Archiving VHS Tapes on PC

[pappekak]

I have a large library of movies on VHS. I want to archive these on a HTPC that I will be building sometime in the future. My current VHS has component output. What hardware / software will I need to archive the movies on a HTPC?

 

[niget2002]

I use an ATI All-In-Wonder card with the software it comes with.

 

[Hi Ho]

A VCR with a component output? I can't say I've ever seen that. VHS is natively composite quality so composite is really the best connection you can get from a VCR unless it's S-VHS (S-video).

An ATI All-In-Wonder card would work but you can also buy a seperate tuner/capture card. I would recommend the Hauppauge PVR-150. It is an excellent card with an onboard MPEG2 encoder that takes a load off the CPU and provides very good video quality.

 

[mpompey]

I'd go with Hi Ho's recommendation. I've used the All-in-Wonder cards before. They are fine for minor use. But it will be far better to use a capture card. That way your hardware is working only to capture the stream, and your video card can work on displaying it.

It's like a multi-function printer, as soon as the device starts doing more than one thing, in doesn't do any of them well.