[mythtv-users] best quality capture card for software encoding?

[John Biundo]

Wander Winkelhorst wrote:
> On 2/28/06, Nick Bartos <spam1001 at 2thebatcave.com> wrote:
<SNIP>
>>I had the same problems with software encoding, and after some discussion
>>I think I found my problem.  I was proceeding with the assumption that I
>>didn't need deinterlacing at the playback stage, since I was outputting
>>directly to a TV.  After I have started messing with deinterlacing the
>>playback is much better,
> 
> 
> If this is the case, then your problem might be with the way you
> output video to your TV rather than the way you capture your video.
> 
> A lot of tv-out videocards scale the video up or down to display the
> video fullscreen without black borders at the sides. But by scaling up
> or down, you mess up the interlacing of the video (odd and even lines
> of the video don't match up to the odd and even lines of the TV)
> Boards like the VIA eden's can use "noscale" resolutions that will
> match your tv line-for-line.

I would sure love some elaboration on this point if someone is willing!

I've recently been swayed by a lot of anecdotal information to the 
belief that deinterlacing *should* improve the quality of my playback 
(especially fast motion video, like sporting events).  I have yet to 
conduct any real experimentation to figure out the best settings though. 
  While I'm willing to experiment, it would be great to have a little 
more solid background understanding about the fundamental concept of why 
one should deinterlace a signal destined for an interlaced display.

What really caught my eye is the comment about scaling and possible 
interference with deinterlacing.  This is a new one for me.  I hope 
someone can explain a bit more.  Which cards do this scaling?  How do 
you avoid it (without, e.g., buying something like an eden board as 
mentioned above) if you've got one of these scaling cards?

I've been reading up everything I can on this subject, but short of 
pursuing an engineering degree, I'm afraid it continues to seem like a 
lot of voodoo!