incorrect and unplayable capture.

[4321]

Alright, so here's what I'm using:

VirtualDub's capture (1.6.11)
ATI HDTV Wonder
WinXP
P4 3ghz
Radeon x550
Wanting to capture NTSC at 29.97/48khz 16bit-stereo.
(note: I'm not capturing hdtv feeds. mainly dtv and catv i think. Also I'm only using the drivers as the software provided by ATI is seemingly shitty.)

So I'm trying to record shows and stuff. My cable company provides a box or something, lets you view digital channels and stuff. The digital channels whole lot better in quality than the basic cable feed channels. In terms of noise. Is there any way of getting rid of the noise besides using that noise reduction thing? It causes a whole bunch of ghosting. Hard on the eyes =/

Alright, so my tuner can use both s-video and those 3 color RCA things. I don't actually notice the quality difference either of them, except there's a small 1 pixel line at the bottom when using s-video. (actually, the other options are 'parallel something' and composite, those 2 work. along with s-video of course)

Alright, so I tried capturing using uncompressed AVI and uncompressed PCM audio. I'm thinking uncompressed means lossless, is that right? Figured I'd cut out the commercials on the way to encoding. Also using the.. YUY2 mode, pretty sure it's that.

Now after capturing, I encountered 2 problems. The first one, it'd capture in the wrong resolution. After capturing, I watched the file. I swore I set it to 640x480, which is what the TV I'd normally watch it on uses. And while capturing in the wrong resolution, the audio and video were completely out of sync.

Before it starts to capture, there's a huge pause and I think that may be the reason it gets out of sync. I've tried using the 'Wait for OK to capture' opton, but that didn't do much at all.

Now the 2nd problem, after re-adjusting and playing around with a bunch of options, I captured a video, but when I tried to play it, it wouldn't play! No pictures, no sound, nothing. =/ It'd have the size, length, resolution, but it wouldn't play. Again, using the same uncompressed avi/pcm.


Also, is there any way to find out the native resolution of the shows? I'm just using 640x480 because it's pretty decent sized and it's 4:3. I'm planning to get the shows lossless and compile them on DVD.

I noticed everything is interlaced, and the vertical reduction seems to deinterlace them. Is that better or worse than deinterlacing with filters afterwards?

Thanks a whole bunch =)

[jggimi]

...Wanting to capture NTSC at 29.97/48khz 16bit-stereo....This is analog, standard definition video. You've come to the right place. HDTV has a separate forum....My cable company provides a box or something, lets you view digital channels and stuff. The digital channels whole lot better in quality than the basic cable feed channels...You are correct. The box provided by your cable company is called a "Set Top Box" or "STB" for short. While you may be receiving digital channels at the box, it outputs analog video to your TV and your capture card. You are capturing analog video....Is there any way of getting rid of the noise besides using that noise reduction thing?...I don't know what "thing" you're describing. Perhaps you could provide more detail?...my tuner can use both s-video and those 3 color RCA things...Analog video can be sent over cabling in a variety of forms. Generally, the quality will increase as you go down this list: RF, via coaxial cable. Both audio and video are sent via radio frequency ... VHF or UHF, in either broadcast or cable "channels." Composite video, via a single RCA connector. Audio must be sent separately. Chromanance and Luminance (color and brightness) are sent in a single composite signal on a pair of wires. S-video, via DIN connector. Chromanance and Luminance are sent on separate wire pairs. Component video, via 3 separate RCA or BNC connectors. Lumanance, and two chromanance signals are sent separately.... I don't actually notice the quality difference either of them...This could be because of cable quality, display environment, hardware on the capture card ... any number of factors. When I first used component video, quality suffered compared with S-video, and I was shocked. Replacing bad cables made a spectacular difference....I tried capturing using uncompressed AVI and uncompressed PCM audio. I'm thinking uncompressed means lossless, is that right?...Yes, but this is not the recommended method. There are lossless codecs that are designed for use during capture, that reduce the demands placed on your storage subsystem during capture. You need to read our Capture FAQ and our Capture Guide. ...after capturing...it'd capture in the wrong resolution. After capturing, I watched the file. I swore I set it to 640x480...You don't tell us what resolution you have that is "wrong"....after re-adjusting and playing around with a bunch of options...Again, without information, all we can do is guess. If you want specific help, you need to give specifics....is there any way to find out the native resolution of the shows?...It's not shows, it's NTSC video. And the Guide that you haven't read yet has two whole chapters on sizing your captures (for newbies and experts, respectively), based on your capture hardware. Please read it....I'm planning to get the shows lossless and compile them on DVD...Great! Information!...I noticed everything is interlaced, and the vertical reduction seems to deinterlace them. Is that better or worse than deinterlacing with filters afterwards?In a prior thread of yours -- http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=821974#post821974 -- Mug Funky told you NOT to deinterlace if you are going to make DVDs. That recommendation still stands. (That advice is also in the Guide I keep mentioning. You should probably read it.)

Standard Definition (SD) analog televisions are interlaced devices. PC monitors are not. Interlaced content is perfect for interlaced devices, and DVDs are destined for playback to televisions. If you happen to capture films that are being broadcast in NTSC video, it is likely that they were Telecined. This is like interlacing, but different. Its like enough that you can consider the content interlaced, and leave it alone.

NTSC video capture, at the highest vertical resolution, will be 480 pixels. You do NOT want to reduce that if you are going to retain interlacing for use in DVDs. Not only will you lose the separate fields that make up the interlaced signal, you'll have quality issues if you then resize back to 480 pixel height for DVD resolution. Stay with 480.

For your convenience, I have two links for you:

Our Capture FAQ: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=32575
Our Capture Guide: http://www.doom9.org/capture/start.html

[4321]

Alrighty, thanks :D

Just to clear up some of the things:

Noise reduction thing is under Video > Noise Reduction with 2 options, enable and threshold.


The thing about the incorrect resolution recording was that it recorded in 720x240 resolution. Very horizontal, when I made sure I had set it to 640x480.

Also, I was fiddling around with the color options which were also with the resolutions. And the video sources, figured something must've went wrong in there. Ended up recording something unviewable. I'll just reset the options and see what I did wrong.


As for the ntsc video in the guide, I didn't quite understand what he was talking about. Figured I'll just go with his 640x480 recommendation for ntsc.

I'm still kinda interested in whether the vertical reduction is better than post-capture deinterlacing. I do plan on making them as video dvds, but I also wanted to use DVDs for storage. Some things, like short clips, I'll only be watching on the computer.

Anyway, thanks again.

[jggimi]

...Noise reduction thing is under Video > Noise Reduction with 2 options, enable and threshold....The guide shows this particular noise reduction NOT being selected. Tacitly recommending against it. (Chapter 6, section 2).

Please see Chapter 7, section 1.6. It discusses denoising in post using Vdub....The thing about the incorrect resolution recording was that it recorded in 720x240 resolution. Very horizontal, when I made sure I had set it to 640x480.I can only assume that you set vertical resolution to 2:1 by accident while you were making your various, unguided attempts to adjust settings. This will halve the vertical resolution of your capture. These reductions (both horizontal and vertical) are discussed as options in Chapter 6, section 2.2.1. For DVD, you would not want to use them.As for the ntsc video in the guide, I didn't quite understand what he was talking about. Figured I'll just go with his 640x480 recommendation for ntsc.That is NOT the recommendation. Chapter 4 section 3 says:DVD/SVCD: you should capture at the target size.That would be 720x480. You will likely end up with black pixels on the edges, per Chapter 4 section 2. If you discover you don't like the look of black pixels on the edges, follow the instructions you find in that section for setting a horizontal size, then resize to 720 for DVD in post.I'm still kinda interested in whether the vertical reduction is better than post-capture deinterlacing. No, because you would cut your detail in half. Deinterlacing with Vdub is discussed, in great detail, in Chapter 7, section 1.3.