danjx
7th February 2004, 18:06
I have an application, used to take snapshots for security badges. The application begins by taking a snapshot from a video stream and saves it to a disk file. We then naipulate it a bit with LeadTools (crop mainly). In the past, we used Matrox or ATI video capture cards and had to write specific programs for each card, using the vender's SDK. Now we also have a WDM compatible program, which I have tested on an old ATI All In Wonder Pro AGP card and on a firewire card. I like this approach because it will work with all future WDM compatible cards without having to rewrite every time a vendor discontinues a card or a new operating system comes out.
My question: Assuming we have access to firewire and svideo cameras at a similar quality and pricepoint, is there a reason to use specialized video capture cards (firewire or analog) for taking a snapshot, or is a generic firewire card good enough (with the firewire cameras)? The main concern to us is will the picture look good when printed on a badge, about the size of a drivers license.
Obviously we will test these options, but if you have any suggestions why a more expensive card will work better, we would like to know what to look for. We will not use any bundled software other than the drivers.
-Dan
My question: Assuming we have access to firewire and svideo cameras at a similar quality and pricepoint, is there a reason to use specialized video capture cards (firewire or analog) for taking a snapshot, or is a generic firewire card good enough (with the firewire cameras)? The main concern to us is will the picture look good when printed on a badge, about the size of a drivers license.
Obviously we will test these options, but if you have any suggestions why a more expensive card will work better, we would like to know what to look for. We will not use any bundled software other than the drivers.
-Dan