Originally posted by: Karyudo
I have yet to try a SweetSpot card. But I'm already using a card with a Philips SAA-7133 chip, which has a 10-bit ADC and an adaptive 3-line comb filter. I believe that's just about what the SweetSpot card has, too, isn't it? So except for build quality, and maybe some goofing around with the Philips reference design, I don't see how things would improve by leaps and bounds -- at least, not on the capture side. "Adaptive" = "Motion Adaptive" = "3D", correct?
If you check the SweetSpot FAQ, it mentions the 3 notional price bands for capture cards:
1. under £50
2. under £200
3. under £1000
The card I'm currently using is a BT878-based card in the first bracket. In fact I think it was about £20, as there's no tuner on it, just a composite and s-video input. The SweetSpot falls into price bracket 2. Would your card be comparable then?
Originally posted by: Karyudo
Problem is, all this stuff takes gobs of time, and costs money. I don't know how many of you have spouses/significant others, but even just having the money doesn't mean you can spend it without repercussions...
Yeah, I know. I've already called in my birthday present early - the PAL equivalent of the JVC SR-S365U (a rather nice VCR). But my wife's an expert at last minute bidding on eBay, and some shrewd purchases (tip: when searching for the PAL discs, try using krieg or guerre as keywords - sets without "Star Wars" in the auction title usually don't go as high) means that I've not spent anywhere near as much as some of the other preservationists. I think I've proved that you don't need to spend a huge amount of money to get a fairly decent transfer of your own. I have yet to try a SweetSpot card. But I'm already using a card with a Philips SAA-7133 chip, which has a 10-bit ADC and an adaptive 3-line comb filter. I believe that's just about what the SweetSpot card has, too, isn't it? So except for build quality, and maybe some goofing around with the Philips reference design, I don't see how things would improve by leaps and bounds -- at least, not on the capture side. "Adaptive" = "Motion Adaptive" = "3D", correct?
If you check the SweetSpot FAQ, it mentions the 3 notional price bands for capture cards:
1. under £50
2. under £200
3. under £1000
The card I'm currently using is a BT878-based card in the first bracket. In fact I think it was about £20, as there's no tuner on it, just a composite and s-video input. The SweetSpot falls into price bracket 2. Would your card be comparable then?
Originally posted by: Karyudo
I am also using a CLD-D925, which is apparently one of the two PAL-spec players that is generally regarded as being the best there ever was. I've looked at the schematics, and as best I can understand (I'm no electrical engineer), the composite signal is separated into Y/C early on, processed with a now-obsolete Sony comb filter, ... I'm not an electrical (or electronic?) engineer either. I understand the process to be as you described - the composite video from the disc always goes through the 2D comb filter, so will always pick up the dot crawl introduced at that stage. I believe that the composite output is simply the s-video combined. No one seems to know if the 2950 is similar, or if the comb filter is bypassed when the composite output is used on that model (and thus, using a 3D comb filter in such a capture card would benefit the quality of transfer). Where's Laserman when you need him? Also, I have heard some opinions suggesting that the 2950's playback is less noisy than the 925.
Originally posted by: Karyudo
To answer Moth3r's direct question, I'd love to get a 2950 and a SS card together, and see what transpires.
I really want to know what the outcome of such a combination would be. I read that Laserman was going to try this, but don't know if this ever happened. Rest assured, if you or Laserman don't beat me to it, I will definitely be doing some tests of my own in the future. I am also using a CLD-D925, which is apparently one of the two PAL-spec players that is generally regarded as being the best there ever was. I've looked at the schematics, and as best I can understand (I'm no electrical engineer), the composite signal is separated into Y/C early on, processed with a now-obsolete Sony comb filter, ... I'm not an electrical (or electronic?) engineer either. I understand the process to be as you described - the composite video from the disc always goes through the 2D comb filter, so will always pick up the dot crawl introduced at that stage. I believe that the composite output is simply the s-video combined. No one seems to know if the 2950 is similar, or if the comb filter is bypassed when the composite output is used on that model (and thus, using a 3D comb filter in such a capture card would benefit the quality of transfer). Where's Laserman when you need him? Also, I have heard some opinions suggesting that the 2950's playback is less noisy than the 925.
Originally posted by: Karyudo
To answer Moth3r's direct question, I'd love to get a 2950 and a SS card together, and see what transpires.
Originally posted by: Karyudo
Problem is, all this stuff takes gobs of time, and costs money. I don't know how many of you have spouses/significant others, but even just having the money doesn't mean you can spend it without repercussions...