>If jmac698 has got some tricks up his sleeve I would be glad to hear them.
Hi,
The problem with quality here is you are forced to use the Ion application, because
Virtualdub doesn't work. The problem with that, is it only lets you save compressed video.
You can try this in
Virtualdub, File->Capture AVI,
Device->VCR2PC (Directshow)
Video->Capture Filter, Video Proc Amp tab,
you can adjust sharpness here and other settings, and see them in the preview window.
Here's the problem. If you capture, it will playback as pure green. Only the preview is working, and Avery refuses to add a way to capture directly off the preview pin. In other words, you can't capture what you see, and what is captured is corrupted.
So, you want to capture off the preview pin (what that means I explain in a sec), so that you can get the raw, uncompressed video. I only know how to do this in graphedit.
Get graphedit. Graph->Insert Filters. WDM Streaming Crossbar Devices, VCR2PC Crossbar, click Insert Filter.
WDM Streaming Capture Devices, VCR2PC Capture, click Insert Filter.
Directshow Filters, Video Mixing Render 9, Insert Filter.
Arrange the blocks in order. Connect VCR2PC Video Decoder Out to Analog Video In, VCR2PC Audio Decoder Out to Analog Audio in, then VCR2PC Preview to VMR Input0. Click Play.
You should see an ActiveMovie window, which may display a signal. Right-click VCR2PC Crossbar and select Filter Properties. Choose Video Composite In for Input. Click OK.
Right-click VCR2PC Capture, choose Filter Properties. Select Video Proc Amp tab. Adjust your video levels here. Click ok.
All you need to do now is be able to save. Do this by adding an avi file filter. It will capture when you hit the play button (triangle).
I crashed at this point, will have to continue later.
The avi format will be raw YUY2 (4:2:2).
The quality I get with this process is virtually the same as any other capture card; I don't see capture cards as having much difference*, or minor things that can be processed away.
*sample alignment, noise, dot-crawl processing, antialias filter, capture window, ADC characteristics (bit-depth, linearity etc.), levels