Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

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FinalBaton
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by FinalBaton »

tzakiel wrote:OK, so I got it sorted for the most part but now I get a slight stutter in the preview window (or recordings, everywhere) every 6 or 7 seconds... it runs very smoothly for 6-7 seconds, then I get a stutter - any ideas? I am using 720x480p at 59.94 fps and have tried multiple apps for capture/preview (amarec, obs) and I have tried two different PCs. I'm using the latest micomsoft drivers (2016, and I also tried the latest full release from 2013)
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but : the stutter is normal I think.

To NOT get stutter, you need, in post processing, to separate the audio, convert the video to 60fps (which will speed it up a tiny bit), stretch the audio's duration(without changing it's pitch) to that of the converted video, and recombine the two together.

That or put an upscaler like the Framemeister in front of the capture card, the FM will do a frame conversion to 60fps of it's own.
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by tzakiel »

So it's impossible to capture a SNES or NES over composite/s-video without stutter with the xcapture-1? Can you explain what's happening that causes it excatly?

What if I use RGB? Would the problem go away?
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by system11 »

Is this known to have difficulty with RGB inputs and some sync signals?

I've been testing mine with some PCBs, most that I've tested so far have worked but the Seta SSV games get no picture and I get sporadic stuttering sound. It claims to detect a 358X240 signal at 60 Hz, however Mame seems to believe that the refresh is slightly higher on this game. The same PCB if I use the Supergun S-Video output, captures just fine. My current setup is rgb -> scart amp/splitter -> xcapture, eliminating the splitter makes no difference.
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nio
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by nio »

Can I use that on a MAc? I have Adobe Premiere but cant see xcapture-1 as a device there.

VideoKeeper looks like some cheap mac app, but no mac support ...
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by tzakiel »

nio wrote:Can I use that on a MAc? I have Adobe Premiere but cant see xcapture-1 as a device there.

VideoKeeper looks like some cheap mac app, but no mac support ...
I don't believe there is any Mac support. On my MacBook I used boot camp to install win7 and use that. However I am seeing driver crashes, probably because I have 4 things plugged into USB 3 ports.
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by tzakiel »

If anyone wants one of these I have a like new one for sale on the sale forum. Nothing wrong with it, I tried another card and got same result. Just have two cards now so selling this one.
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by system11 »

I'm having trouble capturing consoles.

RGB direct from Megadrive or PC Engine results in a picture that keeps losing signal every second or two. In fact it's worse when direct connected, the signal can last for a few seconds more if I pass it through my SCART switcher.

What am I doing wrong?
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by tzakiel »

system11 wrote:I'm having trouble capturing consoles.

RGB direct from Megadrive or PC Engine results in a picture that keeps losing signal every second or two. In fact it's worse when direct connected, the signal can last for a few seconds more if I pass it through my SCART switcher.

What am I doing wrong?

Are you using luma or csync? It seems like a loss of sync. I've started using a framemeister not because of this issue but because the framerate from my snes and nes wasn't totally smooth without sync help. The framemeister can alter sync level and timing which would likely help you as well. But also trying another type of sync could help.
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by system11 »

There's no luma to use, the Megadrive and PC Engine are both pure RGB and csync.

Do any of the Framemeister units also have multiple inputs and 2x output? The capture chain is getting pretty long!
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by tzakiel »

Framemeister is usually used with a single scart input which comes from a scart switch. That's how I'm using it. Anyway I have heard of this issue especially with big changes in brightness and it is related to sync strength.
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by system11 »

Added a sync stripper/booster/regenerator - no change at all.

Is anyone successfully capturing a RGB Megadrive and if so what are your settings? This is an unmodified unit.
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by tzakiel »

I just got a genesis (as it's called here) and have it hooked up via rgb to my micomsoft card. No issues.
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by vmagix »

anyone had any luck running a VGA cable from a GSCARTSW into the XCAPTURE-1? Currently at a loss with the USB3HDCAP (signal is showing as 1440x240p, stretched, can only see the left half of the capture and the sync keeps dropping)

Any advice would be useful :(
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by eightbitminiboss »

vmagix wrote:anyone had any luck running a VGA cable from a GSCARTSW into the XCAPTURE-1? Currently at a loss with the USB3HDCAP (signal is showing as 1440x240p, stretched, can only see the left half of the capture and the sync keeps dropping)

Any advice would be useful :(
I'm not 100% on this, but isn't the VGA output on the gscartsw only outputting a normal RGBs signal? XCAPTURE-1 requires RGBHV on its VGA input.

Edit: Ah, there's supposed to be a switch on it to change sync mode for VGA output, have you tried using that?
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by FinalBaton »

vmagix wrote:anyone had any luck running a VGA cable from a GSCARTSW into the XCAPTURE-1? Currently at a loss with the USB3HDCAP (signal is showing as 1440x240p, stretched, can only see the left half of the capture and the sync keeps dropping)

Any advice would be useful :(
you want 720x240. I don't know which capture software you use, but you should be able to select 720x240 for your input resolution. And if it's not listed, then you can create it.
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by vmagix »

Thanks for the responses. Turns out the issue was down to the newest Startech driver being absolute trash - ended up using the Micomsoft Thrillness drivers and they work fine. Resolution is still auto recognised as 1440x240, but seeing as I can just squash it in OBS that doesn't matter.

Also, switching between RGBs and RGBHV doesn't seem to make any difference, so I guess the USB3HDCAP takes Csync fine.
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by Ashura »

I picked up the USB3HDCap, installed the Micomsoft drivers.

One thing I noticed is the captures are really dark? Is there an optimal setting for this? Even setting things to NTSC J, which helps a bit, things are quite dark, both HDMI and Analogue.

Is there a way to hook up RGB scart to the USB3HDCap? I'm assuming the Micomsoft one uses Dterminal(??), but this doesn't? How are you guys capturing beyond component on this? I insure how this stuff is being hooked up to the x capture even.

Also, I tried the HD Retrovision Saturn cable on it, unfortunately no dice. I need to try it on Genesis.
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by FinalBaton »

Ashura wrote:I picked up the USB3HDCap, installed the Micomsoft drivers.

One thing I noticed is the captures are really dark? Is there an optimal setting for this? Even setting things to NTSC J, which helps a bit, things are quite dark, both HDMI and Analogue.

Is there a way to hook up RGB scart to the USB3HDCap? I'm assuming the Micomsoft one uses Dterminal(??), but this doesn't? How are you guys capturing beyond component on this? I insure how this stuff is being hooked up to the x capture even.

Also, I tried the HD Retrovision Saturn cable on it, unfortunately no dice. I need to try it on Genesis.
The USB3HDCAP accepts RGB through it's DVI-I connector(there's a DVI-I to VGA adapter included with the card). You gotta plug your RGB sources in that VGA adapter.

You could use a SCART to BNC cable, and plug that in a BNC to VGA cable and plug that into theUSB3HDCAP.
Or use a SyncStrike, and plug a VGA cable from that to the capture card.

Personally, I use the throuput connection of my CRT monitor, which is VGA or BNC, so I only need one cable going from my CRT monitor into the USB3HDCAP.
Tell us about your setup! It will help us find solutions for you.

As for your brightness loss : I've never experienced something like this myself. All my consoles are captured with good brightness through the USB3HDCAP. Only scenario I can think of, is if you use your CRT monitor's throughput, but don't put the impedence switch to "HIGH". That would result in a dark picture on both your monitor and on the captured footage.
Have you tried to capture more than 1 console on it?
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by Ashura »

FinalBaton wrote:The USB3HDCAP accepts RGB through it's DVI-I connector(there's a DVI-I to VGA adapter included with the card). You gotta plug your RGB sources in that VGA adapter.

You could use a SCART to BNC cable, and plug that in a BNC to VGA cable and plug that into theUSB3HDCAP.
Or use a SyncStrike, and plug a VGA cable from that to the capture card.

Personally, I use the throuput connection of my CRT monitor, which is VGA or BNC, so I only need one cable going from my CRT monitor into the USB3HDCAP.
Tell us about your setup! It will help us find solutions for you.

As for your brightness loss : I've never experienced something like this myself. All my consoles are captured with good brightness through the USB3HDCAP. Only scenario I can think of, is if you use your CRT monitor's throughput, but don't put the impedence switch to "HIGH". That would result in a dark picture on both your monitor and on the captured footage.
Have you tried to capture more than 1 console on it?


Thank you for the help!

My setup is I'm just viewing it through the USB3HDCap on PC, though I'll likely add a splitter to the chain to have video on another monitor. Right now I have no CRTs, so it's just on LCD monitors. One is a color calibrated IPS monitor.

I've never messed with anything BNC, are there specific adapters you would suggest?

So far, I've tried through component, svideo, and hdmi. It seems dark compared to the Blackmagic Intensity Pro that I have. (Unfortunately it cuts out on SD sources as it's very picky about not losing sync.) I've tried capturing the Saturn through HDMI (framemeister) and Svideo, as well as my VHS deck through Component and my Laserdisc player through Svideo. Maybe I should post some comparisons.
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by FinalBaton »

This is what my captures look like through the USB3HDCAP :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQk0nYl ... 0e&index=2

Do yours look darker than this?
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by zredgemz »

There are no universal settings, you just have to tweak it with each console to get it right.

Try this for svideo and let me know how it looks for you.

Brightness:134
Contrast:138
Hue:128
Saturation:143
Sharpness:126
For component i can not help you unless you are using the HD Retrovision cables.
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by Ashura »

This is 480i S-Video through my Laserdisc player, using the Blackmagic Intensity Pro vs. the USB3HDCap.

The Blackmagic is set up so everything is default. I picked a pretty muddy/dark source on purpose- this laserdisc's source isn't the best. There was also not much if any perceptible difference between each capture boxes YUV to RGB conversion, so I captured these all RGB32.

Blackmagic Intensity - JP IRE - Default Settings
Image

USB3HDCap - JP IRE - Default Settings
Image

USB3HDCap - JP IRE - Recommended Settings
Image

Blackmagic Intensity - US IRE - Default Settings
Image

USB3HDCap - US IRE - Default Settings
Image

USB3HDCap - US IRE - Recommended Settings
Image

This is how everything looks. Using US IRE, things are the worst. Lots of lost detail even if the US IRE is much darker. I think with the recommended settings, it does look better, but maybe I need to pull back on the contrast a bit. This is a US laserdisc, so the color balance should be US IRE btw. I think capping at default in the JP IRE might be better, just because it can be color corrected to digital and is pretty close even if it's a little more contrasty.

Note that the 'Output Color Range' on the USB3HDCap would not stick. If I changed it to shrink or expand, it would always go back to 'bypass' in less than a second. Changing RGB24/RGB32 Color Range to Full Range and Limit Range did nothing- I'm guessing because this is S-Video?

It took me a bit to realize that Amarec's settings would overwrite the USB3HDCap's internal driver settings if you hit OK on their resolution menu after you change NTSC_M to NTSC_M J. Kind of a weird bug, but I guess it forces it to load the default IRE.

Aside, but are there thicker breakout cables you can buy for the USB3HDCap? I'm surprised these are so thin.

EDIT: After doing an update on the drivers, HDMI seems super spot on. Note the prior pics are from the reinstalled drivers. Dunno what was up with that before.

USB3HDCap
Spoiler
Image
Elgato (Lossy x264 capture only)
Spoiler
Image

For whatever reason, the stupid Blackmagic Intensity will not pick up the HDMI signal properly. That thing has always been a problem, ugh.
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by eightbitminiboss »

Anyone know if the XCAPTURE-1 works with Ryzen systems provided I use a Renesas USB 3 chipset expansion card? I've been thinking of building a new system but I'm having reservations about going Ryzen after leaving my i7 3770K system.
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by system11 »

Fixed my sync problem with Megadrive at least - the sync stripper was actually not stripping the sync signal, it was stripping sync from colour signals if present. Swapped the cable over to using CSYNC instead of composite/sync and it cleaned up.

Just waiting for cables to try a sync strike for fixing the PC Engine output.
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by vmagix »

Ashura wrote:EDIT: After doing an update on the drivers, HDMI seems super spot on. Note the prior pics are from the reinstalled drivers. Dunno what was up with that before
What Drivers did you end up installing? The Official ones didn't work with analog RGB input for me, cutting off half of the screen and flashing "no signal" every few seconds. Had to use Thrillness' XCAPTURE-1 drivers instead, which work but I'm assuming they're fairly old.
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by Ashura »

vmagix wrote:
Ashura wrote:EDIT: After doing an update on the drivers, HDMI seems super spot on. Note the prior pics are from the reinstalled drivers. Dunno what was up with that before
What Drivers did you end up installing? The Official ones didn't work with analog RGB input for me, cutting off half of the screen and flashing "no signal" every few seconds. Had to use Thrillness' XCAPTURE-1 drivers instead, which work but I'm assuming they're fairly old.
I don't know what the Thrillness' drivers are? I used the most recent Micomsoft ones with the hack a few pages back where you edit the inf.

Though, the anime images from the prior post are through S-Video and not RGB. I do not have the cables for that yet- I was curious what BNC cables people suggested for it since I would need to buy a few and I'm not familiar with BNC stuff at all.
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by vmagix »

out of curiosity - did anyone work out what "frame rate adjustment" and "auto phase" actually do?
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by FinalBaton »

Ashura wrote: I don't know what the Thrillness' drivers are? I used the most recent Micomsoft ones with the hack a few pages back where you edit the inf.

Though, the anime images from the prior post are through S-Video and not RGB. I do not have the cables for that yet- I was curious what BNC cables people suggested for it since I would need to buy a few and I'm not familiar with BNC stuff at all.
monoprice.com is a great source for cables with BNC connectors. They're cheap and sturdy.

You can get BNC-to-BNC RGB cables, and VGA(aka DSUB-15 or HD-15)-to-BNC RGB cables. They have 'em in different sizes too.

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=91
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=566



Btw, have you decided if you'll go with a SyncStrike to connect your consoles' RGB to the capture card, or with a Scart-to-BNC adapter? Which one of the two option did you choose?
Last edited by FinalBaton on Thu Aug 10, 2017 12:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by system11 »

And on to the next problem......

Megadrive RGB into sync strike into XCapture.

What I'm seeing is smooth scrolling with just the odd frame drop which I'd expect from the whole 60hz monitor / 59.94hz source thing, but every 10-15 seconds it seems to glut and stutter really badly for 2-3 seconds then sort itself out again. CPU is not maxed out, problem is evident in the OBS preview window regardless of what combination of preview and capture framerates I use. Problem is also visible in videokeeper, but strangely it's vastly reduced in Amarec.

Any ideas? This one is driving me crazy.

Edit:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/165753691

You can see it in there quite clearly, just skip in half a minute where I'm testing resolution/cropping options out with sonic just standing there - watch the clouds.
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Re: Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

Post by vmagix »

system11 wrote:And on to the next problem......

Megadrive RGB into sync strike into XCapture.

What I'm seeing is smooth scrolling with just the odd frame drop which I'd expect from the whole 60hz monitor / 59.94hz source thing, but every 10-15 seconds it seems to glut and stutter really badly for 2-3 seconds then sort itself out again. CPU is not maxed out, problem is evident in the OBS preview window regardless of what combination of preview and capture framerates I use. Problem is also visible in videokeeper, but strangely it's vastly reduced in Amarec.

Any ideas? This one is driving me crazy.

Edit:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/165753691

You can see it in there quite clearly, just skip in half a minute where I'm testing resolution/cropping options out with sonic just standing there - watch the clouds.
I get a stutter every second or so with 240p RGB sources using the USB3HDCAP and OBS, but don't "think" I get the ultra-stutter you're talking about. My setup is Mega Drive (60Hz modded PAL) > GSCARTSW (with Sync stripper) > RGB VGA out (Csync) to USB3HDCAP. Can skip to about an hour in to see Sonic 2 (ignore my constant chatter):

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/164941463

The USB3HDCAP also auto recognises the signal as 1440x240, so I basically just freehand "squish" the image to fit the CRT overlay, otherwise it's displayed in widescreen (even if 4:3 is set in the preferences).

On the other hand I do get massive stuttering issues with HDMI inputs. Tested capturing the Switch today and it just seems like it goes out of sync every few minutes for a little while - my CPU was keeping up, and OBS reported no dropped frames (ignore the compression artifacts, was using a fairly low bitrate for 60fps):

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/165587861

I've tried every combination of setting - auto phase on/off, frame rate adjustment, even HDMI/DVI EQ - nothing seems to fix it.

Like you I've noticed it's greatly reduced in AmarecTV... I'm guessing it's not playing nicely with OBS (directshow?) and somewhere along the line it's losing sync.

I might just try window/game capture from AmarecTV in OBS and see how that goes.

EDIT - forgot to mention am using Thrillness' XCAPTURE-1 drivers
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