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General discussion

Do camcorders do good Analog-digital conversion?

Jan 18, 2006 8:12PM PST

I have about 24 hours of old 8mm analog video I want to get onto the PC so its "preserved for future generations." I've been using my Sony DCR-HC42's analog to digital conversion feature. I plug the old 8mm camcorder into the AV-in jack on the HC94, put it in conversion mode, and it outputs a digital file which I capture on the PC.

Picture quality seems okay. But I see kits with software and AV-to-USB conversion boxes that convert the signal on the PC (i.e. straight from the analog camcorder). Is there a general rule that this would produce better quality digital video than using the conversion feature of my camcorder? Since I have a lot of tapes to convert I want to find the best way and stick with it.

Thanks for any insights.

-- Tim

Discussion is locked

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That is one of the recommended ways to convert analog
Jan 18, 2006 8:19PM PST

to digital. I am unaware of any tests which compare various techniques. It seems any test would have to compare specific devices since some cameras, for example, probably produce better results than others.

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Thanks for the reassurance
Jan 18, 2006 11:17PM PST

I just wanted to make sure that there wasn't some much better way out there, and that using the camcorder was a big no-no. I specifically liked this feature in th HC42 and it was a factor in choosing it.

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YES!!!!
Jan 18, 2006 11:37PM PST

There are as good as any USB or PCI card. Maybe even better, in the fact that they rescale the video to 640x480 then you can use firewire to capture the video. John

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Resolution??
Jan 18, 2006 11:59PM PST

Are you sure that the captured video is 640X480?
I always thought that it will be 720X576 or 720X480, so same resolution like a normal recording with the camcorder.
Regards
Sektionschef

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aptured video is 640X480?
Jan 20, 2006 2:05AM PST

Yes!! Keep in mind you are starting with analog NTSC video which is a 3x4 format. 640x480 is a 3x4 format. John