GrofLuigi
20th December 2002, 02:27
Hi all,
This is a problem I often encounter when I capture from bad sources. My system is otherwise fine optimized (as much as it can get, but I think I've done a pretty good job) and there are absolutely no problems while capturing. But when an old VHS comes in, there are zillions of dropped frames - sometimes up to half of the total frames. I have tried three VCR's with same symptoms. If I press stop during capturing and the input switches to VCR's tuner, dropped frames stop. Also, there are no drops on good tapes.
I should mention that I have tried most of the recommended drivers and applications mentioned in this and other forums (btwincap and other drivers, VirtualDub_Sync, IuVCR, VirtualVCR, AviIO and many others, more or less exotic :)
I guess this is what happens: when it receives bad/weak signal, the card cannot distinguish the sync sygnals and the boundaries of the frames. So the solution comes by itself: to have a capturing application or driver which does not depend on the timing of the card, but on it's own timing for frame boundaries, something like a software TBC or kind of framebuffer. I am sure someone will say that this is technically impossible and that it doesn't work that way, but that's how progress is achieved. I think that no such thing exists so far for this low-end cards, but there are many people who can not afford something better.
So, if somebody can point me to an application that can combat dropped frames I would be most grateful. Or this could be an idea for developers to include in their applications... who knows?
Anyway, any comments and suggestions are wellcome.
My computer's specs:
- Athlon 1,2G
- VIA KT133A
- SoundBlaster128 (now many would open their mouth to shout, but I assure everybody that I don't have the well known problems with this particular MoBo and SoundCard) :)
- Pinnacle PCTV Rave
- Maxtor 40G ATA100 7200 RPM
- Riva TNT2 M64Pro
...and other things not so important
- Windows XP SP1 (really tuned up with very few services running on startup and of course NTFS)
- RivaTuner
- Pinnacle Performance Enhancer (to raise the latency of the Pinnacle Card - often not used and I can't really tell the difference)
- PowerStrip (to lower the latency of the Riva Card - often not used and I can't really tell the difference) :)))
...and other things not so important
Uhhh... now I realize how long a post this became... So I'd better stop here. :)
Greetings
GL
This is a problem I often encounter when I capture from bad sources. My system is otherwise fine optimized (as much as it can get, but I think I've done a pretty good job) and there are absolutely no problems while capturing. But when an old VHS comes in, there are zillions of dropped frames - sometimes up to half of the total frames. I have tried three VCR's with same symptoms. If I press stop during capturing and the input switches to VCR's tuner, dropped frames stop. Also, there are no drops on good tapes.
I should mention that I have tried most of the recommended drivers and applications mentioned in this and other forums (btwincap and other drivers, VirtualDub_Sync, IuVCR, VirtualVCR, AviIO and many others, more or less exotic :)
I guess this is what happens: when it receives bad/weak signal, the card cannot distinguish the sync sygnals and the boundaries of the frames. So the solution comes by itself: to have a capturing application or driver which does not depend on the timing of the card, but on it's own timing for frame boundaries, something like a software TBC or kind of framebuffer. I am sure someone will say that this is technically impossible and that it doesn't work that way, but that's how progress is achieved. I think that no such thing exists so far for this low-end cards, but there are many people who can not afford something better.
So, if somebody can point me to an application that can combat dropped frames I would be most grateful. Or this could be an idea for developers to include in their applications... who knows?
Anyway, any comments and suggestions are wellcome.
My computer's specs:
- Athlon 1,2G
- VIA KT133A
- SoundBlaster128 (now many would open their mouth to shout, but I assure everybody that I don't have the well known problems with this particular MoBo and SoundCard) :)
- Pinnacle PCTV Rave
- Maxtor 40G ATA100 7200 RPM
- Riva TNT2 M64Pro
...and other things not so important
- Windows XP SP1 (really tuned up with very few services running on startup and of course NTFS)
- RivaTuner
- Pinnacle Performance Enhancer (to raise the latency of the Pinnacle Card - often not used and I can't really tell the difference)
- PowerStrip (to lower the latency of the Riva Card - often not used and I can't really tell the difference) :)))
...and other things not so important
Uhhh... now I realize how long a post this became... So I'd better stop here. :)
Greetings
GL