Hello everyone. I think I've bitten off more than I can chew with this current 'project' I'm working on!
I've got my hands on an old Windows 95 PC and I'm looking to capture the audio and video directly from it at the highest quality possible from the point the machine is turned on until the "It's now safe to turn off your computer" screen. (The computer was manufactured by Packard Bell in 1996 and it is a UK model).
The audio is the easy part and I have multiple solutions that all work but capturing video is giving me a headache. As far as I know, the only video output on the computer is the VGA and from the point the machine is turned on, the resolution goes: 640x480 60hz (POST screen) to 640x400 70hz* (DOS/Windows loading screen) to 800x600 60hz (Windows 95 Desktop). [*I think it's 70hz]. I already have a Hauppauge HD PVR 2, which I was hoping to use, but I'm thinking it might not be a viable option due to the technology gap.
So far I've tried:
1)
VGA -> VGA/HDMI converter -> Hauppauge PVR 2.
End result: Hauppauge software briefly detects the 640x480 POST screen but loses signal after it goes to 640x400. After that, it never returns even after reaching the desktop. Furthermore, once at the desktop, the PVR HDMI passthrough only outputs 4 vertical strips of colour to my monitor (If I remember correctly: green, pink, yellow, orange), like a test card. (No screenshots unfortunately)
2)
VGA -> VGA/S-Video converter -> S-Video recorder
End result: It works but the quality is poor and suffers from a kind of screen 'tearing'. (Not sure what it's actually called in this case). Ideally, I would like to have the raw VGA output rather than down-conversions. (I should add that the VGA pass through on the VGA/S-Video converter outputs a good quality picture).
---
Fortunately, I've mostly been borrowing devices off friends so I'm not out of pocket too much, but it's getting to a stage where I'm reluctant to try anything as I have no idea what will work. I've been advised at looking down the VGA to Component conversion and put that into my Hauppauge but I can't seem to find such a converter (that's not just a simple cable) and I'm not sure how the Hauppauge will react to a non-standard component resolution. Would I need to look into getting some kind of upscaler?
I've also spotted devices like the StarTech USB 3.0 Video Capture Device and the Epiphan VGA2USB but looking at the tech specs, they seem to have hard-defined VGA resolutions that they support. Plus, the StarTech uses a DVI input and I've only had experience with DVI-VGA conversion rather than VGA-DVI. I'm told there can be an issue with analogue to digital problems?
Lastly, their's the internal option like the StarTech PCI-E HD Video card but just like the external counterpart, I'm not sure how it will cope with the VGA-DVI conversion or even if it will support the resolution!
Thanks for reading and any help/advice will be very much appreciated!
I've got my hands on an old Windows 95 PC and I'm looking to capture the audio and video directly from it at the highest quality possible from the point the machine is turned on until the "It's now safe to turn off your computer" screen. (The computer was manufactured by Packard Bell in 1996 and it is a UK model).
The audio is the easy part and I have multiple solutions that all work but capturing video is giving me a headache. As far as I know, the only video output on the computer is the VGA and from the point the machine is turned on, the resolution goes: 640x480 60hz (POST screen) to 640x400 70hz* (DOS/Windows loading screen) to 800x600 60hz (Windows 95 Desktop). [*I think it's 70hz]. I already have a Hauppauge HD PVR 2, which I was hoping to use, but I'm thinking it might not be a viable option due to the technology gap.
So far I've tried:
1)
VGA -> VGA/HDMI converter -> Hauppauge PVR 2.
End result: Hauppauge software briefly detects the 640x480 POST screen but loses signal after it goes to 640x400. After that, it never returns even after reaching the desktop. Furthermore, once at the desktop, the PVR HDMI passthrough only outputs 4 vertical strips of colour to my monitor (If I remember correctly: green, pink, yellow, orange), like a test card. (No screenshots unfortunately)
2)
VGA -> VGA/S-Video converter -> S-Video recorder
End result: It works but the quality is poor and suffers from a kind of screen 'tearing'. (Not sure what it's actually called in this case). Ideally, I would like to have the raw VGA output rather than down-conversions. (I should add that the VGA pass through on the VGA/S-Video converter outputs a good quality picture).
---
Fortunately, I've mostly been borrowing devices off friends so I'm not out of pocket too much, but it's getting to a stage where I'm reluctant to try anything as I have no idea what will work. I've been advised at looking down the VGA to Component conversion and put that into my Hauppauge but I can't seem to find such a converter (that's not just a simple cable) and I'm not sure how the Hauppauge will react to a non-standard component resolution. Would I need to look into getting some kind of upscaler?
I've also spotted devices like the StarTech USB 3.0 Video Capture Device and the Epiphan VGA2USB but looking at the tech specs, they seem to have hard-defined VGA resolutions that they support. Plus, the StarTech uses a DVI input and I've only had experience with DVI-VGA conversion rather than VGA-DVI. I'm told there can be an issue with analogue to digital problems?
Lastly, their's the internal option like the StarTech PCI-E HD Video card but just like the external counterpart, I'm not sure how it will cope with the VGA-DVI conversion or even if it will support the resolution!
Thanks for reading and any help/advice will be very much appreciated!
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