Issues in capturing TG (and PCFX video).

[td741]

I'm running into issues trying to capture video from my TG and PCFX (and several other consoles older consoles).  (I'd rather capture the video from the consoles themselves instead of emulators.)

I currently have 3 capture devices:
-An analog video to firewire device (Pyro A/V Link not quite the same as this model: http://www.adstech.com/products/API-558-EFS/intro/API-558_intro.asp?pid=API-558-EFS)
-A "computer less" pinnacle video-transfer device: http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/Home+Video/Studio+Family/Instant+Video+Recorder.htm
-An an EyeTV hybrid video tuner: http://www.elgato.com/elgato/na/mainmenu/products/hybrid/product1.en.html

The Pyro A/V Link will record video from the consoles but it glitches every minute or so:
Examples on Sega Master System: http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-5869888825088850608&q=source%3A003238456617692569006&hl=en (first example around 1:06 you get weird artifacting and then sounds goes off for about 20 seconds)
It's more tolerable on some Vic-20 footage, sound just goes weird every 15-17 seconds for a second or two: http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=2511325464732023392&q=source%3A003238456617692569006&hl=en

I don't have any TG footage yet.

The Video Transfer just doesn't detect the video signals from any old consoles I tried (except my 3D0) and won't begin recording.

The tuner seems to be more forgiving, but it's currently being used as my PVR and is getting enough use that I don't want to try and move it around to record the occasional video.  And I would like to just use the Video Transfer for recording which saves me from dragging my consoles two my computer (or vice-versa).

I was suggested to try and use a TBC, but I don't feel like spending a bunch of cash on something that just might not work.

I looked around and here's what I can find:
90$: http://www.converters.tv/products/ntsc_to_ntsc/55.html   (Doesn't say "Time Base Correction" just sync restoration?)
270$: http://www.hallresearch.com/page/Products/TBC-100

Some of the PAL/SECAM/NTSC converters say they have time base correction built in and vary from 130$ to 250$.  This could work if I'm able to go from NTSC to NTSC (but I doubt it):
-http://www.world-import.com/international-kdv-6000-pal-video-converter.htm
-http://www.220-electronics.com/kdv5000.htm
-http://www.world-import.com/cmd1500.htm

I wasn't able to find the one here: http://www.unterzuber.com/TBC.html .  The company that made the video scaler with TBC functionality discontinued their video conferencing to go with audio conferencing.

I'd rather not spend over 100$ for an experiment.

[ooPo]

Sometimes it can be hard to capture video from classic systems, and if you can it typically doesn't look too good. This is because they did some trickery to display a non-interlaced picture at 60hz on an interlaced screen.

Older video game consoles such as the Nintendo Entertainment System generated a non-standard version of NTSC or PAL in which the two fields did not interlace, and instead were displayed directly on top of each other, keeping the orientation of the scanlines constant. This would be 240p and 288p respectively.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/240p

This is called 240p. Basically they would draw half the screen (240 lines), then draw the next screen's lines on top of those previous lines, instead of just below, by manipulating the length of the vsync pulse by half a scanline. You see thicker than normal black scanlines between thse image lines because they're now being skipped. Most TVs back then had no problem displaying this mode because they were analog and could handle slight deviations from the standard. Devices today tend to assume 480i (or worse, 480p @ 30hz with a crappy internal deinterlacer) for all things NTSC. This can result in blurry images or the image will jump up and down quickly. Or not display at all.

What this means is that you have to be very careful when you're looking for a capture device. Typically this mode isn't listed, or it is listed incorrectly. Even the top-end scalers today tend to do it incorrectly. The reason why the xrgb is still quite useful is that it understands this mode and will convert it to a mode modern equipment understands.

Here is a site that talks about capturing 240p and suggests hardware to use:

http://yokotate.hazard-city.de/

It is more geared towards rotating the image in realtime for shooters, but it still has useful information.