Best way to capture gameplay feed?

[grandmaster]

Unless the Gefen transforms the input on the fly to YPrPb 4:2:2, then it won't work. I highly doubt that it would do that.

 

[JBark]

Unless the Gefen transforms the input on the fly to YPrPb 4:2:2, then it won't work. I highly doubt that it would do that.

Any idea what the YPbPr analog output of the 360/PS3 would be converted to by that Gefen box? It's impossible to find anything online, but from what I can tell YPrPb 4:2:2 is the most common analog output format, so woudn't the output of the Gefen box likely be YPbPr (YCbCr?) 4:2:2? If that's the case, then is seems like this might work.

Wish I had the cash to spend to just try this out and see for myself. If I just needed the cards, then I would probably try it, but I'd need a couple extra HDs for a RAID array to have enough write bandwidth. Somehow I don't think my wife would like my "just wanted to try something out" excuse when I spent +$500.

 

[grandmaster]

That's a question for Gefen. I do think it would most likely be 4:4:4 though - actually losing colour information is quite an intensive task. VGA would most likely be transformed into 24-bit RGB, and as 4:4:4 is also 24-bit I'm fairly sure it would be 4:4:4.

 

[kyleb]

Sure for VGA, but Component is YPbPr 4:2:2, and I'd figure the Gefen box would likely leave it as that.

 

[grandmaster]

With both Xbox 360 and PS3 I don't see the chroma-sub sampling artefacts that would indicate that it's 4:2:2. It looks pretty much pristine. Component only indicates the YPrPb bit, not the 4:2:2/4:4:4 bit.

As I said, the only way to find out for sure would be to ask Gefen. Maybe I'll do just that because I spent £200 on the Intensity and right now it's a total waste of money.

 

[grandmaster]

Wish I had the cash to spend to just try this out and see for myself. If I just needed the cards, then I would probably try it, but I'd need a couple extra HDs for a RAID array to have enough write bandwidth. Somehow I don't think my wife would like my "just wanted to try something out" excuse when I spent +$500.

The best HD codec bar none is CineForm HD. Digital Foundry HD uses this and it means that (if you want) you could capture 720p/60 onto a normal SATA hard drive. CineForm will be announcing an upgrade for the Intensity in due course.

You would need at least three hard disks (four would be better) in a RAID-0 array to capture 720p/60 uncompressed. My system also allows for capture into the Huffyuv mathematically lossless codec for quality whores, but to be honest, the human eye can't tell the difference between lossless and CineForm - it's amazing.

As it is the Intensity comes with its own MJPEG-derived codec which is supposed to be a bit soft, but uses less bandwidth even than CineForm, so that would definitely capture onto a single SATA drive.

 

[grandmaster]

Just as a point of interest, CineForm HD support for the Blackmagic Intensity is now "go" - see www.cineform.com for more details.

Still no good for PS3 capture mind you, but if they ever do sort it out, the extra $200 spent on CineForm will be the best way to preserve the HD quality.

 

[JBark]

Talk about thread necromancy!

Anyway, I was looking into this again, and it seems there is now an Intensity Pro card for $350 that has analog inputs.
http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/intensity/

So no need to mess with adapters and that sort of stuff. This thing should be able to capture component from a PS3/360 without a problem, for $350. That's a heck of a lot cheaper than other analog capture cards. I've been looking for any reviews, but haven't found much.

Also, it seems the latest drivers are much better at handling different video formats.

 

[tha_con]

If anyone ever get's this to work, I'd be interested to know how it turns out!