VCR to PC

KurnDerak

I'm looking for something that will allow me to use my VCR and possibly Xbox so that the video/audio goes through my PC. I've seen a few things like Dazzle DVD Recorder Plus Video Capture and Encore USB Audio/Video Grabber . I'm not looking to put a lot of money into this, just something good enough so that I can get rid of my old tube TV that is taking up a lot of space.

I'm really not sure what I'm looking for as far as quality for a low price, or if it is just as simple as plug this in and my monitor is now a TV per se. I assume it is that simple, but sometimes technology is deceptively difficult. I'm also not sure what sort of difference there would be between a PCI card and a usb cable for this.

ben0207

KurnDerak wrote: »

I'm looking for something that will allow me to use my VCR and possibly Xbox so that the video/audio goes through my PC. I've seen a few things like Dazzle DVD Recorder Plus Video Capture and Encore USB Audio/Video Grabber . I'm not looking to put a lot of money into this, just something good enough so that I can get rid of my old tube TV that is taking up a lot of space.

I'm really not sure what I'm looking for as far as quality for a low price, or if it is just as simple as plug this in and my monitor is now a TV per se. I assume it is that simple, but sometimes technology is deceptively difficult. I'm also not sure what sort of difference there would be between a PCI card and a usb cable for this.

Assuming it's an Xbox 360 you can plug it straight into the monitor using a VGA cable. I would advise against using a capture card for playing games, as the lag is crippling.


And your monitor might even have an S-Video or component port for the VCR, too.

bowen

USB is going to have slower transfer speeds in general than a card based solution. The Encore cable you linked is a pretty good deal for what you're probably looking to do. You'll probably have to buy Nero or some other editor to modify it.

KurnDerak

Ideally what I'm looking to do is plug in the VCR somehow and just play it through a media player. I will most likely transfer some VHS over to DVD if they are good enough quality, but I still enjoy the nostalgicness of putting in a VHS.

I currently use 2 monitors, neither of which have an s-video in and my xbox is the old giant brick, not the 360. I also have an SNES that I currently have hooked up through my VCR, but that will most likely be replaced by one of the nes/snes things from think geek. I don't use either very often and I can move them to the TV in the living room, so they are only a secondary consideration. I'm mostly just looking for a way to get rid of the 32'' tube tv in my room.

Edit: I should also state that most times I'm watching something I'm also playing a game or doing other things on the computer, often on the same screen as watching a movie. So using s-video on the monitor wouldn't work at least for what I'm looking for.

Thanks for the help so far, both of you.

Rigor Mortis

ben0207 wrote: »

KurnDerak wrote: »

I'm looking for something that will allow me to use my VCR and possibly Xbox so that the video/audio goes through my PC. I've seen a few things like Dazzle DVD Recorder Plus Video Capture and Encore USB Audio/Video Grabber . I'm not looking to put a lot of money into this, just something good enough so that I can get rid of my old tube TV that is taking up a lot of space.

I'm really not sure what I'm looking for as far as quality for a low price, or if it is just as simple as plug this in and my monitor is now a TV per se. I assume it is that simple, but sometimes technology is deceptively difficult. I'm also not sure what sort of difference there would be between a PCI card and a usb cable for this.

Assuming it's an Xbox 360 you can plug it straight into the monitor using a VGA cable. I would advise against using a capture card for playing games, as the lag is crippling.


And your monitor might even have an S-Video or component port for the VCR, too.

A PCI based capture card should be alright for games.

I beat Ninja Gaiden on the oXbox using one (ATI TV Wonder) :P

And it will display in a window just fine... although I can't remember the software I used. I believe (but don't quote me) Media Player Classic can display capture input as well.