Determining Hardware Encoding?

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

On 15 Mar 2005 05:55:23 -0800, "Corporate Monkey"
<corporatemonkey@gmail.com> wrote:

>I have a 1.5Ghz PC with 386MB RAM and am looking to capture video from
>my VHS tapes (wedding video, birthdays, etc.) and eventually burn them
>to DVD.
>
>Given my lackluster PC, is purchasing a video capture card (TV Card)
>with on board / hardware encoding the way to go? If so, any suggestions
>on good quality ones under $100. My goal is to have decent quality
>without any dropped frames.
>
>Thanks in advance!
>
>CM

I first started capturing and burning DVDs using a Compaq 1.8 Mhz
machine. I found it could do all I wanted it to do -- It did it slowly
-- VERY slowly -- but it did it. But I soon ran into some REAL
problems you may also want to consider.

The 275W power supply in my machine wasn't adequate to support the
upgraded graphics card (ATI 8500DV), the second hard drive I'd added
(a near-necessity for video processing) and a new DVD burner to
replace the stock DVD player.

The point I'm making is: Whatever you add to your machine, you'll need
to be keenly aware of the power requirements and the STRESS these new
additions (and the new activity of processing video) will place on
your computer.

You may find a capture device that encodes through its own built-in
processing ability (i.e. your CPU does none of the encoding, the
capture device does) though I doubt you'll find one under $100. But
after you've captured the video, your machine will need author and
compile the video, a process which WILL place considerable stress on
your CPU, memory and power supply.

Don't go into this blindly.

f

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

you should not need anything but a firewire card and a DV bridge and a
drive. . Use any of the hundreds of available programs to encode, edit and
burn. I was doing DV capture on a 500Mhz PC years ago with no problems.
"Corporate Monkey" <corporatemonkey@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1110907559.473115.121330@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> Thanks for the advice. It is what I was looking for. I've been doing
> research and I probably need a new power supply, a new, faster HD
> (200MB+ at 7200rpm), and more RAM, plus the video card.
>
> Wow...even on the cheap this will cost me about $500.
>

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

I'll add to this: I'm using a 2.5" notebook drive - an 80GB 5400rpm
Fujitsu - for video capture.

While a 7200rpm is preferable, you can get away with a 5400rpm. Don't fret
about hardware...you don't need hair-on-fire equipment to do what you want
to do.

C.


"leo" <someone@somewhere.net> wrote in message
news:yt%Zd.10222$oO4.6297@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> nap wrote:
>> you should not need anything but a firewire card and a DV bridge and a
>> drive. . Use any of the hundreds of available programs to encode, edit
>> and burn. I was doing DV capture on a 500Mhz PC years ago with no
>> problems.
>> "Corporate Monkey" <corporatemonkey@gmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:1110907559.473115.121330@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
>>
>>>Thanks for the advice. It is what I was looking for. I've been doing
>>>research and I probably need a new power supply, a new, faster HD
>>>(200MB+ at 7200rpm), and more RAM, plus the video card.
>>>
>>>Wow...even on the cheap this will cost me about $500.
>
>
>
> Besides DV solution, the new ATI Theater 550 Pro is great. It's a TV tuner
> with MPEG2 encoder with very high quality. How good? I couldn't tell I was
> watching pre-recorded video. $85.