Tweaking the Elgato Video Capture (but it's still crap)

[@Landrew0]

I miss the sound of my old dot-matrix printer, but I fear I shall never hear it again.

[@jub8891]

my neighbors would hate it if i had a dot matrix printer again.. but i do miss the one we had, a panasonic color dot matrix

[@andygozzo72]

@@jub8891 modern printers ARE still dot matrix, they form images by an, er, matrix, of dots. what you really mean is IMPACT printer 😉

[@matthewlawrenson3628]

As a teenager, I had a 24-pin dot matrix printer, A Panasonic KXP-1124 it was. I printed thousands of pages with it in my tiny bedroom. I no longer have the printer, but at nearly 49 I do have tinnitus.

[@frankowalker4662]

@@jub8891 My neighbors bought me a new printer two years ago for Christmas and offered to take my Dot Matrix printer to the tip. 🤣 I kept the Matrix printer but I stopped using it.

[@LeftoverBeefcake]

I still use my Commodore 64 and PrintMaster to print my monthly calendars. :)

[@JalopyJustin1966]

Thank you for this, my grandparents use this all the time because it's easy for them, so I'm glad to be able to tweak some settings for them, so that they can still record their old videos in better quality.

[@ivok9846]

how old are they?

[@JalopyJustin1966]

@@ivok9846 They are 83 and 87, so keeping the same tech around makes it easier.

[@panda2243]

Can't believe he actually printed out the document and marked it instead of capturing the monitor screen lol, but good job still!

[@tehrobotjesus]

You don't know who you're dealing with here

[@akaJughead]

​@@tehrobotjesusSeriously, he must be new here. 😂

[@610jrod]

He should pin (print) this comment now that it's been ❤️'d

[@panda2243]

I mostly watch his videos about the turntable and the vinyl record stuffs, Interesting for me to see this thing haha

[@jamieross2743]

Mostly people complaining in the comment because he capture his screen. So why not to print 'em instead

[@NotIT]

I don't have any Elgato products, but yet I watch. I love the use of the 9-pin printer. I kind of miss those days. Even more so considering our current situation.

[@NistingurA]

The biggest companies make the worst stuff. Hence why I just use a 10$ Analog to USB no-name adapter, capture my videos with WinDV from my Sony Hi8 cam and throw them through Handbrake for de-interlacing etc. It's more labour intensive, yes, but it gets the job done too!

[@timecage]

Certainly You've earned the reputation of delivering very good quality videos. Thank you!

[@Natervader13]

I always get a kick out of the examples you use, man. Great video as always.

[@dant5464]

America's Most Winning Cyclist

[@shrimpforx]

As someone who has an HDMI Elgato card (the HD60s), it's insane they're still pushing this slop card for $80. Modern Elgato cards use the "4k Capture Utility" software and it actually does the opposite of the software featured here: it records at an insanely high 26mbps by default-- and has a slider to increase or decrease it. They really should update the Video Capture to use the new app.. or better yet, release an actually good analog card!! Retro gaming is a massive market, it would slot in perfectly in their product lineup.

[@LBJshowedmehisJ]

elguano would've been a better name for this device

[@smiths7317]

I know a few transfer companies that use this exact Elgato capture card and swear by it because it works well on Mac and gives customers efficient file sizes.

[@gamagama69]

gross

[@vwestlife]

Yes, and "VHS looks bad anyway" because they've never seen what a good digital capture of it is supposed to look like.

[@eskeletor]

The world if people knew what ffmpeg is and how to use it...

[@BradOlsonBemidji]

@@eskeletor OBS is a frontend for ffmpeg and is an excellent frontend.

[@Patrickj122]

Can you do some more thrift store adventures​@@vwestlife

[@rarbiart]

7:10 i very much like to see the video head switch line at the bottom of the screen. it's essential for the true vhs experience!

[@noapparentfunction]

some Cartoon Network shows on the HBO / Max streaming service have some sort of tape head line visible on the bottom, along with other transfer artifacts. i like it, gives it a "from the vault" appearance.

[@finchx881]

I have the same capture card and I can confirm that the problem lies in the software. Using other software (such as OBS or AMAREC TV) you can correctly capture the separate fields (AMAREC) or deinterlace directly (OBS)

[@mchenrynick]

Using OBS offer another advantage: It runs in Linux! :)

[@juniorsilvabroadcast]

​@@mchenrynickLinux is crap for usability

[@Drmcclung]

The Okidata printout is an especially nice touch to this presentation :)

[@GoldSrc_]

Ahh, that combat training video quality brings me back to the early days of youtube when you were lucky to get a couple of good pixels :D.

[@TheSpiritingPoet]

Can't wait for that one guy to start commenting saying you need to do it through FM with a supercomputer or whatever I saw on Reddit. See, I forgot about that method but OBS and a capture card stays in my mind.

[@RealEpikCartfrenYT]

ah yes the vhs-decode with its software based TBC... And it's a Linux only program it seems... Lovely* (with a whole lot of sarcasm)

[@Alexlfm]

I especially love when those guys start going on about how crap FireWire/DV is and how 4:1:1 subsampling is somehow noticeable with a VHS/Hi8 source.

[@RealEpikCartfrenYT]

@@Alexlfm and here I think FireWire needs to make a comeback

[@HandyAndyTechTips]

I got this device when I was a kid (it's been around for 15 years), and even then I thought the quality was crap! It was initially marketed as Mac only but with a bit of research, I worked out that I could use a Windows machine, capturing in VirtualDub to the losslessly compressed HuffYUV codec, and it looked pretty good. Still a bit of instability due to the lack of a timebase corrector, but at least it was proper interlaced 50 field PAL video that I could then convert into H.264 using Handbrake for a MUCH better result than the bundled software allowed.

[@DgaDM]

That dot matrix printer noise was an unexpected flashback to my early youth, thank you for that!

[@El-Ritmo]

2:40 - 2:45 - "The best possible quality we can choose is zero". Out of context that seems like a very accurate summation of your review of this product and your scorn for it. You could probably select that one part to make a KZbin Short as a perfect capsule review 😜

[@aaprods]

You are aware that in the real world, video quality is measured with Zero (Placebo, CRF 0) being the best. But let's not let a good yarn get in the way of the facts.

[@El-Ritmo]

@ I am well aware. It was a joke, something I imagine most people in the real world understood.

[@markae0]

2:30 is better start?

[@The_Wayfaring_Smuggler]

While Elgato's other capture devices are excellent, this is not. It's most likely an old no-name Chinese device they got millions of units from the factory and still need to sell off, but they can't just give them away. Hence the premium price for the name only.

[@Raptor50aus]

I started to twitch when I heard the Dot Matrix printer running. I worked for a service Centre for them back in the day.

[@BollingHolt]

Oh, man, I miss those Okidata printers. That thing was a tank!

[@atheistonyoutube]

Great video Kevin 👍 I hope got memories and Emerald Coast Digitizing takes notice of this video. Everyone should email them this video and ask them to use something else.

[@GarthBeagle]

These videos on capturing analog video are great!

[@Markimark151]

I’m glad you were able to tweak the settings, even though it’s still a rubbish capture device! The only reason to even use the Elgato is for easily copying VHS tapes with macrovision, because even educational videos have copy protection!

[@PiotrStaszewski]

Printing an XML file on a dot-matrix printer... Right there with browsing the world-wide-web from a C64! And now I'm nerd-sniped for more anachronistic mashup ideas.

[@gmcnewlook]

It’s rather interesting elgato would make a crappy capture product they’re well known for their capture devices used for streamers

[@Xeraser2]

It's probably some no brand chinese capture device they slapped their name on and sold for relatively cheap

[@gamagama69]

this is a very old product. there now legit, but they werent really back then. really wish theyd stop selling this cuz its misleading with their current brand repulation

[@AROAH]

I've never liked their capture products. Their Wave devices and Stream Decks are pretty good for what they are, though.

[@lapielazoolie]

That’s because you know them better for their HD capture products which is a bit more forgoing in terms of MPEG-4 compression. The best answer is to capture in MPEG-2, same quality as DVDs

[@jamieross2743]

Very good tapes selection for the tests

[@TechGorilla1987]

@5:10 - True story - My ex wife and I moved out to Phoenix from Harrisburg, PA in Oct of 1999. The roads were all clear and dry until we hit Flagstaff. There was about 6" of snow on the roads and we ended up pulling the truck and trailer off the road and waiting a couple of hours for the roads to clear. Just south of Flagstaff and the roads were again clear and dry.

[@SockyNoob]

Printing the text file out on a dot matrix printer is an absolute flex that I'd expect only here.

[@alf717]

Thank you, this info will come in handy. I got one of these dirt cheap at a yard sale this year and I made the mistake of thinking I could use one of these to capture footage for older analogue video game consoles and then stream them with OBS. I may revisit this device using this information.

[@norcal715]

I personally, cant wait for the next installment of this series.

[@RealEpikCartfrenYT]

I have two ways of capturing video: First way involves a cheap STK1160 USB capture device hooked up to a computer running OBS with Yadif deinterlacing and exporting video as a 15Mbps MP4 file with 320k audio (yields approx 6GB per hour). This is the easiest route and it's the one I recommend. Second way is more convoluted than it needs to be: VCR is plugged into a Sony DCR-TRV940E, which has a composite IN, and a built-in TBC, however since its FireWire port doesn't work, I need to transfer it to MiniDV tape in SP speed. This involves pausing the VCR every hour and swapping MiniDV tapes as one can only hold 60 minutes of video, while the most common VHS tape is 3 hours long (E180). Then the recorded MiniDV tapes are played back in a JVC GR-DVL140E which does have a working FireWire port, albeit flaky. This gives a slightly better quality video but at the cost of additional labor + dealing with two semi-broken camcorders and a data standard that not a single modern computer has these days, plus the AVI file I get from the Windows Live capture utility needs to be converted and deinterlaced to mp4, requiring the use of three separate pieces of software.

[@aaprods]

The TRV940 has S-Video Out: just record that. Same, if not better quality, than DV and without the hassle of using a tape. Convert the AVI with Handbrake.

[@jadeia.]

Matrix printer still being used = immediately liked!

[@ValuedTeamMember]

Ahhhh... The -sound- music of a Dot-Matrix Printer I think I will make that my phone's ring tone. It's already my "you've got mail" sound clip. It was a much simpler time.. (last year). Thank you for the video. Cheers from So.Ca.USA 3rd house on the left (please call ahead before stopping by)

[@CharlesShow]

9:32 thanks for the westchester county shoutout

[@AMDRADEONRUBY]

Oh Sweet I waited for months for you testing this Elgato product thanks for making a review.

[@Qwertypigeon853]

I still use an OLD PCI compsite ! super video capturd card and its @0000% better than any of the USB solutions I've ever tried. I once saw one for sale that promised 'HDMI upscale input from composite'

[@Nytalite]

I used to use an Elgato Video Capture for my VHS channel. It continued to perform worse and worse until on one capture, it dropped at least 2/3 of the frames. I gave up on it after that.

[@FinnleysAudioAdventures]

10:28 Feels like I came into a “Best of the Worst” episode

[@610jrod]

The Elgato logo isn't actually a sine wave, its your lower intestines and beyond

[@alphabeets]

Great great video. Why in the world would Elgato make their product so much WORSE!?

[@joelcarson4602]

Because of the end user having a potato PC or one that is constipated by bloatware.

[@BatteryCoverMissing]

So they can charge way more for the better quality capture devices they sell?

[@jarrod1766]

I meed more of that hand to hand combat video

[@Siger5019]

Instantly ignored that GUI and just used FFmpeg

[@yanks1fan09]

Wow Mel Allen on the VHS video voice of the Yankees.

[@DoublePlus-Ungood]

Not familiar with Macs but I'm wondering if there is no "read-only" ability to keep the software from reverting the config? Like I know in some PC video games you've got to manually change .ini files and often you then also need to right-click and set it to "read-only" or you're settings don't stick.

[@PaulTheFox1988]

Yeah, you can use the terminal to specify read/write/execute permissions, as underneath the pretty exterior, macs are basically running a Unix-like OS (not exactly, but it still has some of most of the design principles that Unix uses) I believe the command will be something like sudo chmod o-w "/path/to/file" if I've remembered my chmod syntax correctly. For anyone reading this who is looking to remove write permissions from the file or any other, please don't use that command even if you change the path to the file to be modified, I don't want to be responsible for anyone damaging their OS install

[@Metal_Groove45]

I just got a Retrotink 5x and an Elgato HD60S capture card for VHS ripping, and the results have been very good. Just have to tweak the brightness and contrast on some tapes here and there, and the built in TBC in the Retrotink works very well, but you have to download the driver that includes that for it.

[@jij9972]

Where did you get the Retrotink from ?

[@kumarp3074]

RetroRGB channel has some great videos on how to capture VHS content.

[@rudodejong]

Another difference between the Windows and the Mac software is the AVC Profile and Level. The best I saw in this video under Windows was "High@L3.1" and under Mac "Baseline@L3". A Baseline Profile uses much less advanced encoding than a High Profile does.

[@webinatic216]

Can you disable write on the plist file on mac? Probably won't do anything.

[@seasonstudios]

Great work VW for Elgato dongle users however I will not own this over priced dongle. Is it overpriced because it's more solidly built than the China ones? Solid or not, if it doesn't deliver at that price what's the point? Again, thank you for bothering to do the work. Have you, or will you do a review on the Startech dongle? I've heard it rivals the I O Data as soon as you make a few adjustments and not too badly priced.

[@sciguyisanerd]

I use a pinnacle studio moviebox for video capture because it has both RCA, S-video and firewire inputs and the video quality is so much better than any other capture devices I’ve used in the past

[@techbaffle]

14:57 Looks like a Sony VCR on the cover of the Honestech VIDBOX

[@FranklyPeetoons]

Can the prefs file be set to read-only on a Mac for further testing? That's how I deal with stubborn configuration files, such as those for Firefox and Thunderbird formatting, on Windows. Otherwise they get automatically re-set to defaults. I use a Canopus ADVC100 for analog video capture. It's twenty years old. It creates huge .DV files, which are essentially the equivalent of RAW photographs. They're a bit involved to deal with, but all the 60i info is there to manipulate as needed. Even though it also lacks a TBC, results have been very stable.

[@rabiroden]

Hey I have that same "honestech" box. I used it to capture some VHS tapes years ago. I didn't use any software it came with, but capturing with VirtualDub over s-video produced some pretty solid results I think. The colors were a bit washed out maybe, but the picture quality was pretty sharp. I did run into problems with the audio and video desyncing over extended captures though...

[@reverseretro1961]

I have a vidbox device for windows/mac, and the quality isn't terrible. HOWEVER, since it uses switching regulators instead of linear regulators for the lower voltage rails (for the ADCs), it makes the video noisier than it otherwise would be. the brightness and contrast also seem to be finicky to get right. on the bright side, it works well with software like OBS and VirtualDub, so you can record uncompressed video and audio with it. but like basically every other capture device, it has no time base corrector. so I'd guess even the one for Mac will be better than the Elcrapo.

[@matthewschmitz8817]

Am I the only one that wants to watch the entire Panther productions movie?

[@CSSTPMediaUK]

I used to have the Elgato, but not anymore as capturing VHS tapes direct to my computer is still a pain, even without a TBC. And I didn't know this device came out in 2009 and it's still using outdated software.

[@TooHipChicks]

Okay, the dot matrix printer gave me a chuckle.

[@keithfulkerson]

You'd think they would make it a little easier to change the options. It's weird that they would willingly tarnish their brand by selling this.

[@treyhex628]

The honest tech capture device you are planning to look at I would imagine is basically an EZ cap like you can get from Amazon as it is an honest tech product or at least uses the software suite. The issue I found with the honest tech EZ cap is audio desynchronization usually doesn't happen immediately but over time as you are recording it desyncs and you end up with audio delay that is just god awful. I wouldn't mind taking the elgato or the cat software and running it through ghedra and seeing if you could possibly increase the bitrate by changing it in the code and recompiling it in visual studio just an idea but I suspect the bitrate is hard capped in the code so when you launch the software it restored the bitrate value to the hard cap set in the code.

[@Daijyobanai]

@1:44 > i laughed audibly. Chunky Thinkpad + dot-matrix equals a win.

[@joeybaseball7352]

What other device do you recommend that gives gives picture quality, and is as simple (or mostly simple) to use as this? I bought this several years ago, and I too noticed how poor the picture quality was. Especially compared to watching them on my CRT. But I'm not tech literate. That's why I would like another recommendation. It doesn't have to be as simple as elgato, even though I would like it to be. But something simple enough. AKA not too overly complicated.

[@CorruptedDogg]

For capturing 480i analog footage digitally, the R5X + Elgato HD60S combo works well. However, it’s an expensive, error prone and complicated setup for most people. A simple GV-USB2 gets you 90% of the results for a fraction of the price and complexity, with the caveat that you need to put some kind of TBC before it. Old video mixers or Panasonic DVD recorders do the job for all but the most damaged tapes.

[@ivok9846]

i doubt gv-usb2 needs tbc most of the time. find the following video on yt: "vhs-decode TBC test". in that test vhs-decode indeed beats everything else, bit it's a PITA to do.

[@nonsuch]

Sometimes you can add strings that aren't listed already. This can be done in a ton of software with config files. For instance, you can try adding "Sharpness" in the Windows txt file and assign it a number using the same formatting as the rest of the file. It doesn't hurt to try.

[@El-Ritmo]

Sitting watching this video in bed at night, trying to be quiet, and yet I just couldn't help but let out a loud, involuntary, "OOF!" at 8:20. Yikes, that's awful.

[@sdk77]

I like to see head switching noise in captures. If possible, the teletext too.

[@TheOriginalCollectorA1303]

At least you tried, the fact you were able to get more quality out of it at all is cool! Still doesn’t make it anywhere near as good as FireWire, but I guess a free overclock is better than nothing.

[@cocusar]

pretty thorough explanation of how to make this device a little bit better if you chose to use their software. I don't have it, I do have an ezcap and a pci capture card, but neither I'd use their software, so hopefully it helps to someone else.

[@Madness832]

That VBS settin' didn't do much for Grand Canyon Guy's hair!😀🤣

[@JonGallon]

1:35 PAL-M? Is this a 'Brazil mentioned' reference? 😁

[@Kylefassbinderful]

I don't use this device specifically but I have another version of it that I got cheap off Amazon and I use it on my imac. I use it with QuickTime and I feel like the quality is actually pretty good.

[@Capturing-Memories]

Using vdub with it is the biggest improvement.

[@juxxtapoz]

I got suckered into buying one of these. What is a better option to cheaply digitize VHS tapes?

[@yisdoge]

Thank you so much for these videos, really helped out. Was in a search for some adapter like that, would probably fall for that stuff.. I ve got a very old PC and a Behold TV PC-tuner, those were both dirt cheap, ($16~ in total). Sadly they dont seem to make new models, but there are plenty in the used market. I think I could recommend those. Also what is pretty funny, you can actually get a very old graphics card with S-video output, instead of having to use any converters at all, and it might be even free, if you are lucky

[@KeritechElectronics]

Now it makes me wonder how this piece of hardware will do with OBS under Linux. Maybe a teeny tiny bit less mediocre...

[@AttilaSVK]

I bought a Panasonic DVD recorder to do analog video transfers, becasue it was far the cheapest thing to have a time base corrector. This is the result from an SVHS tape: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4fZXnahiK2Vo7s

[@joelcarson4602]

In regards to the message of the picture for the video headline, as my dear, departed, country girl mother often opined " The more you stir an old t***, the worse it stinks."

[@dashcamandy2242]

1:45 - I've got an Okidata Microline μ92, it's the BEST dot-matrix printer I've ever owned - as much as I love my ImageWriter II, the Oki blows it out of the water.

[@itogi]

6:52 That's not noise, it's just video that gets skewed because of head switching. If needed, head switching can be moved to VBI zone on some players.

[@rosemeyer1939]

Davis Phinney! Still fighting the fight against Parkinsons.... His son - Taylor Phinney was a good pro cyclist too.

[@gg_vard]

Excellent use of the printer. It sounds amazing

[@cheeseparis1]

Does the Mac binary file force the parameter to 1500? any way to patch the binary itself?

[@sickregret]

Kevin, did you ever get a retro-tink? I see people using it as a TBC and it seems like a good deal for that purpose.

[@Metal_Groove45]

I have the 5x, and it's very good for VHS capturing. You just have to update the driver on it since it originally didn't have a TBC in it, and get an HDMI capture card, preferably one that can handle 60fps. Only the 5x and 4K are recommended for that, the cheaper ones are not recommended for VHS capturing.

[@uomoartificiale]

Wtf at the combat training video😂

[@arisacharya4895]

I would love to find and watch the full video.

[@meandmyEV]

I wasn't even sure what to say. I was laughing at the "bad guy" with the bandana.

[@rebchi]

I was half waiting for Servo, Crow and Mike/Joel to chime in. 😂

[@arthurpizza]

Last time I did analog video capture, I used OBS to encode into prores. I was able to deinterlace and encode to a decent h265 with ffmpeg.

[@RyDawg96]

I am currently trying to find the best method to transfer my VHS tapes to my Mac. Which is currently the best method for doing that with Sequoia? (I know VHS-Decode is a new thing but it looks like it’s too much in its infancy for me to use right now and requires VCR modification to use, so I am currently trying to find something that’s a bit easier in the meantime.)

[@MakarovFox]

why they didn't put all this setting is the interface under a advanced section

[@InDreamsYourMine]

Have you tried using different capture software to see if the quality improves? Have an old PCI capture card that didn't produce the best video quality with the included software, got noticeable improvement switch to Windows Media Encoder 9, a little more complex than the original software, but the increased quality eas worth it.

[@vwestlife]

See my initial video about it.

[@ivok9846]

now imagine what could it do with vdub and huffyuv, if wme9 improved it....

[@RetroTechorDie]

Excellent information, thank you!

[@rkilbrai]

Elgato actually has some really good modern tech for video capture. Have you tried hooking this device up and rather than using the Elgato software, using OBS where you can have better control? Maybe it's NOT the limitation of the device, but rather the software.

[@vwestlife]

See my first review of it.

[@williamfinch2777]

I literally just use a Panasonic DMR EX98Vs HDMI output to the Elgato HD60. Works very well.

[@swiftsilver]

I have had this crap lying around for a while... Highly appreciate it.

[@GAnimeRO]

Could you maybe try and aquire a "JVC SR-VS30" VHS player and do a video on it? It's one of the very few VHS players that also has a DV input/output and can read Mini DV discs.

[@mikefellhauer3350]

Re: "El-crapo"...you can't judge a whole company based on one lower-end product. Personally we use the Elgato Cam Link Pro which is a 4-input capture card, and other than the tough time finding a PC with a 2nd PCIe port good enough to handle the bandwidth of this card, can't say a bad thing about it! Using it regularly for our club's weekly hybrid Zoom meetings with multiple cameras and even the output from a computer or iPad, and it had done this for several years now!

[@uxwbill]

Check out the previous video about this product. Elgato's customer service sent what was probably a boilerplate letter saying, basically, that this product was good enough and any improvements were not feasible. That's doubly inexcusable, especially as with some old media, the one playback is all you might get. It's got to be right from the beginning.

[@DeathInTheSnow]

10:21 Why is Wesley Snipes fighting a Chuckle Brother?

[@joaodasilva8008]

So whats the best ideo capture?

[@rogerturner1881]

have you tried the machine that does VHS to DVD ALL IN ONE. Iwonder what the quality would be there.

[@VegasTvNewsScrapbook]

Such dual deck (VHS/DVD) units ceased production about a decade ago. They were manufactured by Funai electronics and sold under the Sanyo and Magnavox brands. I see where you are going with the VHS to DVD. Dub VHS to DVD, extract video from the DVD with ISOBuster; with the digital results looking as good as the VHS original. I've been doing that route for years.

[@andlabs]

Huh the song at 12:29 sounds like Belong by REM, which would be an interesting choice if it was, but it isn't... (checks with Shazam) wait it's by Rusted Root? The "Send Me On My Way" from Ice Age guys? Well that's a band I never thought I'd hear another song from other than voluntarily; I was wondering what happened to them the other day

[@ivok9846]

rem never used sitar, i believe. and if they did, it would sound better, without missing notes...heh

[@marcelobravo4270]

You mean , " El Cheapo " ?

[@Mrshoujo]

I use a Magnavox MWR10D6 DVD recorder, rip the VOBs from that & process into MP4 with Handbrake. Sometimes I need to do an MKV merge of the VOBs & it concatenates the entire stream.