Test: Corel Dazzle DVD Recorder vs. I-O Data GV-USB2 vs. Diamond VC500 vs. Pinnacle Dazzle DVC100

Testing four analog video capture devices and USB digital converters to convert VHS and Hi8 into digital video.

Devices tested:
■ Corel Dazzle DVD Recorder HD Video Capture Device (DVCPTENAM)
■ I-O Data GV-USB2 Video/VHS DVD Dubbing PC Ingestion Video Capture
■ Diamond Multimedia VC500 One Touch VHS to Digital File converter
■ Corel Dazzle DVD Recorder Video Capture Device (DVC 100)

Tested on Windows using VirtualDub2 and AmarecTV software.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro; VC500 box
00:31 Corel Dazzle unboxing
03:09 I-O Data GV-USB2 unboxing
04:26 Driver installation
05:45 Capturing software settings
07:05 Test 1: VHS-C, TBC ON
08:35 Test 2: SVHS-C, no TBC
09:06 Test 3: VHS, Macrovision, no TBC
09:38 DVCPTENAM full test
12:11 GV-USB2 full test
14:45 VC500 full test
17:24 DVC100 full test
20:03 Bonus: SVideo-to-DV with TBC ON

#vhs #analog #conversion

[candive]

Thank you for providing this comparison of these popular capture devices. I've gone through your video a number of times to determine which device is the overall "winner". I assume you left the proc-amp settings at their default. Regarding the VHS-C capture, the DVCPTENAM is a bit washed out compared to the other three. This is particularly noticeable in the Japanese market scenes.

Regarding the shaky capture, the VC500 is the worse while the DVCPTENAM is the most stable. Watch the venetian blinds, the white strip between the door and blinds and the white door window. Unfortunately the DVCPTENAM is still a bit washed out compared to the others. Perhaps a slight adjustment to the proc-amps may improve this. The DVC 100 is better than the GV-USB2. If you stop the video, you can compare the straightness of the venetian blinds, white strip and the door window. On the GV-USB2, the lines curve to the left near the top of the frame while the DVC 100 they are reasonably straight. But the DVCPTENAM still beats out the DVC 100 in terms of straight lines when you pause the video and the amount of shake when the video is playing.

As for the Hollywood video, the DVCPTENAM is clearly the worse with the video tearing at the top and the washed out look. On the other hand I found the VC 500 a bit too colour saturated; particularly the skin tones (a bit too orange). Comparing the DVC 100 to the GV-USB2 was more difficult. The DVC 100 is slightly lighter but neither is more sharper than the other. Compare the clock on the wall and Pepsi cola sign and the close up of Michael J. Fox. They are both pretty close with maybe the edge going to the DV 100 when you zoom to the window frames of the DV 100 - they are slightly straighter.

Out the the four capture devices, which one would I buy? Probably the GV-USB2 for the following reasons. It is still being produced, gets good reviews and you can purchase it on Amazon. The Diamond 500 was very poor for shaky video unless you owned a TBC. The DVCPTENAM was too washed out and failed to capture the Hollywood movie. The DVC 100, while a good device, is no longer produced and depending on your region, difficult to find on eBay etc.

As for the bonus material with the Sony camcorder with TBC, this is the clear winner! In my opinion the video was perfect. Purists would argue against it because the capture codec is DV AVI which is lossy but visually it was the best out of all of them. These camcorders can still be purchased on eBay while dedicated TBC's are hard to find and usually very expensive so not really an option for your typical consumer.

[kaibomo]

Thank you for this excellent comparison. I've been fascinated with these composite/S-video capture devices for a long time. I mainly use Windows 10 because it still receives updates, but some of those updates break the functionality of video capture devices. The Dazzles are especially succeptible in my experience. I've also had issues of a similar nature with my VC500 albeit less frequent. I'm tempted to finally buy the GV-USB2 because I think its drivers tend to withstand the many changes pushed out by Microsoft for Windows. It's actually used very heavily in the retro video game speedrunning community, and they usually livestream with little to no issues while using OBS in conjunction with AmaRecTV. So I take that as a good sign

[cellist]

Amazing video as always! I appreciated the detailed testing without conclusions, so we all can make up our own mind.
Perhaps you could still make a separate video about your opinion on the performance of each, so as people like me could understand the benefits of each device, and not go like "uuu pretty colors, im getting the vs500".
I am surprised how the IO DATA is really looking overall quite good, especially when one cant get their hands on the dvc100.

Cheers for the good work!

[BoxingDayAC]

Also, I'd be interested in seeing video game capture! NTSC SNES and NES have very out of spec sync and 60.1 Hz framerates. SNES and later gen consoles output both Composite and S-Video. GV-USB2 is the most popular in the gaming scene. Doesn't botch the 240p flavor of 480i that was extremely common before Dreamcast and PS2.

[IronClawNinja]

I have the GV-USB 2 device and recently got a Sony S-Video VCR. When I see the VHS on the preview window on OBS or any other capture software I see jagged edges on the actors at times. Is not a interlace issue but it looks like old 3D games. I put my old cheap USB device and it doesn’t do it. Any idea what is causing it? Because it doesn’t do it with my Laserdisc or when I plug the VCR to my OLED.

[seasonstudios]

With just the Dazzle DVC 100 unit itself, is there a difference between the Dazzle Dvd Recorder HD and the Dazzle DVD Recorder Plus? Both are in red packages but is one unit different than the other... HD or Plus?

[bernardphilips]

J’aime vos vidéos mais je ne comprend pas l anglais pourriez vous activer le sous titrage en français ce serait super merci

[Calvarydima]

Можно не смотреть и сразу сказать что pinnacle победитель )) или взять старый dvd рекордер