Can anyone recommend a good mid-priced video/capture card for general-purpose video editing? I'd prefer an Nvidia card since they seem to be very compatible with Linux. (I'm using PCLinuxOS and an Abit IC7-G mainboard).

Thanks
Alex

nVidia does not have such thing. nVidia only makes GPU and motherboard chip sets. Some manufactures that uses nVidia GPU may add a video capture chip, but they have very, very little support in Linux.

I suggest Canopus ADVC110. It is a IEEE-1394 (aka i.Link or Firewire) that should work in Linux and has better video quality than internal PCI or PCI Express cards. If that device is too much, you could get an internal card that is based on either Philips/NXP SAA713x or Conexant 2388x. Another option that has questionable workmanship quality is Hauppauge HD PVR.

OK, thanks for the reply.

I'm new to this, and it may be that a tuner/capture card along with an Nvidia video card is a better combination. My requirement is quite simple - I merely want to capture and edit videos from free-to-air and VHS. Would much appreciate your recommendation for this purpose if you'd be so kind.

Alex.

If you are talking US digital OTA, then I would look at the HDHomerun(digital only). It is a dual digital tuner that runs across Ethernet. Since it outputs a stream virtually any software can be used with it(VLC, MythTV, ect). Most of the tuners(that I have seen) that both capture and tune, do neither very well, so I would advise a separate capture card. It also matters what type of output you have available on your VCR.

Capturing OTA programming in HD, or just SD? Noting how that coupon program only covered converter boxes that outputed an SD signal.

As far as graphics card, get one with the outputs and supported resolution(s) that you need. You're not likely to be able to use the hardware encoder / decoder in linux. But as long as you have an appropriate output (HDMI) and some acceleration, it'll help you get to where you want to go. Also bear in mind that a lot of cards upscale and filter the video that they display, so what you watch on your fancy computer may not be what everyone else is seeing on their end. Or what you see on your much cheaper laptop.

Hauppage HD PVR was about the only capture device worth having a year ago. And I agree, most capture devices don't capture AND tune very well. And a lot of these things have hardware encoders, so what you capture is not what it originally received. (lossy). If you've got a few bucks, you could always get a nano flash or other device. No tuner on it, but it's supposed to have quite the capture capability. As it should for it's couple of G's price tag.

I had a pinnacle TV capture card (USB / 801e). You could cat the HD programming to an mpeg file, no encoding needed on your end. And for ATSC programming it wasn't half bad. But you didn't have SD capabilities at that time in linux, it had the odd chipset. And it's SD capabilities under windows was hideous. And it ran a bit hot and ultimately burned itself out / up in less than 30 days. I did manage to return it and get a full refund, despite store policy of only 14 days (or so they said). Although I was a bit hot headed at the time, I mean you buy a $100 TV and it lasts longer than 30 days. I wasn't about to go through the free replacement (once a month) for the life of the warranty (1 year).

By now over the air broadcast is digital or ATSC to be specific in the US. In the UK, it is different and confusing. I agree to what lazlow suggested because it is easier than setting up a DVB card in Linux. Sandstorm HDHomerun has a single tuner model. For Composite or S-Video hook up, I suggest Canopus ADVC110. The HDHomerun tuner can be directly be stored to the hard drive. Also the Canopus ADVC110 can be saved to the hard drive using Kino with out having to mess with the settings. The Canopus ADVC110 records into a DV format file, so you can edit it in Cinelerra CV (community version).

Internal video captures could be used, but Linux supports some models. Setting up a DVB to handle over the air broadcast takes some work. Buying a DVB card is cheaper, but not easy. If you insist on using an internal video capture card, I suggest the following.

KWORLD ATSC 120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815260007

Here is a short little how-to on selecting a Video Capture Card.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5885135_sele...ture-card.html

This can help with some of the basics of selecting the card. I've installed a few of these and can help with more details if need be. The most important thing is to define how you will be using the video capture card.