Video capture card?

[Kooldino]

So I have a Leadtek Winfast 2000 XP Deluxe TV tuner card (http://www.planetmicro.co.uk/product...ckcode=M001718). It works ok in general. Even has a fancy remote.

The thing it doesn't do well is capture video. It works, but it will occasionally skit or studder while capturing. It's annoying.

So I either want to get a good, new TV tuner card which comes with a remote, OR I want to get a dedicated capture card.

I DO NOT want an All-in-Wonder type deal, since it will prevent me from upgrading my video card in the future.

Any suggestions? I want the capture card to be able to cap 640x480 for a half hour straight without skipping a beat.

[J1NG]

Matrox Marvel...? (My G200 PCI does wonders )

J1NG

[az]

The skips and stutters are more likely the codec, or your processor having other work to do. It was a lot of hard work to get my old Duron 750 to capture at full resolution

But maybe the Desktop Video forum is the place to ask here

AZ

[Wombat]

I don't know if your problems are because of your capture card, or the rest of your system not keeping up.

Doc?

[Kooldino]

Originally posted by az
The skips and stutters are more likely the codec, or your processor having other work to do. It was a lot of hard work to get my old Duron 750 to capture at full resolution

That's what you guys told me last time, so I upgraded my mobo, RAM, CPU, and HDD. It barely made a difference. I've tried all sorts of different codecs as well.

However, when I installed my Radeon 9200 VIVO, I was able to capture more smoothly (still not great though). Thing is, I'm just about to replace that card with a plane jane 9600XT.

But maybe the Desktop Video forum is the place to ask here

AZ

Doh, my bad.

[Kooldino]

BTW, my friend JUST sent me this link at total random...And it lists card chipsets and their max captures...

http://www.videohelp.com/comptvcards.htm

In theory, I guess I want a Hauppage Win TV PVR...

[Kooldino]

2 year old thread describing my issues with capturing with this TV card and older hardware...

http://forums.murc.ws/showthread.php?s=&threadid=37577&perpage=15&highlight=video%20capture&pagenumber=1

[Marshmallowman]

Do you have HD TV in your area, if all the channel s you want to watch are being broadcast in HD,

Then get a DVB_T card.

That way when you want to record a program you just save the mpeg 2 stream straight to you hard drive , as it is already compressed.

I will be getting one of these..

VISIONPLUS DVB-T Digital Terrestrial HD TV Tun

apparently a good model that can be setup in linux...

[Kooldino]

Originally posted by Marshmallowman
Do you have HD TV in your area, if all the channel s you want to watch are being broadcast in HD,

Then get a DVB_T card.

That way when you want to record a program you just save the mpeg 2 stream straight to you hard drive , as it is already compressed.

I will be getting one of these..

VISIONPLUS DVB-T Digital Terrestrial HD TV Tun

apparently a good model that can be setup in linux...

That's a good suggestion, but I only have standard cable in my house, nothing fancy.

But now that you mention it, having linux drivers for whatever peice of hardware I'm looking for would definitely be a plus.

[agallag]

If you want quality stutter free recording from cable TV, get the Hauppauge PVR250. It has hardware encoding, so it doesn't matter if your PC is overworked. A couple of my friends have them and swear by them. It's also fully supported by XP MCE 2005, if you can find an OEM copy of it.

[VJ]

Over on the digital video forum (yes, there is a digital video forum!), the people are very impressed with the Canopus ADVC range (esp. the Canopus ADVC100).

It is an external box with a couple of analog inputs and outputs, and connects via firewire to a PC. For the PC, the video stream is a regular firewire video stream.
(the ADVC50 can be mounted internally in a drive bay, or in a PCI-slot - it only uses the PCI for power, it still needs a firewire connection)

http://www.canopus-uk.com/UK/Products/ADVC_selection_guide/pm_advc_selection.asp

(I want one... but haven't gotten round to ordering it)

Jörg

[Kooldino]

Originally posted by agallag
If you want quality stutter free recording from cable TV, get the Hauppauge PVR250. It has hardware encoding, so it doesn't matter if your PC is overworked. A couple of my friends have them and swear by them. It's also fully supported by XP MCE 2005, if you can find an OEM copy of it.

That's what I'm looking for...hardware encoding. I'll research this.

[Kooldino]

Looks like I can get a PVR250 used for around $50 with a remote control. Sounds great to me! One thing I'm unsure about though...certain ones are called "model 980"...didn't know what that meant exactly.

@ VJ - Cool idea.

[Dr Mordrid]

IMO you'd be better off getting a Canopus capture device then using a VCR or cable/satellite box to provide the TV tuner function.

I use a satellite box in the family room that has two embedded tuner/remotes; one local and another that operates off an RF remote that's wired to the computer lab (DishNetwork). This feed goes into an S-VHS deck that feeds my RT.X100.

The Canopus ADVC-100 box would also allow you to capture direct analog, S-Video or IEEE-1394 and give you very high quality DV clips to edit at a leisurely 3.6 mb/s, which any HDD these days can handle.

Other similar boxes do an acceptable job, but Canopus uses a very high end DV encoder chip that is regarded as the best in the consumer market.

Direct to MPEG capture using its input can be done by many programs these days including Uleads VideoStudio or DVD MovieFactory. At the higher end are MSPro 7 and DVD Workshop (2 or Express).

Whatever you do avoid capture devices that connect by USB or USB2. Even on powerful systems they're often limited to at most SuperVideoCD resolution (480x480 in NTSC) by bandwidth limitations.

No matter what the hype USB and USB2 are slower than IEEE-1394 and pretty much useless for full frame video capture without unacceptably high MPEG compression done in the box. This level of compression makes editing or trimming the video very problematic.

As such the USB TVR devices are best relegated to basic TV tuner service and capturing for VideoCD/SuperVCD (at best).

Dr. Mordrid

[VJ]

Doc: slightly on topic: what are you opinions on the Canopus ADVC110 ? It appears to have the exact same specs as the ADVC100, but it can be powered from firewire (consequently, the AC adapter is not included).
Have they made other changes?


Jörg