Anyone know anything about TV capture cards?

by **adidas** on Thu May 17, 2001 4:41 am

Or better yet, does anyone have a recommendation as to which one I should buy if I get one?

I have some tv programs on VHS that I'd like to transfer to a digital form of media so it doesn't degrade into nothingness eventually.

by **jurucyber** on Thu May 17, 2001 9:22 am

Most TV-capture cards should have a RF/S-VIDEO output,and i can set up my vcr to the card very easily,as i need it for the line of work im in.
You then can make AVI files out of the footage you play throught the vcr,but you have to compress the data down and lower the frame rate,unless you like having 26mb files cluttering up your hard drive!

Some cards are:Brocktons,WINTV PRIMO,
ATI ALL IN WONDER (expensive) or i suppose
a Voodoo 3 with tv-out.
Make sure you use 32 bit color,as the screen grabs will look shit with 16 bit.

by **ivwshane** on Thu May 17, 2001 9:35 am

It all depends on what quality you want your vhs tapes in. What size hard drive do you have? If you want them in divx (mpeg4) quality than pretty much any tv capture card will do. I have and use an ati tv wonder that is ok, others are the hauppage(sp?) and pinnacle. If you aren't familar with divx then go here for all your info- http://www.divx-digest.com/
If you want mpeg2 quality, which is dvd, then you will need to spend alot more money on a card that supports mpeg2 recording. All in all you are at least going to spend about $50 on up.

Oh, and as far as copying from a vcr, no problem as long as the card has input jacks for it(the tvwonder does).
Hope that helps.

by **Silverhaze** on Thu May 17, 2001 2:16 pm

I think ATI make some pretty good ones.

by **adidas** on Thu May 17, 2001 4:08 pm

I have an 80 gb hard drive, so file sizes aren't a big concern. Thanks guys, I'm looking into it.

by **Damian** on Thu May 17, 2001 5:41 pm

Could you not get a TV tuner card for your PC an then maybe attach your VCR to it? I have no idea how you attach VCRs or even if you can though.

by **pcbsuckscock** on Fri May 18, 2001 1:16 am

To get it working first shove it up your ass and set fire to it then shove the tv and video up there too. Now it will work bit difficuly pressing buttons though cocksukas

by **Silverhaze** on Fri May 18, 2001 2:07 pm

Um yeah...whatever.

Adidas, go for a middle of the range or higher card cos with cheaper ones, getting the resolution of your captures can be really shitty.

by **adidas** on Sun May 20, 2001 1:45 am

I'm going to get an ATI All In Wonder, I've decided. I've got bills to pay this month, but next month I'll have it.

by **Silverhaze** on Tue May 22, 2001 1:45 pm

Yeah that ones pretty good I think. Does still and movie capture at a whole range of resolutions.

What ya got planned for the card Adidas?

by **adidas** on Wed May 23, 2001 1:57 am

I've got various tv episodes on tape that I want to burn to vcd at the best quality I can get. The All in Wonder supports mpeg-2, which is supposedly the best way to go.

I could get episodes from the 'net, but at 56k it takes a while just to get one episode, and the quality is often lacking.

by **draxe** on Sat Jun 15, 2002 2:47 am

Does anyone have the same DVD player I do (Sony DVP-S560D)? I've had considerable trouble finding just the right media to burn VCD's. I've tried Maxell's and Memorex, but neither of them seem to play in that player. Maybe I should go out and buy a cheap Apex DVD player. At least the Apex players don't have regional coding on them, which means you can copy DVD's straight to VHS.

by **Jewboy** on Sat Jun 15, 2002 3:06 pm

check it out here http://www.vcdhelp.com/dvdplayers.php?DVDnameid=437&Search=Search%EF%BF%BDcomments it seems yours has a similar prob to mine (panasonic a360 will only read CDRW discs)

by **draxe** on Sun Jun 16, 2002 5:06 am

Thanks, Jewboy. I've already been to that site, tho. I think I'll just have to experiment with different media.

by **Jewboy** on Sun Jun 16, 2002 2:12 pm

With my DVD even though i burn a good copy sometimes it won't play right and you need to turn it off with the disc inside then turn it back on, It then works good (dunno why but it does).