On 1 Jan 2002 10:54:27 -0800, steve@stevestefany.com (steve stefany) wrote:

>I fairly a newbie with video editing. I have several questions and
>thanks to you in advance for helping me...
>
>I just purchased an HP 9995 - P4-2Gig, 512RAM, and a Nvidia Geforce2
>400MX with 64 MB RAM. I transfered some SONY digital video via
>Firewire into DV format.
>
>First, it looks dark and slightly fuzzy. The same is true when I did
>this experiment: I used a Dazzle device to convert analog VHS to DV
>format. The same - it looked darker and fuzzier than it should. Then,
>I took a VHS tape section and captured it with my old 400 MHrtz
>computer using a Matrox Millenium 2(4MB RAM) card(circa 1996) and
>Rainbow Runner using the MJPEG format. It looked much better - sharper
>and brighter. The Matrox Millenium card has settings for PRE-CAPTURE
>which really help. I am really disappointed in my new HP computer. I'm
>sure if I used the Dazzle device with my old 400MHertz computer and
>coverted the camera's digital to analog and encoded in the MJPEG
>format that it would look better than my HP's DV format. I know this
>isn't supposed to be but it is? Should I dump my GeForce card? At
>least get one with pre capture settings?
>
>With my P4-2Gig...I went into settings but the overlay setting only
>effects playback. There are no settings effecting the incoming or "to
>be captured video". This is really needed for my situation. Second,
>the overall quality is dark and fuzzy when compared to the MJPEG
>files.
>
>Any ideas?

You do not want to change the incoming video, since it
is not "video" or "sound" but a digital stream formed
by the camera - and the format is rigid. Try outputing
captured footage back to the camera and you will see
that it is the same as the original. What you see is
the result of whatever means is used to convert the
digital stream into analogue for seeing/hearing it,
and this is usually done with software with quality
limitations included to allow realtime viewing/hearing
with a range of computers. Some FireWire cards, like the
Canopus, have provision for using internal/external
hardware for the overlay, and this is noticeably sharper
than the alternative software overlay. BTW, it also
helps to make the preview window exactly the right pixel
size for the format... - and on PCs, it is not uncommon
for the default monitor settings to produce a too dark
and contrasty picture (which will also look less sharp
than the TV image with motion, due to the monitor
being progressive-scan, and the TV being properly
interlaced...). Use the computer monitor as a guide,
and the TV as the standard...