Firewire vs usb 2.0

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Video CD : One Thread

I'd like to get some info re. analog video capture quality. I have VHS and 8mm tapes that I'd like to convert to SVCD or DVD, and at the same time get into the miniDV technology and hopefully be able to stick with that.

The options I see are... 1. Buy a minidv unit with analog input and use that to capture and output to my PC. This ultimately comes across over firewire which I assume is the cleanest, though it must first go to tape I know.

2. Buy a capture device. I tried a Dazzle unit, their cheapest version. The quality from VHS to VCD was definitly degraded from original. This outputs via USB (2.0 i think).

Quesitons: - will there always be a stepdown in quality? with Firewire vs. usb 2? - Should I expect better quality using a device like the minidv which outputs using Firewire? - Is the issue really USB 2.0 vs Firewire or is that really not where the capture/conversion quality problem comes from?

I'd prefer to buy a separete device for capture that I can use to convert my old tapes, but also have for use later on, rather than relying on my camcorder for such projects in the future.

Right now the main thing I need to find out is what approach will be best to convert analog video without getting into $200+ solutions? Thank you!

Gregg

-- gcohen (info@dacohens.com), April 12, 2004

Answers

These are very good questions. In theory, USB 2.0 should offer transfer rates pretty close to Firewire. However, I am very skeptical about the whole USB capture card idea. Dazzle used to make a great PCI capture card called the DVC II. Everything I have read seems to indicate that Dazzle's old PCI cards are superior to the new USB offerings. It was really tricky to get the old Dazzle PCI cards to work in certain PCs and my guess is that Dazzle figured anyone could make a USB based device work. There is a lot of truth to that, but it seems that the PCI cards just worked better, assuming you were able to get it to work at all in your PC. I have a DVC II and it's such a good card I still use it. Hauppage makes some PCI based capture cards if you want to go that route. You could always try to buy an old DVC II on Ebay.

There is a video forum at http://network54.com/Hide/Forum/70438 where some of the guys there have raved about using DV Firewire solutions to capture video. I'm working from memory, but the guys who do this, I think, use the DV device as a pass through and don't actually record to tape first. You could always go to the forum and ask.

Warning - network54 has a bunch of pop up ads, but if you have a pop up blocker, you should be OK.

-- Root (root@yahoo.moc), April 13, 2004.


I've used one of Dazzle's older USB1 capture devices, 352x240 resolution. It works, that's about all.

An internal capture card is the way to go for serious use, tho.

-- Bryan (gryps-innocens@gryphon.zzn.com), April 15, 2004.


Analog to digital conversion can best be accomplished with a unit such as the Studio Moviebox-DV. It has composite, S-video and firewire inputs and outputs. The output to the computer is in AVI which captures at full quality but takes alot of disk space. I am completely satisfied with the results. It can be purchased at the lowest price at mwave.com for $169. USB and firewire have nothing to do with the quality of the captured video. Transfer speeds are similar. Hope this helps. Farewell, Dick

-- Dick (gwendick@bellsouth.net), April 18, 2004.

Bought a Sony TRV-DVR33E minidv camcorder. Connecting via USB, I get awful video quality. Something like 320x240 resolution. This is even worse than VCD quality. And I was thinking of making DVDs!

Called up Sony. They say this is normal. I need an I-link cable to get better quality. Take half the day off to go to Sony. They say the cable is RM169 (about US$45). But it's out of stock. Go to computer shop. Firewire card is RM45 (about US$12), and it comes with a free firewire cable. Quality is great! :)

On the downside, somebody told me that doing it this way, he heard that a friend's friend burned his firewire socket on the camcorder from connecting it to the computer. I know, unreliable n-th hand info. Any truth in this?

-- Daniel (gsf_oohk@fzz.no-ip.info), July 12, 2004.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ