video capture + scan converter

[VJ]

Hello,

I recently purchased a laptop, but it has no video out port (only VGA out). At the same time, I'd like to make my first steps in video capture (after problems with a Canopus ADVC110, I'd like to try again with something different).

Which devices allow for capture and scan converter?
(I'm not sure at this point if I need the scan converter, but if such combinations are available, it might be a benefit)

So far, I have only found the Canopus Twinpact 100

While it appears very feature rich, it might be too advanced for my needs. Are there cheaper and more compact devices (the Twinpact is hardly portable) that combine this functionality?
Also, I would prefer not to capture via firewire: the laptop has no firewire, nor an option to add it (and it could be that I'd like to capture lower quality to the laptop).

Or would it be better to opt for 2 seperate devices?
(i.e. a scan converter like this one:
Canopus SSC120ex and a seperate capture device)
Any comments?

Initially I considered the Pinnacle USB 700 (I still haven't abandoned it), but it can't really double as a normal video output device (as far as I have found).


Jörg

[Ted222]

Will you laptop handle that? What are the specs on the laptop?

Ted

[Brian Ellis]

I'm surprised that your laptop does not have IEEE-1394, I thought they all did, these days. If it doesn't, does this mean that it doesn't have the horsepower to handle video (some that do have the port still can't handle video: my daughter's, bought recently, can't even show DVDs with a bitrate >5000 kbit/s without glitching)? I'm not sure how well a PCMCIA IEEE-1394 card would perform with video, either; there may be limitations in the bus speed (that could also apply to USB).

Scan converters could be useful if you were wishing to make software demo/how-to videos or somesuch but there is an inherent problem with them; it is impossible to convert a full screen of SVGA or higher to TV without losing data. For example, say you wish to make a training video of a CAD system on a screen 1024 x 768. You draw a horizontal line of 1 pixel wide (very commonly used in CAD systems). You have a 63% chance that the line will fall on a 480-high NTSC TV line and, even if it does, it'll flicker like mad because of the interlacing. If the line is vertical, you have a better chance (70%) of it displaying correctly on a 720 pixel-wide frame. The converters may attempt to mitigate the problem with anti-flicker filters (which smear the vertical resolution) and other artificial means, but the only way of avoiding the problem is to scan-convert a maximum of 480 lines at a time, preferably 240, so that each pixel on the computer screen covers 2 lines on the TV. This is why these converters allow you to choose an area to convert.

Quite frankly, unless I'm mistaken, if you wish to capture video from an outside source, your best bet would be via a DVD disc and conversion to MPEG-2 (modern Ulead software has an excellent converter). Your next best bet would be an IEEE-1394 PMCIA card with an externally powered ADVC-110 for analogue input or a mini-DV camcorder, but, as I said, no guarantee that it would handle video correctly; could you try it at a dealer's?

[VJ]

Well, perhaps I'm looking for to much...

Basically, I'd like to do 2 things: capture on my desktop (high quality) + add a video out on my laptop (and possibly capture in low quality). The laptop is a subnote (Pentium M ULV753 1.2 GHz), which has no video out nor a PCMCIA slot.

The disadvantages of a scanconverter would not bother me (main uses would be powerpoint and video).
Come to think of it, the ADVC110 I had did offer most of this functionality: when the device worked on my system, 3rd party software (video2dv) allowed me to playback a movie through it. However, the laptop has no means of using firewire.

So something like this on USB would also be superb....
First I thought about the Pinnacle 700 USB (but it can't be used as a video out port - perhaps 3rd party software might allow this, but I haven't found anything for this). Any other similar devices?



Jörg

[Brian Ellis]

Sorry, I don't think you'll have much luck. When I was using speeds of 1.2 GHz, I was using hardware codecs for capture. Without IEEE-1394 or PCMCIA, your hands are bound to USB which is not ideal for video at the best of times and, in the case of your machine, may even be restricted in speed to match a low-speed bus. It may be intended only for plugging in external mice/keyboards and not as a high-speed communications port to full USB specs. Be careful.

[VJ]

Well, the mobile capture is not the most important bit.
But perhaps I'm looking for something that would need to do too much in a single device...


Jörg