| Author |
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Graham Mayor
Guest
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 Posted:
Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:25 pm Post subject:
Re: Hardware encoding |
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I'll have a look at that one - it's either that or learn to love Nero, for,
speed aside, the results are excellent.
--
<>>< ><<> ><<>
Graham Mayor
<>>< ><<> ><<>
luminos wrote:
| Quote: | "Graham Mayor" <gmayor@noonehome.com> wrote in message
news:2up0c9F2bnjgfU1@uni-berlin.de...
luminos wrote:
"Graham Mayor" <gmayor@noonehome.com> wrote in message
news:2umpkjF2cdd0mU1@uni-berlin.de...
You are certainly right about the long encoding times. A two hour
recording
I made last night took about 2 hours 40 minutes to encode and write
to disc.
This is comparable with other applications I have used. The
NeroVision process is a little odd in that the writing stage starts
about halfway through. The editor section too is dreadful, but I
don't recall Vision Express 2 working correctly with the Plextor
device so I cannot comment.
My only observation is that, as a capture device, VisionExpress3
works very
well indeed to produce AVI video quality that surpasses that
produced by the
software supplied with the Plextor device.
It remains to be seen how good the finished DVD turns out to be. If
the results are maintained through the processing stage, then I can
tolerate the
idiosyncracies of the program and learn to live with the dreadful
editor.
Preliminary examination of the finished DVD suggests the results
are pretty
good, but more tests will be required before I would be prepared to
categorically state that Nerovision does a better job overall. For
the moment it is a fine capture tool.
I have still to find an editor with which I am entirely happy, and
to discover whether it is possible to retain completely the video
quality that
comes off the Plextor.
--
Graham Mayor
I appreciate your observations and commentary. Unfortunately,
Vision Express 3 capture does a GPF with the ADS Instant DVD 2, one
of the capture devices I have.
I just noted a rather significant increase in encoding time in
Express 3. Others have reported very serious problems when adding
titling, effects, editing, etc.
I guess this is down to standards (or rather lack of them) between
competing
products again :(
VisionExpress 3 has proved to be the best capture tool I have come
across so
far (most are incompatible with Plextor). The video quality is
noticably better than that of the supplied software and the output
AVI files are compatible with a wider range of software eg. the
Intervideo files are incompatible with VirtualDub, but Nero's work
fine (and yes I do have all the right codecs).
The editor is utterly dreadful. Cutting (say) ads. from TV
productions is a
nightmare, and the titling is limiting (though frankly when
transcribing TV
material I am not too bothered about titles). To date it has
produced the best final results from TV material by a wide margin.
Intervideo's editor is child's play to use, but then you have to
output the
file and it is very limiting in this respect, so useless - and the
output is
'notchy' as though every other frame is missing.
Anyone have any suggestions for editors that I may have missed?
--
Graham Mayor
In my opinion...for editing alone...VideoReDo is a near miracle. It
always works, is fast, and never produces a sync problem. Frame
accurate Mpeg2 editing. |
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Stuart
Guest
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| Posted:
Thu Nov 04, 2004 10:27 am Post subject:
Re: Hardware encoding / Improving Output Quality |
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Has anybody written a program to enhance an NTSC-sourced mpeg file? Using
the keywords I can think of, I cannot find one. It seems to me some
short-term integration of frames over time might be possible. (AI or fuzzy
logic?)
Stuart// |
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luminos
Guest
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| Posted:
Thu Nov 04, 2004 10:35 am Post subject:
Re: Hardware encoding / Improving Output Quality |
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"Stuart" <sarooney@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:P4jid.18043$5i5.910@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
| Quote: | Has anybody written a program to enhance an NTSC-sourced mpeg file? Using
the keywords I can think of, I cannot find one. It seems to me some
short-term integration of frames over time might be possible. (AI or fuzzy
logic?)
Stuart//
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This is a worthy idea. Unfortunately, it is also necessary to have staff
that are expert in visual and audio psychophysics as well as computer
modeling. I would think this might be difficult outside of a major research
laboratory. |
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Uriah Heep
Guest
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| Posted:
Thu Nov 04, 2004 7:17 pm Post subject:
Re: Hardware encoding |
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Unless you are fixated on a software solution you might want to check
descriptions and reviews on
http://www.videohelp.com/capturecards.php?CaptureCard=canopus&Submit=Search&searchconnection=Any&price=&orderby=Name&hits=25&Search=Search
They have a series of hardware decoder capture cards that include both
mpg in and mpg in/out. These are highly rated and as conversion is
done on the capture card the power of your computer is not a
consideration.
This model is bidirectional and very quick and can be obtained below
list. http://www.canopus.com/US/products/advc-100/pm_advc-100.asp
This is less expensive and of course less capable
http://www.canopus.com/US/products/advc-50/pm_advc-50.asp
check out the whole line and see. Canopus mostly produces pro gear
but the 2 above are more for the general public.
Stan
On Sun, 31 Oct 2004 04:29:45 GMT, "Stuart" <sarooney@mindspring.com>
wrote:
| Quote: | It does not take a lot of playing around with slow software
encoding and conversion to figure out that using an old TV
tuner card and AVI >>? conversion wastes enough time to
pay for a better solution for digitizing old VHS and Hi8
NTSC tapes.
Does anyone have any experience with the Plextor
PX-TV402U ConvertX product or any competitive
hardware real-time converter/encoder? Any thoughts if
the WinDVD Creator 2 software that comes with ConvertX
is adequate to save it to the hard drive for editing? Some
very rough cut editing preventing some taped material
from ever being saved to the hard drive would be preferred.
I am aware of all the "off-line" DVD recorders, but all my
tapes need to be edited. I'd rather not burn a bunch of
useless DVDs. I want to go directly to my hard drive and
edit before burning.
Stuart//
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Stuart
Guest
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| Posted:
Fri Nov 05, 2004 12:27 am Post subject:
Re: Hardware encoding / Improving Output Quality |
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"luminos" <logos1@trip.net> wrote in message
news:10ojftrnkb2fd3e@news20.forteinc.com...
| Quote: | Has anybody written a program to enhance an NTSC-sourced mpeg file? It
seems to me some short-term integration of frames over time might be
possible. (AI or fuzzy logic?)
This is a worthy idea. Unfortunately, it is also necessary to have staff
that are expert in visual and audio psychophysics as well as computer
modeling. I would think this might be difficult outside of a major
research laboratory.
Or a camcorder manufacturer like Sony. They are already skilled at taking |
the "shake" out of camcorders. Ideally in the long run a hardware/software
combined solution might be best. Think about the NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS,
CNN and BBC NTSC-based historical libraries. There may be a new
market or even software already developed but not marketed.
Stuart// |
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Stuart
Guest
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| Posted:
Fri Nov 05, 2004 12:36 am Post subject:
Re: Hardware encoding |
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"Uriah Heep" <Uriah@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:jndko09st8l96uu6desos6ii6nqd4bat4q@4ax.com...
They may be part of the way there. Is there a significant
quality difference between the output of a Canopus 50 and
a typical ATI tuner capture? I'd love to get two short clips
of a converted NTSC signal by both that I could compare.
I am not knocking ATI - just using it as an example of
older-style unintelligent NTSC signal conversion.
Stuart// |
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luminos
Guest
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| Posted:
Fri Nov 05, 2004 2:50 am Post subject:
Re: Hardware encoding |
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"Stuart" <sarooney@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:8xvid.18526$5i5.6336@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
| Quote: |
"Uriah Heep" <Uriah@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:jndko09st8l96uu6desos6ii6nqd4bat4q@4ax.com...
Unless you are fixated on a software solution you might want to check
descriptions and reviews on
http://www.videohelp.com/capturecards.php?CaptureCard=canopus&Submit=Search&searchconnection=Any&price=&orderby=Name&hits=25&Search=Search
As a matter of fact, I have been studying the Canopus cards.
They may be part of the way there. Is there a significant
quality difference between the output of a Canopus 50 and
a typical ATI tuner capture? I'd love to get two short clips
of a converted NTSC signal by both that I could compare.
I am not knocking ATI - just using it as an example of
older-style unintelligent NTSC signal conversion.
Stuart//
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The 50 is a DV capture, afterward software encoding to Mpeg. I presume the
quality would depend on the software, and as you know, the number of passes
made for encoding (and therefore time alloted for encoding).
I am interested if the $500 Mpeg MV Pro card, with hardware encoders, is
better than say the Hauppauge 250, Plextor Convertx, or ADS Instant DVD,
which are much less than half the price. |
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Stuart
Guest
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| Posted:
Fri Nov 05, 2004 9:40 pm Post subject:
Re: Hardware encoding |
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"luminos" <logos1@trip.net> wrote in message
news:10ol91imgu75206@news20.forteinc.com...
| Quote: | I am interested if the $500 Mpeg MV Pro card, with hardware encoders, is
better than say the Hauppauge 250, Plextor Convertx, or ADS Instant DVD,
which are much less than half the price.
Hauppauge and Canopus cards seem to have the best reputations, but it is |
impossible to pick the cards from their specs. I have not found any
trustworthy review of the cards (Some of the videohelp.com evaluations are
OK, but it is not work done by a testing lab of one of the PC magazines.)
and no one has put comparative clips of NTSC signal capture/conversions on
the net that I can review. For instance, how can you know before you buy the
$500 Mpeg MV Pro card that it is worth $250 more than the Hauppauge card?
I'm in the market to replace the ATI turner card I have been using. It works
fine as a tuner card, but the mpeg capture quality doesn't fit my
requirements. A good example of my problem is my NTSC-source data all come
from VHS and Hi8 camcorder recordings. The camcorders introduce signal
irregularities that are different from those you would find on a cable TV
signal. I want a card and software oriented to cleaning up camcorder-type
errors.
Stuart// |
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luminos
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Nov 06, 2004 2:34 am Post subject:
Re: Hardware encoding |
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"Stuart" <sarooney@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:32Oid.4382$Gm6.48@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
| Quote: | "luminos" <logos1@trip.net> wrote in message
news:10ol91imgu75206@news20.forteinc.com...
I am interested if the $500 Mpeg MV Pro card, with hardware encoders, is
better than say the Hauppauge 250, Plextor Convertx, or ADS Instant DVD,
which are much less than half the price.
Hauppauge and Canopus cards seem to have the best reputations, but it is
impossible to pick the cards from their specs. I have not found any
trustworthy review of the cards (Some of the videohelp.com evaluations are
OK, but it is not work done by a testing lab of one of the PC magazines.)
and no one has put comparative clips of NTSC signal capture/conversions on
the net that I can review. For instance, how can you know before you buy
the $500 Mpeg MV Pro card that it is worth $250 more than the Hauppauge
card? I'm in the market to replace the ATI turner card I have been using.
It works fine as a tuner card, but the mpeg capture quality doesn't fit my
requirements. A good example of my problem is my NTSC-source data all come
from VHS and Hi8 camcorder recordings. The camcorders introduce signal
irregularities that are different from those you would find on a cable TV
signal. I want a card and software oriented to cleaning up camcorder-type
errors.
Stuart//
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I think we just have to buy the cards from a place that you can return them
without stocking fees. I tried the Hauppauge but could not get the drivers
to load. Soon after I returned it, someone alerted me to the fix, which was
to make a series of changes in the registry. However, this time around
(this is my third conversion device) I want something *stable* and able to
install correctly right off the bat.
I have a rather expensive encoder (Matrox Xtreme Pro) that I should be able
to evaluate once it arrives. |
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