Analog video converters: Corel Dazzle vs. I-O Data GV-USB2 vs. Diamond VC500 vs. Dazzle DVC100
In this article I am going to compare four analog video capture devices and USB digital converters to convert VHS and Hi8 into digital video:
- Corel Dazzle DVD Recorder HD
- I-O Data GV-USV2
- Diamond VC500
- and a 18-year old Pinnacle Dazzle DVC 100.
All of the converters come with software, which includes a driver, a capture tool and a video editing program. I tested the converters on a Windows Windows 7 64-bit machine.
The currently available Corel Dazzle DVD Recorder HD video capture device does not advertise a more specific model name like DVC 80 or DVC 130, but the name beside the barcode label reads “DVCPTENAM”, and this is the name I will be using to distinguish this device from a similar looking one, the 2006 Corel Dazzle DVD Recorder “DVC 100”.
The DVCPTENAM box is dated 2019, its operating instructions are dated 2013. Supported operating systems mentioned on the box are Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, and there is a sticker for Windows 11.
Despite that the driver installation file is called “Dazzle Video Capture DVC100 X64 Driver 1.08.msi”, the DVCPTENAM would not work with an already installed DVC 100 64-bit driver. After I installed the DVCPTENAM driver, the DVC 100 stopped working. After I re-installed the DVC 100 driver, the DVCPTENAM stopped working. In short, the two Dazzle products cannot be used simultaneously on the same computer.
The driver has been provided by KWorld, a Taiwan-based technology company that specializes in TV tuner cards. I have an HDTV tuner from KWorld, and it uses a Conexant chip. The old DVC 100 used a Philips chip. It seems that the Dazzle hardware has changed, but I cannot know for sure without disassembling the unit, which I have not done.
The driver for the GV-USB2 did not conflict with other drivers. I have installed the VC500 driver earlier, it does not cause conflicts as well, but is unstable: the VC500 is not always detected when connected to a running computer, and requires a reboot, which is annoying.
I did not use the bundled capture tools, and instead opted for free software, namely VirtualDub2 and AmarecTV, which ignore Macrovision no-copy flag and allow choosing from a wider range of codecs. I am partial to Cineform, you may have your own personal favorite.
I used all converters with default procamp settings. Judging by the results, the Dazzle units can benefit from reduced brightness.
The DVCPTENAM has custom “Video Image” properties. I tried turning auto white balance and auto exposure off, but did not see a huge difference.
The GV-USB2 has custom deinterlacing setting, make sure to set it to “Weave”, this means that the device will not do any deinterlacing. “High Motion” and “Low Motion” options produce 25p or 30p video depending on region, while “Bob” produces 50p or 60p video. If you set deinterlacing to “Bob”, you must capture the video at 50 or 60 fps as well. I don’t recommend using any of the options besides “Weave”, as the hardware deinterlacing on the GV-USB2 is very poor, you will get much better result using a software deinterlacer.
If you are using AmarecTV, make sure to turn deinterlacing and line doubling off to capture the video as close to the original as possible. Later, if you need to deinterlace it, for example to upload it on YouTube, you’ll be able to use a software deinterlacer, and pretty much any deinterlacer will do a better job.
The first test is digitizing a professionally recorded VHS-C tape played on a camcorder with the TBC enabled.
On bright scenes, all four cards show similar brightness, with the DVC100 being slightly brighter.
On dark scenes both Dazzle converters produce brighter, somewhat hazy image, with the current DVCPTENAM being significantly brighter.
DVC 100 shows fine noise everywhere, sometimes it looks like fine dots, other times like a cross-hatch pattern. This noise is visible only on still frame grabs.
The VC500 changes brightness occasionally; once you notice it, you cannot unsee it.
The second test checks how the converters handle unstable picture from an SVHS recording made in 1995 for a local cable network. The tape has seen better days, it is very unstable without a TBC.
The VC500 is a clear outsider here.
The last test is digitizing a Hollywood movie. These tapes are usually protected with Macrovision analog protection system. None of the tested converters prevents copying of a Macrovision-protected tape, but the current DVCPTENAM is confused by it, causing distortion in the top area of the frame. This disqualifies the Corel Dazzle in this test.
Of the remaining products, the VC500 shows the largest jitter, which makes thin vertical lines look sharp-toothed, and the GV-USB2 shows some skewing in the top area of the frame.
Here is my opinion after these tests:
The Diamond VC500 would be a solid choice for capturing stabilized video if not for abrupt brightness changes. It does not cope well with unstable video. Current price is about $35 on Amazon, the lowest price I’ve seen was $26 about a year ago.
The current Corel Dazzle DVCPTENAM is surprisingly tolerant to unstable video, but is confused with Macrovision pulses. The video levels are too high, but this can be corrected by reducing brightness in the procamp settings. It used to sell for $50, but recently went up to $70. I saw it on sale for $36, and the cheapest I ever saw it was $30 on Black Friday in 2022.
The old Dazzle DVC 100 shows fine noise throughout the image, which is visible in still frame grabs, and overall it is an average product in every other respect. I had the fewest number of dropped and inserted frames reported for this converter when capturing with VirtualDub2. You can find it or its sister models DVC 101, 103 and 107 for $25 or less on eBay.
Finally, the IO-Data GV-USB2. It shows no patterned noise, has consistent video levels, and is relatively tolerant to unstable video. Current price is around $50. When capturing with VirtualDub2, I had the highest number of dropped and inserted frames for this converter even when capturing a video stabilized with a TBC. This number would change widely from take to take. On another hand, after I switched to AmarecTV, I got no dropped or inserted frames, which makes it my preferred software for analog video capturing on Windows.
