Problem with Resolution

[Paolo Laquale]

Dear fireball hunters,

I am member of a small group that will try to set up a network of meteor
cameras in Italy.
I have a watec 902h3s with a 3-8 mm f/1 pentax lens that i use with a Fujitsu-Siemens Lifebook C Series laptop (1 gb ram, 100 gb HD, 2.20 GHz, videoboard S3 Graphics ProSavage DDR with a Dazzle DVC 100 connected with a USB 2.0 PCMCIA port.

My problem is the resolution. With all the software that i've tested(UfoCapure, HawkVideo, HandyAvi, Astraimage videograbber, Skypatrol4CCD) the resolution is 320x240; but the camera can permit 720x570.
I try to upload the new driver for the videoboard, the new directx 9.0 patch (i have 9.0c), new driver wmv,wdm, wfv; but the resolution is the same 320x240.

What can i do for resolving this problem ?
It's possible that the videograbber have bad performance (or the USB 2.0 PCMCIA port ?)

Please Help me.

Danke to all

Paolo Laquale

[Mark Vornhusen]

Dear Paolo,
are you using Windows Visa? It is possible that these programs are not Vista compatible. The sykpatrol program, which I have written some years ago, needs a Video for Windows (VfW) video driver. This kind of driver is out of date and usually no more shipped with new TV cards. I think this is the main reason why you can use only 320x240.

I have used Avertv USB2.0 capture devices and Pinnacle PCTV USB in full resolution under Windows XP. These devices seem to work with the skypatrol software under XP for 720x576.

Since a year ago I completely switched to Ubuntu Linux an do not develop any more software for windows. Meanwhile I have written a new meteor detection software for Linux. I'm using Dazzle DVC 100 device, too. Works great with my Linux software and 720x576 pixel resolution. If you are interested in the Linux meteor capture program, email me.

Mark

[Paolo Laquale]

No, i use Windows XP SP1 (Must i switch to SP2?). I have downloaded various drivers vfw, but i don't know if these drivers working well. Have you a site for download the most recent drivers ?

I have Linux too (Fedora Core 3) but with this operating system i don't know how to install various software (i ever had problems).

Paolo

[Mark Vornhusen]

Dear Paolo,
I don't think there are alternative VfW drivers available from Pinnacle for the Dazzle DVC 100.

The reason for the limited resolution is that the Pinnacle uses a WDM video driver. The Skypatrol software does not support WDM. In this case XP offers a WDM to VfW wrapper, but this wrapper is limited to 320x240 resolution. See:
http://www.rage3d.com/board/archive/ind ... 49342.html

Maybe the UFO-Capture Software supports WDM driver?


If not I recommend you to buy the AverTV USB 2.0 capture box:
http://cgi.ebay.de/AVerMedia-AVerTV-USB ... QQihZ015QQ

Can you use 720x576 capture resolution with the original Pinnacle software shipped with the Dazzle 100? If not, it is possible that your PCMCIA adapter does not support high speed USB 2.0 or that your overall bandwith of USB is to low? For example when using other high seed USB devices (external USB harddisk etc.) simultanously to the Dazzle device.


Mark

[Paolo Laquale]

Hello Mark,
thanks for your help !
I try with Dazzle DVC 100 and its proprietary software, but the
resolution remain 320x240. Probably is due to the low bandwidth of my
USB 2.0 PCMCIA.
I want to try your software with my linux (fedora core 3) and the same
setup.
I hope that linux is better with the USB 2.0 PCMCIA board.
I send this message to your e-mail address but i have not received any answer.
If you want, you can send your software to my e-mail
and please with full explanation for how to install the software on
linux and its use.

Thanks for all

Paolo