Many Issues

[BrandonP]

I bought this capture card a few days ago. I like to record PC game footage, and have been using FRAPS for a long time, but it causes a huge performance hit to my PC while gaming. I read about this capture card, with plenty of good reviews and good Youtube videos.

 

First, my gaming PC is as follows:

Intel i7-3770k

ASUS Motherboard

8GB 2133 RAM

128gb Mushkin SSD

EVGA GTX 670 2GB

Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

other hardware seem irrelevant

 

My capture PC:

AMD 1055T 6 Core CPU

ASUS Motherboard

8GB 1600 RAM

500GB WD 7200 rpm Hard Drive

EVGA GT 550Ti

Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

 

At first, I tried to have my gaming PC also do the capturing, but that does not work for so many reasons. The initial passthrough would work as soon as the cables were plugged in, but as soon as I opened the capturing software, it would no longer not detect any input, would disable that monitor on my dual monitor setup. Sometimes it would be a solid blue screen, sometimes a red screen, sometimes a red screen with static lines on it. A few rare times it let me record about 2 seconds of video, than its stops by itself. It was a mess that never worked no matter what I tried, so I assembled a capturing PC with spare computer parts.

 

My gaming PC is output at HDMI from the EVGA GTX 670 as the primary monitor, and the sound does get sent through the HDMI to my 24" ASUS monitor that does have speakers on it (which has the volume down as I have a main speaker system). After I finally got this working, the capture device does not capture audio from the HDMI, even though it still sends it through the passthrough to my monitor (which I can hear if I turn the colume up). It also does not detect any audio source if I go into the Live Stream options. I had to accept that I can never be able to live stream, and have to record my audio separately with Audacity, set to record from Windows Sound Mixer listening to my speaker output. Than I have to resync the audio and video later, a huge inconvenience. If I want to record my mic input, I would also have to set a second audio recording software to record that as well, since your mic does not go through your speaker output.

 

Another issue I had is when my caputing PC went to sleep, it still allowed the passthrough to work as the USB was still sending power to the device. I turned off my gaming PC for the night and left the capturing PC sleep, unplugged the USB from the Roxio device, than hoping in the morning I could just plug in the USB to the device, than turn on my gaming PC and the passthrough would work again, but it didnt, met with a solid blue screen, so I woke up my caputing PC, and it said no signal when I opened the Roxio software to capture. So I unplugged everything, restarted everything, and hooked it all up again, than the Roxio software was set to Component input, never have I done that, so it changed by itself. This is not that much of a problem, more of a; 'I cant be this lazy situation'.

 

All in all, I seriously expect this to work as advertised, as I expected in the following setup, which is simple and not complicated:

HDMI cable from my gaming PC goes to the capture device, than an HDMI goes from the capture device to my gaming PC default monitor. Roxio device USB cable is plugged into my capturing PC. Passthrough works, open the Roxio software on my capturing PC, hit start capture and it records the video at the 1080p 15000kbps I set it to, and records the audio that IS being sent through that HDMI cable.

 

I am still happy that I can record my gameplay live, and do not have to go back to watch games in Black Ops, and you dont even get that option in 99% of games. I also plan to use this on my Xbox 360 when GTA5 comes out next year and hope that it at least records audio from that HDMI input.

 

If you need more details on my system to try and develop a patch or update in the future that would fix the HDMI audio from the GTX 670 not being detected, let me know.

The HDMI audio playback device is listed as:

DEMO TDA19978-1

NVIDIA High Definition Audio

[Jim_Hardin]

Actually, they are related, they may not be the same thing, but they are related. When a game has vsync enabled, it locks the video card to only output 60 fps, so that is one frame for every cycle on a traditional 60Hz monitor.

 

Playing most games at 30fps may be ok, but in reality, a FPS game must be played at at least 60fps, there is a difference in how smooth the game feels, it may not look any different, but it feels very different. Also, your monitor is cycling 60 images/second, hence the 60Hz, so at 30fps, it is actually leaving each image up for 2 full cycles.

 

And I do get pixelation for the first few minutes of capturing at 1080p at 15000kbps.

 

Also, my capture software keeps setting me back to component on its own.

 

??? please explain that in more detail. Are you saying that it does that during capture and thus you get No Signal

[Solution]

Great evaluation from someone who has never written a line of code

 

I've coded programs before.

[Jim_Hardin]

Great evaluation from someone who has never written a line of code

[Solution]

Sorry but you mistaken and drawing wrong conclusions

 

Not a problem though

 

Yeah, I'm completely wrong about my assumptions. /s

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fIBeJ92UEg

 

Roxio has poorly optimized software . End of discussion.

[Jim_Hardin]

Yes it does, it's the way it's programmed and they never optimized the software. Even the OP was having problems and look at his specs. When you give a device that has a hardware encoder and all it has to do is display the image on your PC, it takes little to no processing power(10-30%). I've stated before, other capture cards have LIGHTWEIGHT programs where all it does is start capture, and stop capture. Not all the useless features that the Roxio capture program has. Also the software should have an option to disable the preview, that would help everyone, even the people with the fastest PCs. Just to add more proof that it is the software, I can hook up any of my old capture devices(480p) and switch my Roxio to 480p. The old capture devices take little to no CPU power on the preview in ANY vfw/wdm software(remember this is the raw stream, no hardware encoder) while I change it to 480p on the Roxio and in the software the CPU is STILL way up there .

Sorry but you mistaken and drawing wrong conclusions

 

Not a problem though

[Solution]

60 fps and 60 Hz are too completely different things that are not even related...

 

Actually 60I is in reality only 30 fps... The human eye can't tell the difference past 30 fps so it becomes a mute point

 

The software doesn't "hog" the cpu, it requires that much processing to handle that much data flow and that is even with part of the load passed along to the Video Card

 

I have used other software with HD Capture and NOTHING is perfect! I usually just do video and the results skipped frames with every one I have ever used...

 

Yes it does, it's the way it's programmed and they never optimized the software. Even the OP was having problems and look at his specs. When you give a device that has a hardware encoder and all it has to do is display the image on your PC, it takes little to no processing power(10-30%). I've stated before, other capture cards have LIGHTWEIGHT programs where all it does is start capture, and stop capture. Not all the useless features that the Roxio capture program has. Also the software should have an option to disable the preview, that would help everyone, even the people with the fastest PCs. Just to add more proof that it is the software, I can hook up any of my old capture devices(480p) and switch my Roxio to 480p. The old capture devices take little to no CPU power on the preview in ANY vfw/wdm software(remember this is the raw stream, no hardware encoder) while I change it to 480p on the Roxio and in the software the CPU is STILL way up there .

[BrandonP]

no, I never set my desktop computers to sleep. If is when the monitors auto shut off, it changes to component everytime. tested it numerous times today and it changed everytime. i move my mouse and my monitor turns on, than I reselect HDMI from the input drop down, most of the time it keeps my 1080p settings.

 

On a side note which may help some people, I purchased an HDMI powered splitter, so my HDMI cable goes from my video card to the splitter, than one goes from the splitter to my monitor, and another goes to the input on the Roxio device. Now I never have to worry about unplugging or plugging in cables when I want to use it, I just turn on my capture computer and start the software. Much more convenient and I no longer get pixellation, probably due to the fact that the HDMI splitter outputs at 60Hz regardless of the source frequency, and it is powered, so it actually boosts the signal, which may also account for the better recording.

[Jim_Hardin]

Probably not the Monitors...

 

I would guess that your PC is going to Sleep as well during that time???

 

As I recall, the USB ports turn off at that point (at least on mine) and it may be what is causing it.

 

These are guesses, if I were smart enough to write the software this puppy runs on, I wouldn't on this Forum

[BrandonP]

??? please explain that in more detail. Are you saying that it does that during capture and thus you get No Signal

I stop capturing, leave, come back after monitors have auto shut off (not computers), wake them back up and my display is blank and Roxio software says no signal, and notice it automatically changed itself to Component, I assume it is because the input source auto shut off, but if you unplug the HDMI, the software doesnt change it to component on its own, just seems weird it does it when the monitors auto turn off. Took me a few minutes the first time to realize why there was no input signal. Now I know and its not an issue, but it does reset all my HDMI settings back to 480p which is a little irritating.

[BrandonP]

Actually, they are related, they may not be the same thing, but they are related. When a game has vsync enabled, it locks the video card to only output 60 fps, so that is one frame for every cycle on a traditional 60Hz monitor.

 

Playing most games at 30fps may be ok, but in reality, a FPS game must be played at at least 60fps, there is a difference in how smooth the game feels, it may not look any different, but it feels very different. Also, your monitor is cycling 60 images/second, hence the 60Hz, so at 30fps, it is actually leaving each image up for 2 full cycles.

 

And I do get pixelation for the first few minutes of capturing at 1080p at 15000kbps.

 

Also, my capture software keeps setting me back to component on its own.

[Jim_Hardin]

60 fps and 60 Hz are too completely different things that are not even related...

 

Actually 60I is in reality only 30 fps... The human eye can't tell the difference past 30 fps so it becomes a mute point

 

The software doesn't "hog" the cpu, it requires that much processing to handle that much data flow and that is even with part of the load passed along to the Video Card

 

I have used other software with HD Capture and NOTHING is perfect! I usually just do video and the results skipped frames with every one I have ever used...

[Solution]

I dont know for sure, but I would imagine that consoles would only output at 60fps max anyway, when they came out there were no 120hz or 240hz or 600hz TV's, but 60hz is somewhat standard for now. But the other time I received pixellation was when I was using a seriously under powered laptop, I dont get it using a desktop as a capturing device.

 

That's strange. Any PC with a dual core should be able to capture HD video from devices with hardware encoders. I'm almost certain that it's the CPU hogging software. I know for a fact my PC has more than enough power to capture, because I captured at max quality. It had pixelation issues for the first few minutes then it went away, or it rarely happened.

[BrandonP]

What would you suggest for people that get it for console(pixelation)? Do I have to turn the vsync settings "On" on my graphics card? Or would it not matter considering I'm playing on console?

I dont know for sure, but I would imagine that consoles would only output at 60fps max anyway, when they came out there were no 120hz or 240hz or 600hz TV's, but 60hz is somewhat standard for now. But the other time I received pixellation was when I was using a seriously under powered laptop, I dont get it using a desktop as a capturing device.

[Solution]

that is audio I overlayed myself which I captured and synced with separate software on my gaming PC, the raw video clip has no audio at all.

 

But just a note for everyone else that gets pixellation on their captures, the solution is your frame rate. The device captures at 30fps or 60fps depending on your settings, so you need to cap your frame rate in game or turn on vsync set at 60fps. I discovered this playing BF3, I had vsync off and I get framerates from 45-150fps, and it was constant pixellation, turned on vsync and that locked it at 60fps and it captures perfectly.

 

What would you suggest for people that get it for console(pixelation)? Do I have to turn the vsync settings "On" on my graphics card? Or would it not matter considering I'm playing on console?

[BrandonP]

Sleep Issue ~ this has never worked as expected since it arrived in Win95

 

It does seem to work a bit better in laptops than desktops, but turn the function off and you will never miss it

 

The device has to be powered for the pass through to work AND it must get Full Power! (laptops do not supply full power ~ read your specs and find the one that has the greatest amps)

 

I watched your clip and heard audio? Is that an intermittent problem?

that is audio I overlayed myself which I captured and synced with separate software on my gaming PC, the raw video clip has no audio at all.

 

But just a note for everyone else that gets pixellation on their captures, the solution is your frame rate. The device captures at 30fps or 60fps depending on your settings, so you need to cap your frame rate in game or turn on vsync set at 60fps. I discovered this playing BF3, I had vsync off and I get framerates from 45-150fps, and it was constant pixellation, turned on vsync and that locked it at 60fps and it captures perfectly.

[Jim_Hardin]

Sleep Issue ~ this has never worked as expected since it arrived in Win95

 

It does seem to work a bit better in laptops than desktops, but turn the function off and you will never miss it

 

The device has to be powered for the pass through to work AND it must get Full Power! (laptops do not supply full power ~ read your specs and find the one that has the greatest amps)

 

I watched your clip and heard audio? Is that an intermittent problem?

[BrandonP]

I would also like to add that I rarely get some pixelation on my recording, as seen on this video at time 0:40 - 0:42 and 0:45 - 0:47 and 0:51. The rest of that 20 min video session is good though. This was on the raw m2ts files as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU9wt4Wpi9s