Comments on: Elgato : Video Capture

By: Farid

Farid — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:43:56 +0000

Ok, thanks alot Ethan. Good luck finding an other device, if you do, please tell me.

Cheers

Farid

By: ethan

ethan — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:21:09 +0000

Farid – I was planning to do the same thing, but the answer is no. I tested it out – the hardware is proprietary, and won’t allow other softwares to access the video/audio stream. You can only access the video/audio with the Elgato software, which only allows you to capture to a file – no live streaming sorry for the bad news, I will be returning the device and finding something more flexible.

By: Farid

Farid — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:40:25 +0000

Hi all, is it possible to do a live webcast with the Elgato Video Capture? I wanna use it with my video-camera to broadcast lectures.

By: Caleb Langkamp

Caleb Langkamp — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:49:36 +0000

How did you manage to connect it to your xbox 360 as there isnt a standard analogue port (eg Y. R. W plugs) at the back?

Sorry if its phrased wrong not sure how to really ask it???

By: DigMo

DigMo — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 10:21:13 +0000

I have used the device numerous times and I haven’t seen any lag at any point. That said I haven’t captured hours worth of footage at a time but it worked perfectly every time I used it.

By: xC IH II IE IFx

xC IH II IE IFx — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 02:40:11 +0000

Would the elgato video capture be able to have no lag LIKE THIS???
II II II II
V V V V
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BUXy2tgOP4&feature=related

By: xC IH II IE IFx

xC IH II IE IFx — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 02:33:18 +0000

Thanks a lot.
Well if MPEG4 is only good for 10 min at a time, then what about certain devices that use MPEG1 or certain levels of MPEG2??? Would the audio and video still be out of sync then? Maybe a longer period of time?
Thanks.

By: Garry Anderson

Garry Anderson — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 21:13:07 +0000

Further to my earlier post, I purchased the Elgato Video Capture device for testing within the 15-day store return policy. My setup was to simply record a 1 hour TV program and create an MPEG4 file. I have to say that the Elgato Software User Interface is excellent and easy to use. However, at the end of the 1-hour capture, the audio (lip-sync) was approximately 1/2 second out-of-sync with the video, so I returned the unit for credit. After some investigation, I believe I have discovered the problem, and it fundamentally rests with the MPEG4 design. When an MPEG4 clip is started, an absolute time reference is created to keep the audio and video in sync. However, further along in the MPEG4 data stream, the audio time reference markers are relative to the previous marker, therefore allowing an accumulation of small errors to occur. Only an absolute time marker can correct the accumulation of errors, and you only get an absolute marker at the beginning of a new clip. Therefore, for normal home video use, and even long continuous shots up to 5 or 10 minutes, the accumulated relative audio slip is not noticeable, and certainly, is corrected when a new clip commences. However, when a continuous 1 or 2 hour recording is made from an existing source, such as a VHS tape or a live TV broadcast, the accumulation of relative time-slips becomes noticeable. The only way to repair such an MPEG4 clip is to use some software (the names for which I do not know) that will strip out the audio and video, then re-construct the audio and correct the time slip, the re-build the result into a more predictable format such as MOV. So, in conclusion, although I love the ease of use of the Elgato Video Capture device, Elgato has based their product upon a flawed hardware encoding system, such as MPEG4, which was never designed for long time-period clips. My advice for anybody considering any MPEG4-based system is to be aware of the long time-clip audio-sync problem and keep the clip duration under 10 minutes. This could be done with a VHS capture by simply capturing several 10 minute clips, with overlap, then editing the overlap and re-building the original VHS content in iMovie. Although this appears to be a lot of effort, the only other alternative is to find a capture system which records directly to MOV format instead of MPEG4 format.

By: xC IH II IE IFx

xC IH II IE IFx — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 18:31:10 +0000

I’ve been doing research for quite awhile now, and have almost settled 100% on this product, except I have yet one question be answered. Is there any delay between the interactions on an xbox 360 controller, and the picture on your computer monitor? And if so, is there a way to fix it? I know, with the eyeTV software there is a way to fix the delay, but the Elgato video capture isn’t included with eyeTV software….
Thanks.

By: Garry Anderson

Garry Anderson — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:38:27 +0000

In the past, Video Capture systems which record directly to MPG4 exhibit a problem with the audio becoming out-of-sync with the video after a long (say 1 hour) recording. Do you know if this Elgato Video Capture device exhibits similar problems? Thanks.