Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 USB 3.0 Capture Unit

[Guspaz]

It's a guess (I don't know anything about this capture device), but it seems the capture device is reporting 240p, and you've configured 480p?

[FinalBaton]

It's a guess (I don't know anything about this capture device), but it seems the capture device is reporting 240p, and you've configured 480p?

Thanks for answering. When I select 720x240, I still get a squished image. So my guess is that I need to enable a line-doubling option somewhere (wich I can't find). but I might be wrong.

EDIT : looks like the Auto Resolution Scaling under 'Configure Video' works. But I would still like to have people's input regarding what I posted on the previous page, second to last post (wich driver and wich version? wich encoder and what bitrate? etc)

[Thrill]

That should line double your image without needing any other settings AFAIK.

Best driver: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing
Color space: Always YUY2. RGB isn't actually RGB on these devices if that makes sense.
AmaRecTV vs OBS: AmaRecTV. There's reasons behind this but just use it. It's always going to be stable.
Codec: Totally depends on what your final deliverable is but imo x264vfw is just always the king in the years I've spent testing it. You can lossless or lossy depending on your needs and fit it exactly to your computer specs.

[FinalBaton]

Thanks Thrill! I'm trying this

[FinalBaton]

Hmmm... preview in Amarec is fine, but my recording is squished vertically

Anyone ever encountered that?



Under ''Graph1(Device) > Device Setting'' I have tried ''Auto resolution scaling'' both checked and unchecked.
Under ''Graph2(Preview) > Deinterlacing'' I check ''Not Use'' and ''>Scan Line Doubler'' I check ""Enable''



EDIT : just thought of something : shouldn't it say 720 instead of 1440 here ?

[NightSprinter]

That is normal. MediaInfo actually shows it as 720x240. To make it a 720x480, you need to enable "record filter" in AmaRec, or linedouble in editing software.

[Edit]

You mention using OBS, so you would need a video editor to double the vertical resolution.

[FinalBaton]

That is normal. MediaInfo actually shows it as 720x240. To make it a 720x480, you need to enable "record filter" in AmaRec, or linedouble in editing software.

[Edit]

You mention using OBS, so you would need a video editor to double the vertical resolution.

That was it! Thanks a bunch for answering, now I'm not stuck anymore and can keep experimenting

[NightSprinter]

Glad to help. Note that any deinterlacing for true 480i will also be recorded with that option.

[FinalBaton]

Can 240p games captured with the USB3HDCAP look any better than this, without an upscaler :

https://youtu.be/w1jVu_9kUVA

I'm asking as to know wether or not it's worth it to spend any more time tweaking my settings, or not.
This vid is recorded in lossless and the line-doubling is done by Amarec. Signal captured is RGB.

EDIT : is it possible to embed a youtube vid on this forum?

[Smashbro29]

Confirming this works great on Windows 10.

[charlocharlie]

I just got my xcapture unit as a christmas present to myself.

I've come up with a curious and infuriating problem when trying it out.
(testing on z77, i5 3570, 8GB RAM PC)

-> I downloaded the latest 1.1.0.160 drivers from Micomsoft.
-> Tried plugging in my PS2 via component, constant cutouts
-> Tried different USB3.0 ports, same result
-> Tried HDMI from another PC, works flawlessly
-> Tried different component to dterminal adapter, still constant cutouts
-> Tried GC via component, same constant cutouts
-> Tried GC via composite, works flawlessly

^^ All these were tested in both OBS and Videokeeper2, multiple PC restarts

So I have HDMI and composite working perfectly but not component. Has anyone come across this before? Anyone have any ideas?

Try an earlier driver. The latest driver has given me the same problems you are describing, but it was working fine before. Honestly, you may want to return it and get something else. I've been extremely disappointed with it.

I'm running the Startech 1.1.0.160 drivers on my USB3HDCAP on GC 480p component on OBS-MP with no issues. How often were the cutouts? I've been watching for ~15 minutes and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

[Smashbro29]

What is the ideal audio level? Is setting it too high going to cause clipping?

What type of Data Transfer Pipe should I be using? What's the difference?

[FinalBaton]

Got a pretty severe problem with my captures and I really need to figure out quick if the card (USB3HDCAP) is to blame, in wich case I'll return it (the 30 day return window ends soon).

So I'm fairly happy with the quality of my videos, considering the compression, BUT there's one major hiccup :
there are jail bars on blue-ish colors, not visible on the whole picture, but very visible in two areas.

Check at 15:39 on this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz2CtUgpXdk

I get this from all consoles and it's there from the capture step (so it rules out anything from editing, uploading etc). I also get this whatever the capture software, and whatever the card driver.

So it comes down to the card itself, or the capture process, right? My computer is not so hot, could it be the culprit (plus I'm recording through usb 2.0 and not on an external hard drive like recommended)?

As anyone ever had this problem?

[NightSprinter]

Stupid question: but has anyone managed to successfully capture RGB below 480i yet with the latest drivers? Also, anyone give capture from a DOS computer a shot as well?

[STG]

As anyone ever had this problem?

Try turning the sharpness in the driver all the way up to the max, I've had a similar issue and that helped fix it.

Stupid question: but has anyone managed to successfully capture RGB below 480i yet with the latest drivers?

Unfortunately no, had a weird thing happen to me the other day where the driver for the XCapture-1 decided to update itself to the x.160.5 driver, so I tried playing around with it again. Still nothing. Back to x.141.5 for me!

[FinalBaton]

As anyone ever had this problem?

Try turning the sharpness in the driver all the way up to the max, I've had a similar issue and that helped fix it.

Thanks for the answer STG! will try this

[system11]

Really struggling with my xcapture and PCBs.

It keeps stretching the image (seen in videokeeper, amarec and obs):



Here seen also in obs preview.



Here are the 3 settings pages, note 1440x240 - surely that's incorrect?







trap15 told me I'd need to generally use 720x480 for PCBs - this helps a bit but it's still stretched and cut off:



Really confused, I'm terrible with this sort of stuff.

[STG]

That looks like you're using the latest driver that's giving us all problems system11, seems that it has major issues with 240p material. Best bet is to go to Micomsoft's driver downloads, first install 1.1.0.140.1 and then install 1.1.0.141.5, from there try it out in OBS. It shouldn't give you issues then!

Also, are you gonna be streaming soon?

[system11]

That looks like you're using the latest driver that's giving us all problems system11, seems that it has major issues with 240p material. Best bet is to go to Micomsoft's driver downloads, first install 1.1.0.140.1 and then install 1.1.0.141.5, from there try it out in OBS. It shouldn't give you issues then!

Also, are you gonna be streaming soon?

Thanks will try this tonight. I hope it doesn't break the Atari capture, I had to go from the CD supplied drivers to the newest set to get it to understand EU Atari 800 compsite output.

I'm planning to start streaming things, hence my terrifying rats nest test setup, see arcade video splitting thread.

[NightSprinter]

I'm honestly not sure just what YUAN exactly has done with that driver version, but it certainly isn't suitable for retro RGB.

Also for system11: you have any Irem M72 boards? I'm curious if the XCAPTURE-1 (and USB3HDCAP conversely) is capable of handling the 256p55 output those boards do or not. Also if the CY3014 is better capable of handling 70Hz output. Since this is a shmups forum, gotta see how devices can capture games like Overkill and Tyrian from real hardware. Also, I know how you feel on the "rat's nest" situation. You should see my desk..

[system11]

The wiring on my setup is literally wires soldered to things, bare BNC connectors soldered to trace wire etc, it's all proof of concept but becoming dangerously unstable. When I've finished with the video testing I'll assemble a similarly hideous audio part. Yeah I have plenty of M72s, but I can't test them on this rig, too unstable for a large delicate set. I'm balancing PCBs on a cardboard tube right now.

[NightSprinter]

Ouch, well do be as careful as possible. Do look forward to hearing the results when ya can get it done

[system11]

Yeah downgrading the drivers made everything work perfectly on defaults, no trouble at all.

The amount of time I wasted last night.....

So are they aware of this problem? Those new drivers are totally useless.

[Fudoh]

So are they aware of this problem?

on some level, yes, but the manufacturer doesn't seem to listen to Micomsoft and they don't have the ressources to reprogram the drivers on their own.

for the record and to help others: which driver version are you using now ?

[system11]

The one before the newest, 141?

Trouble is the ones that came on the CD struggled badly with my Atari 800, not sure what version they are. I hope I'm not stuck with one or the other working. So Micomsoft don't make their own drivers? Who makes them? It might be worth sending a complaint with example comparisons.

[Fudoh]

I think as mentioned above Yuan (in Taiwan) is the manufacturer. They offer OEM products and built to order, so Startech's USB3 box has less inputs that Micomsoft's XCAP1, but they're based on the same templates. And I dare to say that Yuan probably gives a s**t about 240p support.

[NightSprinter]

Yeah. Plus YUAN's drivers don't just affect these two products. Magewell's first-gen USB3 one and the one from Timeleak are affected (Cypress CY3014 as well). From my guess, the Analog Devices based cards are much better. A member on the VOGONS forums hsd an Epiphan card (AD9884A), and confirmed it can handle 15KHz.

This was why I say companies like Magewell can start taking over marketshare with their sub-$500 cards. Where one OEM will fail, another can see opportunity.

[system11]

Yeah. Plus YUAN's drivers don't just affect these two products. Magewell's first-gen USB3 one and the one from Timeleak are affected (Cypress CY3014 as well). From my guess, the Analog Devices based cards are much better. A member on the VOGONS forums hsd an Epiphan card (AD9884A), and confirmed it can handle 15KHz.

This was why I say companies like Magewell can start taking over marketshare with their sub-$500 cards. Where one OEM will fail, another can see opportunity.

Are any of the alternatives USB3 based? Cards aren't really an option for me.

[NightSprinter]

They do, one without a driver and one that is driver-free. The distributor here in the States quotes both USB3 devices starting at almost $690. The models of interest to you are the XI-100-USB-X-PRO and its PnP variant.

[Fudoh]

seems like quite an overkill. Do you (system11) actually still have problems with the older drivers ?

You could add a linedoubler (OSSC) to workaround the 15khz dilemma.