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Composite to HDMI devices as video capturing solution

I was wondering if anyone has tried this. For example, this one.

I was thinking running composite into this device and then run HDMI out into my computer and convert to lossless AVI. Is this doable? I know, I know ATI :). But I have some problems with the ATI cards (i.e. manual gamma control) which I will describe later. That's why I was thinking about the alternative solution. Thanks in advance.

In any case what are the pros and cons of this solution?

--Leonid

Signal converters rarely have the quality promised by the marketing on the box.

In my experience, none of these adapters ever work properly:

s-video to VGA / VGA to s-video
composite to s-video / s-video to composite
composite to VGA / VGA to composite
VGA to HDMI / HDMI to VGA
component to HDMI / HDMI to component
etc, etc, etc

The only adapter that's ever worked properly is DVI-D to HDMI, because it was planned for. DVI support for HDTV was dropped for HDMI after HDTVs had already been on the market for several years, and the transition to yet another connector type had to be made seamlessly. Same for VGA to DVI-I/A on computer graphics cards and LCD monitors.

That site reminds me of those shady camera stores in New York and New Jersey.
This review was online, too:

Quote:

I called HDTVSupply.com because I saw they had a 6x6 HDMI matrix device. I purchased one from Monoprice and it just didn't work. I called and asked more about the product. The guy who answered was a real nerd. I have no problem with nerds but within 1 minute of talking to him he told me he was an electrical engineer. Ok no problem with that but he must have brought it up 4 more times in our conversation. Again all of this isn't bad. He went on to ask about my setup and native resolutions. He was thorough with his questions to understand my situation. He criticized my choice of cables (they are cheap ones from monoprice I will admit). Then he told me to google "hdmi problems" and I would find 4 million results because of cable size. He went on to talk about the 19 paths in an hdmi cable. He asked if I was going to use a receiver and I said eventually I did plan on it. He told me that was a bad idea. Then he started to say google-ing hdmi problems and I tried to say something and he snapped "You need to let me finish". I should have said thanks anyway but I really wanted to know if I could use his switch. 10 minutes in to the conversation I still didn't have an answer. So as we talked I said I have one more question and I asked about their boosters and he directed me on the website and I said ok one more question and this went on a couple more times as we talked about more things more questions came up. I asked about if the matrix switch doesn't work can I return it and he said yes paused and said but there is a 15% restocking fee to cover the credit card transactions. I was nervous as this is a $2000 device and 15% is not inconsequential! FINALLY I said ok I have one more and he said "Last One". He said something else and I finally said well thanks I appreciate this information and at least it hasn't cost me anything yet. At that point the line went dead. And I thought about it and I said I bet he hung up on me. Well I called back to give them the benefit of the doubt and he didn't answer. I left a message asking the last question bringing back up the receiver and the matrix switch. He had earlier described it as two intersecting 19 lanes of highway with no traffic light. Anyway I called back the next day to see if someone will answer and they don't. So I select the option to place an order. I ask the nice lady if she is an employee or an order take from an outsourced company. She didn't understand so I finally asked if she worked for hdtvsupply. She said she did and I asked her if the man who has a electrical engineering degree is the owner and she informed me that he is. I then let her know I would never buy from there ever and thanked her and wished her a good day. Too bad because their prices aren't bad and their products look nice enough on the website. Customer service from the owner himself was lousy and downright rude. He lost my business.

...
... so my advice is mostly this: Buyer Beware!

The price is a ripoff. There are plenty of adapters that do the same, including accept RGB input for $50 on ebay.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJRoadfan (Post 21057)

The price is a ripoff. There are plenty of adapters that do the same, including accept RGB input for $50 on ebay.

Believe it or not this is the cheapest one I found on internet. Take a look at this one. And this one has gamma controls. But for that price they should've provided digital audio input.

Can you point me out to the ones that are $50, have composite input and 3d comb separation filter?

Yeah, but that ~$2K device is a scaler appliance, not a "composite to HDMI converter". Huge difference.

But the thing to remember is that many of the high-end appliances expect high end sources. You cannot give a broadcast-grade appliance a sloppy consumer-grade signal. The appliance will just as likely butcher the video as do anything else, because it's not the expected input.

That's one reason we don't suggest high-end TBCs or appliance encoders on this site, because it's not going to be useful to our readers. The people that need those devices are reading something like Broadcast Engineering or attending NAB, and not this site. However, they often come here when given junky consumer sources, which is our specialty. They either seek our advice, or completely outsource the project to us.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kpmedia (Post 21064)

But the thing to remember is that many of the high-end appliances expect high end sources. You cannot give a broadcast-grade appliance a sloppy consumer-grade signal.

I completely agree with you. That's why for VHS and even for regular Hi8 I used Philips SAA713xxx chipset based LifeView's FlyVideo TV Tuner and was pretty happy with results. However, to archive my LaserDisc collection I'd like to use something more sophisticated than that given the fact that my LaserDisc player is LD-S2 which is the 2nd best NTSC model ever manufactured. Is output from this LD player also considered a consumer-grade signal? The picture is way better than from VHS and is comparable to output from the DVD players.

--Leonid

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