problems with easycap - recording in black and white only

Tea_Bag

set up the easycap last night, and tried a quick game of MW2. 1st problem i encountered is that i have to use to component-to-scart converter because it wouldnt work otherwise. i suspect it could be my TV though. does the adapter/scart drop the quality somewhat?
main problem though is that its only recording in black and white. i tried changing a few settings, but nothing changes. i had been drinking quite a bit though, so i might have missed something. could someone list all their settings they use with the easycap to get colour and optimum quality.

quality bring me to the next problem. is it just me or is SD (even in b/w) absolutely terrible? im playing on a HDTV, so i figured it'd look bad, but its awful. ill upload a screengrab when i get home.

plus so far is there is no lag at all. i played a game of COD through the PC on full screen for a laugh. (i got my ass kicked though) lol

gamer_beast

you need to download a software called amcap its free and all you have to do is open the program pick your easycap and put digital resoulion or somthing to secam b and it will come up coulour i had the same problem with my dazzle

here is the amcap link http://amcap.en.softonic.com/

Tea_Bag

Thanks for the link. I downloaded amcap and it picked up the thing straight away, and at much better quality, but it's still only seeing in black and white, and doesn't work at all in secam. Also, I tried capturing and it said there was an error "end capture time is before starting time" or something weird. Sorry can't check this minute im back in college.

Tea_Bag

screen grabs of game and error attached.

Tallon

Are you using windows 7? It doesnt work with windows 7

Alos, make sure you have it set to PAL and not NTSC

gamer_beast

what you actually have to do is go on your easycap capturing software open that ok

then open amcap and go to the render filter or something i cant remember and then click secam b ok

then on your easycap software it should go back to colour ok try that

so what your basically doing is recording in easycap software while amcap put it in colour :eek::D

Tea_Bag

Tallon wrote: »

Are you using windows 7? It doesnt work with windows 7

Alos, make sure you have it set to PAL and not NTSC

yea im using W7 ultimate. is there no way around this flaw? i dont want to have to partition my HDD and unbox a windows XP just to record some stuff, im really not that great at MW2. it is important for the art project though.....

gamer_beast wrote: »

what you actually have to do is go on your easycap capturing software open that ok

then open amcap and go to the render filter or something i cant remember and then click secam b ok

then on your easycap software it should go back to colour ok try that

so what your basically doing is recording in easycap software while amcap put it in colour :eek::D

ok im a little confused by this, but will try it out tomorrow thanks. im guessing im still going to have the error though, is that due to windows 7?
G_B do you use windows 7 with your dazzle?

also, iir, its secam F in the software. is yours definitely secam B? is there a difference?

i will soldier on tomorrow...

gamer_beast

no i use vista and no secam f should work

Tea_Bag

ok just an update on this.
I got another HDD and installed windows XP 32bit on it, because no matter what i tried, W7 would not record, and only previewed in Black and white.

fresh XP install on a formatted HDD.
FAIL!

Amcap doesnt work. i open it, and it freezes, and shows an error message (attached as clipboard1.jpg) if i try to resolve the issue by following the steps it suggests, it force exits amcap and restarting it shows the same error (with the box still ticked, as if i hadnt changed anything) reinstalled amcap about 5 times now. no change.

Ulead: preview audio in both PAL and NTSC. (i can hear the menu screen from teh xbox as i move along)
however, NTSC previews video in black and white, and PAL registers as "no video input detected" ie no video to go with my glorious sound.

NOTE here: when i switch from NTSC -> to PAL in the settings, i get temp, but messed up, colour. hitting the ok button breaks the connection though. no video. See attached "clipboard03.jpg)

Clipboard04.jpg is what happens when i go from PAL to SECAM in options. note the error box which appears when i hit the "capture video" box.

ok so i stuck with NTSC to try get SOMETHING out of this POS easycap card. black and white with colour is a start. i hit "capture video" and a few seconds pass, nothing happens, and the "stop capture" box becomes "start capture" again. record time ellapsed: 00:00:00
it records nothing.

Im so angry and frustrated i nearly threw my PC out the windows. i need this working by next week.

just as a side note, im testing it with the XBOX360, but ill actually be using this with a VCR, (which i dont have my hands on yet) is it possible it'll work fine with the VCR and just isnt working with the 360?

im getting very desperate here...................

ALSO, i had to reinstall the easycap drivers twice because it didnt work at all the first time round.

Tea_Bag

Bump?
Anyone got any advice?
Should I rma the easycap?