Elgato Video Capture is RUINING the quality of your VHS tapes!

if you want to capture video from an old  camcorder or VCR you can try using one of   these inexpensive USB video capture devices or if  you already have a setup for capturing video from   HDMI you can use one of these composite video  to HDMI converters and I have been able to get   good quality results from these they both sell  for about $10 on Amazon and that's a bargain but the problem with these devices is is  there is no consistency there are numerous   different manufacturers of these making  products that look similar on the outside   but have different internal components and  those frequently change over time so I can   buy one of these today and it works fine for  me but then a year later you can buy the same   thing and it can be either extremely  unreliable or may not even work at all there are alternative video digitization  methods which don't require a computer at   all such as this Sony DVD recorder which is  extremely easy to use and produces excellent   quality results but I do realize that  DVDs are starting to be considered an   obsolete format plus if the end goal is  to get the footage onto your computer it   does seem like extra work to burn a  DVD and then rip it in your computer so I've been looking for a USB video capture  device which is just as simple as one of these   inexpensive EasyCap devices but is more  trustworthy and dependable and comes with   easy to use software and that search led me  to this USB video capture device by Elgato it says "capture analog video for your Mac,  PC, iPad, and iPhone" and this sells for $87.99   on Amazon which is quite a bit more expensive  than these cheapo EasyCap things but hopefully   for that high price you get consistently  good quality and dependability and easy   to use software included and I've  also noticed several professional   video conversion services using this exact  device with its included software so if   it's good enough for the professionals  let's see if it's good enough for you inside the box you get the device itself some A/V  cables and a SCART adapter which will probably   leave 99% of Americans wondering what the heck  this thing is because we never used SCART here here's the device itself it has composite  video input S-video input and what will   hopefully be stereo audio input because  I know some of these capture devices have   what look like separate left and  right audio inputs but they really   just combine them together to mono  and on the other end is a USB plug and now here is the Elgato video capture  software running on my MacBook Pro a Windows   version is also available and I have  a video camera at the ready connected   via both composite and S-video and it's  switchable between 4:3 and 16:9 aspect   ratios so this will be a basic test of  all the functions of the capture device so this is my first test of the software it has  a time limit set to 60 minutes or you can choose   any range from 10 minutes to 180 minutes or  custom but I'll leave it 60 minutes for now   and there's the image from the camera I'll  move my hand in front of it to prove it's a   live image and it's selected composite I'll  switch it to S-video and that works as well we get a choice of 4:3 or 16:9 so if I change  the camera to 16:9 now it looks correct at that   aspect ratio but most analog video  you're going to be capturing is 4:3 so   that's what I'll go with for now and now it's  showing the level from the camera's microphone   the audio is not important for this first  test but at least it proves it works I'll   hit start recording and this will be our  first test of the video capture software now it gives us an option to trim the clip  but I'll just leave the whole thing in and   now what do we want to do with it? we  can play it with QuickTime we can add   it to iTunes or upload to YouTube  how about just saving it to a file?   I guess it already saved it to a file  it's saying it's in the Movies folder   it's an MPEG4 file at 1500 kilobits per  second which is pretty low 640x480 at   29.97 frames per second and the audio is 128  kilobits 48 kHz AAC which is also rather low now the video is set to widescreen and to  make sure the audio is coming through in   stereo I have it connected directly to  the output of this cassette player and   I'll let the announcers on the tape  tell you what you should be hearing "I am speaking from the left my name is David"  "I am speaking from the right my name is Mary"   "I am still on the left this is a quick channel  identification test" "and I am still on the right" the resolution of the widescreen video it  captured is still 640x480 which is rather   strange but it did at least flag the video  as containing a 16:9 aspect ratio so most   media player and video editor programs should  properly display in widescreen but some may not and that's it! it's very simple  software so you don't get any   choices of different resolutions or bitrates live camera feeds are all well and good but  the real test will be to see how it deals   with analog videotape formats like VHS and  Hi8 so let me give you some samples of that "these kids have it so much easier these  days" "here we go I had to walk to school   in the snow 12 miles" "uphill both ways"  "my kids funny kids don't you think?" "one thing I have taught them to respect  from day one is nature when we only ride   where we're supposed to and never off  the trail not only is it unsafe to   ride on unfamiliar ground it can also hurt  the environment if ATV riders don't stay on   the trail the ranger would end up prohibiting  ATVs altogether so if we want to keep on   riding out there we have to respect the  environment if I couldn't ride an ATV   I'd have to get back up on that horse and  I don't want that" "none of us want that" you may think that came out OK because that  looks similar to many other VHS captures   you've seen but now I'll give you a direct  comparison to how the DVD recorder captured it "we have to respect the environment if  I couldn't ride an ATV I'd have to get   back up on that horse and I don't  want that" "none of us want that" "finding an activity we all liked was  so important" "we like the fact that   this teaches our kids responsibility  just don't tell them that they think   we're only out here to have fun" "you  just have to ride safe" "and ride smart" I'd say that's a night and day difference  the image is much sharper and clear the   motion is a lot smoother and all that annoying  side-to-side wobbling in the image is gone the only advantage of the  Elgato is that it does not   block you from capturing MacroVision encoded video the image is a lot more stable when capturing  from a source that has a built-in time base   corrector such as this Hi8 camcorder but it still  has a lot of visible compression artifacts due   to the video bitrate being too low you can  really see it in the dark parts of the image "you are on tape... say hi to everybody"  "hello everybody... greetings from Bora Bora"   "OK, everybody on your P's  and Q's we're having video"   "act natural!" "if that's natural  I don't know what what to expect" "Lounge area... lots to do when you're not diving" and the Elgato software has just about the worst  de-interlacing I've ever seen during scenes that   contain a lot of movement it blends the fields  together causing motion blur and when there's   only a little movement it does nothing leaving  visible interlacing artifacts in the image and using the Elgato to capture video from  a vintage video game console or computer is   definitely out of the question as you'll see  in this clip I tried capturing from my Tandy   1000 if you're sensitive to flashing images you'll  definitely want to look away until the music stops yikes! OK, it's safe to watch again and here's   what it should look like as  captured by my DVD recorder at this point I'm sure a lot of people will  be telling me I should use OBS instead of   Elgato's own video capture software so that's  exactly what I did I installed it on my Core i5   Windows 10 PC and I configured it according to Jim  Leonard's excellent tutorial on how to set it up   to capture VHS and other analog video sources at  60 frames per second which I'll include a link to and while that has drastically improved  the video quality I'm getting from this   device it cannot solve the problem of the  video jittering and wobbling when capturing   from VHS and other analog videotape sources  that do not have a time base corrector in   fact it actually looks worse because now  we're seeing it in 60 frames per second "on October 13th, 1884 Pope Leo the 13th  had just finished saying mass and while   still in the presence of several cardinals  and bishops he fell into a deep ecstasy" needless to say I want to return this  and get my $90 back but instead I'm   going to take one for the team and crack  it open to show you what's inside first   I'll try prying it open at the  seam... oh, that wasn't too hard it's coming apart at least  on one side... there we go! it says OTG102 version 1.4 and it has a date  of May 19th 2021 and the one main chip which does   everything is a Conexant CX23103 and it turns out  that's exactly the same hardware as used in the   Diamond Multimedia VC500 which you can get for  less than half the price of the Elgato version and to be fair I contacted Elgato with my  concerns and criticisms of this device and   they wrote back with what is probably just  a boilerplate response saying "We appreciate   that there may be aspects of the product  that could be improved or modernized and   we value your input in this regard. However,  please understand that the nature of this   particular product means that significant  changes are not always feasible or in line   with its intended use. We strive to to balance  the need for functionality and reliability with   the desire for modern features and design  and in this case the product's original   design continues to best meet its purpose"  so basically they're not going to change it so needless to say I cannot recommend the Elgato  USB video capture device because despite its high   price and the ease of use of its included software  its video quality is not acceptable and I'm not   going to name any names but those professional  video conversion services that are using these   Elgato video capture devices are doing a  disservice to their customers by giving them   such inferior quality results and it may actually  be to blame for a lot of the problems they've been   experiencing in transferring VHS tapes except  if it's a tape caked in mold like this one "beautiful barbecue we had grilled  tuna last night it was delicious" "oh!" "my nephew just made me shit my  pants" "have to beep that audio out"

Channel: VWestlife

Views: 65,032

Keywords: elgato, video, capture, vhs, hi8, video8, 8mm, tape, vcr, analog, vhs-c, vhsc, svhs-c, svhsc, super, minidv, digital8, dv, recording, transfer, digitize, digitizing, gotmemories, emerald coast, service, professional, review, test, quality, usb, software, resolution, deinterlacing, dvd, copy, diamond, vc500, otg102, grabber

Id: 9NuquTDhjGY

Length: 14min 41sec (881 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 22 2024