[wellylug] Analog TV on Ubuntu

[jumbophut]

If it's BT848 or BT878 (or CX88?), you could try xawtv.  I am
unfamiliar with BT88.

I haven't used it for a while, but it used to let you choose the video
source (e.g. Composite if you are using a video input) and then record
to an avi file.  You can optionally convert to another format using,
for instance, vlc or mplayer or ffmpeg2theora.  A drawback is that you
will need a big hunk of HD space for the initial avi file.

An alternative is to use vlc directly and have it record in some more
compact format (like theora), but I've found that requires some
command-line setting of input options (using a tool specific to the
chipset, or v4l2-ctl) and the correct magical incantation to vlc.

To save you some time, recording to MPEG2 (e.g. DVD) is likely to be a
dead loss unless you are willing to wade into non-official packages,
since there are patent issues (if you don't mind the non-official
thing there are some respected repositories).  If you happen to have
the CX 88 chipset, _direct_ MPEG2 capture might be doable.

Tony



On 12/20/09, Ray Smith <nazgul748 at gmail.com> wrote:
> I have a generic/ budget analog TV capture card in an Ubuntu box. It's based
> on the BT88 chip set (I think that's it). What I would like to do is record
> video from old VHS tapes and digitize them for archiving purposes. Can
> anyone recommend software? I'm still learning the intricacies of configuring
> programs, so simplicity would be an asset.
>
> Thanks,
> Ray
>


-- 
Tony (echo 'spend!,pocket awide' | sed 'y/acdeikospntw!, /l at omcgtjuba.phi/')