#Where is PCI capture??
4 messages in this thread
Robb, there is a PCI based video capture board. The Matrox Marvel II board.
It comes in several different flavors such as with RGB, MPEG decoder, and other
options. I got mine about a week ago and love the quality but am not seeing
the increased frame rate capture advertised, even though it's running in a
Pentium 90 with 32mb ram and 18gb fast & wide scsi drives. I suspect VidCap
software myself. I am looking for an upgraded version of Vidcap if anyone
knows an alternative, that would be great as well.
Also, a company called AITech has released a PCI capture board but I can't seem
to locate one to buy.
Dean
The MPEG "decoder" is for MPEG playback correct? I have the Matrox literature
but it states only "frame" capture. I need an MPEG recorder and player
(codec). I know the RealMagic Lite ($440.00 CDN) with play back full screen
MPEG.
Any suggestions?
If you don't mind, where did you get that price of $440.00 Cdn.
Thanks
Hi David, OK first MPEG is not so much a specific standard but a set of
guidelines regarding compressed video. Also, MPEG was originally designed to
be a "hardware" codec, meaning that a chip is required to both encode and
decode the video stream. However, there are some software MPEG codecs starting
to emerge (most noteable by XING software). The software solutions are VERY
slow to encode, even with a fast machine but is relatively cost effective.
XING sells it's software package for about $1000 U.S..
Personally, I use the Optibase MPEG encoding system to encode MPEG video
streams because I can vary the data rates to match the device being used to
playback the video. For instance, CD-I is a single speed player so I use 1.375
megabits per second data rate and still get 30fps and full screen NTSC video.
The RealMagic card can handle up to about 200mbs and plays back video on the
VGA screen using the VESA feature connector on your existing VGA card.
RealMagic essentially overlays the NTSC video on top of your VGA signal. MPEG
really starts looking great when you hit the 400mbs and above rates. Most
people cannot tell that the video is compressed unless they are told what to
look for and can see the original uncompressed video to compare with. By the
way, just so you know, I spent about $40,000 U.S. to build my MPEG encoding
system, so it is not cheap.
The Matrox Marvel will not encode MPEG but will DECODE MPEG, and does a really
nice job of VGA playback. Unlike the RealMagic, the Marvel IS your VGA card so
you don't have to screw with the feature connector nightmares.
My only beef with the Marvel is that although they say that it can capture AVI
(Video for Windows) files, it does not work correctly as the video will not
sync with the audio. My guess is that you are going to see a boatload of MPEG
decoder cards in the near future, with vastly reduced prices. Sigma Designs
just announced a MPEG encoding system to sell for about 4k u.s. coming REAL
SOON NOW.
Hope this helps, good luck
Dean