Micomsoft SC-500N1 RGB Capture Card

[yukbeezy]

Hi,

Got it worked.
I changed the region of my PC from France to English US and i do not have error message when i launch amarectv. Nice
Then i replaced the HDMI-DVI cable by a regular HDMI cable and i manage to get signal and video displaying on my computer.
That's nice.

However the picture is way too big. it is like to picture is zoomed.
I cannot get the full screen i do see half of the picture!!

I set SA7160 PCI analog 01 capture in graph 1 and w720 h240 59.64....
Same thing in live section.

I have also problems getting sound signal.
I have got a Creative X-Fi Titanium HD sound card.

Hope i will solve both issues.

[lettuce]

Try changing the overscan underscan options. For the audio change it to SA7160 PCI

[blizzz]

I set SA7160 PCI analog 01 capture in graph 1 and w720 h240 59.64....
Same thing in live section.

I have also problems getting sound signal.

If you see only half of the screen I assume that your Framemeister is set to 720x480 @59.94. Try it with that setting or double check which settings you have on the Framemeister.

For the sound you most likely just need to select the right input in Amarec.

[yukbeezy]

Hi,

I just noticed that at the bottom of the amarectv window it says :
"view [720x960 59.94fps] cap[59.94fps 0drop]

Maybe my issue comes from here??
Because i do not see where to look for then.

Still got my issue with sound.
Put SA7160PCI as audio capture device.
then on graph 3 (live) :
Mic -> Device : Amarec stereo mixer
Input : ??
Pc internal sound -> device : Amarec audio capture
Input : ??

Hope this help solve my issues? Thanks in advance

[yukbeezy]

Hi,

I managed to get video signal.
In fact it was the mini framemeister that was not set up correctly.
Now with 1280x720 it is fine.

However still unable to set up the sound device!
Don't know how to do that, i followed the screen caps on amarectv website but still not working!!

Any idea how to set up this.

[blizzz]

I just tried to add scanlines to AmarecTV with my SLG3000 and as expected it didn't work (wrong sync polarity I guess). Then I remembered that it's way simpler to just add an overlay directly on the PC. Might be useful to others too, so I'll post how I did it.

1. Create a PNG file with the scanlines (or whatever else you can imagine as an overlay). Easiest way is to generate a 640x480 picture with a 1x2 pixel pattern, then scale it to your desired resolution with the nearest neighbor algorithm.
2. Install Rainmeter.
3. Create a simple image meter like this:

Code: Select all

[MeterBackground]
Meter=Image
ImageName=1440.png
W=2560
H=1440
X=0
Y=0

4. Load it and set it to click-through and always on top. Adjust the intensity to your liking.

Works with AmarecTV and most video players. Will most likely fail for many games though.

[Fudoh]

That's nice. I've been looking for a simple tool like rainmeter. Especially cool since it allows for vertical scanlines on vertical games running in YOKO mode.

[lettuce]

I just tried to add scanlines to AmarecTV with my SLG3000 and as expected it didn't work (wrong sync polarity I guess). Then I remembered that it's way simpler to just add an overlay directly on the PC. Might be useful to others too, so I'll post how I did it.

1. Create a PNG file with the scanlines (or whatever else you can imagine as an overlay). Easiest way is to generate a 640x480 picture with a 1x2 pixel pattern, then scale it to your desired resolution with the nearest neighbor algorithm.
2. Install Rainmeter.
3. Create a simple image meter like this:

Code: Select all

[MeterBackground]
Meter=Image
ImageName=1440.png
W=2560
H=1440
X=0
Y=0

4. Load it and set it to click-through and always on top. Adjust the intensity to your liking.

Works with AmarecTV and most video players. Will most likely fail for many games though.

This is awesome, thanks for sharing. Question is though what sort of 'scanline' size do you use, the ones that are used for MAME for example?

Could something like this be used??.....

http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic. ... 686#p97178

[blizzz]

I guess it would work, but simple horizontal lines work best.

That's how it could look with the pattern from your link: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3459629/blubb/pixels.jpg

[lettuce]

I guess it would work, but simple horizontal lines work best.

That's how it could look with the pattern from your link: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3459629/blubb/pixels.jpg

That looks impressive from the screen grab...maybe the scanlines are slightly too sharp??, what do it look like in person?

Can you test this one....

http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic. ... 686#p97613

and this one....

http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic. ... 60#p189219

[lettuce]

There a guide to using Rainmeter, im a bit lost with it?

[blizzz]

Here's a guide: http://docs.rainmeter.net/manual/getting-started

If you want to make your own stuff, create a folder in %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Rainmeter\Skins to store all your meters. Inside of it you create one folder for every meter you want to create. The meter itself is just an .ini file + resources. You can have different versions of a meter though, like different scanline overlays in this case.

In my case I created %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Rainmeter\Skins\foo\scanline\scan.ini with the content I posted earlier. You will need to adjust the overlay to your screensize. For optimal quality you should set your Desktop resolution to a multiple of 240 lines.

[lettuce]

Here's a guide: http://docs.rainmeter.net/manual/getting-started

In my case I created %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Rainmeter\Skins\foo\scanline\scan.ini with the content I posted earlier. You will need to adjust the overlay to your screensize. For optimal quality you should set your Desktop resolution to a multiple of 240 lines.

Thanks! So a 1920x1200 res is ok for achieving 240 as its x5?

[blizzz]

Thanks! So a 1920x1200 res is ok for achieving 240 as its x5?

Yes, if you want sharp scanlines you can use two black and three transparent lines. If that's too sharp, you can blur it a bit.

[lettuce]

Ok i have a scanline png file i made using this guide, http://digital-photography-school.com/c ... p-creative, and have got Rainmeter to load the png file overlay on my desktop, but it only seems to apply the scanlines to the desktop and not AmaRecTv when i load it and make it fullscreen. How do i apply this scanline effect to AmarecTv window?

[blizzz]

How do i apply this scanline effect to AmarecTv window?

Settings > Position > Stay topmost

[lettuce]

Thanks man. How did you manage to get this scanline, http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic. ... 686#p97178 to look good in your pic you posted?. I tried it and first off i just got a scanline png but it didnt appear to be transparent as i couldnt see the desktop behind it, i then added 90% transparency via rainmeter but it still didnt look right and couldn't really make out the scanlines when in AmaRECTV at all?

On another note ive just been introduced to Google+ Hangouts (live streams) any guides to get this to work with Micomsoft card or AmaRECTV??, as when selecting the capture card as the device i can only see a portion of the screen and its mirrored, if i select AmaRECTV as the device then Hangouts just displays a black screen?

[blizzz]

Found some "new" info about the next Micomsoft card, the SC-512N1-L/DVI.

http://www.4gamer.net/games/017/G001762/20121002085/
http://amalabo.blog35.fc2.com/blog-entry-217.html

Here's the short of it: All the features of the SC-500N1, dual slot but still PCIe (2.0) x1, can capture composite and S-Video, can capture 1080p60. The second slot is used for passthrough. Price is set to 30.000 Yen (~240€) and they wanted to release it at the beginning of 2013.

Here's a shop that states 03.2013 as release: http://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/3aonl ... 2n1-l.html

[lettuce]

Still will capture 240p then?

Also noticed no HDMI socket in the pic

[blizzz]

Still will capture 240p then?

Also noticed no HDMI socket in the pic

I don't fully understand what he writes about 240p. He says that when he sets it to 240p it only displays half of the screen as if it was interpreted as 480i. For recording that would still be fine, but it would add one frame delay. But it's weird that 240p wouldn't work the same as on the SC-500N1. Maybe it's just a driver bug. The card isn't even released yet.

HDMI goes into the DVI socket. I would suspect that it also takes audio over DVI.

[Fudoh]

He says that when he sets it to 240p it only displays half of the screen as if it was interpreted as 480i.

sounds about right. The 500N1 also captures in half-resolution with screwed aspect ratio (720x240 per frame).

[blizzz]

The 500N1 captures in 240 lines at 60fps, which are linedoubled to 480 lines in Amarec.
The 512N1-L puts the 240 lines in a 480i signal at 30fps, from which only the first 240 lines are displayed and stretched to 480 in Amarec if you select 720x240 as input. But these 240 lines only contain 120 lines from the original signal. If you set Amarec to 720x480 as input and select the retro game deinterlacing it will work, but with 1 additional frame delay.

Here's a screenshot: http://blog-imgs-46-origin.fc2.com/a/m/ ... 615fff.png

[lettuce]

indeed, please use a powered one. 25 pounds is a bit steep, maybe something like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Proxima-Direct% ... 15&sr=1-23

ebay will probably give you some 10 pound options.

Ok i know the above was a while ago, but have just got one of those devices, i have hook it up to my 360 and then to my A/V amp and the capture card, but im not getting a display. If i turn everything off and remove the cable connected to the capture card then i get a display from the xbox on my LCD. I have noticed that the HDMI cable going to the capture card is a 1.4 cable and i think the other HDMI cables are 1.3. Would this be the cause of the problem??

[Fudoh]

no, doesn't matter.

[lettuce]

no, doesn't matter.

Any ideas what the problem might be then? As i have notice some HDMI adapters/switches list themselves as 1.3

[Fudoh]

possibly handshake issues. You could try to switch on the AVR after the rest.

[lettuce]

I think it might be the power adapter that is fault as i have noticed when i plug it in the led light on the splitter doesnt seem to light up, its only when i turn the 360 on does the led light light up. If this is the case then im guessing the splitter isnt getting enough power to run both devices

[lettuce]

Just to clarity something with this capture card in regards to the 360. I know you are unable to capture at 1080p with this card, but shouldnt you be able to send a 1080p signal to the card via the xbox360 only it will be captured at 720p? As at the moment i have the 360 set to 1080p (as 720p doesn't look that great on my LCD) but the display on the AmaRec program is a bit messed up, now im sure before i did a complete PC format and fresh install at xmas time i was able to have my 360 set to 1080p and still get a display with no artifacts on the AMaREC program, but now i appear not to be able to. IS this possible to pass through a 1080p signal to the Micomsoft but capture at 720p?

[blizzz]

IS this possible to pass through a 1080p signal to the Micomsoft but capture at 720p?

No. The Elgato HD allows you to record 1080p60 as 720p30 (or 1080p30), but the SC-500N1 doesn't accept 1080p60 signals. The max you can feed to it is 1080p30.

[lettuce]

IS this possible to pass through a 1080p signal to the Micomsoft but capture at 720p?

No. The Elgato HD allows you to record 1080p60 as 720p30 (or 1080p30), but the SC-500N1 doesn't accept 1080p60 signals. The max you can feed to it is 1080p30.

Hmm, have just put in a custom fortmat of,

w=1920, h= 1080, fps=30.00, fcc=YUY2, bit=16

and im still getting the corrupted display...



And if i select 1080p on the 360 i get the No Signal display on AmaRec