The Datavideo DAC-200 is one of the most popular Analog to Digital converters on the market. Mainly because it’s the most cost effective converter without compromising quality. It stands right on the line of cost vs. quality. If you go any cheaper, your video looks worse. If you go any more expensive, then you’re just plain spending more money. You will gain features as you increase in cost, and will even reach a point where you gain more connectivity possibilities. But if you’re looking for S-Video or RCA to Firewire conversion, the DAC-200 is a very logical choice.
What’s in the box?
When you buy the DAC-200, it comes with the Analog to Digital Converter box itself, an AC adapter power supply, an S-Video Cable, an RCA Video and Stereo Audio, a 6 Pin Male to 6 Pin Male Firewire cable, an Installation Guide, and a picture friendly “Getting Started” Manual showing you the different ways to use the DAC-200.
Features
The DAC-200 has Locked Audio, which will assist in preventing audio drifting throughout capture. Also, the DAC-200 comes with a power supply allowing 4 pin firewire devices to work properly in the conversion process. There are dip switches on the Back of the DAC-200 to change various settings such as if your computer is Windows or Mac, or if your video is NTSC or PAL. It can handle full resolution NTSC or PAL.
DAC-200 or ADVC-110?
You either know what I’m talking about, or you don’t. There are two very comparable products on the market right now, The DAC-200 by Datavideo and the ADVC-110 by Canopus. Both do essentially the same thing. A few years ago (when the DAC-200 was the DAC-100 and the ADVC-110 was the ADVC-100) it was safe to say there was a difference. One had macrovision elimination; the other lacked the Locked Audio feature. But now, with the dropping of one feature and adding of another, they’re pretty much the same thing. The biggest difference is the DAC-200 comes with a power supply and the ADVC-110 does not. I’ve heard people who have tried both claim that one has better picture over the other or works better with Macs than the other, but on a large scale most everyone is pleased with whatever product they chose. The DAC-200 is also a little cheaper than the ADVC-110, making it increase in sales. If Canopus really wanted to dominate the market again, they’d bring back the ADVC-100, which came with a power supply and could eliminate Macrovision Protection. But as of right now, if you want the Macrovision gone from your transfers, the only official solution you have is to move into a slightly higher price range. The Canopus ADVC-300 is the cheapest solution at $469 for a product that officially can disable Macrovision. Still, in my own capture tests, I've noticed footage captured through the DAC-200 seems to be blind to macrovision. According to my research, this is because the DAC-200 regenerates and replaces the video synch pulse area, which Removes and Replaces any and all data there, such as macrovision protection. While this is not considered a feature of the DAC-200, I personally think it's amazing and will help boost sales of the DAC-200 far above the ADVC-110.
Using the DAC-200
The DAC-200 is very easy to set up. It was default set up for Windows and NTSC, so all I had to do was plug everything in. While using Premiere Pro to capture, the computer saw the signal from the DAC-200 as a firewire digital camera with no device control. But it instantly received a signal and I was good to go. I pressed play on the VCR, record on the computer and was capturing video. The Analog Video to Digital Video looked great and I was very happy with the quality. I recorded about 30 minutes of video, and didn’t notice any sound sync issues with the DAC-200.
Summary
If you’re planning on moving your old VHS tapes or Hi-8 home movies to DVD, the DAC-200 is a great solution. If you want to send a digital video signal from your computer into a TV, get the DAC-200. Buy the DAC-200 today for only $191 at GuyGraphics.com.
|
