Hi
just a heads up for people looking for a decent analogue video converter:
Aldi today started selling a "Tevion DVD Maker" for £29.99.
Picked one up about two hours ago.
First impressions are excellent: the quality is very good: it uses USB 2 and
can capture from either S-video or composite inputs and L/R audio (sent to
the line input on your soundcard).
The software included is not rubbish either: Power Producer 2 Gold: similar
to Ulead's DVD Movie creator.
Captured video is 720x576 25fps MPG2 @ 7Mbps
The capture device is standard Windows wdm so can be used in all compliant
apps (eg instead of webcam in Windows messenger)
I brought it to use with a Motion detection app that uploads images from an
analog video camera to a web page when it detects movement. I can now see
burglars leaving my house with sacks of loot while I'm on holiday
Very pleased with this bit of kit: the nearest equivalent I could find was
twice the price.
hth
Neil

"Gripper" wrote in message
...

I brought it to use with a Motion detection app that uploads images from
an
analog video camera to a web page when it detects movement. I can now see
burglars leaving my house with sacks of loot while I'm on holiday

...assuming they don't nick your camera and computer, of course. ;-)

I got one on Thursday but haven't had chance to dig deep into what it can
do. Is there any benefit to capturing YUV rather than MPEG2? I'll be editing
the output, and can't see a way to set the MPEG to I-frames only. The YUV
capture only appears to be at 29.97fps (even when PAL dimensions and
parameters are specified). I won't get chance to look into it properly for
another few days, but I'll report back when I do. (Accrington) Aldi had a
small pile of them available, so they aren't getting the attention they seem
to deserve. The woman looking at it at the same time I was seemed surprised
that there was nowhere to put the DVD. When I told her she needed a computer
too, she put it back.

On Sat, 19 Mar 2005 14:42:19 GMT, "G Hardy"
wrote:

The worst thing about Aldi selling tech equipment is it baffles the
staff g

I noticed they had the A4 graphics tablets back in so I went over to
buy one. The girl on the counter insisted I had to fill in a TV
licensing form to buy it "because it was computer innit".

It took quite a bit of work to explain that it's not actually a TV but
a drawing device like an etch-a-sketch. The "just because it's large
and rectangular doesn't make it a TV argument finally worked" ;-)

Aldi had a
small pile of them available, so they aren't getting the attention they seem
to deserve. The woman looking at it at the same time I was seemed surprised
that there was nowhere to put the DVD. When I told her she needed a computer
too, she put it back.

"G Hardy" wrote in message
...

OK - I've managed to have a bit more of a play with this bit of kit now.
It's a lot better than I was expecting - but it has one major letdown - the
capture software it comes with. It's geared towards a US market and so does
not have the full gamut of PAL settings. It also seems to be doing an
interlace-flicker-reduction thing where each field is averaged with the one
next to it - the result is that you have no field order woes but you are
losing some detail. It's easy to see why this has been done. Field order is
one of the things that causes most problems in DVD production, so with a
"product for the masses" like this, best to cover both of the available
field order settings by compromising quality. After all, the source is most
likely a cheap VHS tape, so who will notice?

This is a failing of the PVR software, not the driver or the unit itself,
because I used my regular capture software and it's worked brilliantly. It
took a bit of messing about but that's probably just a reflection on my
ability - I've never needed to capture anything other than DV, before.

All my naff old tapes will soon be winging their way onto DVD.

"G Hardy" wrote in message
...
snip

All my naff old tapes will soon be winging their way onto DVD.


We see to be back to that old chestnut about how long 'self-burn'
optical disks are likely to last and how they will fail if and when
they do, will they fail gracefully (like magnetic tape) or fail like a
light bulb does (pop, that's it, bin time and no going back)....

":::Jerry::::" wrote in message
...

"G Hardy" wrote in message
...
snip

All my naff old tapes will soon be winging their way onto DVD.


We see to be back to that old chestnut about how long 'self-burn'
optical disks are likely to last...

We weren't, until you brought it up!

This is the only tape I have of my son's very first day. Putting it on DVD
is an attempt to minimise the risk of it being eaten by a VCR. No more, no
less.

"G Hardy" wrote in message
...
":::Jerry::::" wrote in message
...

snip

We see to be back to that old chestnut about how long 'self-burn'
optical disks are likely to last...

We weren't, until you brought it up!

That's why I brought it up, seems to have been a timely reminder.....


This is the only tape I have of my son's very first day. Putting it
on DVD
is an attempt to minimise the risk of it being eaten by a VCR. No
more, no
less.


In which case, make doubly sure, dub an extra DVD and a VHS copy (or
even DV), then place one or more in a suitable safe place....

":::Jerry::::" wrote in message
...

"G Hardy" wrote in message
...
":::Jerry::::" wrote in message
...

snip

We see to be back to that old chestnut about how long 'self-burn'
optical disks are likely to last...

We weren't, until you brought it up!

That's why I brought it up, seems to have been a timely reminder.....


This is the only tape I have of my son's very first day. Putting it
on DVD
is an attempt to minimise the risk of it being eaten by a VCR. No
more, no
less.


In which case, make doubly sure, dub an extra DVD and a VHS copy (or
even DV), then place one or more in a suitable safe place....

Hmm - keep a lower-quality version as a backup? I think not. I'll stick with
the original plan and keep the high(!) quality VHS original out of VCRs
unless absolutely necessary, and make two DVD copies - one for duplicating,
one for watching.

"G Hardy" wrote in message
...
":::Jerry::::" wrote in message
...

snip

In which case, make doubly sure, dub an extra DVD and a VHS copy
(or
even DV), then place one or more in a suitable safe place....

Hmm - keep a lower-quality version as a backup? I think not. I'll
stick with
the original plan and keep the high(!) quality VHS original out of
VCRs
unless absolutely necessary, and make two DVD copies - one for
duplicating,
one for watching.


Well, it's your lose if it all goes tits up !..

In message , G Hardy
writes
"G Hardy" wrote in message
...

This is a failing of the PVR software, not the driver or the unit itself,
because I used my regular capture software and it's worked brilliantly. It
took a bit of messing about but that's probably just a reflection on my
ability - I've never needed to capture anything other than DV, before.

All my naff old tapes will soon be winging their way onto DVD.


Have you found a way to get this box to capture AVI files @ 720x576?

Despite setting this as the frame size all captured clips come out at
360x288. I need the larger size to import into Edition and merge with
other clips.

What do you use as your regular capture software?
Scenalyzer won't work with it as it is not a digital device.
--
Cyril