Personal Review: Canopus ADVC-100

[AndrewDV]

Hello,

This is another simple review of an A-D converter. The last time I did this, I took a look at the Dazzle Hollywood DV-Bridge. This time around, I am giving the Canopus ADVC-100 a go.

Overview
--------
What perked my interest in testing this device was the comparison on Canopus's site (http://www.canopuscorp.com/products/advc100.php3).

Seemed like a nice piece of marketing timed just right around my Christmas Vacation. I purchased this device through their website without <b>any</b> issues.

ADVC-100 fit and finish
-----------------------
After unpacking it, the first thing I noticed about this device is its simple and sturdy design. The ADVC seems a bit more put together than the DV-Bridge. The casing is solid and compact. All cable connections seem nice quality.

As with the Dazzle solution, the ADVC-100 is a BOB. Input connections are made in the front and the output on the back. Unlike the DV-Bridge, there is a much welcomed power switch but no LANC connection (not exactly a bad thing). The DV-Bridge has an auto turnoff/shutoff which can get annoying.

Interesting enough, there are some DIP switches on the bottom of the ADVC. These control features such as default input (analog or digital), locked audio, etc. The only one I changed is the default for analog input.

Another item I noticed is an A/D input selection switch (push button) on the front. This explicitly toggles analog and digital modes.

Installing the device was just as much of a snap as the Dazzle. You install the power supply and plug the 1394 cable into the BOB. After powering up everyting, the device is recognized as "Microsoft DV Camera and VCR."

It should be noted that I am using a TBC. After some experiences with the DV-Bridge and other devices, I figured it would be prudent to use it (even if they claim locked audio).

Hardware
--------
AMD 1.1 GHz
786MB RAM
1-20GB WD HDD (non-RAID)
1-20GB Maxtor (non-RAID)
2-45GB IBM 75gxp (RAID-0)
Matrox G400-TV
Hauppage WinTV-Radio
Promise FastTrack ATA100
DataVideo TBC-100
ATI DV Wonder / Dazzle Hollywood DV-Bridge

Software
--------
Windows2000 SP2
DirectX8a
WMP 6.4
Ulead MSP6.5
...


The Test
--------
I had some captures from the DV-Bridge already. After finding the footage on Hi8, I recaptured it using the ADVC. All told, there is about 45 minutes of footage.

The ADVC uses a hardware codec that works well. My machine did not flinch during capture. There are no drops in the final files.

Please note, that I use MSP6.5's video capture. This tool really has drawn me in as of late. The seamless video capture is a welcome addition.

Results
-------
I wanted to see if the ADVC had the same "quality" boosting as the DV-Bridge. To do this, the files were played back through the G400-TV using WMP6.4. The quality is definite good (on par with YUY2+PIC MJPEG quality).

Playing the footage back through the ADVC yields different results. The ADVC definitely has hardware assist in playback. The clairty, color, and general quality went up a few notches. All of the footage turned out really nice when played through the ADVC.

Let me note that the A-D button on the ADVC needed to be switched in order for video to output correctly. In other words, auto-select did not take over.

Interesting enough the Dazzle's auto select works pretty good. On the other hand, there are times I want to shut off that feature.

As you would guess, these files translate nicely into VCDs/SVCDs. Some highly picky types may disagree.

What about that locked audio?
-----------------------------
Simply put, all of the audio recorded is identical to source. There is no audio drift at all.

Playback artifacts?
-------------------
Some users of the DV-Bridge may experience artifacts in playback. My experience is a positive one. Even after learning what to look for, I had very minor problems compared to others.

The ADVC does <b>not</b> have any problems with artifacts. The output is aok even over long captures.

Macrovision?
------------
The ADVC does have Macrovision detection. Those who want to capture from these type of sources should understand this.

After trying different sources, the device worked well. I send all feeds in through the TBC and capture without a problem. Other users have had some trouble with this.

Compared to Hollywood DV-Bridge
-------------------------------
I took the files from the DV-Bridge and played them through ADVC. After that, the captures from the ADVC were played the same way. With that test, it was really hard to tell the differences. If anything, the ones from the ADVC were more natural looking. The DV-Bridge seemed to add more contrast and less clarity. However, both should be considered excellent.

Playing files back through the DV-Bridge gave good results as well. From just a visual test, the ADVC gets the edge.

All in all, the ADVC is a better converter than the DV-Bridge. If you have a DV-Bridge, I would not fret. The quality difference is not large enough.

Where the DV-Bridge is a better solution is in the Macrovision department. Dazzle's solution does not have Macrovision.

Finally
-------
The ADVC is a great solution for those who want the benefits of DV without buying another camcorder (also, a great solution). The only caveat has to do with Macrovision. If that is not an issue, then give this a go.

Thanks for reading this. I hope my simple review helps someone out there.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year

[dchip]

Nice review Andrew. A user on the Canopus forum posted a few days ago that the macrovision detection on the ADVC-100 can be turned off. Below is an excerpt from that post and according to another user, responding to that post, he tried it and it worked.

"How to defeat Macrovision, press the MOdeChange button on the front until you see the colorbars. Keep the button pressed
(about 15 seconds) till the color bars dissapear. Macrovision protection is now switched off till you switch of the ACDV."

Happy holidays to you, too.

[AndrewDV]

Thanks for the info!

I discovered the reason why the auto input select was not in effect. Simply put, there is a DIP switch that controls it. I had it turned off. After tinkering with it, I think it works pretty good.

[Christrati]

This sounds like a great solution for A->D Conversion. I myself am VERY concious on how the actual footage looks. Do you know if it suffers from field based footage? ie, I am interested in taking some old VHS tapes and running them through this unit for final VCD/DVD encoding. I also know a lot of people believe DV is very lossy and you loose quality when you transfer from DV to MPEG2. What is your opinion? Have you taking some of your DV capture and converted it to a DVD format? What about any aliasing or "jaggies" in your playback from field based sources?

Chris

[AndrewDV]

Hi,

I have done some VCD/SVCDs with files from the ADVC. The results were very impressive. I really enjoy the crispness and clarity of the video. I'd say that any noise present is not nearly as noticeable as what I was getting from PIC MJPEG.

To me, the argument against lossy codecs only has a benefit when you want to do blue screening/FX. For converting footage to VCD/SVCD, files from a high quality hardware lossy codec used in devices like the G400-TV, DV-Bridge, or similar provide great results.

In all honesty, the ADVC-100 is a comfortable device to work with. Editing with DV files in MSP6.5 is great. Capturing and outputing using the ADVC and MSP6.5 works wonderfully. Making VCDs/SVCDs from these files is really nice as well.

As far as DVDs, when the burners get cheap enough, I'll give it a go.

[Christrati]

Well, I might have to give that a try if my Marvel G450 eTV fails to be fixed. I'm wanting to find a good way to take my old VHS tapes and put them to VCD/DVD.

This device has some great points:

1. Hardware assisted
2. Ability to disable Macrovision
3. Firewire for great throughput

How well do you think it would work in UleadVideo Studio 5? Or does it come with any software to edit?

After I get my new S-VHS VCR (JVC HRS9900), I might have to invest in this and do some archiving.

Chris

[AndrewDV]

Hi,

I have not used VS5 in awhile. If it is anything like MSP (which it is), then it should handle DV files pretty well. As a note, the ADVC-100 does not come with software.

[Karen St Martin]

Andrew,

Based on your review, I bought the ADVC-100. Unfortunately, I have decided to return it to Canopus. After capturing a few tapes I noticed that everything was captured with a kind of "soft focus" on it. I went back and captured the same tapes using my G400-TV card and the difference in sharpness was very apparent.

While the ADVC-100 makes capturing very easy, the soft focus that comes from it analog to digtal conversion is just unacceptable.

Karen

[AndrewDV]

Hi Karen,

Are you experiencing the softness when editing or when outputing the files through the ADVC?

In general, the captures have that 'DV' look to it when editing. However, when I output through the ADVC, or VCD/SVCD, the video becomes clear.

Another item I am finding is that editors make a difference. Simply put, MSP6.5 has been the most friendly to me.

If you do decide against keeping it, you might want to look into getting a WinTV card. The one with the best features/price point is the WinTV-Radio. If you don't care about capturing stereo TV, then you get the WinTV-GO+FM (has a SVideo connector).

Previously, I used that in conjunction with PIC MJPEG. With a hefty RAID0 setup along with a good amount of processor and RAM, one can capture full frame video at a quality setting of 20 (near lossless). The drawbacks are in the fact you need all of that hardware (and patience) to do this, but still can get flashes/bad frames.

[Karen St Martin]

Andrew,

You may be right about the softness disappearing if the video is output through the ADVC-100. I never tried that because my goal is to go from VHS to DVD and here the soft focus is a serious drawback.

I did look at the Hauppage WinTV Theather but I couldn't find any information on what format the captured video was in. I asked the Hauppage folks but I guess they were too busy to reply to my email.

One other device I am not into is the ADS Instant DVD. There have been a couple of very nice user reviews posted over on the vcdhelp forum. Its drawback is that it only captures in MPEG format which is not the optimum choice for editng but my options are quickly disappearing.

Actually, my preferred choice would be to stay with my G400-TV card but unfortunately that is not possible on Windows XP.

Karen

[AndrewDV]

Hi,

With any WinTV card, you can capture using YUY2 or RGB (16,24,32) up to full frame (720x480 NTSC). The captures are done field A first (G400-TV captures field B first).

Hauppage does have WindowsXP drivers. Keep in mind that they are WDM drivers. AVI_IO and VirtualDub do not seem to be working with WDM drivers. You might want to get a copy of MSP6.5 as that works well

The main WinTV-Theater benefit over the other models is that it offers dolby surround on <b>playback</b>. The capture ability is the same as the lower models. This can also be said about the HDTV and PVR models.

[Rob100]

Just a note on the WinTV.

I've always used the Win2k VFW drivers with XP and they work great. The WDM drivers suck big time...

Rob.

[Dr Mordrid]

Yup, the VfW drivers are the way to go since both VirtualDUB and AVi_IO are Vfw only softwares.

The analog captures I find particularly useful for doing effects (keying, multi-layered composites etc.) that DV doesn't handle very well. Since it's also field A you also don't have to do that conversion when you go to include the analog footage with DV.

Dr. Mordrid

[KuroNeko]

Soft focus?

Andrew, I find this soft focus thing a bit weird. Esp. from a reputable company like Canopus.

If the ADVC100 would somehow lose resolution when capturing, due to poor AD conversion for instance, how could it be that the video once output through the ADVC100 be crisp and with all details again?

Have you experimented with this? For instance, transcoded DV to MPEG2 high bitrate, or to HuffYUV codec? Does the soft focus picture stay that way, or is this soft focus perhaps only a part of the decoding for preview in the editing software?

I am looking for a way to capture analog and DV via an external box, for later transcoding to various codecs. HuffYUV and WinTV solutions are a hard sell, people want more convenience and such a thing as the ADVC would be a great solution. However the soft focus issue would be a deal killer.

Did the Dazzle device also have this issue?

thanks!

Neko

[AndrewDV]

Hi,

Soft focus is not exactly a good word for DV. The focus is actually fine. It is more of a compression effect. The effect mentioned is not just from a A->D device, but from any DV device. If you compare DV from any source to something in a near lossless or lossless format, you can see the compression from DV by zooming in very close. I'm sure Doc could explain more about this...

The gain in playback through a ADVC is similar to playing a VCD/SVCD with a hardware based DVD player. If you can optimize the encoding process with hardware, the same can be done through decoding. Ex: MPEG playback on a average machine with a software player tends to look fuzzy. Using a hardware based palyer (Dxr3, H+, etc.), you can see a clear difference. This is because of implementations of iDCT and other forms of interpretation. The ADVC does have hardware assist in playback, but I am not sure the algorithm they use.

I have experimented with the output even more than what was mentioned up top. Using a software player (various versions of WMP) through a G400-TV, the playback looks good if not above average (right around PIC MJPEG with a Q=17ish). Using the ADVC as the output device, the quality is near source level.

From my recent experience, DV and the ADVC:

-Captures soooo easily with NO glitches under tested OSes (Win2K and WinXP).

-Files are more friendly to the hard drives without too much compression (3.5MB/s). Before, I was getting about 10+MB/s.

-Editing with MSP6.5 is nice. Mastering files goes a bit more quick. The odd glitches I would get from MJPEG from time to time are not present.

-Convert nicely to VCD/SVCD using TMPGEnc. The Ligos MPEG engine does not do it (or any source) justice.

-Output to tape is just as pleasant as capture.

I have not transcoded from DV->Huffyuv, but have gone to QT and WMV/ASF. Both resulted in the results I usually get. QT is really nice. WMV/ASF is typically ok quality.

If you are looking for THE best VCD/SVCD, Huffyuv or uncompressed is going to be hard to beat. Once you start compressing files, it becomes a matter of preference. IMO, I want a hardware based encoder/decoder with good compression.

I'm not sure which Dazzle product you are mentioning. The DVCII is great for MPEGII capture, but is limited mainly to their software (blah). Early version of the Dazzle DV-Bridge had problems with long capture/playback.

Well, I probably opened up the floor enough....