Video Capture Devices

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

[Ultraseven]

Ok, i have used some capture cards like the Ati All in Wonder Radeon, Pinnacle and Dazzle products (all of them captures directly to mpeg-2 dvd compatible format and are in the price range you want), and in one time the superb Canopus ADVC-100 (a product similar to the one you have loked at ebay) so here´s my comments:

-realtime mpeg-2 encoders: all the products in the $150-200 doesnt really do well their job. Specially in the audio-video synchronization department. The product i recommend (and have) is the almost unknown but well designed Vitec DCM card . It encodes realtime in VCD and MPEG-2 dvd compliant files, and have a good amount of setting you can play around, and even has a VHS sync feature that makes the VHS captures a lot more stable that other products.

-Canopus ADVC-100 (from what i see this apply to DataVideo DAC-100 FireWire too): excellent captures for the price with perfect audio sync. But you will need a very fast hard drive system and you will end with a massive video file, since these products encode the incoming analog video with the DV codec (we can say is the same used in DV cams) you will have to encode these high quality but giant files to dvd-compliant mpeg-2 files before you can make your dvd, that means you will need extra software and an extra step that could take a very long time (for a 2 hours movie it can take several hours even with a P4 if you choose a high quality encode setting)

So if you want quality and you have plenty of time between captures or want to make some editing before encoding the dvd go for the Datavideo DAC-100 or the Canopus ADVC-100. But if you are like me and only want your old VHS tapes transfered to DVDs plain and easy go for the Vitec DCM or his big brother DCM+

EDIT: on a sidenote, i have to recommend this beauty to everyone that have dirty VHS tapes: . My uncle sent me this cleaner some months ago and i am more than happy with it. Seems like a overpriced rewinder but believe me, it have cleaned well almost every moldy or dirty tape i have.

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

[Mysterio]