How do I get video capture preview to work for VC500?

[semmelbroesel]

Hi.

I have the Diamond VC500 card, and I finally received a European VCR I purchased (JVC HR-S9700).

I installed EZ Grabber and VirtualDub64, and I'm on Windows 8.1 64bit.

The VCR is connected to the capture card via S-Video and audio cables. I also tried a SCART cable in composite input.

When I switch capture input from composite to s-video right after changing the TV channel on the VCR, I get picture with "PROG 3" or whatever other channel.

BUT the picture is stuck there - changing VCR TV channels does not change the picture or the program number displayed in the capture screen. It only updates when I switch input back and forth.

I have tried all versions of PAL I could find.

This happens both in EZ Grabber and in VirtualDub.

I would like to access the VCR Menu but can't get it to display.

Is it possible that the VCR does not output the menu through S-Video?

I have not tried a tape yet, just wanted to check on this first.

So far, I have not been able to get the SCART video output to work at all, but it has multiple on the other end plugs, so maybe I'm not using the right one.

Also, I tried the VC500 with an old video camera (also PAL), and while the camera ended up being broken, I was able to get the live camera video to display in the capture window.

EDIT: I found the correct SCART Output cable, and the same happens - when I plug in, I get a brief moment of the VCR screen before it freezes. Unplugging and plugging back in does seem to trigger a refresh, so it doesn't look like the driver freezes.

... and now I see weird things using Composite input from SCART - the picture randomly updated for me after 10 seconds while I was typing this. Then it froze again...

EDIT2: I was able to get into the Menu to change the language basically by switching capture inputs back and forth - each now gives me a frozen screen from the time the input is initialized.

EDIT3 (hopefully last): I finally tried a tape - and playback works just fine. It's just the menu and screen overlay parts (e.g. PROG 01) that is freezing.

So now the goal is to get constant capture instead of just a frozen bit.

Thanks!

[hodgey]

The VC500 doesn't handle the non-standard video signal that's output from most VCR menus, including JVC ones, properly. (It works a little better if used in linux as there is some difference in how the drivers on windows and linux sets up the card, but the menu still looks screwy.)

To show the menu properly you would need something that can handle the menu signal like tbc, dvd-recorder (or a capture card that does.)

[semmelbroesel]

Thanks for the quick reply!

That's probably all I needed to know - then I can stop worrying about it and use my "switch input workaround" if I ever need the menu again.

Thanks!

[leeoverstreet]

Yes, there must be something non-standard about the JVC's menu signal and output. All three of mine (NTSC models - 9500, 9911, & S3U) have jagged edges on all the white text, almost checkerboard patterned, but tapes all play and look great. This is with Windows 7 and a Matrox MXO2 mini. The preview screen, both in Premiere and in Matrox's capture utility, looks weird with the menu. Something must be unusual with whatever graphics chip creates the menu. I remember back when my 9500 was simply hooked up as a regular viewing VCR to a Panasonic plasma TV, I could blink my eyes quickly or wave my fingers in front of my face and see a checkerboard pattern to the blue background. So strange. It was probably designed to look perfect on a CRT but something about the signal doesn't survive the translation to digital via a capture card. But like I said, the actual video from the tape has always been great across all three VCRs (although they each have their idiosyncrasies) , so I've tried to stop worrying about it. :-)