Capture Cards for the 360, (or even PS2) Test results look n

[Fulgore]

I was checking out Youtube videos and trying to find the best capture card quailty I could find and so far the winner is one called Dazzle Platinum (just search on google if your interested in buying it, should only run you $70 on amazon) I'm not 100% on buying it just yet, still want to go through more youtube movies to see if their is one better but the setup for it is easiest out of the rest and cheapest so...

Just thought I'd give people a heads up in case they want to record/take screenshots like I do...I'm sick of having awesome finds only to not be able to take screens like pc users or record either cuz HD recorders don't even exist yet

That Dazzle Platinum basically uses S-Video which is as good as you'll get at the moment, Component quality still costs anywhere between $500-$1000 for the device

[Fulgore]

I may go a different route now that I'm learning their are HDMI Capture Cards for the PC Meaning that you could Play your 360 (you would need an Elite since it has the HDMI output) and you would watch your gameplay on the PC while recording (you would have the VGA cable from the PC to your TV) or you could simply use the HDMI output on the Capture Card into your HD TV (LCD or Plasma) and play as normal and then when you wanted to record switch back to the PC and view gameplay while recording.....

Hope that didn't confuse anyone.... Oh, and that HDMI Capture Card is called Blackmagic...goes for around $250

[Sekani]

I looked that card up, and there's a $349 blackmagic that accepts component/S-video/HDMI inputs. Sounds like a better deal than buying a 360 elite.

[Fulgore]

It is better actually........I was thinking of going with that one as well, as long as it can record in high def without crashing my computer...I'm still looking into that part......

[Akaimizu]

That price sounds about right, when trying to find a component cable capture card. When I have the money to blow, I'll probably look into one. Heck, it might be closer to a price drop than I think. A Capture card, that can handle all those inputs, has long term possible uses. Overall video standards don't change very often.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Akaimizu on 2007-05-09 08:54 ]</font>

[Sekani]

Recording in actual HD would require an industrial-strength PC; mine is good, but not that good. I'm just hoping that the picture quality isn't too horrible once it gets scaled down. Most of my recordings would be just thrown up on the internet somewhere, so I don't really need the best resolution.

[Akaimizu]

Some of that depends on the hardware and how good is its realtime compression. Still shots, easy. Full motion video....hmmm. Tough to tell, especially when one doesn't know how much work the Capture Card is going to do first. That is, the case of realtime compression. Is the cost to buy such a capture card also include the hardware ready to work the compression in a way that can actually require less PC hardware to manage.

Case in Point, the FCC didn't work with companies over a decade or so, in order to be able to fit HD television within the same Band limit normal TV goes over, for nothing. If it includes some form of decoding/encoding, that Black box might be quite a value, at that price.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Akaimizu on 2007-05-09 09:44 ]</font>

[Sekani]

The Blackmagic I know has real-time hardware compression, which should save quit a bit of CPU power. The video codec they use outputs something like 12 MB per second, so I won't need a ton of hard drive space either.

I'm really interested in seeing how well the stills come out though. A few high-quality widescreen stills will be worth the price to me. And I can hopefully use it with my other consoles as well.

[natewifi]

Buy something nice like clothes, accessories, or furniture or something, spending 300 dollars on a device that just takes pictures seems like a waiste of money.

[CyarVictor]

Actually not. Apparently Youtube may start paying people who post videos who reach a certain amount of hits, eventually becoming like online series and what not. Also, areas in 3D, video, and compositing make good use of video capture hardware. It's not a waste. One can say buying accessories, clothes, or furniture is a waste since there are those who buy those items, only use it once and not bother with it afterwards