T Shadow
Guest
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 Posted:
Tue Nov 01, 2005 11:55 am Post subject:
Re: Would I still be able to watch/record non-HDTV shows wit |
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"Jeff Rife" <wevsr@nabs.net> wrote in message
news:MPG.1dd02641b31b01398a0b4@news.nabs.net...
| Quote: | T Shadow (knone@zilch.com.invalid) wrote in alt.tv.tech.hdtv:
A CPU can capture analog every bit as well as using hardware
compression.
Yes, it *can*, but *does* it? Does the codec toss away things that the
hardware does not? There are many fights over which is the best MPEG-2
encoder, so it's pretty obvious that even the "same" compression can yield
wildly different results.
If
the hardware was capturing something the CPU wasn't the file would be
bigger.
That's absolutely not true. You don't need larger files to get better
perceived quality.
Analog TV is not as high a quality as a DVD so capturing DVD
proves
nothing about analog capture.
"Proves nothing"...you just go on believing that, and the rest of us will
live in the real world. Maybe some more reading will teach what the
difference between a sources like DVD, laserdisc, and analog TV can show
you about your capture system, and why capturing straight to MPEG-2 in
software might not be the best thing to do.
It's not just my opinion. Go to digitalfaq.com and see for yourself.
Apparently, you should do some more reading over there.
If you want to buy something that uses hardware compression instead of
getting a better CPU fine but stop this elitist BS about it's capture
being
better. The analog source is the limiting factor not the capture device.
If
I'm wrong about this give me a link. I won't reply again unless you
provide
a link.
Since you like the site so much, try
http://digitalfaq.com/dvdguides/capture/atimpeg/atimpeg.htm for a
start. Look at the many, many mistakes that can be made with software
capture without such a guide. Then, look at
http://digitalfaq.com/dvdguides/capture/intro.htm and see the part about
CPU limitations. When you start realizing that the CPU *is* the hardware
in this case, and realize that it is a *very* limiting factor (not fast
enough means you'd have to either drop frames or use a very low
resolution), you might realize how stupid you look.
As far as ripping goes, why would you want to capture something you
could
have an exact copy of?
Because I actually *test* the quality of my capture hardware and software
instead of just guessing about it.
--
Jeff Rife |
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You think I look foolish? Click on YOUR second link.
Under Card Types: Read what it says about the ATI AIW.
Most people don't consider 1.5GHZ to be a fast CPU let alone very very fast.
As I told you before I DO NOT DROP ANY FRAMES AT DVD HIGH RESOLUTION.
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Jeff Rife
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Nov 01, 2005 2:05 pm Post subject:
Re: Would I still be able to watch/record non-HDTV shows wit |
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T Shadow (knone@zilch.com.invalid) wrote in alt.tv.tech.hdtv:
| Quote: | Most people don't consider 1.5GHZ to be a fast CPU let alone very very fast.
As I told you before I DO NOT DROP ANY FRAMES AT DVD HIGH RESOLUTION.
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So? Not dropping frames is merely a test of whether things are *really*
bad or not.
First, to "not drop frames", you have no clue just what the ATI->MPEG
codec->disc chain might be doing to quality. There are many, many ways to
get a burst of extra speed that can drop the quality by a lot.
Second, even if nothing funky is going on to keep the frame rate up, MPEG
codecs vary wildly in their quality, especially in real time.
I understand you are satisfied with what you get (even when you drop to
352x480 MPEG-1), but that doesn't mean other people would be. If you are
capturing straight to MPEG, hardware is the way to go to keep quality
constant at all times. A disadvantage to hardware is that newer code might
improve MPEG encoding, and not all
Personally, I always capture analog lossless, but then I
have a special machine dedicated to video editing.
An HDTV capture card (which is what this thread started as) doesn't demand
much in the way of CPU to capture HD, so many people (like me) don't have
a 1.5GHz CPU in the box (and note that the 1.5GHz spec for smooth capture
is pretty optimistic if the machine ever does anything else while
capturing).
--
Jeff Rife | Coach: How's life, Norm?
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| Norm: Not for the squeamish, Coach. |
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