Need new card?

[toolmanx]

I have a Dazzle 80 capture card with supplied Pinnacle software.
When I capture from my VHS, the video is fuzzier than the material
on the tape. Not extremely bad but noticable. I have made a number
of DVDs from tapes, but this extra fuzzyness is starting to bug me.

I've decided to spring for a better card if it doesn't set me back
a small fortune. Obviously I don't want to buy another card and then
be unhappy with that one too. There is the possibility that
what I have could be made to work better. I'm open to suggestions.

I have tried capturing to VertualDub and the loss is the same.
VD doesn't like the audio I get from the card either but that is a
software issue which could be solved. It's the slight video quality
loss that I want to cure. First choice, get a cleaner video from the
Dazzle 80, second choice get a better card in one shot.

Anyone that can help me with this probably already knows that the
Dazzle 80 is a USB 2.0 device. Is that contributing to my loss?

[Surf]

Quote:
"I have made a number of DVDs from tapes, but this extra fuzzyness is starting to bug me."

If possible, how about capturing a test with the tape that you have successfully converted to DVD? Or, borrow a vcr? Finally checking on the wiring/cabling....try a different one if available.

The point is to eliminate the suspect, the source tape or the vcr or the connection.

I'm guessing here that there's nothing wrong with the capture device.

[toolmanx]

I have used a number of VCRs. This degradation of the video is happening in the card. It is extremely minor. Not something that I would expect to show up if a cable was bad. It's just bad enough to annoy me. The signal out of the VCR I am now using is perfect when played into the TV.

[codeguru]

do you have a TFT? on TFT displays the video looks mostly more worse than on analogue outputs. This is caused by image processing in the TFT panel itself - does it have an option for Movies?

Or it's your video driver that does a poor nearest neighbour resize caused by malfunctional DirectX?

I suggest to preview the material on the tvout of your graphics card, or do some filtering to improve the material.

[Don James]

I have used a number of VCRs. This degradation of the video is happening in the card. It is extremely minor. Not something that I would expect to show up if a cable was bad. It's just bad enough to annoy me. The signal out of the VCR I am now using is perfect when played into the TV.

Playing a tape on tv and capture are two different things, the tv tends to absorb errors, where the capture device is unforgiving. I had that same problem and someone told me it's because you're going from analog to digital. I could not get a good image thru my capture card and wound up buying a good svhs vcr ($150), a used JVC S7600 which has a Time Base Corrector and Digital Noise Reduction. Also I added a standalone TBC ($300) Then I got a perfect picture, better even than the source VHS tape.

[toolmanx]

A time base converter. Wow, that is a new one on me. Tell me what one does. I have a pretty good VHS with stereo audio output. I have no idea if it has a time base converter in it though.

I have tried various degrees of filtering while capturing in VDub. All the filters tend to make the problem worse.

[Don James]

A time base converter. Wow, that is a new one on me. Tell me what one does. I have a pretty good VHS with stereo audio output. I have no idea if it has a time base converter in it though.

I have tried various degrees of filtering while capturing in VDub. All the filters tend to make the problem worse.

haha, I meant Time Base Corrector. Sounds like it might involve time travel, doesn't it? It basically stabilizes your image coming out of your vcr. Here's an excellent before and after I made using a JVC S5602U SVHS vcr before and after I bought my TBC. What it did for the image is pretty dramatic as you'll see.

http://www.kozenrufu.com/pre-tbc.wmv
http://www.kozenrufu.com/post-tbc.wmv


Here's some info on TBCs. The second link is amazing, he converts basically every format ever invented.

http://www.digitalfaq.com/dvdguides/capture/playback.htm
http://www.videointerchange.com/vintage_video1.htm

[Surf]

Toolmanx,
Here's probably the ULTIMATE test. Throw a decrypted movie in your standalone dvd player and output it to your usb cap, IF it still gives you the fuzzy wuzzy quality, then go ahead use it as a target practice...

Wait! Before you do that, give a last minute check at your software settings...hope there is no "fuzzy wuzzy" filter loaded un-intentionally.

[smok3]

TBC does only put the lines to proper starting location, everything else is an addition, like replacing dropouts with the lines before, ect. Noise reduction is entirely different stuff. Most TBCs do include signal replacement functions thought (always stable signal).

[toolmanx]

My thanks to Don James. His link to vidiointerchange was extremely informative. After reading through that link, and viewing his tbc pics I have concluded that my card has poor bandwidth. The description of what video looks like when you lose the highs sounds like my problem. My video is soft. My capture card was cheap and you get what you pay for.

[Don James]

My thanks to Don James. His link to vidiointerchange was extremely informative. After reading through that link, and viewing his tbc pics I have concluded that my card has poor bandwidth. The description of what video looks like when you lose the highs sounds like my problem. My video is soft. My capture card was cheap and you get what you pay for.

I'm very happy with my Hauppauge PVR-150 capture card. You have to capture in MPG, but you can edit in Virtual Dub MPEG if you have to. The WinTV software that comes with it has color and brightness adjustments. And you can get the Hauppauge "Tweaker" software that lets you adjust the sharpness and volume and other adjustments. Plus the card is relatively cheap ($100) at Circuit City. I've seen it as cheap as $70 there on sale, and shipping is free. You do need to have the kind of cables that go from RCA to a single small stereo jack for the audio (not included in kit). Also there's all the benefits of recording directly from the tv which I have yet to explore.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/Search.do?c=1&context=&keyword=hauppauge&searchSection=All