Need advice on which capture/vga card for system

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
E

Emanef

Distinguished
Feb 3, 2001
67
0
18,630
Hi guys.

I've recently upgraded a few components in my pc, and I want to get a decent but cheap mpeg card that will capture from the tv to and allow me to burn as vcd's/svcd's to play in my dvd player (whichh does play these!)

My system is now as follows:
AMD T-Bird 1.4
Abit KT7A-raid mobo (but not in raid array)
512mb sdram cas 2
SBlive sound card
2 x IBM 40gb ata100 drive (one 5400 rpm and the other 7200)
Hercules Dynamite TNT 16mb card (agp 2x)

My graphics card is one of the only things I have not yet upgraded, and I don't know if the Hercules will be sufficient with a basic TV tuner/capture card. If not, should I get a cheap new AGP4x card and a seperate capture card, or am I better off getting a combined one, like the ATI Radeon 64DDR VIVO or All in wonder, etc? I don't play many games, so nose-bleed 3d performance is certainly not essential for me......!

If I am better off getting a seperate (cheap!) tv capture card, which should I go for with my system? I've had a good look round, and no-one seems to actually say which is best, and I've noted quite a few comments about mobos with Via chipsets (like mine is) causing problems with some cards.

As it's mostly for just recording the odd tv program to vcd, I'd rather a card that allows capture straight to mpeg, as I don't want to have to spend too much time
converting files between different formats. I also want to avoid usb capture devices.....

I think that's pretty much everything covered, so any advice, especially from anyone with a similar set-up would be much appreciated.

I'm in the UK, btw, so any card would really need to be available here.......!

Many thanks in advance......!
 
Never buy a cheep Video capture card. it will only make you problems and give bad quality.
Also I recomend not getting a display card integrated with a Capture card such as the ATI Vivo/AIW or GF cards with TV in.
Find a good seperated card.

In the UK I recomend calling Ian fron <A HREF="http://www.lynxdv.co.uk" target="_new">www.lynxdv.co.uk</A> and ask him for suggestions you can also look at the <A HREF="http://www.dvdoctor.net" target="_new">www.dvdoctor.net</A> in the computer Video forums. This are UK based forums and you will get very good support over there.
 
if you want tv tuner, capture, hardware mpeg2 compress/uncompress capabilities & without high games performances with moreover a cheaper price, pick infos about the ATI All in Wonder Radeon 32Mo DDR (~200$).


if you know you don't know, the way could be more easy.
 
there are 4 differences between those 2 cards.

1) the AIW have an onboard TV tuner, not the VIVO

2) the AIW have capture capabilities with hardware MPEG2 compression, not the VIVO

3) the AIW have 32Mo DDR@166Mhz with gpu@166Mhz, the VIVO 64Mo DDR@183Mhz with gpu@183Mhz
so the VIVO is a little more fast than the AIW for gaming


if you know you don't know, the way could be more easy.
 
Does the AIW have hardware MPEG conversion? I read at VCDHelper that it didn't, so you need a faster processer to ensure a good capture.....
 
I will not try and use the AIW Mpg2 options. not if you want decent quality.
 
the real question is from where are you planing to capture ?
Normal home VHS VCR ? DV/Digital8 Camera ?

If you have a DV camera then get a dirt cheap fire wire card + a 25$ editing program like the Stoik Video Man and you are done.
If you are planing on analog sources then Look at the Pinnacle Studio AV version 7. It also come with the Studio editing program.

Don't go into integrated display and capture cards. It's just like a Integrated main board.
 
I want to be able to capture from tv broadcast, hence the need for a tv tuner.

Ideally, I want to be able to capture and burn vcd's & svcd's, but if possible I'd like to get something that allows higher quality capture so that I can burn to dvdr when they become more affordable. I really need something that I can plug my tv aerial into and capture, but would like a board that encodes in hardware rather than depend on the cpu.....
 
The problem is that boards that work in hardware and give good quality is a expencive thing.
Capturing directly from TV signal to computer then there are several TV cards on the market. Just look on other posts.

In any case, capturing to a good VHS deck and captring from it will normaly resoult in almost the same quality.
 
See what you're saying, but through my vdr is not really practical. It would mean pulling it out of the TV/DVD cabinet everytime I want to hook it up to the PC upstairs. Plus I'd have to tape the program to vhs anyway, which defeats my objective.....

I'd rather get something that I can just plug the aerial into, but obviously at the best price with the best performance.....

May just be worth getting a cheaper tuner card like the Win TV or PCTV Rave for now and converting in software, though I didn;t really want to......
 
Your system will be able to handle the software conversion easily, with lots to spare.

As for the seperate capture card vs. the All-In-Wonder, ask yourself how ofter you plan on upgrading your video card. If you upgrade once a year or less then get a seperate capture card (that way you can keep the capture card and go on upgrading the vid card all you want). If you plan on keeping this system as is until you sell it to get a new one then get a combo card.

You will definatly want one that has it's own TV tuner built in since you're going from cable to computer with no TV in between. Currently only the ATI All-In-Wonder series of combo cards includes a TV tuner. The VIVO's don't work that way (they need to use the TV's tuner). Almost all seperate capture cards include a TV tuner though.

For hardware MPEG encryption you will have to pay dearly. With your system I wouldn't worry. Minimum specs are a 333 mHz CPU and 128 RAM

--------------
Knowan likes you. Knowan is your friend. Knowan thinks you're great.
 
Just a samll Note,
Almost all capture cards DON'T have a TV tuner.
some of the new TV tuner cards have also capture options.

The upgrade thing is also a valid issue,
Maybe you will want to upgrade your display card ? Maybe you will love the Video editing so much you will want a ProSumer card like the Pyro or DV500+ ?
 
of course, the AIW have <b>real time hardware</b> MPEG1 & MPEG2 compression & because it's hardware, you don't need an highly speed cpu to use it for capture.



if you know you don't know, the way could be more easy.
 
I experessd my comments about the quality of the ATI Encoder more then one time.
And then is the question of Editing the material in native Mpg2. It's just a small thing that normaly require a Hardwere Mp2 read/display in order to do it in resnoble time.
About 1K for the simple models that work with Premier.....

Intel / AMD - <A HREF="http://www.llnl.gov/asci/news/white_news.html" target="_new">IBM are still the best</A>
 
AIW read DVDs with <b>hardware MPEG2 decompression</b> & it has ULEAD VIDEO STUDIO software for editing/modifying videos.


if you know you don't know, the way could be more easy.
 
Regarding upgrading my graphics card, I probably do need to get a new one, as it's pretty out of date compared to the rest of may system, but it's not something I expect to do each year. I don't play games, so don't need the latest card, so perhaps the AIW is the better option, as apposed to getting a cheap graphics card & tv tuner.

I'm not too bothered about finely editing mpeg's for vcd, just as long as I can capture to a decent playback standard and chop bits off to tidy them up sizewise.

Thanks for the advice though.....it's interesting to see different points of view based on their systems and experiences.....!
 
_________________________________________________

  I'm not too bothered about finely editing mpeg's for vcd
_________________________________________________

have a look to my posts in this string about.


if you know you don't know, the way could be more easy.
 
do you know mpeg2 is used for commercial DVDs ?

do you think that commercial DVDs are poor video quality DVDs ?


if you know you don't know, the way could be more easy.
 
There is a BIG diferance in the way the AIW encode to Mpg2 from the way it's being doen in commersial DVD titles.

Intel / AMD - <A HREF="http://www.llnl.gov/asci/news/white_news.html" target="_new">IBM are still the best</A>
 
yep, so try an movie AIW MPEG2 capture, transslate it in MPEG4 DivX format, write it in ONE CD-R & reread your CD-R on your TV by your gc tv-output & give me your opinion about video compress/uncompress quality.

you can have a lot of informations on this subject on the <b>THG Audio Video Guide</b>.


if you know you don't know, the way could be more easy.
 
So what you are talking about is -
Capturing my video using a low end card directly into mpg2.
then recompress the video again into DviX.
And finaly use a display card with TV out to be able to play it on a TV ??????

I know my system is over most people budget but the minimum steps for quality need to be preserved.
I don't know how do you evaluate the final quality coming up on your TV but I like the picture to be sharp and to preserve the original colors.

BTW, THG is hardly the authority when it come to evaluate of video quality.

Intel / AMD - <A HREF="http://www.llnl.gov/asci/news/white_news.html" target="_new">IBM are still the best</A>
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom