Singmai SM03 review? (Sing Mai SM-03)

[traal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by latreche34

Another issue, and I've already discussed it with you in previous e-mails is that people don't know what to do with an SDI port, If you tell them you need another device to connect to the computer they will see another expense and often they get confused about which one is the capture device the one next to the VCR or the one next to the computer, If you can find a way to put a USB or thunderbolt port or a port for an external storage device like a SSD that can save the uncompressed and uncropped 10/8bit 4:2:2 AVI that would be the device of the century.

Or just an S-Video connector for output so I can easily integrate it into my existing capture chain.

Also, there seems to be some overlap in capability between the SM-03, SM-10, and SM-14, so it would be good to have a chart that shows the differences.

[latreche34]

No, having S-Video out defeats the purpose of the devise's existence entirely, The SM03 is a capture device that converts analog to digital, If you go back to analog it incurs an unnecessary lossy step and requires another capture device instead of just a SDI to USB interface, Not to mention that they have to fit in another DAC which increases the cost.

[SingMai]

Hello,

In response to comments above:

The SM03 webpage now has a table showing the differences between the SM03, SM10 and SM14: https://www.singmai.com/Modules/sm03.html

I have added more information in Chapter 2 of the user manual on SDI and how to display and capture the video: https://www.singmai.com/Documents/SM...r%20Manual.pdf

I am adding NTSC443 and PAL60 standards to those supported by the SM03.

And just a comment, the Magewell modules can record uncompressed video if required.

I welcome any other comments or questions.

[traal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by latreche34

No, having S-Video out defeats the purpose of the devise's existence entirely... Not to mention that they have to fit in another DAC which increases the cost.

Hold on, are you saying that other external TBCs are pure analog devices from end to end, they don't have a DAC in them?

[hodgey]

Other than very ancient ones for early open reel tape formats no. If there is analog output there will be a DAC of some sort that turns the digital signal back to analog.

[latreche34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by traal

Hold on, are you saying that other external TBCs are pure analog devices from end to end, they don't have a DAC in them?

Haven't said anything about conventional TBC's, I was talking about the SM03 being a capture device with integrated TBC functionality after the ADC, But just to answer your question, yes conventional TBC's do have both ADC and DAC for video only. The SM03 does not need a DAC, it's function is to digitize both video ad audio, do the timing and other digital processing and send the digital signal to computer in its lossless form, My point was why do you want to convert the signal back to analog, for what purpose?

[Hushpower]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Latreche

and send the digital signal to computer in its lossless form

I'm being picky, but that's not strictly correct. It only outputs SDI. You need another gadget to "convert" the SDI signal into computerspeak ie USB ingest.

Singmai provides that converter gadget (PCIe or USB) with the SM03 (for an additional cost), noting of course your previous comment that it would be great to have that integrated into the SM-03 box.

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by latreche34

My point was why do you want to convert the signal back to analog, for what purpose?

Detailers, proc amps, etc. And not everybody wants to be locked in with married devices. Not all capture cards play nice with all tapes, even with TBCs in the workflow. Same for all TBCs, but you want a certain capture card. As mentioned many times, SDI is closed loop. If you want SDI, fine, but the lack of DAC is not a very strong argument. The issues with DAC is really more about the quality (or lack thereof), not mere existence.

[latreche34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SingMai

I am adding NTSC443 and PAL60 standards to those supported by the SM03.

And just a comment, the Magewell modules can record uncompressed video if required.

I welcome any other comments or questions.

Nice to see NTSC4.43 and PAL60 but how about native SECAM and MESECAM? Oh by the way the community here seem to dislike any advice to use OBS, Don't know what has changed over the years but it use to have problems capturing SD rec.601 based materials.

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by latreche34

Nice to see NTSC4.43 and PAL60 but how about native SECAM and MESECAM? Oh by the way the community here seem to dislike any advice to use OBS, Don't know what has changed over the years but it use to have problems capturing SD rec.601 based materials.

It's not just that, either.

OBS connects to capture cards at the screen recording layer, sandwiches between actual device connection, and overlay/display. Computer display has multiple layers. At the non-device layer, it's subjected to errors/corruption and alterations. Some NLEs used to operate this was as well, contributing to why NLEs all sucked at capture (and still do, for other reasons, mostly still resources overhead).

So OBS isn't capturing with the hardware, it's screen recording, but at a less-molested way that many understand screen recording. In this way, OBS is a more advanced screen recorder than most.

I can't explain all the extreme technicals too well here, but it's essentially DirectX, which you'll note is a requirement of OBS.

OBS is crap for analog capture. It's fine for everything else. Not unusual, as it's an "also has" feature, and those are never good with anything in the capturing world, hardware or software. A poor "feature".