NTSC capture card upgrade from Dazzle?
 

Evening all.

I'm in the process of starting a recapture of my active VHS collection. My first rounds were with a Dazzle and an AVT-8710, and the second round was with a Datavideo TBC-1000 + Dazzle.

Upon analysis, I've noticed the AVT restricted the dynamic color range of the NTSC captures, so that's what prompted a recapture. Before I do however, I've been wondering if there's a recommended capture card upgrade from the Dazzle? See the pictures I've attached, a difference between an AVT (left) and Datavideo (right) capture.

I *think* I have my PAL setup taken care of, I'll write back when I have this in hand. But for NTSC, I'm wondering if there's any underground issues the Dazzle's doing that I'm not catching.

My gear:
Windows 10
JVC SR-V10U
Datavideo TBC-1000
Dazzle DVC100

So the TLDR in all this- given my equipment above, what's the best upgrade I can do for my NTSC tapes?

Many thanks!!

Have you looked into the Hauppauge USB Live 2?

I used one of these before, but it degraded the detail significantly over the Dazzle. Lots of bleeding.

Have you considered one of lordsmurf's recommended capture cards in the marketplace? He personally tests all those equipment and some of them(Pinnacle ones) work on Windows 10 too. If you get one of these you would get a workflow similar to those complete sets lordsmurf himself sells in the marketplace, which should give you quality results(i.e. your TBC and VCR are great!). Should be a good upgrade, don't have much else to change about your setup other than Windows 10 has poor driver support for analog video capture cards. If you can spare the cash maybe setup Windows XP/7 on another computer? It's always better to 'dedicate' a PC/laptop to capturing so there won't be other programs hogging your PC's resources while capturing, but subject to budget so your setup can still work. Windows 10 just might give you more headaches :P
Side perk of getting lordsmurf's equipment: he would be able to better help you with any issues since he knows those capture cards in and out :D

I did not experienced that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1J6exEWMi4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEx3aHjov-I

Nice to see another Thunderbirds fan here!

I don't have the Hauppauge on me anymore, but I have these two old screenshots comparing the Dazzle and that. Hopefully the forum uploaded won't compress the pics.The Dazzle shows just a tad more detail.

:)
What convinced me to start this capture activity some time ago, was the love for the Gerry Anderson series that I recorded on tape 25 years ago, and I was impressed by the achieved results!

It is not the same frame and tbh I do not see more details in one of the two, just a different color tone (text on the big boat seems more defined in the Dazzle, details on the red boat on the left seems better in the Hauppauge; just speculating).
With some avysinth or vapoursynth filtering you could improve both :wink2:

Lo Behold, I found a single capture from the Hauppauge that I can compare with on another hard drive. Attached in the Zip file here are three comparisons.

I'm worried which one has more accurate colors, and which one has more details. Please compare. I believe the setup was the same on these captures (VHS -> SR-V10U -> AVT-8710). What are your thoughts?

Difficult to say. First of all, I am not a fine "detail detector" so my impressions can be wrong :)

Picture 1: same level of details, higher contrast in Hauppauge. I prefer the second, but is a personal taste.

Picture 2: to me there is little little more detail in Hauppauge (the 5 and the star in the left); there is also less noise in Hauppauge, but Hauppauge also shows some higher contamination in the red in the center boat; it could be the higher contrast. You used Y/C signal from both for capturing, I assume.

Picture 3: same level of details, higher contrast in Hauppauge. The Hauppage is a little blur compared to Dazzle.

In general it appears to me that the Y levels in the Dazzle are maybe a little bit high. Did you check the histograms and the levels for both?

In any case, I am just guessing and I am so happy with the Hauppauge capture I showed in the youtube links that i am biased about this argument. Somebody else may have a complete different (and more appropriate) opinion. I regret that sanlyn is not anymore on board, he could help a lot :(

BTW, the are multiple Dazzle USB cards, and the revision doesn't always reveal the difference. These were very cheaply made cards, better than Easycap and Elgato, but worse than most everything else.

Busy now, can't reply more. Needed to mention that.

Thanks for the reply LS. Check your private messages when you get the chance.

In this way is easier to compare:

https://imgsli.com/NjU0ODA

https://imgsli.com/NjU0ODE

https://imgsli.com/NjU0ODI

also use the zoom and thr full screen functions to find the image better defined (I have a candidate :wink2:)

the grid (horizontal lines) under the boat face in the 3rd image:
Attachment 13961