ATI 600 USB cripples chroma resolution?

AntcuFaalb · #1 03-05-2013, 12:33 PM

I see that the ATI 600 USB capture card is often recommended around these parts.

The chroma resolution demonstrated in the following post looks terrible. http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/3...=1#post2038325
In particular, look at this s-video=>ATI 600 USB sample from the post: http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/7...600svideos.png

The colored lines at the bottom (indicating the chroma resolution) are all blurred and nasty looking. They're supposed to look like this: http://forum.lddb.com/viewtopic.php?p=33347#p33347

Is it possible that the user, vaporeon800, was using a crappy DVD player that doesn't output full chroma resolution over s-video?

Can someone capture the Snell & Wilcox Zone Plate from DVE with their ATI 600 USB via s-video using a DVD player that outputs full chroma resolution over s-video and post the PNG(s) here?

lordsmurf · #2 03-05-2013, 01:47 PM

I don't have any Snell & Willcox gear to test with.

NJRoadfan · #3 03-05-2013, 01:50 PM

Keep in mind that the screenshots from that thread were from a custom "test" DVD. There are no motion test patterns on it. The link to download it is buried in that forum somewhere. Don't rule out color errors due to the card's onboard proc amp settings. I have a ATI 600 USB here that I can test, but I bet the default settings need a slight boost in the color setting.

AntcuFaalb · #4 03-05-2013, 01:59 PM

lordsmurf:
I can provide an m2v from Digital Video Essentials of the Snell & Wilcox Zone Plate if you'd be willing to burn it to DVD to run it through the ATI 600 USB.
Does sharing a small portion of a program like this for non-profit purposes fit under fair use?

NJRoadfan:
Oh, I didn't realize that he wasn't using the Snell & Wilcox Zone Plate from the Digital Video Essentials DVD!
That's what I used for my test here: http://forum.lddb.com/viewtopic.php?p=33347#p33347
Would you like the m2v as well? I can upload it to my Dropbox and share the link with you and lordsmurf when I get home in a couple of hours.

admin · #5 03-05-2013, 02:35 PM

Upload it. I'll copy it to CDN4 on our servers. Or if it's under 32MB, attach to the forum post.
Thanks.

AntcuFaalb · #6 03-05-2013, 02:38 PM

admin: Will do. I'll have to wait until I get home in a few hours to do so, however.
Is there any interest in the PAL version? I have both the NTSC and PAL DVDs of Digital Video Essentials.
Also, I forgot to ask: Does the ATI 600 USB make use of any AGC?

I've attached the m2v to this post.
The CRC-32 is: CC83D8C2

Edit: Anyone have any luck with the m2v I posted?

JMP · #7 03-07-2013, 11:48 PM

Will be taking a look at it sometime this weekend.

-JMP

AntcuFaalb · #8 03-08-2013, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMP

Will be taking a look at it sometime this weekend.

-JMP

Awesome, thanks! I appreciate it!

<greedy>You wouldn't happen to have a BT878-based capture card lying around as well, would you?</greedy>

kpmedia · #9 03-08-2013, 01:37 PM

There's a BT8x8 here.

But we're in the middle of projects, so give us some time. We'll do it between tasks.
It'll probably be a few days.

AntcuFaalb · #10 03-08-2013, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kpmedia

There's a BT8x8 here.

But we're in the middle of projects, so give us some time. We'll do it between tasks.
It'll probably be a few days.

That's awesome. Thanks!

AntcuFaalb · #11 03-10-2013, 11:45 PM

I just won an ATI 600 on eBay for $16.50. I'll post my findings here when it arrives.

Jarvis · #12 03-11-2013, 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AntcuFaalb

I just won an ATI 600 on eBay for $16.50. I'll post my findings here when it arrives.

Nice, I'm interested in the results. I'd also like to perform a test with my own ATI 600, could you please provide the S&W PAL version?

AntcuFaalb · #13 03-11-2013, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jarvis

Nice, I'm interested in the results. I'd also like to perform a test with my own ATI 600, could you please provide the S&W PAL version?

Sure. I'll post it this evening (~7PM EST).

msgohan · #14 03-16-2013, 04:05 AM

I hope you don't feel that you wasted your money. I captured these files for my own testing a week prior to your question, but had expected someone else to come forward to answer your question right away since the ATI 600 is so common on this forum.

I am the one who started that VideoHelp thread. As mentioned there, the "MiscTestPatterns" stills were played back on a Philips DVP642, which retailed for something like $80-100 when it came out with the main selling point being XviD and DivX playback.

I don't have access to that one right now, in fact I bought a $30 crappy import from Wal-Mart to use for testing purposes and it has the weird image-duplication issue you see at the left of the frames. I returned it.

DVP642 -> S-Video

Wal-Mart crap -> Composite

Wal-Mart crap -> Composite into DMR -> S-Video

AntcuFaalb · #15 03-21-2013, 01:29 PM

Thanks for posting those images, msgohan.

Unfortunately, I'm seeing the same poor chroma over s-video. I double-checked and my Panasonic DVD-S29 definitely outputs full chroma resolution without any Y/C delay over s-video, so it's something wrong with the ATI 600.

Interestingly, the chroma looks fine (despite dot crawl) in your composite capture. Weird...

I'll stick with my Hauppauge USB-Live2 (Conexant CX23102 chip), as it captures full NTSC luma and chroma resolution.

metaleonid · #16 01-30-2015, 02:08 PM

I was wondering if chrippled chroma is the case for all ATI 600 USB cards. I had the one from Diamond Multimedia. But I'm wondering if the same products from VisionTek one suffers from the same problem.

lordsmurf · #17 02-08-2015, 11:10 PM

I often think there are variations on the chips used, as the ATI 600 USB had a long release period, and was rebadged by several brands. That's common, as we've seen with AVT-8710 TBCs or Panasonic AG-1980P VCRs. The TBC, as you know, got worse over time. There's a chance that the ATI had a similar problem, either getting better or worse (due to chips in use at the time).

Hmmm...

metaleonid · #18 02-09-2015, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordsmurf

I often think there are variations on the chips used, as the ATI 600 USB had a long release period, and was rebadged by several brands. That's common, as we've seen with AVT-8710 TBCs or Panasonic AG-1980P VCRs. The TBC, as you know, got worse over time. There's a chance that the ATI had a similar problem, either getting better or worse (due to chips in use at the time).

Hmmm...

It is possible. And if so, I'd definitely want to check out the one with the chipset that doesn't cripple chroma.

However, there's another possibility that all of the versions of this card are like that. And that nobody ran this card against the snell and wilcox test pattern to determine this. And for VHS it is still perfect 'cause VHS doesn't have full chroma to begin with. But since I plan on using this to capture from LaserDiscs, it's not acceptable for me.