High-End video capture cards

...once upon a time, I was happy with my video capture card... it is based on the Philips SAA-713x chipset, has a 9-bit ADC, 4-line adaptive comb filter, could capture uncompressed... and it's better than ones based on BT8X8 chipset!

Then, also thanks to this forum, I discovered that there are much better video capture cards around...

The requirements:

• MUST capture uncompressed YUV 4:2:2 (and, if possible, HuffYUV too)
• MUST have a REALLY good comb filter ALSO for PAL signal
• MUST capture PAL and NTSC

• 10-bit ADC and over preferred
• PCI highly preferred; then PCI-E, USB 2.0, FireWire
• Composite and S-Video input - RGB and/or Y/Pb/Pr are welcome
• TBC will be appreciated, but absolutely not mandatory
• VirtualDub capture really appreciated, but not mandatory
• No TV tuner whenever is possible

During my usual internet searches, I found some interesting products - in no particular order:

Aja Kona LHe Plus

overly exagerated for laserdisc captures, price out of many pockets... has a 12-bit ADC, but only a 3-line comb filter; could capture audio too, but analog is XLR balanced...

Viewcast Osprey 530

Seems very good, but have not find deep info about it. The 4-channel capture cards of the same brand have 3-D + 2-D comb filter, so it's highly probable that this one has it too.

Black Magic Intensity Pro

10-bit ADC, 24-bit analog audio input, price not too high... maybe the right compromise; but it seems that SD capture is there as a "bonus feature"!

Pixel Magic PDI Deluxe

IIRC used by the X0project, and works well with DScaler too! But was not able to spot anywhere used...

ATI Theater HD 750 -> Asus My Cinema ES2-750 -> Diamond TVW750PCIE

12-bit ADC, 2-D 5-line and 3-D comb filter (will the latter work with PAL too?!?), and NO hardware MPEG2 encoder like the 650... Someone thinks that its AGC has problems.

I'm thinking to buy the Pixel Magic PDI Deluxe - if only I could find one! - or the Blackmagic Intensity Pro.

What do you think?

If it helps, the PDI Deluxe is called the SweetSpot in Europe.

http://www.pluggedin.tv/sweetspot/

The Diamond ATI Theater 750HD does come with a composite input as well as s-video.  The connector you are seeing on the back isn't s-video, it is a connector for a break-out cable which has composite,s-video, and stereo audio connectors.

althor1138 said:

The Diamond ATI Theater 750HD does come with a composite input as well as s-video.  The connector you are seeing on the back isn't s-video, it is a connector for a break-out cable which has composite,s-video, and stereo audio connectors.

Sorry, I didn't study well enough! (^^,) I changed the first post accordingly.

Could you confirm that, between all its settings, it has also the 3D/2D comb filter advanced settings?

If so, I must add this one to my wishlist...

Moth3r said:

If it helps, the PDI Deluxe is called the SweetSpot in Europe.

http://www.pluggedin.tv/sweetspot/

Thanks for the link!

I investigated further, and discovered that:

• it has old chipset(s) - my card has newer
• the comb filter is not 3D - like my card
• it's "only" 9-bit ADC - like my card
• it seems that it works only with AGP graphic cards - I have PCI-E
• its price is too high!

So, I think I will delete it from my wishlist, because I don't want to spend 200€ for a capture card that is basically like mine, if not worse... at the same price, I think the newer Blackmagic Intensity will be better; for a lot less, the HD 750 based cards will be equally good, if not superior thanks to features like 12bit ADC and 3D comb filter...

AJA and Viewcast are on another planet, and I think they will not be so far from the other cards when used to capture "simple" laserdisc video signal... so, I'll leave it out of the competition - just because they are not worth their price for what I intend to use a capture card, not for their quality that I think is really high!

The blackmagic Intensity is a great capture card, except for composite video.

Its comb filter is hideous, you would need to use an external comb filter before getting to the Intensity.

poita said:

The blackmagic Intensity is a great capture card, except for composite video.

Its comb filter is hideous, you would need to use an external comb filter before getting to the Intensity.

I want to buy a capture card with a better comb filter than mine's...

So, maybe the ATI HD 750 will be a good choice... or not?

Althor1138 seems to have obtained good results with it!

_,,,^..^,,,_ said:

poita said:

The blackmagic Intensity is a great capture card, except for composite video.

Its comb filter is hideous, you would need to use an external comb filter before getting to the Intensity.

I want to buy a capture card with a better comb filter than mine's...

So, maybe the ATI HD 750 will be a good choice... or not?

Althor1138 seems to have obtained good results with it!

I own an ATI Theater HD 750 and can verify that the AGC issue plaguing the 650 is still present.

http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/326560-Which-is-better-usb-stick-vhs-cap-or-hd-pvr-cap-convert-for-vhs-to-dvd?p=2023227&viewfull=1#post2023227

I don't know much about it, but the Leadtek WinFast PVR3000 uses the excellent NEC µPD64015 (D64015AGM, in particular) 3D comb filter that's found in the very-high-end Pioneer DVR-LX* series of machines.

AntcuFaalb said:

_,,,^..^,,,_ said:

poita said:

The blackmagic Intensity is a great capture card, except for composite video.

Its comb filter is hideous, you would need to use an external comb filter before getting to the Intensity.

I want to buy a capture card with a better comb filter than mine's...

So, maybe the ATI HD 750 will be a good choice... or not?

Althor1138 seems to have obtained good results with it!

I own an ATI Theater HD 750 and can verify that the AGC issue plaguing the 650 is still present.

http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/326560-Which-is-better-usb-stick-vhs-cap-or-hd-pvr-cap-convert-for-vhs-to-dvd?p=2023227&viewfull=1#post2023227

I think my eyes just aren't trained to catch it perhaps.  I thought I'd found an instance where I noticed it during the closeup of the binary suns but it's that way on my usb stick capture as well lol.

althor1138 said:

I think my eyes just aren't trained to catch it perhaps.  I thought I'd found an instance where I noticed it during the closeup of the binary suns but it's that way on my usb stick capture as well lol.

Maybe because is not caused by AGC, but it's in the master...

So, it could be possible that, speaking about the HD 750, there are two firmware revisions (or two different hardware) around, one with AGC problem (AntcuFaalb's) and one without (althor1138's)...

Or - just my personal thought - this problem shows up only with VHS (with or without macrovision), because VHS has not (apart some hi-end S-VHS recorder) TBC, while laserdisc has it?!?

And, *maybe*, other 750 based cards (like Asus) are not affected by this AGC problem...

Any other HD 750 users could prove this AGC problem - or the absence of it?

_,,,^..^,,,_ said:

I want to buy a capture card with a better comb filter than mine's...

Have you checked out the Leadtek WinFast PVR3000 yet?

Jetrell Fo said:

AntcuFaalb said:

I don't know much about it, but the Leadtek WinFast PVR3000 uses the excellent NEC µPD64015 (D64015AGM, in particular) 3D comb filter that's found in the very-high-end Pioneer DVR-LX* series of machines.

I've got a Leadtek WinFast TV2000XP Expert, how does it stand up AntcuFaalb?

Unlike all other TV2000XP cards (e.g., Deluxe), the WinFast TV2000XP Expert is based on the Conexant CX23881.

I don't know anything about its comb filter. Do you own a copy of the Video Essentials LD?

Alternatively, I can send you a copy of the S&W pattern from Digital Video Essentials and you can burn it to a DVD and hook a DVD player up to your card using a composite cable to test the comb filter.

Jetrell Fo said:

So, is Conexant CX23881 bad?

No, it's a good chip and the TV2000XP Expert is a good card.

I just don't know if it has an excellent comb filter. I'd love to do some testing with you to determine if it does.

Jetrell Fo said:

AntcuFaalb said:

Jetrell Fo said:

So, is Conexant CX23881 bad?

No, it's a good chip and the TV2000XP Expert is a good card.

I just don't know if it has an excellent comb filter. I'd love to do some testing with you to determine if it does.

Since I'm unfamiliar with testing things proper like I'd probably need some guidance .... a nurse maid even, to try and get you some answers .... but I would consider trying.

:)

Awesome. What timezone are you in? I'd like to set a time for us to chat.

Jetrell Fo said:

AntcuFaalb said:

Jetrell Fo said:

AntcuFaalb said:

Jetrell Fo said:

So, is Conexant CX23881 bad?

No, it's a good chip and the TV2000XP Expert is a good card.

I just don't know if it has an excellent comb filter. I'd love to do some testing with you to determine if it does.

Since I'm unfamiliar with testing things proper like I'd probably need some guidance .... a nurse maid even, to try and get you some answers .... but I would consider trying.

:)

Awesome. What timezone are you in? I'd like to set a time for us to chat.

I'm in the U.S., Central Time Zone.

I found this .....

http://www.bjorn3d.com/2004/06/leadtek-tv2000-xp-expert-edition/

OK, cool. I'm in EST.

Do you have any other equipment we can test while we're at it? Any DVD recorders with passthrough (outputs as well as inputs)?

Jetrell Fo said:

Well, I have a Panasonic DMR-EA18 DVD Recorder here.  I don't know if that helps any?

Let's try that one as well. Sound good?