ATI AIW Radeon 7500 & Capture

[kuphryn]

Hi.

I am considering buy an ATI AIW Radeon 7500 with capture capability. Basically, I will use it to capture vhs movies and movies from directv into vcd and then burn it.

I would like to know what is the best way to capture + encode with the best quality including what program I will need and technique. Secondly, how much diskspace will I need and how long does it usually take to capture a 2 hour movie from capture intil burn time.

Thanks,
Kuphryn

[EighteenthVoid]

well, if it's anything like the all-in-wonder ve sitting in my pc right now, it should have built in mpeg-2 compression (very good), as well as come with the ati multimedia center. the tv function has a digital vcr. the program has settings for compression control, with a max resolution of 640x240 and up to 8mbps bitrate (variable option also available, recommended)
TO record a vcd compatible stream directly from tv, use 352x240, mpeg-1 only, and set the bitrate to a constant 1150kbps (1.15mbps). the quality however is very low, tho will produce a strictly compliant vcd stream
But i'd reccomend making use of the mpeg-2 compression and making a SuperVCD stream: 352x240 (altho the standard svcd resolution is 480x480, the smaller resolution is accepted, and recommended due to the limited resolution of vhs and cable) and up to 2.6mbps variable bitrate. the video will be much better, but nonly beable to fit about 35minutes on one disc.
And i'd also like the mention that the AIW cards are pretty decent for cheap capture cards, not the very best, but i'm pleased with the quality.

[kuphryn]

Okay. Thanks.

Kuphryn

[Apnoea]

I must say though, I have an ATI Radeon 64mb DDR VIVO which is _supposed_ to be able to take composite in from video etc and capture nicely into MPEG2.
I never managed to get it to work properly though! The picture quality was awful- as though it hadn't tuned in properly, even though it was fed from a digibox with a perfect picture on my tv!
Said composite would capture nicely with my separate TV card.
No idea what went wrong. Neither did ATI.
I've never heard of anything else go wrong with anybody else's though!
Apnoea