480p capture? (anyone using PV3/PV4?)

Post by **Dave_K.** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:47 pm

Ok, I've glanced through a couple threads here and on few other forums, and it seems the cheapest way to capture 480p @ 60fps is with one of these earthsoft pv3 or pv4 cards. Unfortunately all the software and manuals are in japanese

. Anyway, I'm looking to see if anyone here has had experience with these cards, and if they are only good for capture or can it also do live playback/overlay with no lag? Also is it compatible with any other AVIsynth/VirtualDub type tools (sorry I have no experience with these so I may be asking the wrong question).

Fudoh · Post by **Fudoh** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 6:54 pm

As far as I know you can use them for capture only. Of course you can probably preview your capture, but I wouldn't know any way to combine it with proper scaling etc. - Also what would be the point in capturing 480p60. In which codec would you save it ? Most codecs handle i60 or p30, so there's not much sense in capturing p60 in the first place.

Post by **Dave_K.** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 8:00 pm

Thanks Fudoh, I was hoping you would reply.

Biggest need for me is playing through the live/preview @ 60frames on an LCD monitor with little to no lag (insert RGB2 here for 240p sources), and yes hopefully scaled and displayed at some higher resolution. The recording/codec compression to disk is probably fine at 60i or 30p.

Any other advice?

Fudoh · Post by **Fudoh** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 10:02 pm

Any other advice?

depending on the scaling capabilities of your LCD monitor I would just use a color trancoder. Progressiv YUV input, VGA output. Zero lag, absolutely zero loss in quality. Next best thing to a VP30 which is $800.

Basically the only downside of using a transcoder is that you won't get a picture as long as the system delivers 480i, it's really strictly 480p.

Post by **Dave_K.** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 2:32 am

The sources I'm using here will be analog RGB already, and I'm using an XRGB2 for the VGA upscaling, so I don't see where a component transcoder will be needed. Unless I don't understand d-terminal? Here is what I was thinking.

Naomi/Atomiswave/TypeX native 31khz->XRGB2 VGA input, D-terminal output->pv4->pc upscale(software?)->LCD@1080p

PCB 15khz->XRGB2 RGB/Scart input, D4 output 31khz->pv4->pc upscale (software?)->LCD@1080p

I'd like to avoid the LCD's upscaler, and just drive it via the PC @ native 1080p (this can be done by either analog vga port 1920x1080 or HDMI). This is for the nolag live preview picture. The recording to disk can be at 480p/i or whatever for all I care. Does this sound plausible with the pv3/pv4?

Fudoh · Post by **Fudoh** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:02 pm

D-Terminal is just component video with another connector.

I've checked the PV3/4 website again and I don't think it would work out. It seems as you have a preview window, but I have no idea about the performance in full-window mode and I don't know if there's a fullscreen mode.

There' also a page about the delays involved and they can range between 30ms and 70ms. 30ms is about what a XRGB3 in full scaling mode has and 70ms is pretty bad to play SHMUPS.

I also lost you on the usage of the XRGB2's D-Terminal output. Because

a) the XRGB2 has *NO* component or d-terminal output
b) the XRGB2 can't process or transcode a 31khz signal
c) it wouldn't make sense anyway to use a XRGB2 in your setup then.

I for example have a bunch of NEC 21" LCDs and they do an incredible job in scaling. 480p (trancoded to VGA) on the input gives a fantastic picture, so I'm wondering why exactly you like to avoid you LCD's scaler. Have you tried it ? Is it bad ? Have you turned down the sharpness ?

Post by **Dave_K.** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 7:24 am

Yeah, I'm getting confused between XRGB2 and XRGB2+ again. Thanks for clarification on d-terminal...makes sense now.

Fudoh · Post by **Fudoh** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 4:49 pm

nope, the + doesn't have a component oder d-terminal output either, it's got a d-terminal INPUT and VGA output only.