posted 04-15-2000 02:17 AM
For a card under $200, the DC10+ rules.The VHS quality setting is great if you're working with a VHS, VHS-C, 8mm, or Hi8 source. You won't lose much quality using this setting if that's what you are capturing from and mastering to. Here's a page of two captures from DC10+.
http://members.xoom.com/.../index2.html
The source is my Sony TRV36 (Hi8-Sony HiME) via composite cables. The first picture is captured at the SVHS setting, while the second is captured at the VHS setting. As you can see, the SVHS setting is overkill for the given source.
NOTE: The slight moire pattern in the highlight areas are a result of my camcorders crappy CCD, the DC10+ had no effect on this.
However, if you're working with SVHS, Pro SVHS, 3/4, MiniDV, DV, Beta SP (and up), then use the SVHS setting. This technically captures full screen analog video (640x480 @ 3MB/sec). Here are some captures:
http://members.xoom.com/.../index.html
The source for the first and last capture is Pro SVHS tape (Recorded on a JVC HR-S3600U) transferred via S-Video cables to the DC10+. The first one is at SVHS quality, the last is at VHS quality. The second image was captured on a Trinity using an older model Sony SVHS VCR via S-Video cables. As you can see, there is a significant loss in detail going from the SVHS to the VHS. You can really tell when you output back to Pro SVHS from the DC10+. I just included the Trinity to show you how similar it's captures are to the DC10+'s. The Trinity is slightly more color accurate, but it's a $10,000 machine.
Okay, here are somethings that bug me about the DC10+.
1)The CODEC support. The MJPEG codec is truly a great codec, however, the DC10+ doesn't use it to it's potential. The codec can capture PAL and NTSC sources at full screen all the way down to VCD sizes. The DC10+ can only export clips with a 4:3 aspect ratio (NTSC) and at a color depth of 24 bytes. If you try to export anything that doesn't fit those specs, you'll just get bars on your tape.
2) Lack of Premiere support. Although the DC10+ works almost seemlessly with Premiere, there's one problem. You can't export using Print to Tape. This is especially annoying when working with long projects larger than the 2 gig limit. (This is the main thing that sets the DC30 Pro aside from the DC10+.)
Besides that, everything is great. I had an excellent installation and haven't had any sync problems yet. The support forum at Pinnacle is very helpful. If you want a great card for under $200, get the DC10+. 
posted 04-12-2000 05:19 PM