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Hi everyone.
Please excuse me if this is a silly question as I'm somewhat new to VMix and video hardware.
I've been trying (with no success) to find a way to playback a selection of old TV programs I have (all MPEG2), still images (JPG) and Shockwave Flash files (SWF) so that I can reproduce them in high quality (or as high quality as I can with PAL) on some old TVs in a small TV museum.
I've tried several devices to convert VGA to PAL (using as high a resolution as I possibly can) and although still pictures are perfect using my current Extron VSC700, any moving pictures are always very lumpy (intermittently missing frames) or jerky (where the field-to-field interlace seems to have gone awry) or there is tearing on the picture on moving images. (Often all three.) I've also tried NVIDIA and ATI cards with "composite video out" and they're not an awful lot better. I'm guessing this is simply due to mismatching frame rates between the free-running video and the free-running output of the video card.
So, my question is whether anybody could recommend some hardware that would work with a relatively modern PC (2 year old Core i3 HP machine 8GB RAM with Windows 10 64-bit) which would provide good quality still and moving images using s-video or composite video that I can then feed into the distribution system. Something that would provide a similar quality to a half decent DVD player. I'd like to spend up to about 250 pounds on a suitable device but trying to find anything modern that works with PAL seems next to impossible.
I did look at a Blackmagic Intensity Pro device but there were so many reviews that said they were awkward to get working and unreliable and best avoided so I'd mostly ruled them out. Matrox always seemed a good place to look for this sort of stuff but the Matrox MXO2 seems to be the last device that supported PAL and that doesn't have an official 64 bit Windows 10 driver.
I don't need video input of any description or any kind of hi-def signal (although if it has them anyway then that's okay) - Just a device to produce smooth DVD-quality s-video or composite video output and which is compatible with Windows 10 64 bit and VMix. The device can be internal or external, big or small.
So, if anyone had any ideas or recommendations then I'd be really pleased.
Many thanks for the help everyone.
Kind regards.
From Mike.
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You could potentially use any of the Blackmagic Decklink models, not just the Intensity Pro, and convert the SDI to composite. In the context of old TVs in a TV museum, you can pick up standard def (PAL) ex-broadcast SDI>analogue decoders pretty cheaply on ebay and make them part of the exhibits.
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Hi Zenvideo.
Many thanks for the reply. So, perhaps a "Blackmagic Decklink mini monitor" would be suitable? It looks like it was discontinued a few years back but from what I've seen Windows10 64-bit drivers might well be available. Are these generally considered fairly straightforward to get going and use? I don't mind a bit of fiddling about but those other Blackmagic cards (particularly the USB 3 version) seem to generate a lot of anger on forums. :-)
Thanks Zenvideo.
Kind regards.
From Mike.
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 1 user thanked Peter B for this useful post.
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1 user thanked streammediaevent for this useful post.
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Mikey405 wrote: I don't mind a bit of fiddling about but those other Blackmagic cards (particularly the USB 3 version) seem to generate a lot of anger on forums. :-) I think much of that comes from the fact that the USB3 Intensity Shuttle was quite an early USB3 device, designed when there was only one actual USB3 host chipset available (from NEC), and then subsequently released host chipsets (including the Intel one) had compatibility issues. Different drivers helped, and the Shuttle hardware had a re-design somewhere along the way so that later models don't have the same issues as early ones, but it's left a lot of confusion due to all the different possible permutations out there, and a lack of clear documentation as to what works with what. I have one of those very early ones (and some spare NEC USB3 cards with which they work fine), but these days I find it generally works OK on the built-in USB host chipsets (from Intel) that are in my i7-6700 desktop and laptop PCs with Windows 10. I mainly use it a test signal generator (ie. short term use) and I'm not sure I'd trust it for 24/7 operation - I've never tried it - whereas I used to use PCI SD Decklink cards for layback to DigiBeta and had good reliability. The Mini-monitor would be OK as an SDI source, and is certainly the cheapest if buying new (or possibly used), but there's a Decklink HD Extreme 2 on ebay UK right now for a Buy It Now of £79. Equally, the PCIe Intensity Pro would probably be fine too. The older one is all you need, not the current 4K version.
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1 user thanked zenvideo for this useful post.
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Mike
I have owned TV studios for 20+ years, and I have a warehouse of old unused equipment (should stick it all on ebay, but don't have the time). I don't know if there is anything you are particularly looking for, for the museum? What I do have is loads of old SD-SDI to CVBS converters, which you are more than welcome to have one or two. I can strongly recommend the 'Decklink Mini Monitor' as a generic vMix output device, I use them all the time as you get both HDMI and SD/HD/3G SDI out, and they also come with both full height and low profile brackets (oh and a 4Gb SD card). I am just down the road in Milton Keynes, or would be happy to stick a SDI to CVBS converter in a Jiffy bag.
Keith
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1 user thanked kgoodyer for this useful post.
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Hi Keith, Zen, Streammedia and Peter.
Many thanks for all the answers. I think I've made up my mind on one (or perhaps even two) of those little Decklink Minimonitors. They sound perfect for the job. Has anyone tried one with Windows10 64 bit? I'm guessing they should be okay with a Windows 8 driver though.
Keith, thank you very much for your very kind offer of an SDI-CVBS converter - I'll send you a PM. The device isn't really for anything "professional" in that sense of the word, it will be used mainly to provide old programs to some early colour TVs and then further down-converted to 405 lines to show the programs on some really old black and white TVs.
Thank you again everyone for the assistance. It's much appreciated.
I'll report back how I get on.
Kind regards.
From Mike.
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Rank: Member
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Joined: 8/31/2018(UTC)
Posts: 10
Location: Solihull
Thanks: 4 times
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Rank: Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 8/31/2018(UTC)
Posts: 10
Location: Solihull
Thanks: 4 times
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Well, thanks to the advice of the good people on this forum and in particular Keith (KGoodyer) I now have lovely smooth video for the TVs in the museum and I couldn't be happier.
Many thanks for the help everyone. It's much appreciated.
Kind regards.
From Mike.
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