Horrible picture quality before I even start to capture.....

[Lcarvone]

I have an ATI AIW 128 Pro. It is hooked up via composite and audio cables to a newer JVC VCR. My problem is before I even begin to capture the picture is all washed out and changing the color, tint, brightness, etc within MMC does little if nothing to fix it. The audio comes in great and the playback is smooth but in bright scenes you see nothing but white figures. The only time you get a decent picture that is visually legible is when a scene takes place in dimly lit or dark surroundings!!! Some test captures work great as far as smooth playback etc its just that the image quality stinks!!!

Any suggestions would be much appreciated

My first post of many i'm afraid but its good to be here

[snowmoon]

Your capture card setting are all off...
Find the brightness/contrast/saturation controls for your capture card.

Brightness sets the black level. Set this to the point wher black really equals black without going so low that you wash out details in dark scenes ( sound like this is not the problem )
Contrast sets the while level. Set this to the point where white eqals white without blowing the picture out of whack and loosing all detail in bright areas of the image.
Saturation controls how much the color gets amplified. setting this to 0 or it's lowest value would make the picture B&W setting it too high would result in neon colors for everything in the image. You want to set thisto the point where grass and faces look naturan and not dayglow.


Hopefully this will get you started on the right path. Good luck.

[Lcarvone]

thanks for the explanation....saturation is the word I was looking for. However I cannot find a place to change saturation. I have slider bars for color, brightness, contrast, and tint only.

[snowmoon]

saturation is probably color.

from how you describe your contrast is off too.

[Lcarvone]

I have spent the last 15 minutes trying virtually every combination. The best I can get is the sensation there are a couple too many lights on the set of the movie.....darker scenes look ok but as soon as they go in the sun then all is washed out but for slight outlines of the characters!!!

[snowmoon]

Turn the contrast down.... if that does not help it might be a permenent problem with the tape you are trying.

[Lcarvone]

Well no combination works....I have tried 4 different tapes all with the same result. Correct me if I'm wrong but the picture should be pretty close to how it looks on a TV when playing the vcr right?

[Lcarvone]

Now I am wondering if my breakout box (purple dohickey) isn't bad. I tried a videotape on the vcr and TV and the picture is flawless. When I connect to the card the top 3rd of the picture is choppy like you see when the tape is damaged. Can I connect somehow through the coaxial cable outlet? I tried this and got sound but no picture when just VCR conected to AIW card...

[Lcarvone]

Well I removed mmc7.1 and installed 7.6. Before this I updated the CODECS per ATI install instructions. I also reinstalled my video drivers to the latest version. All of this and still no change.

Please correct me if I am wrong but shouldn't the display on my monitor from the VCR be nearly the same as the display on my TV? I haven't even tried to capture anything yet other than a couple 30 second tests. This terrible picture is soley from the VCR hooked up to the Rage Pro.

Any more feedback or suggestions would be helpful. This is my first attempt at video capture and I am wondering if I should just use the Rage Pro for video (or sell it) and get something new.

[Lcarvone]

One more thing....could my cords be too long? I read a post rating another card and the member recommended to keep the composite & sound cables under 6 feet long. At this point I have 3 feet for the breakout box and 6 feet of connecting cable to my vcr.....could I be losing signal strength/quality over that 9 ft span?

[gll99]

Signal degradation is a possibility but the symptom would likely be a snowy picture or ghosting.

It seems that you are only using one app to do your captures.
Have you tried another capture app. Use the default settings for color etc... on your captures.

If you can borrow another vcr you will eliminate that possibility as the source of the problem. I know you checked the vcr to TV but vcr to your card brings up different issues. Trying another VCR will at least eliminate that as a cause.

Also coax versus composite.....

Composite should win every time.

question? Even though you had no sound when you used the cable source was the video problem solved?

[gll99]

Disregard my last question.

I noticed you got audio but no video,

Thats because you had to choose "tuner" as your input instead of "composite" as source even though you would get only 1 channel which is your VCR.

Hope you understand that.

[Lcarvone]

Well I tried a second VCR and get the same results. So it must be the capture/display app or the cable/card itself. I have downloaded Virtualdub and installed the proper Video for Window driver from ATI's website. I'll try again tonight. Is Virtualdub the best app to use? I downloaded PowerVCR II and installed but I can't get past a constant kernel32.dll to try it.

[snowmoon]

If it's happening in Vdub it will happen in all capture applications unless they have some custom driver handling code.

It's either your card or the drivers.

[Nelson37]

Quite possible this is macrovision. Top of screen garble, excessive or variable brightness, bands of color, looping are all common MV problems.
You have not mentioned capping another source besides VCR, test this.
If caps from broadcast look OK, then MacroVision may be your problem.

Brightness and color often very different for PC monitor and TV, need to be adjusted seperately.

Some MV problems are fixed by the driver patch, specifically the looping and garble, the brightness pulsing on and off was fixed by a $39.95 Sima Copymaster.