ATI TV Wonder 650 USB help, VirtualDub vs VirtualVCR
 

I just got this off of eBay.

I downloaded drivers from here:
http://www.dmmdownload.com/downloads..._XP_VER_26.zip

Then I updated the drivers from here:
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownloa...fessional/Home


I then downloaded Catalyst Media Center. So basically I tried the card with Catalyst Media Center and I see the image. When I try it with VirtualDub, I get the error message which I am attaching. When I try it with VirtualVCR, I have access to the driver settings including 3d comb filter, but the preview is blank. So somehow video doesn't make it there. Is it because it's mpeg2 hardware card? Is it possible to make it work as AVI capture? Take a look at my 2 attachments. Please help. Thanks.

This sometimes sounds silly, I realize...
... but have you tried to reboot yet? What happens after restarting the computer?

Many times. Same thing. Actually it rebooted a couple of times on its own after a couple of blue screens of death.

I suspect there maybe one of 2 reasons:
1. This device can't bypass hardware mpeg2 encoder. Maybe pci can, but this one can't.
2. It doesn't work with bootcamp. I will try on Lenovo and see if I can get further.

Also keep in mind that Virtual Dub doesn't work with WDM. It works with VFW. But myVCR and VirtualVCR should work with WDM.

VirtualDub natively supports WDM capture drivers. Somewhere down the line I recall there being seperate "WDM Capture" drivers to install for these devices. People have captured successfully with these USB devices via WDM, so there should be a way.

Also try the VisionTek drivers here: http://www.visiontek.com/support/downloads/drivers.html

Select TV Tuner > TV Wonder Tuners > Win XP

Just make sure you uninstall the AMD provided drivers first.

My guess is also that it's a driver issue, and concur with the advice from NJ. (Thanks, NJ!)

I will try these tonight. I need to go to device manager, uninstall the driver while of course device is plugged in, right?

Now, can anyone provide the link where to get seperate "WDM Capture" drivers for these devices other than VisionTek?

Yes, uninstall while its plugged in.

The VisionTek driver bundle appears to be a generic AMD/ATI installer. VisionTek, Diamond, etc. all sold the same tuner, so the drivers are universal in that respect.

Looks like the USB stick shows up as "ATI AVStream Analog Capture" under VirtualDub's video capture list.

I tried these drivers. They are not recognized by this device. I also initially tried to install these drivers on my Lenovo notebook. The device wasn't recognized. I then installed the 2009 drivers on Lenovo. Same thing. Same complain by VirtualDub and VirtualVCR preview is blank.

Now the device is not defective because I can perfectly see image in Catalyst. But Catalyst is limited to mpeg2 capture. And also from within Catalyst, I can't access device settings such as 3d comb filters and such. Ok, I will try to email Diamond MultiMedia. If any of you can find the separate "WDM Capture" drivers, send them down to me. :)

Also remember that sometimes hardware is simply defective.
Sometimes sellers are purposely misleading just to sell it. For example, http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vide...-bad-ebay.html

Not saying it's broken, just that it's always possible. I've seen fubar ATI cards in the past.

Member 'jagabo' over a videohelp has a ATI 650 device working in virtualDub, don't know if its the USB or PCIe card though.

Ok, then I guess either my device is partially defective (although it works with Catalyst) or perhaps there's DirectX issue? Could it be? Does someone here on this forum have the actual 650 USB models? Diamond MultiMedia or VisionTek? Can they actually confirm that a particular model works with VirtualDub. Note that 600 models are totally different. They are not equipped with 3d comb filter.

I can try to buy VisionTek and see if it works.

-- merged --

I have a pending offer to buy sealed VisionTek TV Wonder HD 650 USB - Dual Tuner for $50 (shipping included). Should I go for it? I just want someone who owns the 650 USB product to confirm that it works with VD. My impression is 600 USB is mixed up with 650 USB here on forums. These are 2 entirely different products.

--Leonid

While the 600 and 650 are indeed different specific hardware, the drivers and era are pretty comparable. Almost identical in performance.
If you think the previous purchase was flawed/broken hardware, then go for the new one. $50 is a bargain.

Worst case is they act the same, and you can resell one here in the marketplace forum.

No mix-up. :)

Ok. Done deal. I have just purchased it. I will post my review when it has arrived.

Ok, I just got my VisiionTek HD 650 USB. It turns out that the hardware unit is exactly the same as from Diamond Multimedia one. Thus, it also didn't work with all the drivers I previously had. However, this VisionTek came with installation CD. And this installation CD did have the drivers dated back to 2007. I tried those, and - didn't work with VirtualDub. However, it did work with VirtualVCR. As of now this is the only program it works with. I did bunch of test captures. After about 15 seconds of the capture, it always drops one frame. I haven't done long captures yet though, we'll see. One problem though. In VirtualVCR I can't select the audio source to be from the USB device. It only gives me selection from the sound card. Not good. Also is there any way to tweak it such that I can manually adjust the gain and white peak. I also noticed that I can only capture in 720x480. No other resolution is allowed. I am posting 2 screen shots. One from LifeView Fly Video 3000 test capture with manual gain adjusted to 27 (out of 100) - thus the image is a bit darker. Another one is from ATI Combo. Both are done using S-Video input. Now I am convinced that ATI is also a kick ass product. Take a look at details on both screenshots.

Would you be interested in loaning me the extra card for a month or two? Maybe I can get farther with it than you've done, and create some guides in the process. I know quite a few tricks on how to get uncooperative cards to cooperate. In fact, if I like it, I may even buy it off of you, instead of just returning it.

PM me if interested. :thumb:

Looking at the images, the FlyVideo may have more accurate luminance (detail), but the color (chrominance) is awful.
The ATI has very clear and accurate color, and it's not dim and muddy.

Already PM-ed.

Can you tell me where in the picture you see awful chrominance? I might not know how to distinguish between good and bad color. Thank you.

The Fly Video is darker, smeared more, and appears to be somewhat inaccurate. Look in the corners, at the color patterns.
I don't see any way to explain it better.

Yes, I made it darker. I put gain to 27. Default is 50. Maximum is 100. When I record, I always put gain between 27 and 32. Otherwise white peak is spreading out all over.

Just letting you know that I've just mailed you the extra USB card. I will have to post (upload) the installation CD image. I will do it later on the weekend.

This is what I have accomplished. I was able to view/capture with VirtualVCR and also with DScaler.

I wasn't able to do it with iuVCR but I hadn't tried hard.

I also haven't looked at Chris TV. I might download this program and will try it.

VirtualDub isn't working with this.

Two things I'd like to point out. I was not able to route an audio through the capture device during the capture. In capture settings I could only see my sound card as audio input selection. However, I could hear audio on my computer that was plugged in to the device when I viewed the movie using DScaler.

Another thing is as always Gamma. Is there any way to control white peak? In DScaler I can control Gamma and reduce white peak but only during overlay mode. Unfortunately it doesn't affect the actual capture.

So if you also can look at these 2 things, that would be a great help.

--Leonid

I'll let you know what I find. :)