Video capture device for Mac Book Pro

[DeepS]

Hello All

I am relatively new to the Mac world (~6 months) and after playing around with capturing and editing video from the camcorder using FireWire, I would like to purchase a video capture device that allows me to input video from the VCR (via s-video or composite) and stereo sound.

A quick look on the web suggests that the Elegato range would fit my requirements and give me DTT as well.

Can anyone recommend a device that will meet my needs?

DeepS

[dejongj]

I've got an Elgato Hybrid for exactly that reason! It allows for Analogue TV reception, DVB-T (Freeview) TV reception, Cable TV Reception (need a cable ofcourse), s-Video input, composite input and audio input...Quite a lot in that little USB stick....

Can't recommend it enough! A bonus was that I can watch the tennis whilst in the office as well

[DeepS]

Thanks for the reply. I just noticed that the EyeTV Hybrid can handle HDTV.
Has anyone tried it to receive the BBC HD DTT channel when it was running? Did it work?

DeepS

[dejongj]

Whilst in the Southend office I was able to pick up the BBC HD Channel, with the supplied little antenna!!! You can't view it live inside EyeTV, but you are able to record the transport stream and play it back....

I think Elgato is working on creating a h.264 decoder...Stay tuned for the next version...

[sammy4499771]

I have a Canopus ADVC110. Its a very relable product. It's bus powered and you can also bypass macrovision on it too.

[DeepS]

After doing some more digging into the video capture devices, I have come up with a few more questions.

Is there any real difference in capture 'quality' between the different devices? Of course quality is subjective and the source material will be VCR tapes.

Does the Elgato or Canopus offload the processing required for video capture on to the cpu?

DeepS

[SamRadford]

I use an ElGato EyeTV200 (Firewire) to transfer video from VCR tapes. No longer available new but may be available used.

[dejongj]

Originally Posted by DeepS

After doing some more digging into the video capture devices, I have come up with a few more questions.

Is there any real difference in capture 'quality' between the different devices? Of course quality is subjective and the source material will be VCR tapes.

Does the Elgato or Canopus offload the processing required for video capture on to the cpu?

DeepS

I'm certain there is a quality difference, but don't think you can notice it with VCR as input. That's why I still got a fantastic JVC Super VHS recorder/play with s-Video output....

Regarding the off-load to the CPU, I don't actually know! I've never noticed any slowdown or dropped frames on my macbook whilst recording and doing other stuff....Think it is definitely a non issue with the Core2Duo