how capture cards differ?

TeeJay wrote on 10/30/2005, 4:10 PM

Just wondering how firewire cards differ. What makes one better than another?

For example, I have one integrated into my motherboard and another PCI Firewire which was very inexpensive. Now, both cards perform extremely reliably in that they never drop frames, so this leaves me to wonder, what's the difference. Is capturing video all a case of "it either does or it doesn't" or does the quality of the video differ through different cards?

Just curious.

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 10/30/2005, 4:38 PM

The 1394 cards differ in their chips, and that's overall about it. OHCI, or "Open Host Controller Interface" cards are essentially identical. Cards containing chips made by TI are generally quite satisfactory, that would include SIIG, Orange Micro, Ratok, ADS, Unibrain, Koutech/Kouwell.
Cards that contain chips made by VIA, Lucent, and other lesser companies often have problems because they often try to circumvent the OHCI verification process.

The card doesn't know/care that it's video coming in. It's just data, packaged straight from the camcorder. For all the card knows, it's video, audio, jpegs, whatever; it's only data. There is no quality difference in any image from any OHCI card. So, from the perspective of what makes one OHCI/1394/iLink/Firewire card different from another, the only answer that matters much is the type of chip it has on the card.

Pinnacle, Matrox, and Canopus all make video-specific cards that also act as hardware accelerators; these cards cannot be used to connect a 1394 drive, network, or other device. they are video specific. These cards cannot be used with Vegas in most instances, as Vegas does not offer a HAL/Hardware Application Layer.

HTH

TeeJay wrote on 10/30/2005, 5:52 PM

Thanks for your in depth reply Spot.