Dazzle DVC100
From SDA Knowledge Base
Contents
What is the Dazzle DVC100?
The Dazzle DVC100 is a basic USB 2.0 video capture device. Although slightly pricey ($49.99 on Amazon as of 11/24/12) compared to the EzCap (roughly $32 on eBay as of 11/24/12), both are comparable devices and are more than adequate to capture SD interlaced footage.
In the box you'll find:
- The Dazzle capture device
- Software installation CD
- Basic instruction manual
Hardware Capture Info
Inputs:
- Composite video (yellow RCA plug)
- S-Video
- Stereo audio (red/white RCA plugs)
Video Capture:
- Resolutions from 160x120 up to 720x526
- Framerates of 25fps or 29.97fps
- NTSC formats: M, M_J, 433
- PAL formats: B, D, G, H, I, M, N
- Secam formats: B, D, G, H, K, L, L1
Audio Capture:
- 48000hz, 16-bit, 2 channels
Basic Installation
- Install the software BEFORE plugging in the device
- Plug in the Dazzle
- Pray to the Pinnacle Gods
If you don't wish to install any of the pinnacle software and only wish to install the drivers:
- Open My Computer
- Right click on the drive with the install disc
- On the context menu, click Open
- Open up the Drivers folder
- Right click on your driver of choice (32bit or 64bit depending on your version of windows)
- On the context menu, click Run As Administrator
Confirmation needed: While installing just the drivers should work, I did not have to resort to this to get my Dazzle to work. Anyone with experience using this install method should edit this line to confirm.
What to do with the Pinnacle Software
The Pinnacle Studio software that comes with the Dazzle is slow, clunky, and does not record video with the quality that SDA requires for runs. However, it's recommended to install it anyway since it can still be used to test that your device and drivers are working properly.
One of the biggest problems with the Dazzle is how the device is registered with Windows. Rather than setting up the audio capture to work with the Windows mixer, instead the audio capture is kept hidden. Since the Pinnacle software is designed to work with the Dazzle, as long as the device is working and the drivers are installed properly, you'll always be able to get video/audio. This can help rule out the Dazzle as having a problem if a capture program doesn't work properly.
Compatible Software
As mentioned earlier, most capture programs can't grab audio from the Dazzle. The two that are known to get around this issue are:
- Amarectv
- Hacked version of VirtualDub
As more programs are found to natively recognize the audio, they'll be added to the list.
Troubleshooting
Any problems that don't fall into the category of "It just won't work with X program" will go here.
Workarounds
If all else fails, ways to get around the audio limitations can be placed here. This section may possible be placed in the Compatible Software area.
