts ....).
Better quality requires capturing to lossless 4:2:2 .avi (large filesize, yes) and postprocess it for final distribution. A more laborious process though with some pitfalls.

[VWestlife]

No USB device will give you good results when capturing from analog videotape unless you have a time base corrector (TBC). The Diamond VC500 and AVerMedia EZMaker mentioned above are identical to the infamously bad Elgato video capture device ("Elcrapo"), and are among the worst in terms of producing wobbly, unstable captures from VHS.

[Alwyn]

A TBC is not needed to get good captures from one of these USB digitisers provided the video is stabilised. There are a number of DVD recorders (in passthrough mode) that will stabilise the output from a VCR so that it can be captured nicely. For more info and examples, see my site here.

@Silv3r, that sounds like AI to me. The OP never mentioned anything about large and low quality files.

[Darryl In Canada]

Buy the following:

1. IO-Data GVUSB2 capture device (new)
2. Panasonic ES15 DVD recorder (used)

Then connect everything like this:

YourVCR >RCA_Cables > Pansonic ES15 > SVIDEO+RED-WHITE_Cables > IO-Data GVUSB2 > USB > Windows computer > AmarecTV capture software using HuffYUV codec > save as AVI file

That's it for capture. Deinterlacing and denoising comes next in software later on.

[VWestlife]

The GV-USB2 is not worth the hype people give it (and not worth the hassle of trying to install Japanese-language drivers just to make it work).

As long as you have a TBC, then just about anything can give a passable result, even an EasyCrap, as long as you avoid the software they come bundled with and learn how to use VirtualDub2.

[Sharc]

...... then just about anything can give a passable result, .....

While 'passable' is crap for some it is great for others, so this doesn't mean much

[Alwyn]

@jimlong, another good, easy to install lossless codec for capture is UTVideo. I've attached a short UTVideo file so you can check that NCH can open it. You'll have to install the codec for NCH to open the file.

The GV-USB2 is not worth the hype people give it

What hype? Certainly less hype than that Sony thing you raved about on YT.

and not worth the hassle of trying to install Japanese-language drivers just to make it work

You're joking. I hope. The GV-USB2 was a breeze compared to the hyped 710-USB. FYI, here's the GV installation 101 for dummies.

As long as you have a TBC

The whole point is to avoid paying thousands of dollars for a piece of gear that has to be hand-picked by you know who and which probably won't return the money you paid for it, complete with all the hassle of packing it up and shipping it out. How about a "passable" result from a GV/USBLive2+a DVD recorder for $200?

[VWestlife]

The GV-USB2 is no better than a multitude of other USB video capture devices. Just because it's exotic and Japanese and anime fans seem to love it, doesn't necessarily make it better for transferring your home videos.

In fact, if you're going to buy a DVD recorder anyway just to use it as a TBC, you might as well use it for its intended purpose, especially when you can get this for $15 - $20 all day long because nobody wants them, despite the fact that they produce excellent results:
VHS to DVD without a PC - Sony DVDirect VRD-MC5

[Sharc]

To each his own. If the OP (who did not retrun) sticks to some mediocre .mpg (mpeg2) ....

[The 14th Doctor]

Used an IO-Data myself, it's fine I guess. Much prefer sticking to a Pinnacle 510/710 due to it handling audio sync better. Also the Pinnacles I've used are much more resilient.

Such as that the IO-Data inserts a bunch of frames when a camcorder's TBC is turned on and off while capturing.

Meanwhile the Pinnacle doesn't insert any frames when the same conditions are met. Of course why would you ever turn off your playback device's internal TBC while capturing..

This was in the context of having an internal line TBC enabled, but not including an external frame TBC in the chain.