gozar Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 So I have a crappy EasyCap DC60 USB device that I'd like to use to capture video from my Atari 8-bits. Unfortunately, it only shows black and white video! What I've tried so far: Three separate machines (800XL, 130XE, 1200XL) and three power supplies RF to a VCR to the EasyCap. The blue screen comes through fine, but as soon as I put it on the channel it's black and white OS X and Windows A NES worked correctly I noticed on my LCD TV that the video signal never shows correctly the first time, and I have to unplug/plug in the video cord and/or turn on/off the tv until it gets the signal correct. Any ideas? Next would be to try an SVideo cable... (my 800XL has the choma line attached) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russg Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 (edited) So I have a crappy EasyCap DC60 USB device that I'd like to use to capture video from my Atari 8-bits. Unfortunately, it only shows black and white video! What I've tried so far: Three separate machines (800XL, 130XE, 1200XL) and three power supplies RF to a VCR to the EasyCap. The blue screen comes through fine, but as soon as I put it on the channel it's black and white OS X and Windows A NES worked correctly I noticed on my LCD TV that the video signal never shows correctly the first time, and I have to unplug/plug in the video cord and/or turn on/off the tv until it gets the signal correct. Any ideas? Next would be to try an SVideo cable... (my 800XL has the choma line attached) Why can't you just plug a composite cable into the easycap? Then the easycap into a USB port on your PC and have the driver for the easycap video receive the video signal. You might need a female to female RCA adapter to plug the easycap into the composite monitor cable from the A8. I just got a female-female RCA to plug PC speakers into my A8, using a mini plug to RCA male adapter on the speaker input cable. Edited June 13, 2014 by russg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Make sure the capture device settings match the Pal/NTSC system of the computer. Atari and most old computers output an off-standard video signal which might be problematic but the usual symptom is screen rolling. With the cap devices I've owned, there's never really been a problem although my first HDD recorder had the uncurable screen roll problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gozar Posted June 13, 2014 Author Share Posted June 13, 2014 It doesn't roll, just shows it in black and white. I grabbed a Sony Media Converter (DVMC-DA2) and it works correctly. I'll try again once my SVideo cable arrives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 The Atari's video output deviates a bit from standard NTSC/PAL video so it's possible the device can't handle it. I remember messing with a video capture device which refused to work if the video wasn't interlaced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Another thing is that the colour signal on some machines is a bit weak - you can sometimes use the cap device settings for additional colour gain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 I'm guessing that you bought a "generic" EasyCap? The generic's drivers could be a source of problems. Also, the (free) KMPlayer is easier to set up and use than most of the player systems (IMO). I have a "real deal" EasyCap (now called EZCap.tv 116 that I use with a WIN7 machine. Clearly more expensive than the clones, but here at Amazon with price increased quite a bit over the $23 I paid: http://smile.amazon.com/EZCAP-TV-Converter-Camcorders-Satellite-Supports/dp/B003YGJLWU/ref=cm_cr-mr-title Atari8warez was very helpful in getting me going with the KMPlayer. I guess I'd try KMPlayer before I did anything else. -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 My Hauppauge USB capture does the same thing with my demodulated Atari VCS. I suspect all Atari hardware used the same off-spec settings. Telltale signs is you get extremely fine vertical lines in the grayscale picture. That is the raw 3-something Mhz NTSC colorburst. The amplitude of the signal fluctuation determines the saturation and the phase of the signal determines the color. Luma/brightness is determned by the average value. A flat signal creates a grayscale picture. I believe that for whatever reason the NTSC colorburst is malformed and the capture device doesn't properly decode it. As a result, the device captures in grayscale with fine vertical ripples in the areas which are normally filled with colors. BTW, my NES, SNES, Genesis all worth flawlessly with said USB capture device. See this thread for more info: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/201952-hauppauge-usb-video-capture-device-doesnt-like-my-ntsc-atari-vcs/ CRT: Hauppauge using the exact same demodulated signal: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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