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Liberty Baptist Church  
#1 Posted : Tuesday, December 1, 2015 10:16:54 AM(UTC)
Liberty Baptist Church

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Am currently using 2 Sony EVI-D70 PTZ cameras with USB capture devices. Quality is less than desired. Are there any capture cards that I can install that will accept the camera composite (RCA) outputs directly instead of the low cost usb capture devices? Running Win7.

Liberty Baptist Church
Media Ministry
IceStream  
#2 Posted : Tuesday, December 1, 2015 11:56:16 AM(UTC)
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@ Liberty Baptist Church

Without knowing too much about your PC's specs or your budget, it's difficult to know what to actually recommend...
There are lots of options from older 'Viewcast Osprey PCI' capture cards, to newer USB3 capture boxes, but typically, 'composite' video capture is the oldest and poorest video quality of video, so you may or may not see a lot of improvement depending on what exactly you are using now.

I think the 'best bang for your buck' would be the Magewell XI006AUSB Capture Box which will give you 6 SD inputs over USB 3 (if you are considering adding more SD cameras):

http://www.magewell.com/xi006ausb
http://www.bhphotovideo....b_6_channel_usb_3_0.html

If your PC has an available PCI slot (dated technology), you may be able to find a deal on eBay for an older Osprey 440 card (although they are still available 'NEW' on special order from B&H):

http://www.ospreyvideo.c...p/products/legacy-series
http://www.ebay.com/itm/...dcd8a:g:EzgAAOSwHnFVhDP-
http://www.bhphotovideo....L56gWIsPam902BoC8JXw_wcB

Then there are Blackmagic Design products, although I am not a big fan, they do have a broad range of products that might suit you well like the 'Intensity Pro4K' or 'Intensity Shuttle' which will accommodate multi-format video:

https://www.blackmagicde.../products/intensitypro4k
http://www.bhphotovideo....4k_intensity_pro_4k.html
https://www.blackmagicde...om/ca/products/intensity
http://www.bhphotovideo....U_Intensity_Shuttle.html

And that is just a short list of your options, so you'll need to do more research and figure out exactly what will work best for you.

Hope that helps some.


Ice
Liberty Baptist Church  
#3 Posted : Tuesday, December 1, 2015 4:35:56 PM(UTC)
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Ice,

Thank you for providing this list with their links. Much appreciated. I will review the list plus our PC specs and our vMix input settings.

LBC Media Ministry
Liberty Baptist Church  
#4 Posted : Tuesday, December 1, 2015 5:29:50 PM(UTC)
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Right now we are using the basic free version of vMix which has a maximum resolution of 768 x 576. Would we get a better quality video input /output if we upgraded to the Basic HD version which has a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080. Or am I not correctly understanding the whole resolution thing?

LBC Media Ministry
Liberty Baptist Church  
#5 Posted : Tuesday, December 1, 2015 9:33:13 PM(UTC)
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Our PC specs are: Intel i7 2.93 GHz with 8GB Ram 64 bit win7 We have another PC available with Intel i3 3.40 GHz 8 GB RAM win 7 64 bit.
One thing I did notice is that I should be using an input and output resolution of 640 x 360 with 16:9 aspect ratio. We will give this a try.

LBC Media Ministry
Kelvin  
#6 Posted : Tuesday, December 1, 2015 10:15:25 PM(UTC)
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Ultimately, the overall video quality is determined by the weakest link. In your case, the highest resolution you will be able to capture from your NTSC camera is 720x480 (typical SD resolution). Upgrading to Basic HD will allow you to output a higher resolution, but the input will still be the same SD resolution unless you upgrade your cameras, capture device and possibly computer system to HD (more money). For many situations, SD is adequate for web use. Just look at how many youtube videos have a maximum resolution of 360p or 480p.
SportsNetUSA.net  
#7 Posted : Wednesday, December 2, 2015 2:52:56 AM(UTC)
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Liberty Baptist Church wrote:
I should be using an input and output resolution of 640 x 360 with 16:9 aspect ratio. We will give this a try.

LBC Media Ministry


You can also use 768 x 432 which is also a true 16:9 aspect ratio. I've used it for a couple SD football game broadcasts this month, and it looks good for SD using vMix Basic.

As Kelvin alluded to, upgrading your cameras and capture might be the next steps to look at. I'd do that before upgrading the computer. Though not the fastest, your i7 should be able to handle a basic 2 camera live stream in HD.
Liberty Baptist Church  
#8 Posted : Wednesday, December 2, 2015 2:50:07 PM(UTC)
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Would I get a better quality video if i switched to S-Video rather than the composite output of these 2 Sony PTZ cameras?
IceStream  
#9 Posted : Wednesday, December 2, 2015 5:53:39 PM(UTC)
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@ Liberty Baptist Church

Perhaps we should first establish just what your current image is before making recommendations on what it will take to improve it.
Can you provide a screen shot or a link to one of your services?
And secondly, what USB capture devices are you currently using?

Typically, S-video falls between composite and component, so technically it should be better than than a regular RCA composite signal, but you'll need a capture device that can do S-video.
There are many variables that determine 'quality', not the least of which is your own opinion, but as alluded to in an earlier post, you'll only be as strong as your weakest link, if we can figure out what that is, you will be well on your way at knowing what to do to improve your picture quality.



Ice
Liberty Baptist Church  
#10 Posted : Wednesday, December 2, 2015 8:02:46 PM(UTC)
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Ice, We are using these 2 capture devices (both have S-Video inputs plus we do have cables so I quit using composite)

KWorld USB 2.0 Expert Video DVD Maker KW-USB2800D
Hauppauge 610 USB-Live 2 Analog Video Digitizer and Video Capture Device

On another note, VMix is no longer giving us an image from the K-World device. Vmix sees it in the Camera Input drop down menu and opens it as an input but with no image. The other one is working ok.

I did notice that i had the resolutions set wrong so that has been corrected. Will stream / record Wednesday evening to check results.

LBC
SportsNetUSA.net  
#11 Posted : Wednesday, December 2, 2015 9:51:31 PM(UTC)
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@Liberty BC

Perhaps both of your capture devices are using the same USB Bus. Go to Control Panel/System/Device Manager then take a look at the USB Root Hub. See if both your KWorld USB 2.0 and the Hauppauge are on the same USB Root.

Maybe on different buses both capture devices will work properly.
Liberty Baptist Church  
#12 Posted : Wednesday, December 2, 2015 10:03:42 PM(UTC)
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Will check that out but one is on the front of the computer and one is on the back. I assume that would be 2 different busses. Both were working a week ago in the same set-up.

Liberty Media Ministry
IceStream  
#13 Posted : Wednesday, December 2, 2015 10:17:20 PM(UTC)
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@ Liberty Baptist Church

Do both cameras give the same result with the KWorld device?
It has mixed reviews on newegg...
I suspect a broken or defective device as opposed to a vMix issue, especially if this only started after you switched to S-video.
Does the composite RCA connection still work?

Other than that, are you generally pleased with the image quality of the S-video over the composite?


Ice
Liberty Baptist Church  
#14 Posted : Thursday, December 3, 2015 9:33:19 AM(UTC)
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Ice,
The device quit working properly last week while still in the composite mode. Does not capture either camera. Tried another device i have on hand and it did not work either. I will buy another device (can you suggest a quality one, if that even exists in these analog to digital devices).
The Hauppage device accepted S-Video input with no problem but I am reluctant to add another one just like it in case vMix cannot tell the difference between the two of them.
Definitely will go with S-Video as I can see a difference especially using correct resolution this time.

LBC Media
hellokitty  
#15 Posted : Friday, December 4, 2015 3:16:21 AM(UTC)
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why dont you spend like $200 and get 2 logitich c-920 and stop messing around with old junk.
SportsNetUSA.net  
#16 Posted : Friday, December 4, 2015 4:08:51 AM(UTC)
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@Liberty BC

If you are looking for another USB SD capture device to replace the KWorld, try the EZ CapTV. Tom Sinclair has them on his site.

http://easternshorebroadcasting...ry/capture-cardsdevices/

I've also used the Elgato video capture with solid results. However, the EZ CapTV is only $36.95 compared to about $74 for the Elgato. Tom has said you can use more than one at a time. You can also find the EZ CapTV on eBay but make sure it's really the EZ CapTV.

Liberty Baptist Church  
#17 Posted : Friday, December 4, 2015 9:55:56 AM(UTC)
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SportsNetUSA.net wrote:
@Liberty BC

If you are looking for another USB SD capture device to replace the KWorld, try the EZ CapTV. Tom Sinclair has them on his site.

http://easternshorebroadcasting...ry/capture-cardsdevices/

I've also used the Elgato video capture with solid results. However, the EZ CapTV is only $36.95 compared to about $74 for the Elgato. Tom has said you can use more than one at a time. You can also find the EZ CapTV on eBay but make sure it's really the EZ CapTV.



One of the capture devices that quit working on this PC is the EZ -CapTV. I am ready to go with the Elgato this time.

LBC Media
SportsNetUSA.net  
#18 Posted : Friday, December 4, 2015 2:56:58 PM(UTC)
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@Liberty BC

At $74 for the Elgato, you are getting close to the price of a new Logitech C920 as Hellokitty mentioned.

Is going with a USB cam such as the Logitech C920 a possibility for your setup? It would give you HD. I have a Logitech C930. Don't use it much but it's compatible with everything.
Liberty Baptist Church  
#19 Posted : Friday, December 4, 2015 4:58:49 PM(UTC)
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We are using 2 PTZ cameras which are doing the job we need. We will go with S-Video for now. If we were to change cameras it would be for a PTZ upgrade, not static web cams. Thanks for the suggestions but web cams will simply not do the job for us. We take a close-up head to toes shot for the message part of our services and need to pan left/right as the Pastor moves about.

LBC Media
Liberty Baptist Church  
#20 Posted : Saturday, December 12, 2015 10:26:13 PM(UTC)
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Installed S-Video cables on both cameras. A noticeable improvement in quality has been achieved. We appreciate all the feedback and suggestions. Thank you!

LBC Media Ministry
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