Capturing component video (was: In case you have not seen it.....Linux Media Center)

[Ben Scott]

On 3/25/07, Thomas Charron <twaffle at gmail.com> wrote:
>   I just thought of something.  Are there any HD video capture cards
> which can take composite inputs?

  You mean component video input (three cables, typically colored red,
green, blue; carrying Y, Pr, Pb signals).  Composite video (single
cable, typically colored yellow) is not capable of high definition.

  Composite video carries a minimally encoded analog signal.  So it's
coming at you in real time, and without any MPEG compression.  I can't
find any convenient web reference, but I believe to capture it, you
need to be able to encode something like 4 gigabits per second.  Such
stuff is currently rather expensive -- I've heard estimates ranging
from a few thousand to a few tens of thousands of dollars.

  Meanwhile, the media cartels don't like composite video, because
it's not copy restricted.  So you can bet they will do everything in
their power to discourage it in favor of HDMI, which supports copy
restrictions ("HDCP").

-- 
"One day I feel I'm ahead of the wheel / And the next it's rolling over me"
                                                  -- Rush, "Far Cry"