Nice quality, but how come Crystal Dream 2 has a wrong aspect ratio?

You are right, I have to take care about this. The input signal is 720x400 and obviously virtual dub just takes a 1:1 pixel aspect ratio such that the 1.8 ratio is preserved, but it must be 1.33. Then please set the aspect ratio manually on playback until I got it right. 😉

I fixed the aspect ratio issue (see new link in first post).
And I added a small video how Windows 95 performs on a 386 (I saw this question somewhere here at vogons)
ftp://78.47.153.163/video/bootw95.avi
and then I start Opera 5.12 - The fastest browser on earth!

What product did you end up buying?

I bought this one:
http://www.epiphan.com/products/frame-grabber … specifications/

The highest mode listed in the grab tool is 2560x1600 60Hz. It appears also in the system as DirectShow Video Source and thus can be used with any video capable program. I adjusted the sync setting first with the cards own tool and then recorded with virtualdub.

Well the quality is excellent!

elianda wrote:

I bought this one:
http://www.epiphan.com/products/frame-grabber … specifications/

Well, the hardware specs certainly are impressive. Unfortunately so is the price...

Ok it is no cheap solution, but all I can say until now:
- driver and application works flawless
- it captured every obscure mode I used until now
- excellent quality

I tried a lot with recording monitor with a webcam which has a quite bad quality because the cam usually does not have the dynamic range to get the light and dark areas right. And TV Out works only with more modern systems and then only with certain modes.

Well I did some Tyrian levels, check the ftp folder a bit later when upload is finished.

Fantastic quality, looks great. Sharp, no loss of detail, no noise, just excellent.
But on the other hand, for that price, it better be. 😉

So far my 20$ s-video converter suits my needs, but the video quality of your device sure is tempting.

Looking forward to the C128 footage. I've got a C64 set up, but never tried capturing video from it.

Well worth the money IMO!

Could you tell us a little bit more about the software?

Mystery wrote:

So far my 20$ s-video converter suits my needs

On a budget, it's hard to beat the VGA > S-Video converters. But the quality is average at best and you also need to deal with interlacing, meaning scrolling doesn't get captured quite smoothly.

5u3 wrote:

elianda wrote:

I bought this one:
http://www.epiphan.com/products/frame-grabber … specifications/

Well, the hardware specs certainly are impressive. Unfortunately so is the price...

I've wanted to do the same thing for quite a while. I'm glad that someone bought one so the rest of us can see what to expect in quality but good lord $800?

Does the thing come packaged in eagle down? or is the PCB made from elephant ivory? Because that price is grossly out of proportion. I can understand a corporation that makes a living making videos buying one of these but an individual?

No offense, but either you got that card for a LOT less than their retail price, or you have more money than sense.

edit:

one of these cards:
http://store.hauppauge.com/hardware2.asp?product=colossus

is a lot better idea. All you need is a pair of VGA to component adapters because of the video pass through!

VGA capture devices have always cost a lot of money.

Thanks to elianda we now know of a solution for perfectionists. The thing with the cheaper solutions is that you might save money, but the quality is still unknown.

So 800 bucks is ok because you know what you are getting.

those are some nice vids!!! thanks!
and since we speak about media, (a little hijacking here sorry) anyone knows of a site that has pc-speaker game recordings?

Thanks for the comments:

Looking forward to the C128 footage. I've got a C64 set up, but never tried capturing video from it.

This ofcourse works? only with the 80 char VDC output converted to analog RGB. I will give some info if I got an adapter.

Could you tell us a little bit more about the software?

I will post some screens of the settings dialogs when I'am back home.

On a budget, it's hard to beat the VGA > S-Video converters. But the quality is average at best and you also need to deal with interlacing, meaning scrolling doesn't get captured quite smoothly.

Watch the Tyrian videos to see how the quality goes with fast paced action. I set turbo speed 😉 (Roland SC for MIDI)

No offense, but either you got that card for a LOT less than their retail price, or you have more money than sense.

Well in Euro the number was lower, still had to pay +19% tax.

one of these cards:
http://store.hauppauge.com/hardware2.as...t=colossus

is a lot better idea. All you need is a pair of VGA to component adapters because of the video pass through!

I'm not sure if this solution is compareable, looks like one of the common vga to video conversions.

luckybob wrote:

I've wanted to do the same thing for quite a while. I'm glad that someone bought one so the rest of us can see what to expect i […]
Show full quote

5u3 wrote:

elianda wrote:

I bought this one:
http://www.epiphan.com/products/frame-grabber … specifications/

Well, the hardware specs certainly are impressive. Unfortunately so is the price...

I've wanted to do the same thing for quite a while. I'm glad that someone bought one so the rest of us can see what to expect in quality but good lord $800?

Does the thing come packaged in eagle down? or is the PCB made from elephant ivory? Because that price is grossly out of proportion. I can understand a corporation that makes a living making videos buying one of these but an individual?

No offense, but either you got that card for a LOT less than their retail price, or you have more money than sense.

edit:

one of these cards:
http://store.hauppauge.com/hardware2.asp?product=colossus

is a lot better idea. All you need is a pair of VGA to component adapters because of the video pass through!

That's not comparable. Here is an end view.

No VGA in so you'd have to convert to composite first then connect to this card and by the time you do all that you're still limited to 1080i maximum, which is definitely not the same quality you get with the $800 card. Don't forget that 1080i is NOT the same as 1080p. 1080i is interlaced meaning if you look at it up close you can see lines on the screen like you would with a standard def television.

For anyone who wants to compare, here is one of my recordings with a S-Video to USB capture device. The Nvidia card has S-Video out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wza5eXhKF4M

The recordings aren't bad, but the ones posted in this thread are basically perfect.

In my experience, Nvidia sucks for S-Video out. 3dfx is a bit better, so for my retro PC recording I go with the Voodoo3 3000, plus it doesn't screw up PowerVR's D3D HAL so it's quite ideal. 😜

A 3dfx+PVR clip. Unfortunately compression got the better of me there, so i'll probably have to make some more footage with it upscaled to 1080 just to get around this stupid quality issue.

Just realized that elianda's VGA mode captures are 70Hz - that's awesome! And I agree that the $800 card plays in another league, just look at the driver support.

sliderider wrote:

No VGA in so you'd have to convert to composite first then connect to this card and by the time you do all that you're still limited to 1080i maximum, which is definitely not the same quality you get with the $800 card. Don't forget that 1080i is NOT the same as 1080p. 1080i is interlaced meaning if you look at it up close you can see lines on the screen like you would with a standard def television.

Actually, VGA IS the same as component. I've done it in the past. Only the resolutions and cable type change. 1080 is good up to 1920x1080. So for those of us with retro computers, we can set the resolution up to 1200x1024 and still have a little wiggle room. And i think most of us would stop at 1024x780.

the point I was trying to make is this:

yes that capture card is for all intents and purposes, perfect.
however
The amount of money you pay to reach that level of perfection is out of whack with the difference in results.

Mau1wurf1977's video looks very good! Is it as good as elianda's? no. but if both of you made a video of the same game footage, would someone on the street, who knows nothing of the process, actually notice the difference or even care?