Good Video Capture device??

[IamDavid]

I'm looking to get a Video Capture device to transfer Video from a camcorder to the PC. I know nothing about this type of product so please explain why one is beter then the other? Thanks

BTW: I would like to stay away from a USB one. Too slow......

 

[majewski9]

There are some good cards with good capture. Several Video cards include video in most notably AIW series from ATI. There are some pricey standalone PCI cards that allow video in, but those are hard to find. Tv tuner card such as Ati tv winder have vid capture! So you cheapest solution would be a Tv tuner card, but quality might not be the best. If your camcorder has a firewire port than all you need is firewire PCI card!

 

[IamDavid]

Thanks, I was thinking about going the Video Card way but only ATI offers the video capture as far as I know.

 

[ScottMac]

Check out Happauge. Most (if not all) of their TV cards have hardware MPEG encoding. Much more efficient than software, and musch less likely to drop frames.

One of their tuner cards is capable of receiving HDTV OTA...

FWIW

Scott

 

[Kwad Guy]

CompUSA carries the I/O Magic PCVCR for $39. See here. Available both
on-line and in-store. This package consists of

1) a Pinnacle PCTV PCI TV tuner card that features
a coax connection for the TV antenna AND both composite and s-video
inputs for video capture.

2) A copy of Cyberlink PowerVCR II SE 3.0.

Note that the SE (OEM) version of PowerVCR II included does not support
video capture from the composite/s-video inputs; it only supports
the TV tuner capture. HOWEVER, the composite and s-video inputs
work; you just have to install a program that uses them (a
retail version of PowerVCR II will work; so will VirtualDub, AVI_IO,
etc.)

Even if you toss the PowerVCR II software, $39 for the Pinnacle
card is a good deal...

Personally, I would opt for a video capture card that is distinct
from the video card. That way, you can optimize the video card for
your purposes and not get tied down to a small number of options...

Kwad

 

[IamDavid]

Thanks guys for the quick responses.

Kwad Guy, I think thats just what I was looking for. Do you by chance have this card? Do you know what the quality is like, cause $40 is kinda cheap sounding? I've never heard of the brand I\O Magic before.

 

[Kwad Guy]

Howdy:

I do have the card...But I only recently picked it up, so I
can't attest to the fine details of quality. (I was previously
using a Matrox Marvel G200, but got tired of being limited to
a G200 as my primary AGP video card).

HOWEVER, forget about the name I/O Magic, the card inside
the box is a Pinnacle Systems card. It's not even relabled.
Pinnacle is one of the big players in video capture cards...

Kwad

 

[IamDavid]

Great, thanks. I'll place the order now.