VOGONS


First post, by ramunegaming

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Hi guys, new to the forum, I'm in a bit of a pickle. I'm trying to capture DOS games on my vintage pc which runs Windows 98 SE via my Xcapture-1 capture card via VGA, however, when I launch any DOS game I lose signal immediately. I think I should also point out that if it's a non-DOS game it captures fine for example Tomb Raider. I'm inclined to believe this is due to the refresh rate of DOS games. I've come to the conclusion that my Xcapture-1 is not up to the task, so I am here to ask if anyone knows a good capture card that can capture DOS games with ease? For reference, I am using a Matrox G400 for my graphics card.

On a side note I did want to try via S-Video so I bought an ATI Rage 3D II +DVD off eBay, however, I can't seem to get the card to work well on my rig, either the drivers aren't installing correctly or the card is damaged not really sure, it just shows a really blurry/dark image. Not sure if anyone here might be able to help me on this as it would be nice to have a PCI and AGP card that works on the rig.

Reply 1 of 5, by krcroft

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Pretty active discussion here if it helps!

VGA Capture Thread

Reply 2 of 5, by McKie1

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Not a cheap alternative but you could try a vga to HDMI converter (eg extron) and then use a capture card with HDMI input?

Reply 3 of 5, by Azarien

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McKie1 wrote:

Not a cheap alternative but you could try a vga to HDMI converter (eg extron) and then use a capture card with HDMI input?

or any other option that is completely external and doesn't affect your PC's performance and compatibility in any way.

Reply 4 of 5, by amadeus777999

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The footage I saw from a "VGA2PCIe" card was very good.

Reply 5 of 5, by Malvineous

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McKie1 wrote:

Not a cheap alternative but you could try a vga to HDMI converter (eg extron) and then use a capture card with HDMI input?

There are cheap VGA to HDMI converters but you have to check the specs pretty closely as most of them have the same limitations as the capture cards, and don't support the 720x400 VGA mode that covers most DOS games (inc. 320x200). I got one from eBay that didn't have a list of supported modes in the listing and sure enough, it only syncs once you're in a mode that's at least 480 pixels high (so 640x480). No BIOS boot, text mode, or DOS games. Had to get a refund on that.