2007-06-20, 08:31 PM
As I look through my old VCR collection, I've discovered that many of them are beginning to get old and worn out. So I decided to see if I couldn't record them onto my computer using a video capture card and my VCR so that I could watch them using my computer and also back them up onto DVD's before the tapes wear out.
My setup is as follows:
Athlon X2 4800+
2GB PC3200 DDR
2 X Geforce 7800 GT SLI
10K Raptor 120 GB HD
Audigy Xifi Extreme
ATI Theater Pro 550
Win XP SP2
I've updated my drivers to their latest, including directx and I am also using the latest version of GBPVR downloaded from the website this morning.
My first attempt is using my old copy of the ken burns civil war documentaries. Those are probably my oldest and most worn tapes. They all play well and have no problems, but you can tell they are a bit old. When I put the first tape in, the video was perfect, but the audio was a bit low and extremely choppy. I tried the second tape which worked perfectly. Strong audio and video, no problems. So I put the first tape back in and connected it back to a TV to see if it was the tape that was causing the audio problems. It played back perfectly, with no choppy audio or pitch problems. When I recconnected it back to the ATI Pro 550 on my computer and played the first video, the choppy audio returns. I've since tried several other VCR tapes and have not had the problem.
Here's what I know:
1. It is not a problem with the tape. The tape played back perfectly with no audio problems while connected to a TV using the same VCR.
2. It is not hardware related since only this tape does it.
I think it might be related to the volume of the tape. It seems to play back at a lower volume then the other tapes. I have also noticed that when there is a break in the other tapes I have tried, such as at the beginning or at quiet parts in the video, the audio playback begins to become choppy. The problem is present in both LiveTV and recorded playback from the computer. It's almost like the computer has an audio compressor built into it, and when the volume gets to low, it tries to cut it out or something. At louder parts of the tape, the choppiness diminishes and in some cases almost dissappears.
It's not related to codec issues as all of the different audio codecs I have tried exhibit the same problem. I was not able to find a similar problem on the forums. Any ideas?
My setup is as follows:
Athlon X2 4800+
2GB PC3200 DDR
2 X Geforce 7800 GT SLI
10K Raptor 120 GB HD
Audigy Xifi Extreme
ATI Theater Pro 550
Win XP SP2
I've updated my drivers to their latest, including directx and I am also using the latest version of GBPVR downloaded from the website this morning.
My first attempt is using my old copy of the ken burns civil war documentaries. Those are probably my oldest and most worn tapes. They all play well and have no problems, but you can tell they are a bit old. When I put the first tape in, the video was perfect, but the audio was a bit low and extremely choppy. I tried the second tape which worked perfectly. Strong audio and video, no problems. So I put the first tape back in and connected it back to a TV to see if it was the tape that was causing the audio problems. It played back perfectly, with no choppy audio or pitch problems. When I recconnected it back to the ATI Pro 550 on my computer and played the first video, the choppy audio returns. I've since tried several other VCR tapes and have not had the problem.
Here's what I know:
1. It is not a problem with the tape. The tape played back perfectly with no audio problems while connected to a TV using the same VCR.
2. It is not hardware related since only this tape does it.
I think it might be related to the volume of the tape. It seems to play back at a lower volume then the other tapes. I have also noticed that when there is a break in the other tapes I have tried, such as at the beginning or at quiet parts in the video, the audio playback begins to become choppy. The problem is present in both LiveTV and recorded playback from the computer. It's almost like the computer has an audio compressor built into it, and when the volume gets to low, it tries to cut it out or something. At louder parts of the tape, the choppiness diminishes and in some cases almost dissappears.
It's not related to codec issues as all of the different audio codecs I have tried exhibit the same problem. I was not able to find a similar problem on the forums. Any ideas?