Directshow Problem

Question

I have a capture device avermedia dvd ezmaker 7 with Video Cassete Player connected to it through composite cables. I need to capture video stream and render it. I use PlayCap programm to do it. If if I just run this programm it shows  me nothing but interference...  (If I touch the cables it shows a picture but still with the great interference)... But if I run CyberLink PowerDirector(utility delivered with the driver disk) first and then run PlayCap it works correctly without any problem... How should I modify PlayCap to fix it... I need your help... Thanks for your replies.

Answer 1

Hoo-boy, that's going to take a lot more info.

When you said this:

I have a capture device avermedia dvd ezmaker 7 with  video tape recorder connected to it...

did you mean you had connected a video tape recorder to a dvd player? Lots of tape recorders can't handle the signals from dvd players for deliberate (copy-protection) reasons.

Now, when you said this:

If I touch the cables it shows a picture but still with the great interference...

you said quite a bit. There's a BIG difference between "nothing but interference" and "a picture but still with great interference." By "a picture," did you mean you could see something you recognized as coming from your source, or was it just something different from the interference?

PlayCap is a good way to learn things, but you might want to try building a graph in graphedt.exe to see if you can render video from your source with any of the filters you can access that way. Try that and come back with some more details. Maybe someone here can help you.

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Stevens Miller http://www.withoutsupervision.com

Answer 2

Оh sorry... It's my mistake (language problems=)   I mean I have VideoCassete player( Video cassette PlayerJVC HR-P30A to be precise) which I connect to capture device using composite cables...    And yes when I touch it I see frames I'm able to recognize!!!  The task is to create an application which would capture video stream from the source using composite cables(no matter what it wiil be VideoCassete player or smth else ) and display it to the screen.    

Answer 3

Thanks for the up-vote!

I get you now: you have a JVC HR-P30A connected to an AverMedia DVD EZMaker 7, which provides capture for your computer (which is actually what you said, so the language problems are more mine than yours). You can't see a picture until you touch the cables. When you touch the cables, you can see a picture, but this problem goes away if you run CyberLink PowerDirector first. Got it.

When you hold your hand (or any number of other things) near a cable, you change the reactance of that cable. For high-frequency signals (like video), this can have a big effect on the impedance the cable presents to whatever is connected to it at either end. Video devices for home use pretty much adhere to standard impedances, but a device like the EZMaker 7 may well allow the programmer to change impedance settings (for example, a high impedance would be useful if you want to connect more than one EZMaker 7 to a signal source at the same time, while a lower impedance would be best if you only had one connected).

This is just a wild guess, but my guess is that PowerDirector initializes the EZMaker driver in some way that affects your problem, perhaps by setting an impedance level in the EZMaker hardware. To investigate this, you will need to look at the programmer's information (if there is any) supplied by AverMedia. Make sure your application initializes the driver however it must to "match" the hardware to the signal source.

You might also try other video sources (cameras, other VCRs, etc.) if you have them, just to see if this is a problem unique to your JVC player.

Try building a graph in graphedt.exe with your EZMaker as the capture source, and use "Render Pin" on its output. Both before and after you use "Render Pin," right-click on the EZMaker and see if it will offer you a property page. Whatever it offers in that page may well be something you can also write application code to affect. If something on the property page solves your problem, that's what you need to be setting in your application code.

Please report back what you learn here. I'm very interested in people's experiences with AverMedia products (mine, so far, have been good, though very limited).

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Stevens Miller http://www.withoutsupervision.com

Answer 4

Thx a lot for your help... I fixed  the problem! The thing was that analog signal had NTSC format by default. Then I changed it to PAL_B by using method put_TVfromat of IAMAnalogVideoDecoder interface. And  BINGO...   I'm glad  there are people that help to cope with difficulties.... THX again from Russia)

Answer 5

So glad you fixed it, and even more so that you reported the fix back here. Good work.

Seems like everyone here is from Russia but me... 8-)

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Stevens Miller http://www.withoutsupervision.com