Micomsoft SC-500N1 RGB Capture Card

[blizzz]

I assume these are PAL? If I had RGB out for my SNES I'd try and do some NTSC ones, but I don't. I suppose I could do YPbPr shots of the Wii though, running the NTSC version of some of those games (Don't own all of them)

The pics are all NTSC with the exception of the Wii RGB picture. PAL VC is useless for recording as it runs in 576i50 or for some older games in 288p50. NTSC VC runs in 480p60 or 480i60 if you force it to interlaced (but why would you do that). I don't have any game that outputs 240p60, maybe the first NTSC VC games did, but mine are all 480p.

[lettuce]

Is it possible to use a HDMI to DVI (Female) cable and then use the DVI to VGA adaptor included to get audio and video on the one cble?. So you can just use the HDMI port on the Micomsoft/StarTech to a scaler then to a SNES, would this carry the audio from the SNES to the capture prog, thus removing the need for an additional audio phono cable??

[SunJammer]

The pics are all NTSC with the exception of the Wii RGB picture. PAL VC is useless for recording as it runs in 576i50 or for some older games in 288p50. NTSC VC runs in 480p60 or 480i60 if you force it to interlaced (but why would you do that). I don't have any game that outputs 240p60, maybe the first NTSC VC games did, but mine are all 480p.

I know Rondo of Blood will run at 240p if you have the wii set to 480i, and i thought mario world and super metroid did as well.
Also of note, one potential problem when using VC with Amarec is that if you bring up the wii's in-game menu (home button) while playing a 240p title it will instantly switch to 480i, and Amarec can't handle switching resolutions on the fly

[blizzz]

Is it possible to use a HDMI to DVI (Female) cable and then use the DVI to VGA adaptor included to get audio and video on the one cble?. So you can just use the HDMI port on the Micomsoft/StarTech to a scaler then to a SNES, would this carry the audio from the SNES to the capture prog, thus removing the need for an additional audio phono cable??

No, HDMI / DVI-D is digital and VGA is analogue, won't work. Also DVI doesn't have audio channels (as far as I know) and the only audio in on the SC-500N1 is analogue (2 x RCA) and digital (HDMI) stereo.

I read a bit in BuckoA51's blog post today and he mentions the HDFury for HDCP protected HDMI. It looks like there is a much cheaper HDCP stripper which is sold freely. It's a DVI + digital audio to HDMI "converter", which decrypts the video stream and combines it with the audio, but forgets to encrypt it again. It's this device. There are also tons of clones, so it's widely available for 40-50€. I don't have it so I can't really confirm it, but some guys in another forum have tested it with the BIP.

[lettuce]

Just done my first capture with this device on my US-NTSC SNES, and i have noticed faint vertical lines across the screen. Im using the VGA cable to a Sync Strike and scart RGB to my snes, heres a pic showing the lines

http://i.minus.com/i3pOqkpxfVuhF.jpg

any ideas?

[Fudoh]

if you can see the vertical stripes on your monitor's current brightness setting, then your settings are way off

But anyway, probably not the best RGB cable....

[lettuce]

if you can see the vertical stripes on your monitor's current brightness setting, then your settings are way off

But anyway, probably not the best RGB cable....

Nah think the RGB cable is fine, give a crystal clear display on my 28" CRT display. Ill try altering the brightness and contrast settings.

On a side note im able to get audio when using AamRECTV to capture footage but if i use Video Keeper i dont get audio! If i select any Video Source other than 'DVI-A (RGB)' the Audio Source option is listed in the menu but as soon as i select DVI-A (RGB) as the video source the Audio Source option disappears!!

[fagin]

Use the micomsoft driver and it will sort the sound issues.

[lettuce]

Use the micomsoft driver and it will sort the sound issues.

Is the micomsoft better than the startech driver then?

[BuckoA51]

No, the Startech driver lets you change brightness and contrast, Micomsoft driver does not.

Strange, I've always used Startech drives and sound works just fine for me in VideoKeeper.

[lettuce]

Hmm still unable to get any audio in Video Keeper at all when using the break out cable for the audio and dvi for video. I have uninstalled all drivers for the Capture card and re-installed the StarTech drivers and then installed the Micomsoft drivers, skipping the actual driver installation and just installing Video Keeper.

If i select DVI-A (RGB) or Component (YPBPR) as video source the audio source tab disappears competely, if i select any other video source then the audio source is back in the menu list. Any ideas why this happens, i get audio fine in AMArecTV!?

[BuckoA51]

That's just how it behaves, since it doesn't make sense to capture audio from HDMI and video from RGB.

[lettuce]

That's just how it behaves, since it doesn't make sense to capture audio from HDMI and video from RGB.

So your saying you can get audio from Video Keeper then if your using the DVI socket on the card even though you have audio connected up to the breakout cable?

[lettuce]

Managed to get it working now with the MicromSoft driver as Fagin suggested. But when i had the StarTech drivers installed i didnt see any options for adjusting contrast and brightness, just deinterlaced option which isnt in the MicroSoft driver??

[SunJammer]

so... why not just use Amarec? Besides being able to switch resolutions on the fly, there isn't anything that Video Keeper can do that Amarec isn't better at across the board.

[lettuce]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqbbbncN2eY

It's only a short video so crank the res up to 1080p quality. Apart from the YT framerate issue, I'm happy with the quality of that.

Micomsoft Driver
AmarecTV
Startech card

That defo looks the best quality yet!

What settings/codecs did you change from default setup for the AmarecTV program please??

[lettuce]

so... why not just use Amarec? Besides being able to switch resolutions on the fly, there isn't anything that Video Keeper can do that Amarec isn't better at across the board.

I thought that Video Keeper gave alot less input lag than AmarecTV?, also i have linedouble enabled but when i watch the capture back its letter boxed??

On a side note, which one of these cables from retro_console_accessories eBay store would give me the best picture on on my SNS-001 US-NTSC SNES?.....

Super Nintendo stereo RGB SCART lead FULLY SHIELDED+GROUNDED cable cord US SNES

Super Nintendo stereo RGB SCART lead with RCA out FULLY SHIELD - US model SNES (same as above but not grounded and RCA leads??)

Super Nintendo stereo RGB SCART lead OUTPUTS RAW SYNC cable cord US model SNES

[BuckoA51]

So your saying you can get audio from Video Keeper then if your using the DVI socket on the card even though you have audio connected up to the breakout cable?

No I'm not saying that at all, I'm saying that there's no way to switch to HDMI embedded audio when using DVI-A, as it makes no sense to do so.

I thought that Video Keeper gave alot less input lag than AmarecTV?, also i have linedouble enabled but when i watch the capture back its letter boxed??

You need filter enabled too.

But when i had the StarTech drivers installed i didnt see any options for adjusting contrast and brightness

You can do that in Amarec under Settings/Graph 1/Device Setting/Video Proc Amp.

[blizzz]

I also did a test video on Youtube and the quality is nice, aside from the 29.97 framerate. http://youtu.be/4awXBvKonBg

Recorded in Amarec (without filters), scaled in VirtualDub (resize to 720x480 nearest neighbor, resize to 1080x720 Lanczos3) and then encoded with x264.

[fagin]

Let's go back to the AmarecTV vs Video Keeper........

The positive reason (imo) for Video Keeper over AmarecTV (sorry Bucko - I can't confused on my tearing issues with you before lol), is that it provides the lowest form of lag whilst ensuring that no screen tearing occurs.

During my testing AmarecTV gives 30+ms of lag, whilst Video Keeper gives 17ms of lag for settings that eliminate any screen tearing. So for live use there is a clear winner on the lag front.

Lettuce,

[BuckoA51]

Yeah I just don't see any tearing at all on Amarec. Input lag is still likely to be there though, but I don't play on the monitor.

On a side note, which one of these cables from retro_console_accessories eBay store would give me the best picture on on my SNS-001 US-NTSC SNES?.....

All her SNES cables are fully shielded and grounded now, might as well go for the raw sync one.

[fagin]

but I don't play on the monitor.

That maybe the key point, as I suspect if I ever wanted to run my consoles through a device for display on my LCD (and most of my gaming is done in the same room as my PC), this is a method that makes more sense to me.

Using this capture card is actually a viable (for some) all in one solution (to play and record) with only 1 frame of lag. To get all this (yeah.. I know you need a PC as well lol) for a paltry £100 is pretty special imo. Something I'm sure many will benefit from.

[BuckoA51]

Oh yes I'm not suggesting otherwise, I'm just saying I didn't see any tearing on Amarec on my particular rig. Could be all kinds of reasons why. I agree VideoKeeper is a better choice for playing and capturing at the same time and really the captured footage isn't that terrible, we all tend to be perfectionists on here, on the wider internet people aren't so fussy.

[lettuce]

All her SNES cables are fully shielded and grounded now, might as well go for the raw sync one.

Ok cheers, theres no ill side effects to using a raw sync scart on a CRT TV over a standard scart lead?

Using this capture card is actually a viable (for some) all in one solution (to play and record) with only 1 frame of lag. To get all this (yeah.. I know you need a PC as well lol) for a paltry £100 is pretty special imo. Something I'm sure many will benefit from.

This is exactly why i got one, so 100% agree with this statement.

Thanks for the ArarecTV settings. Now for the cherry on the cake would be some way to add scanlines to the image via filter, have tried the SLG3000 but doesnt look good

By the way this is the only options im seeing when using Video Keeper atm, i swear when i first installed it there were more options like deinterlaced etc????.....



The trouble is in order to get audio from Video Keeper i have to use the Micosoft drivers which doesnt have all the features of the Startech ones. On this subject could one of the these drivers cause more input lag than the other????

[BuckoA51]

Ok cheers, theres no ill side effects to using a raw sync scart on a CRT TV over a standard scart lead?

Not that I know of, doesn't usually make any difference AFIK.

The trouble is in order to get audio from Video Keeper i have to use the Micosoft drivers

Ah wait a moment, do you mean you can't hear the audio when you preview the capture? In that case I can't either, sorry, forgot. It comes out fine on the captures though.

[fagin]

Now for the cherry on the cake would be some way to add scanlines to the image via filter.....

I can't see that being a major issue.... we just need someone to build that facility in to a capture application.

By the way this is the only options im seeing when using Video Keeper atm, i swear when i first installed it there were more options like deinterlaced etc????.....



The trouble is in order to get audio from Video Keeper i have to use the Micosoft drivers which doesnt have all the features of the Startech ones.

That is all fine - I don't remember seeing any deinterlacing features on the MS driver.

Do you need the "extra" features of the Startech driver? I know I don't.

[BuckoA51]

Brightness is too high by default on the MS drivers, shows up too much noise in dark areas on some systems.

[lettuce]

Now for the cherry on the cake would be some way to add scanlines to the image via filter.....

I can't see that being a major issue.... we just need someone to build that facility in to a capture application.

Do you need the "extra" features of the Startech driver? I know I don't.

So thats not hard to do then?, anyone able to do that sort of thing on these forums??

Well the StarTech driver is a newer version than that of the Micomsoft driver, but not sure whats updated/changed. But we know what it does do, it breaks the auido whilst capturing

[BuckoA51]

Breaks it while previewing, it's fine when capturing. If you don't need to play and capture on the same screen, StarTech drivers are better, if you do, go Micomsoft.

[fagin]

A scanline overlay would either have to be applied as post processing during secondary encoding, or as an added overlay during initial capture, I would have thought. Perhaps the developer of AmarecTV could include the option. In reality I can't see the great benefit for the recorded capture, but it would be a nice feature for live monitor.

All this "what driver and capture sw do I use" is, in my opinion, down to what options YOU need for the combination of consoles and results you require. Personally I have no issues with brightness myself, and find the MS driver fine.

Don't get bent out of shape what others state as the best combination. Use what works best for you!