Capture video from Laserdisc

[deathtical]

That's right... I said it... Laserdisc! :p

Ok... here's my question. I have an old laser disc player and some old laser discs. I would like to hook it up to my PC to capture the video an make some good video files so I can watch them again without having to go through the hassle of hooking up the LD player every time and of course flipping the discs.

I am very new to this whole video capture thing and was hoping you guys could make some recommendations on hardware, software, bit rates, etc so I can get the best quality possible.

The only "downside" is that the only video and audio output on the LD player is the old YRW (Composite, Right, Left) cable. Also, my PC does not have a native firewire port. So if you guys could recommend a good USB capture device (I guess I could always install a firewire card if need be) that would be great. Next of course would be the software. I am currently running Win7 64bit (RC for now but full licensed version will be here within 2 weeks). And lastly, the bit rates you would suggest to get the best picture and sound quality. I don't really plan to make these into DVDs but I guess having that option would be nice.

As for licensing issues with the videos, most of it is old anime that has not been re-licensed here in the US so I'm not too concerned with any legal issues.

I look forward to everyone's input. :thanks:

[Lyris]

The only "downside" is that the only video and audio output on the LD player is the old YRW (Composite, Right, Left) cableThat's not really a downside. The video signal on a Laserdisc is composite, so this is the best starting point you'll get. Some players had S-Video outputs, but the 1990s Y/C separation technology will usually be worse than the processing we have today.

This topic is a whole can of worms, and it's hard to suggest where you start. Can you describe what format you want these converted to? Then we can advise on bit rates, etc. If they're not going to DVD, then do you just want to make good files you can play in a PC media player?

[deathtical]

Pretty much. I have a HTPC running Win7. I would like to be able to watch the videos on that with the best quality that I can. I do have an HDTV as well but I am not expecting to get HD quality video from my LD player or discs. I'm sure with all the cool stuff out there it is possible to "up-convert" but I would be happy just to be able to watch them again. And since I am new to this I guess I would like the "easy" way first and if that doesn't produce a decent result then I will try some more advanced technique. I am tech savvy, but mostly from a hardware perspective. So the whole encoding thing is where I need the most help. Also, I have been trying to decide on a capture device and have been reading reviews and such but haven't really found something that stands out. Seems like "Pinnacle" has the capture market down but the reviews I have read are very conflicting. People seem to either really like it or really hate it. Since you guys seem to do this stuff quite a bit ;) I figured your experience on the matter would be more beneficial. Also, there seems to be a lot of contention as to which capture software is the best. Some say that Pinnacle's Studio 12 is good and others say that there is free open source packages that are the best.
:thanks: