It's crazy that I wanted to see a comparison between these two exact products before I made my decision and you sir have done exactly as I was wanting to see! I can't thank you enough, I almost bought the ClearClick just for simplicity, but the Elgato looks quite simple as well, it just requires a PC which I have. Just bought a nice VCR with an S-Video output so hopefully I get the best possible conversion for all of my home video memories. I plan to use an idea I saw on another RUclips video of making a RUclips page specifically for all of these videos and share that link with my family at Christmas time. Thanks again, Great Review!!
This is fantastic. I was torn between these two, and I really appreciate the side-by-side video quality demonstration. Thank you for being so thorough with this comparison!
I have been testing all the top-rated devices on the market over the past 2 months. I purchased the ClearClick three times and the Roxio device three times so that I could test their quality control. I'm sad to report that both products were very inconsistent from one to the next. Now I understand why the reviews on Amazon vary so widely on a particular product. If a person happens to get a good one, they rave about it. If they get a bad one, they exclaim how useless the product is, and typically report that they returned the item to Amazon for a refund. The other BIG issue with USB devices is the software that's bundled with the product. For example, the Elgato lets you set contrast, brightness, etc., but you CANNOT make the adjustments while the video is actually playing. Other USB devices let you tweak the video settings while you are previewing the video, so that you can get it right while you watch. With the Elgato, you have to make a change, then view it, then go back to make a further change if you're not happy, then view it, then go back to the settings to adjust again, then check it on the preview, then go back again... you get the idea. What we WANT is an "interactive" ProcAmp that lets you move the adjustment sliders WHILE you are previewing the footage. And, of course, the ClearClick has absolutely no ProcAmp controls to tweak the color, brightness, etc. So you're stuck with whatever the product generates. With all three ClearClicks I tested, the SVHS color was WAY LESS saturated than the composite color. Furthermore, all three ClearClick devices recorded the audio far below the proper levels, in fact 3dB below proper specifications. You made a nice video here, but rather than waste time showing the "unboxing," I would rather see a greater focus on the limitations, such as those I've highlighted above.
Thanks for your comment. Looks like you really did your homework on these devices. I think most people just want to be able to get their video digitized as hassle free as possible with as few glitches as possible. Being able to tweak the video would be nice but those color corrections after the fact looks like your going to have to do after you bring the file to a non linear editing program where you can make more fine adjustments - Including color, editing etc, But great observations on your end and thanks for the constructive comments !
@@techtoremember8096 hi thanks for your video..I have the elgato and the only trouble I have is that I notice while there is writing or credits that the writing seems to be wavy or jiggly..don't know how to describe ..my other method is to burn onto a dvd/hdd and it doesn't seem to happen there...is there a way to reduce this..the dvd hdd method is much more complicated. Any ideas? Thanks Michael
Hi Michael. That is strange. Can you try using a different player ? I would check that first. Possible something in the camcorder or VCR you are using is not outputting a stable enough signal snd causing that issue
The "strange" adapter that came with the Elgato is for SCART cables, a standard connector used in European countries. These cables can carry Composite, S-Video, or RGB.
@@techtoremember8096 The SCART connector was the ubiquitous, standard, AV connector present on practically all European TV sets from the 1980s onward. It is a multi-pin connector that can carry TV-compatible 15 kHz (625/50 or 525/59.94) video signals in CVBS, Y/C, RGB or Y'Pb'Pr signal formats, and with stereo sound. You can study the pinout on Wikipedia. Unlike the American TV sets which typically had this large array of separate RCA connectors on their back, European TVs used to feature at least one and up to as many as three or four multi-pin SCART connectors for connecting external signal sources. (In addition to this, they might have still featured this single, token set of RCAs + mini-DIN s-video hidden behind a cover on the front panel, for temporarily connecting portable AV sources such as camcorders and the like. But the RCAs were clearly a secondary option to the default, primary AV connector, which was the SCART connector.) Likewise, the European VCRs, DVD players, set-top boxes and game consoles (their AV cable sets) all came with SCART connectors as standard and bundled SCART cables instead of RCA cables in their product packaging. One of the great things about the SCART connector was that it specified RGB pins for TV-compatible (15 kHz) video signals and most TVs implemented this feature (since it cost practically nothing as all CRT TVs need to convert all signal types to RGB in the end for driving their electron guns). So, with the help of a SCART cable, you could get excellent picture quality from RGB-capable signal sources, such as DVD players, DTV set-top boxes, and TV-compatible home computers and game consoles (think of something like the Commodore Amiga or the PlayStation 1). Also, some 15 kHz European computer video monitors (what some might want to call “CGA” monitors) featured an RGB-capable SCART connector on their back. The SCART connector was designed for CRT TVs and the era of analog, standard-definition AV signals. Once flat-panel TVs started replacing the CRTs, and the AV signal sources turned all-digital and started using HD resolution and the digital HDMI connector, the SCART connector began losing ground and diminishing in significance. It hung on for a while but has now all but disappeared on new TV sets. With most TVs, you now need an external digitizer/upscaler box to accept analog, 15 kHz (SCART-)RGB signals from the old signal sources.
Thanks Bro! I appreciate this review. I purchased the Elgato about 2 months ago and I will be duplicating my tapes soon. I also recieived a copy of 2 family vieos from my brother-in-law. He has the ClearClick and it was wayyyy to dark. So I really appreciate your comparisons!
720x480 is the way to go when capturing anything from VHS. 720x480 29.97fps 4:3 aspect ratio. If you are recording just to a hard drive record it in MP4 (h.264) in 4000kbps since that is the universal standard now. If you are putting it on a DVD and you want identical quality to the VHS source then you would record it to 720x 480 in MPEG-2 (6000-8000kbps) at 29.97fps. What I don't like about El Gato is the software and actual unit have not been updated since 2004...it only captures in 640x480 30fps (which is below DVD quality) 640x480 was used for CRT computer monitors years ago. It looks more pixelated on a larger tv monitor. 720x480 will give you identical quality to your VHS tape source. Be careful not to record in higher resolution, it will automatically convert and distort your final video file to 16:9 widescreen, and you don't want that because it will not only degrade the quality you will have a useless file.
Hu jenna , in aus pal resolution default is 640x480 , usa ntsc 720x576. since elgato has the huccups u don't like , what is your workaround and what do u use pls ? Thank u.
Which device would you recommend that can capture in 720x480 @30fps for NTSC or in my case 720x576 @25fps for PAL tapes that are used in my country? I have ElGato and it worked like a breeze but would like to get the best resolution possible for my VHS tapes. Even better if it works on Mac.
@Jenna Thank you for confirming my suspicion! I was considering this product but wondering about the supported capture resolutions because the specifications on the Elgato site only mention 640x480 and 640x360 - neither of which is a standard video resolution. These non-standard resolutions hint at the direction that behind the scenes, the video capture utility bundled with the device is probably throwing a lot of information away and deinterlacing the signal as well. :( The standard ITU-R BT.601 digital presentation for standard-definition video is 720x480 for 525-line systems and 720x576 for 625-line systems, captured from the “active picture area” with a 13.5 MHz sample rate / reproduced with a 13.5 MHz pixel clock. The resolution is the same for both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios - it is the shape of the pixels (or interpretation of their shape) that changes and not the number of pixels in the sampling matrix. You can only retain the full video quality (and the correct scanline structure for interlaced video signal) using the industry-standard digital SD video resolutions (which are also employed by DVD discs/players, digital TV broadcasts, DV camcorders, etc.) instead of converting to some random non-standard resolution pulled out of thin air. Hence, the Elgato device, or at least the software bundled with it, is apparently not capable of proper video capture/archival that would retain the original quality. :( (The other, stand-alone video capture device that was featured in the review did not seem to support standard capture resolutions, either... or at least did not list such resolutions in the menu that was shown in the video.)
@@JukkaMTAho This is very useful information, thank you. But it leaves me with the important question - if neither Elgato or ClearClick are capable or copying a video tape (VHS etc.) in its original quality as a digital file for archiving purposes, then which device or method CAN? If you can please share how you would do it or what you would recommend, it would answer many people's questions here, including mine. I live in the UK so have hundreds of PAL VHS tapes and I just want to convert them into digital files I can watch and store safely to preserve them. What specific device or set-up would enable that please? Thank you :)
I actually have a video on that in the works. Its not the easiest or cheapest method and not the easiest to implement but in my opinion, after trying almost all of them it works the best. And that is to get a Windows computer which has a IEEE1394 card (also known as firewire). I use an older defunct program called Windows Movie Maker which was bundled in all versions of Windows and stopped in Windows 7. There is a way to download it from the Internet however (be careful doing so) if you have a later version of Windows. As a camcorder I recommend a Digital 8 one as they all have firewire connections. So if you have 8mm tapes (Hi8 even or Digital 8) you go directly from the camcorder right into the computer and it does the A/V conversion on the fly. It will capture it in an AVI format which is an older codec but there are many programs that can convert that easily to MP4. The beauty of the Digital 8 camcorder is that most models have "pass through" so if you are inputting a signal from another VCR to the camcorder through the cameras input, it will convert that in real time to this digital signal as its being captured. This method is a standard that was developed when DV video was created in 1995 . All the boxes you buy now on Amazon are crapshoots as to what they are doing-they are not built to any standards. Again, I will go into more details in my video when i finally get to it, but that's the method I used and there are several other advantages to it as well, but that's it in a nutshell!
Thank you sir!!!! This is exactly the video I was looking for. Already ordered the Elgato video capture and for 70 bucks! Can't wait! Thank you so much for the video. Cheers from Argentina!
The funny extra in the Elgato Video Capture kit is a Scart interface connector. This is an interface that you will find on the back of your old VHS cassette deck and very common at the time. Scart was the interface you plugged into the back of the old CRT TV’s. Obviously, if you have an old VHS player you will need to plug this into your scart “out” port to pick up the signal to port to your pc/Mac via the Elgato Video capture system.
Thank you for this! This was very helpful, I was seriously considering giving the clearclick a go but this has convinced to focus on Elgato, unless clearclick 3 is a notable improvement.
I would go for the clear click - Miglia used to have a Tvmax / Eyetv 250 which was brilliant , they replaced it with the soft second rate Video Capture. I tried it and it was such a disappointment when you were use to the legacy devices which they have no taken off the market. Replaced by these HDMI boxes. I went with ClearClick AV2HD 2.0 which records to usb.. you can adjust all the brightness in post so it's not an issue. Resolution is better too. 16x9 or 4:3 + upscales.
Wow, thank you for this excellent review. I had trouble making up my mind between these two products and because of this video, I’m sold on the Elgato!
I have a diff clearclick and I use my hdmi input in the clearclick also use an upscale device and works great, your video was great. When I was using a reg vcr I did notice some tracking issues then I tried my Sony 9620 and Jvc broadcast hd sdi way way better picture for sure, when I use my pc I capture right in avid media composer.
Good job! Helped me much. I've not been sure which to get but now it's the Elgato for sure. Better quality and cheaper also easier to just store because it's smaller. if I needed the monitor capability maybe harder to decide but using the computer is fine with me. Trimming function seems useful too. I could do that in my video editor but for just an old video saving need why bother? Thanks again!
Thanks for your excellent review! I've been searching and reading reviews of both products in the last weeks. I'm definitely going for the El Gato because of the software and Mac/Win compatibility. My VCR hasn't got an RCA output so I need this scart to RCA adaptor to connect it to the video capture device. I let you know if it did it's job properly! Cheers!
Tested it out today with the Elgato software and OBS Studio. Wonderful product, I recomend it to everyone. Thanks again! The only downside(or positive side) of it is that my nephew now can see how big of a jerk he was in the late 80's... 😂
It does appear that the Elgato is the better converter, however for those who want to continue to use your old camcorder and record tapeless the ClearClick has an advantage in that you can record direct to the sd card of the ClearClick. There are several videos on RUclips showing how this is done...
Hi yes you could simply connect the video output of the camcorder (not every model has one but if it does you can ) and record the live output to the SD card on the Clearclick This would be a good option if the tape mechanism no longer works in your camera -thanks for the comment
I bought the elgato card eventually; it is a good one and has a straightforward process, though when uploading to youtube it reduced quality very much, as youtube detects the resolution and is processing it with an old codec. to bypass this you have to upscale it to HD and then upload to youtube, to retain the same quality as captured by the elgato card.
I've been using the Elgato Video Enhancer for a little over a year now and upload to RUclips. How do you upscale to HD? Any recommendations? Thanks I appreciate it!
The Elgato really doesn’t do that unfortunately. You’d have to go to a separate video editing program like Adobe premier or Final Cut Pro . Of course it won’t really be in true HD even so. These programs are really designed for SD material. Thank you for watching !
@@techtoremember8096 Thanks for your reply! I actually transferred my entire video collection. And I been uploading to my youtube which is now full of old video. I used to vlog in my old days and people love to see what life looked like in the 80s and 90s! My oldest video is from 1988.
Love this video man, thanks so much! I have a pretty specific question about the elgato cable, which I've been using. It's about the preferences, specifically the "Preserve Source Format" option. With this checked, I end up with a 720x480 video file, with a pixel aspect ratio of 0.89, and it includes the sometimes messy border artifacts of the overscan area. If I uncheck it, I get a 640x480 file with a square (1.0) pixel aspect ratio, which is cropped a tiny bit, and most of that overscan area is cropped out. So it's a cleaner edge. I did notice in doing an intense comparison, the 640x480 file seems more compressed, more pixelated blocky artifacts if you're looking real close. So I'm torn on the best way to go, there are annoyingly compelling pros and cons on both sides. I want to give the most pristine, faithful transfer, which would seem to be checking the "Preserve Source Format" option, but I'm concerned about the non-square pixel aspect ratio, and having the videos be slightly squeezed with a weird aspect ratio and potentially having to be processed more to be viewed correctly. I feel like I'm thinking WAY too hard about this, but so far the internet, and elgato, have yielded lots of information, but not answer to the question "which one should I choose". Grateful for any insight, thanks.
Hello, my friend, Yes I feel your pain, there are definitely some compromises on both sides with these units. If it were me, I'd probably go with the 720x480 and in editing, deal with the border artifacts. Of course, if you are not going to do editing, then this isn't a great option. Are you transferring DV footage or is it an older format? DV is native 720x480 and the older formats Hi8, 8mm etc are 640x480 so I would think that for DV the 720x480 works best and 8mm , VHS etc the 640 works best Thats what I believe I remember from my testing which was a couple years ago now. Just realize nothing is going to be "perfect" with these units.
@@techtoremember8096 thanks for the reply! Im digitizing vhs in this case. I’m doing this for clients who are not video experts, just preserving their home videos for the ages. I’m most concerned about the pixel aspect ratio. From what I’ve gathered, modern computers and devices are square pixels, and I worry that preserving these videos in non-square pixels will cause stretching and squeezing on different devices and be a big pain in the future, requiring someone to convert them. Plus normal non-film people probably appreciate cleaner edges. So I’m leaning toward the 640x480 files with the “preserve source media” unchecked.
ALso just saw someone using a basic AV to HDMI converter to video capture system. This seems most straight-forward of all, espcially if the video quality is what you see on the TV. I assume it has something to do with the type of video format created and the ability to use in other format (RUclips, Facebook).
Thanks for the review, especially of the clearclick. I already have two capture cards already, I purchased one and borrowed the others, they are both very similar in looks to the elgato and use Arcsoft showbiz software. Is it a safe bet to assume that the underlying chip in the convertor is the same or is there big difference in quality between very similar looking products. i.e. elgato, diamond, Video-2-PC. My gut tells me that they all use the same chip and also that the software is likely the same too? As you mentioned, these are precious memories and the task is going to be a labour our love, so I'd like to get the best tools before setting out. At least I know now not to bother with the Clearclick.
Hi there. Thanks for your comment. It may very well be the same chip in your other cards but there really is no way of knowing for sure. I would say if you see more of a noticeable difference in image quality than what I pointed out in the video, it could be different. At least you have a baseline to compare it to ! Hope that helps
One other question. You mentioned FireWire somewhere in there. I wonder why you would even consider Elgato or ClearClick if you have a system called FireWire that gives such quality? Of course I researched FireWire and am more confused than ever. Do you have a video or know of a video that explains / compares the FireWire process (equipment, set-up, editing) and why you would or would not use that system versus Elgato. Especially if FireWire preserves more of the original video.
Great question. Using a firewire workflow definitely provides the best results but it takes way more time and you need more equipment. Personally I do use Firewire when converting but that's because I have a Windows 7 desktop with an installed Firewire card and I am looking for the best possible quality. You need to have a card installed in your computer. Back in the day, many computers came with Firewire cards and ports but not any more. You can still buy the cards but then you have to install them. I also use Windows Movie Maker as the software to capture the footage but Windows dropped this after Windows 7, I believe. Once the footage is captured however it's in an older codec so that must be converted to MP4 if you want to edit it. There are many programs to convert files. You also need some sort of camcorder or VCR, whether its Mini DV or Digital 8, which will allow you to connect the camera to the computer while you are transferring the tapes. The camera will require a working IEEE1394 port, another name for Firewire. Those are easy to get on Ebay. But you see, its a multi-step process. I reviewed the Elgato and ClearClick because I think for many people, they don't want to bother doing all that. They want an easy and quick way to convert old footage and the Clear Click and Elgato fit that bill. Unfortunately , there are some issues and there is a bigger drop off in video quality. I made the video to see how much of a drop off there is in quality compared to Firewire and that is a personal decision, which people can decide on with respect to the quality trade offs.. I believe there is still a box you can buy on Ebay called Pinnacle Studio Box which is self contained unit which converts the Analog signal to firewire. Again, I don't know how well it will work with Windows 10/11 as these were designed with much older operating systems. If you search on RUclips you will find many videos on this. It's dizzying for sure as there are many options out there. It's just finding a reliable, stable one with the best possible quality!! Hope this helps a bit.
@@techtoremember8096 You ought do a video from start to finish on this. I'm still a bit lost but will continue to research, but this is the best answer I've found yet. I've seen other videos of people using an outside the computer Firewire converter (can't remember the name), and somehow uploading to Adobe (Pro or something). Not afraid of the work, but your point on ease of use hits home. Seems like if you have a modern recording application on your computer that can record directly from the FV, but don't know. That said, I would not be afraid to go this route if I new how to make it work. I have an older tower, from probably 2009 that would work (Version 7-8), but that point on still having to convert is a bit scary. If you have to convert the conversion to edit and use, I wonder what the impact would be to quality then? Its digital to ditigal, so not bad or bad? Wonder if it is possible to use a more modern FireWire converter on modern systems. Here is what one other guy said on Tech TV. He seems super-techy, but loses me on details. He is talking to Mac, so not sure if it applies to Microsoft. Not sure work Premeire Pro is either, but will to learn. Any thoughts? "You connect the VHS Deck to the DV converter with RCA cables and then connect the DV converter to the PC with a Firewire cable. It is that simple. The latest version of Premiere Pro on the Mac side does not support Firewire but iMovie does as seen by the video link below. You can import the videos from iMovie into Premiere Pro." ruclips.net/video/rHWHE3ilBbU/видео.html You ought do a video on FireWire as you seem to be the most clear, stated person on the internet. It would be interesting to see if you could recreate a FireWire system on Window 10 or so.
@@techtoremember8096 Side point. Your replies to questions are not viewable on my computer. Not sure if by your choice or not, but I'd love to read some of your replies to questions. Thanks Again.
Thanks for saying I"m clear.. But I"m sure there are more experts out there than me. If you have the older tower that's half the battle. Converting is really pretty straightforward after you install the Firewire card. If you have Windows 7 it will have Movie Maker which is all you need to convert. And yes, you are correct doing the second conversion to MP4 results in barely any loss. I use a program called Movavi by the way. They have a video converter program for like $40 which I find works the best. You can control the quality level and its fast and almost lossless. IF you have Windows 8 however you'll need an extra piece of software in your computer to capture and to do the conversion because there is no Windows Movie Maker in Windows 8. I hear your wish on modern firewire but as of yet, no one has come out with any modern firewire system. I guess there isn't enough call for it. Final Cut Pro on the Mac used to allow you to capture via Firewire and the latest version of OS I heard dropped it so I wouldnt count on Imovie lasting too long either. Eventually all these programs , Adobe etc. I am sure will drop Firewire support if they already haven't already. Its just too ancient. I suppose that is why the Elgatos and Clear Clicks of the world are popular now. I actually really focus on camera reviews but I have gotten a lot of questions on how I get my old footage to digital so I thought I would review these 2 pieces of software and am surprised how many views they've gotten! Lots of people want to to do this and while Firewire is the most stable, best quality way, the Elgato and Clearclick are viable as you save a tremendous amount of time and if you don't mind losing a little quality, its not a big deal. Thanks again
Have you ever run into audio/video syncing issues when using the Elgato (especially with players having no TBC)? That was my experience with them around 12 years ago. Got an ADVC box...problem solved. Maybe the Elgato has gotten better? Thanks for your video!
Hello there. I have not noticed any syncing issues but I did not run a long test so I can't 100% guarantee that. I will tell you that in doing research I have not heard many , if any complaints about that in that product and as you said they may have addressed that issue if it was in an earlier product! Thanks for the comment
I use the Elgato here in Europe and I found that I can play VHS tapes in NTSC or PAL format from my VHS player to my TV and both play fine. The player automatically detects and displays the format. The Elgato however wont record tapes that have been recorded in NTSC format. It simply states no signal found, sound however does come through.
Not really a fair comparison, Elgato should do better it is using a computer resources, graphic card. However when you get into editing you will need a computer. A good editing program can do the same thing and you get more options. And some are free to try. I like Davinci Resolve.
Many people just want to convert their videos and don't have the time/energy or desire to do any editing. The purpose of the video was to simply compare the 2 programs for capture and image quality. DaVinci Resolve is a good editing program and getting better I hear if you want to go further.
There is a huge difference using S-Video when properly capturing using AVI 4:2:2 chroma subsampling and the right resolution during capturing (720x480 NTSC) and not using any de-interlacing, Both devices are crap so you wouldn't see a difference via S-Video since they have mediocre quality to begin with.
@@VanSavesLivesDude To be honest, all the crap selling now is from China and cannot be trusted, Your best bet is a legacy USB capture device or PCI card from back in the day under Win7.
I have been using an Elgato and was looking to see if there was anything "better" out there. In my experience, the videos occasionally seemed to suffer from sync issues. Have you noticed anything like that? If so, does the ClearClick do any better?
Hi there. From my testing, I have not noticed the sync issue you mentioned. If anything, the ClearClick seemed to be more susceptible to instability if the source tape had some issues. What specifically are you seeing with the sync issue? If the tape isnt playing stable in the player, it's possible the Elgato cannot sync properly if there are some playback issues if that's what you are referring to.
@@techtoremember8096 Hi Does ClearClick record without saving the file in segments, I bought a device recently and realized it records and saves the file every 30 minutes in the end I had so many files to stitch.
@@RufusAyerteyM Hey there. I don't believe the ClearClick divides the files, however the thing you have to be careful of is how the SD card is formatted. If its formatted as FAT32 and the file hits the 4gig limit it will stop recording so best off to format the card as NTSF or ex-FAT which avoid that limit. Hope this helps
For me, it's been all over the map with the ClearClick. I've done 2-hour tapes that stay in perfect SYNC throughout, and other tapes where the SYNC is totally off within 3 minutes. If I connect my VCR to my TBC (Time Base Corrector) then the SYNC is fine, but consumers will not have a $6000.00 TBC to solve SYNC problems.
You cannot present a comparison of video capture devices in 30p. Sorry, this just does not work. Must be 60 fps. Look at the horrible stair-stepping between 5:20 and 5:30. ClearClick drops one field and doubles the other with simple "bob". Elgato has a slightly better deinterlacer. But it is 30p nonetheless. Can they capture interlaced as interlaced? Can they deinterlace to 60p?
I respectfully disagree. NTSC is not a 60p format. The frame rate for NTSC is 30fps, more precisely 29.97. So you can most certainly demonstrate NTSC video at 30fps. Each frame is comprised of 2 fields making it 60 fields. Not 60 frames (easily confused ) You bring up a good about deinterlacing however and I believe the video shows that the Elgato does a bit better job which you pointed out as well. The video compares the quality on a number of parameters such as brightness, artifacts etc which hopefully can help viewers in making an educated decision on which product can best suit their needs . Thanks for the comment !
I already bought the ClearClick over a year ago and couldn't make it work. I finally got it to work but many of the videos are too dark. I wish I had seen this video when I was looking for solutions!
Great video! I want to convert 8mm to digital. I am going to buy this Elgato device. Would you recommend buying an rca to hdmi convertor to further improve the quality of the videos? My video camera is the sony ccd-tr70.
I know that Clearclick records in 60(59.94)fps. How does it work with Elgato? I am trying to find a software for my mac that will either record in 60(59.94)fps OR it will will record in 29.97 BUT MUST record it in a way that preserves 60 fields (this way, I can pop it on to Premiere and easily make it into a 60fps video for digital).
Any chance of you testing the ClearClick Video 2 Digital 3.0 version in the future? It has an internal battery, and it takes microSD cards. Besides those 2 features, I don't know if it's worth the extra cost than the 2.0 version.
Thanks for your comment. On the clearclick website it lists the following as new features: · Audio Recording Feature · Larger 5" Preview Screen · Built-In Rechargeable Battery · Custom Auto Stop Feature · MicroSD Memory Card Slot · USB-C Charging Port These features really have nothing to add to picture quality so I would not expect any difference in that area. The auto stop is nice in case you walk away and it was endlessly recording, so this version has that protection (as long as it works properly )
Thank you for this Great comparison! . Back in the early 90's I had a complete RT -2000 editing system ... Today I have many S-VHS then burn to DVD then Convert to a digital with Handbrake ... My results look good but would Elgato look and better ?
Thank you so so much ! I bought a UCEC video converter for about $40 CDN and I found the video quality in the transfer wasn't very good. Do you think the Elgato would work well with an old Hitachi model of camcorder?
Hi. Thanks for watching. Yes. After the video is created , it’s just a file on your computer which can be renamed the same way you rename any other file.
Hi. Thanks for the video. There’s a lot of devices and methods out there, and they can start becoming confusing. I like the Elgato, but I understand the software comes on a CD/DVD But my Mac does not have an optical drive. I do have an older model PC with an optical drive. Can I transfer the software onto a USB drive and then load it onto my Mac? Thank you for the help.
Hi there actually you don’t need a CD most manufacturers dropped that method - you can just download the software from the website . Make sure you are downloading from the official Elgato site! Best of luck
I just bought the Elgato and was disappointed in the quality of the recorded video vs the original VHS video. I have an older Broksonic all in one TV - VCR combo which I am using as my player/monitor. The signal goes from there to the Elgato via RCA cables and then onto my desktop win 10 computer. The difference in video quality is similar to the difference between recording in 6 hour mode vs 2 hour mode back in the day.
. If you are watching the Elgato created video an a computer monitor it’s not going to look great. No NTSC video will unless you watch in a very small window -Watching the original tape on a tube set will always look the best So it may not be that the Elgato is doing anything wrong , it’s just that now that the tape is in digital format and now it depends on how you are watching it , what video player you use- what computer monitor etc so , it’s going to look differently than the original
This is to be expected. You can try changing your computer screen resolution to the lowest possible setting which may help a bit also don’t play it full screen. It really will look terrible - the scaling gives it a terrible look - if your monitor has controls for color , contrast etc, you might try tweaking those
@@techtoremember8096 So is there a different product which may produce better results than the Elgato? I just ordered a device from Roxio which I was going to give a try. Thanks
What is the file format of the Elgato. Can it be used on an iMac with either iMovie or Final Cut? Also noted on their website, it captures at 680x480 (4:3) and/or 640x360 (16:9) The Clear Click boasts 720P but only in 4:3 Can you speak to that?
Oh I didn’t see the second part of your question. I didn’t check 16:9 Honestly you would only really use this for SD material which is almost always 4:3. Once you start messing with that, it’s not going to look as good ! These are not HD devices -so if the clearclick does 720p then it’s probably just upscaling the footage
@@techtoremember8096 Sorry -- One more question. Can all the .MP4 files be transferred to an external hard drive? With dozens if not hundreds of hours, this could easily use up disk space on my iMac 5k with only 500gb SSD. Then name each file transferred to external HD for either editing or archiving..
Between using Elgato and a firewire connection between the camcorder and the laptop, what would you recommend? It sounds like you prefer the original video quality from firewire?
To be honest, I feel firewire is always the best choice if you can use that option. The biggest issue when transferring analog footage is the conversion algorithm that is used for the compression. IEEE1394 (firewire) was a standard that was developed when the DV format was developed in 1995 and when you transfer analog footage to your computer this way, you do not see any blockiness or artifacting or darkening, as you do with other methods, only a very slight falloff in sharpness but barely noticeable. The ClearClick does a pretty good job but still firewire is the best. The downside is you need a dedicated card in your computer and older software which is someimes hard to find. If you happen to have a Windows 7 computer, that's perfect as you can use Windows Movie Maker to capture with a firewire card.
Hello, there. I am a filmmaker and I am thinking of using an old tape-based camcorder and recording directly to the capture device monitor as I would with a laptop computer. Obviously I'm going to need a USB drive to store the data on. I'm refering solely to the Clear Click 2.0. Anyway, I have a couple of questions: 1. Does the capture device monitor capture interlaced video therefore capture both fields or is it progressive video therefore blend the fields together and cause a ghosting effect? If it is the latter, that is bad because it erases the smooth fluid motion we see on the camera and the videotapes which I believe is important. 2. Is the video file format MP4 or AVI? The latter is more sensible because it supports interlaced video therefore preserves both fields. Although there are 30 (29.97) frames per second, there are also 60 (59.94) fields per second. There are two fields in each frame of interlaced video, one set of lines on top and another at the bottom. The reason why I'm hoping this capture device captures interlaced video is because historically video was captured at 60 fields per second so I can get the properly smooth fluid motion just as I've seen on both videotape and through the camera lens. Please answer my questions. Thank you.
Hi there. Hopefully you watched my full review which should have answered some of your questions already. It seems like you are leaning toward the Clearclick? If that is the case it only takes an SD card not a USB drive. The Elgato, since it attaches to your computer gives you more flexibility as to where to store the file (a hard drive, usb drive etc) These capture devices are not extremely sophisticated and use an internal algorithm with compression to attempt to do the analog to digital conversion. In my testing it appears to output a file that plays like its only 30fps and not 60 so unfortunately you will not get that ultra fluid motion that you had when it was on your camcorder. I have not been able to find a way to get either device to play at a true 60fps interlaced. These are inexpensive devices and most people are simply happy to get their tapes off their cameras in a format they can watch. I do feel the Elgato does a somewhat better job, which was my conclusion in the video.They both output to the more modern MP4 file which can be played on Macs and PC's. AVI is the older format not always supported any more. So the bottom line is that they do an OK job, but its not perfect by any means. There is some loss in quality and especially brightness on the Clearclick. The Elgato gives you some more flexibility in adjusting the contrast, brightness etc.Thank you for your comment and I hope this helps.
The point is I believe it's vital to capture inerlaced video because it contains both fields in each frame therefore getting all 60 fields per second. Each frame contains two sets of lines called "fields" which show two images that have been captured at 1/60th of a second apart in time. It is best to capture interlaced video, which contains "mouse teeth" which can later be converted to progressive video in a program like Handbrake which can convert the fields into frames; each field will be converted into a frame individually which will create the smooth fluid motion. You can simply adjust settings like 59.94 fps + deinterlace mode yadif-bob and render the file. This keeps ALL video captures from old interlaced sources pure so everyone, including new generations, can (and will) experience the true look of videotape!
You are totally correct. The units reviewed do a good job of attempting to deinterlace -the comb teeth effect is hardly noticeable. But you still don’t get the true 60fps!
@@techtoremember8096 the combing effect is VERY important because it contains both the top and bottom fields which are essential for deinterlacing therefore converting to 60 fps later via Handbrake on a computer. If the Clear Click 2.0 capture device either keeps the top field and throws the bottom field away OR blends both fields together to create a "ghosting" effect, then I will definitely NOT buy it. The latter two deinterlacing methods are awful because they ruin the way how old videotape format is INTENDED to be seen. The question I'm trying to ask is does the MP4 video capture record at 30 frames per second WHILE preserving both fields in each frame necessary for later 60p conversion?
Hi there. I have not tried the handbrake solution you referenced. According to specs it can capture up to 60fps so you may be in luck. You can buy direct from the site or Amazon and if it doesn’t work out you can return it. I will tell you this however. You seem like you are very interested in video quality which is great. I would NOT recommend this system for you even if it does capture field info. The compression is pretty high with a noticeable loss in quality. If you watch my video you will see this is unacceptable for someone who really wants the best quality from the capture If you are looking for the highest quality capture then capture via FireWire using a digital 8 camcorder on a computer with a FireWire card to keep the file digital throughout the process. I have found this provides the best, most consistent results preserving the field info as well .
great video! would love to know the best way to source vhs-c tapes. i have the clearclick and have been using it for about a year now, never knew the elgato existed, thanks!
Hi ! Thanks for watching. Do you like the clearclick ? Vhs-c tapes are widely available on EBay! All brands and a wide variety of prices. Thanks again !
Great video. I'm also doing my own comparison between the two products during my "returnable phase". I've been trying to figure out what the Elgato General Preferences format options do: Format: [automatic, mp4 and h.264] and below it, the Preserve Source Format [checkbox]. I can't figure out what that 2nd one would do. Let me know if. you have any idea. I'm converting original VHS tapes from the 90's, (Yellow, Red, White RCA, no S-Video) and the interlace zigzags seem unbearable when there is any motion, unless I shrink the output video to about 4" x 3" on my iMac monitor. I'm wondering if it's one of these Format settings, because I compared a test I did a week ago to another test of the same footage, and there are a lot more zigzags now. Would appreciate any comments if you've tried any VHS video transfer. Thanks.
HI, and thanks for your comment. Sorry about the frustrations you are having. That zigzagging as you correctly refer to it is actually a result of what happens after the footage is "deinterlaced." Without getting too technical, in the old days of analog video, each frame was comprised of 2 fields to give the appearance of smooth motion. When converting to modern digital, one of these fields has to be discarded and each converting system whether its Elgato or whoever, uses a slightly different algorithm to do that. Unfortunately, it always results in a loss of some information so the stair stepping effect is how it often manifests itself. You have the right idea by making the playback window smaller because on a high resolution computer monitor, the image tends to look worse, because those measly 640x480 or 720x480 pixels have to be scaled all the way up to the resolution of the monitor so you notice the zigagging even more. Bringing the window size down, helps minimize this effect. Question: you saw my sample footage. I think most of the time that looked acceptable,-its obviously very scene dependent but would you say you are getting worse results than the sample footage I showed on the video? It should be the same otherwise something isn't set right. As for the general preferences that you mentioned, those codecs, mp4 etc really wouldn't affect it too much but I would definitely leave "preserve source format" checked as you don't want to mess with that or else it would probably cause more issues. There always is going to be some compromise with these stand-alone items in trying to merge old technology with new!
@@techtoremember8096 I figured out my issue with the zigzags. Had to do with S-Video in. When I first tried the ClearClick, I wasn't satisfied with the RCA connection (Yellow, White, Red -- all I have on my VCR. So their support team mailed me an RCA to S-Video adapter to attach to the yellow cable, then plug into the S-Video In on the ClearClick. I thought "This is weird". Why would that work? But evidently their S-Video circuitry is better, even if the original signal was coming from RCA composite. And the quality of the imported VHS was WAY better doing this, (changing the Input type from AV to S-Video inside the device). And the ClearClick image was a bit lighter to boot, although not much difference between both devices - I have the latest firmware and I think the darkness issue isn't as much of an issue as before. So I thought - "if this worked for ClearClick, let me try it on the Elgato", and that failed miserably - the Elgato device cannot be "tricked" in this manner, and the S-Video adapter caused all the horrible zigzags. I have to say, I was leaning towards the Elgato for VHS conversion, but think I'll be keeping both - The Elgato for Mini DV or other digital conversion, and the ClearClick for analog conversion. The S-VHS adapter on the ClearClick made a BIG difference in comparison to the Elgato, where any motion would enhance the "already exiting" line crookedness from the original mid-80's videos. Not with the ClearClick - much smoother and more detail. I mean, for VHS resolution, LOL. May not work on an HDTV, but acceptable on a computer monitor. Another item in my evaluation: The ClearClick and Elgato both produced .MP4 files (H.264 wrapper), however on my iMac using VLC, the audio would drift out of sync if I clicked to a different area on playback, but not with the Elgato. After some testing, I discovered that when opening the same .MP4's using Quicktime, the audio stayed in sync. After a bit, I figured out the problem - I had to turn off "Hardware Decoding" in the VLC preferences on the Mac, then everything stayed in Sync. Weird. Last thing: I actually have enough adapters from the past to connect DV out from my miniDV camcorder to the iMac Pro (DV to firewire 400 -800 - Thunderbolt 2 - Thunderbolt 3 USB-C). Surprisingly it works with iMovie (at least on Mojave). I also have Final Cut Pro X, so I'm going to compare the results with the ClearClick / Elgato. With about 150 videos to transfer from my dad's collection, I can't do this for -*-all-*- the videos, but maybe the most-precious, and use the other two devices for the less important transfers. However, DV is also a final-format lossy format, just like the Elgato and ClearClick. Unsure whether clipping what I want out of the 2 hour output files would require further rendering, or if splicing doesn't cause a second render -- will find out. People should know that the Elgato and ClearClick output files are highly compressed and lossy, so further editing is not suggested in the Video forums. Thanks again for your comparison video. It got me starting on my transfer journey. Now I'm digging into the DigitalFAQ forum - I highly recommend this for anyone who wants to learn a lot about the different types of video transfer.
You asked about how my results compared to your sample footage. Yours looks much clearer, but two things: 1) the home movies I tested are not as good quality as your source, and 2) there's not a lot of fast movement in your videos. Weren't you starting from a digital source in your video? Also, what kind of playback machine were you using? I had planned on using a rather nice pro model VCR - Panasonic AG-1960 but it doesn't seem to be working right now. So for now I had to resort to using a cheap Toshiba W627 - Coax and RCA (Y,W,R) only. Grrrr. Also, I don't know why one of the paragraphs in my earlier response has a strikethru - please read (not meant to be ignored) Thanks again!
Hey, hi again. Yeah, I am glad you brought up the issue of your playback deck because that can definitely be a weak link in the chain. You know the expression, garbage in, garbage out. A way to check and see if that's a problem is to see how the regular playback looks on a CRT TV. Is it playing back the tape ok? If so, then the deck should be ok but if the deck you are using has an issue, then obviously what the units will be capturing will also have a problem My playback sources were Hi8 and VHS-C and I was playing those through analog outputs so not digital. The clearclick and Elgato do no accept firewire, only analog inputs. I was using a Digital 8 deck GV-D800 which does have firewire but I was not using that connection, only the analog outs of the deck. That's great that you uncovered those issues with the S-video. Thanks for sharing that. Sometimes a lot of experimenting and time will get you the best results. Thanks for sharing that!
Interesting device. I was searching for an answer how usable it is for PAL video, which is 720x576 resolution with either 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio. Will it work at all, or will some of the top/bottom part of my video be missing? I can always stretch the video to correct aspect ratio, but missing 96 video lines is 17% of the image lost. I saw some other videos where video option was 720x480 and 640x480, no auto-detection. Maybe a different software version? Funny that you call a SCART adapter a strange attachment :D
Hi it’s a good question the manual under technical specifications does suggest you can input a PAL tape with a resolution of 720x576 at 50i- I haven’t tested to confirm this so I would suggest that if you decide on the clearclick get it from a place you know you can return it if it doesn’t work out
This is all so overwhelming with ocd i have trying to get everything from life onto one hard drive cell phones vhs mini8 even old pictures. Which brings up my question do you have a video on photo scanners
Hi I feel your pain. I don’t have a video on scanners sorry but I’m sure there are tons out there on RUclips. I use the epson v600 and I’m happy with it Scans photos and slides too
I am not able to get my Elgato to work. Using a 2022 Mac Studio. Getting no video and sound for a few seconds, then it disappears. I find other similar complaints out there, but no solutions. Would you have any advice?
Hi. Sorry you’re having trouble. Do you have the latest software or firmware on the Elgato ? It’s possible there’s a compatibility issue with the new Mac OS. Have you contacted Elgato support ?
On the Elgato or ClearClick, for long home videos full of different clips, can you pause the recording half way through, so that you can fast forward through the useless parts, then continue recording again? So that it stays as one full movie? If that makes sense.
Hi. That would be a great feature but unfortunately you cannot with either one. When you press stop it automatically stops the clip -You’d have to do all your editing later in another program. The Elgato does give you the ability however to trim the beginning and/or end of your captured clip but not in the middle
Thanks If I use the Elgato program do I store them in my Documents before using this Roxio Easy CD to DVD program . I have made music disc through this program
What do you suppose is the life-span of these products❓ I have had several different types of devices over the years,that I used to x-fer videos to HDD. After some time,they all stopped working. (Some lasted longer than others). Am stuck without 1 at the moment. 😩
That’s a good question. There’s really no moving parts. The Elgato is mainly just software. So with the Elgato I don’t think you’ve got an issue. The clearclick might be but I have not really heard of many quality control issues
Hi there After you create the file with the Elgato you’d have to use a separate program to make a DVD. The Elgato doesn’t do that unfortunately. As far as head cleaners, I just check whatever is available on EBay. I use dry head cleaners Good luck !
That’s a good solution too I would just use the highest and best compression settings of the DVD recorder to keep your video loss from mini DV to the DVD as small as possible but the overall quality should be very good
Simple answer is yes, as DVD utilizes lossy MPEG2 compression, whereas MiniDV material captured to PC via 1394 (4-pin) can be preserved in uncompressed AVI format......
From what I understand they added a few new features, like the ability to record from audio sources, but they have not mentioned any picture quality improvements so from that perspective, I would think that there is no improvement in picture quality from version 2
That’s a great question. I checked the clearclick manual and it does mention it supports PAL but I would email their support team to make 100% sure ! Their email is support@clearclick.tech The Elgato can detect PAL so it should work
Yeah the software in the Pinnacle can be very finicky. The easiest thing to do would be to get a standalone DVD recorder. They are basically home DVD players but you could also record to a DVD-R disc. They used to make those, Panasonic and Sony had a few. You would have to buy them second hand now since they are no longer produced. as burning DVD's is a thing of the past. You can try looking up Roxio DVD software. I was going to review that I just haven't gotten to it yet. That is another option.
![[Review] ClearClick Video 2 Digital 3.0](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/L4bJ5Az5t4I/mqdefault.jpg)
![[Review] ClearClick Video 2 Digital 3.0](/img/tr.png)
![Kodak Black - Sharp Vibes [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/oEV0OoLJeIs/mqdefault.jpg)
It's crazy that I wanted to see a comparison between these two exact products before I made my decision and you sir have done exactly as I was wanting to see! I can't thank you enough, I almost bought the ClearClick just for simplicity, but the Elgato looks quite simple as well, it just requires a PC which I have. Just bought a nice VCR with an S-Video output so hopefully I get the best possible conversion for all of my home video memories. I plan to use an idea I saw on another RUclips video of making a RUclips page specifically for all of these videos and share that link with my family at Christmas time. Thanks again, Great Review!!
Oh awesome ! So glad it could be of help. Best luck with your RUclips venture !
Wow...that was the most informative and useful video I've seen in ages. Thanks for taking the time. It really helped us out! -Dan
Oh great. Glad it could help and thanks much for your comment !
This is fantastic. I was torn between these two, and I really appreciate the side-by-side video quality demonstration. Thank you for being so thorough with this comparison!
Thank you ! So glad it could help !
I agree with your result. I just bought the Elgato and with my tapes (30 plus years old), it looks great.
I have been testing all the top-rated devices on the market over the past 2 months. I purchased the ClearClick three times and the Roxio device three times so that I could test their quality control. I'm sad to report that both products were very inconsistent from one to the next. Now I understand why the reviews on Amazon vary so widely on a particular product. If a person happens to get a good one, they rave about it. If they get a bad one, they exclaim how useless the product is, and typically report that they returned the item to Amazon for a refund.
The other BIG issue with USB devices is the software that's bundled with the product. For example, the Elgato lets you set contrast, brightness, etc., but you CANNOT make the adjustments while the video is actually playing. Other USB devices let you tweak the video settings while you are previewing the video, so that you can get it right while you watch. With the Elgato, you have to make a change, then view it, then go back to make a further change if you're not happy, then view it, then go back to the settings to adjust again, then check it on the preview, then go back again... you get the idea. What we WANT is an "interactive" ProcAmp that lets you move the adjustment sliders WHILE you are previewing the footage.
And, of course, the ClearClick has absolutely no ProcAmp controls to tweak the color, brightness, etc. So you're stuck with whatever the product generates. With all three ClearClicks I tested, the SVHS color was WAY LESS saturated than the composite color. Furthermore, all three ClearClick devices recorded the audio far below the proper levels, in fact 3dB below proper specifications.
You made a nice video here, but rather than waste time showing the "unboxing," I would rather see a greater focus on the limitations, such as those I've highlighted above.
Thanks for your comment. Looks like you really did your homework on these devices. I think most people just want to be able to get their video digitized as hassle free as possible with as few glitches as possible. Being able to tweak the video would be nice but those color corrections after the fact looks like your going to have to do after you bring the file to a non linear editing program where you can make more fine adjustments -
Including color, editing etc, But great observations on your end and thanks for the constructive comments !
@@techtoremember8096 hi thanks for your video..I have the elgato and the only trouble I have is that I notice while there is writing or credits that the writing seems to be wavy or jiggly..don't know how to describe ..my other method is to burn onto a dvd/hdd and it doesn't seem to happen there...is there a way to reduce this..the dvd hdd method is much more complicated.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Michael
Hi Michael. That is strange. Can you try using a different player ? I would check that first. Possible something in the camcorder or VCR you are using is not outputting a stable enough signal snd causing that issue
Thank you for creating this video. This is the type of information that is helpful.
Thanks for the comment ! Glad it was helpful
The "strange" adapter that came with the Elgato is for SCART cables, a standard connector used in European countries. These cables can carry Composite, S-Video, or RGB.
Ah yes ! Thank you for that info ! I had a feeling it was a computer type cable but was not familiar with it.
@@techtoremember8096 The SCART connector was the ubiquitous, standard, AV connector present on practically all European TV sets from the 1980s onward. It is a multi-pin connector that can carry TV-compatible 15 kHz (625/50 or 525/59.94) video signals in CVBS, Y/C, RGB or Y'Pb'Pr signal formats, and with stereo sound. You can study the pinout on Wikipedia.
Unlike the American TV sets which typically had this large array of separate RCA connectors on their back, European TVs used to feature at least one and up to as many as three or four multi-pin SCART connectors for connecting external signal sources. (In addition to this, they might have still featured this single, token set of RCAs + mini-DIN s-video hidden behind a cover on the front panel, for temporarily connecting portable AV sources such as camcorders and the like. But the RCAs were clearly a secondary option to the default, primary AV connector, which was the SCART connector.)
Likewise, the European VCRs, DVD players, set-top boxes and game consoles (their AV cable sets) all came with SCART connectors as standard and bundled SCART cables instead of RCA cables in their product packaging.
One of the great things about the SCART connector was that it specified RGB pins for TV-compatible (15 kHz) video signals and most TVs implemented this feature (since it cost practically nothing as all CRT TVs need to convert all signal types to RGB in the end for driving their electron guns). So, with the help of a SCART cable, you could get excellent picture quality from RGB-capable signal sources, such as DVD players, DTV set-top boxes, and TV-compatible home computers and game consoles (think of something like the Commodore Amiga or the PlayStation 1). Also, some 15 kHz European computer video monitors (what some might want to call “CGA” monitors) featured an RGB-capable SCART connector on their back.
The SCART connector was designed for CRT TVs and the era of analog, standard-definition AV signals. Once flat-panel TVs started replacing the CRTs, and the AV signal sources turned all-digital and started using HD resolution and the digital HDMI connector, the SCART connector began losing ground and diminishing in significance. It hung on for a while but has now all but disappeared on new TV sets. With most TVs, you now need an external digitizer/upscaler box to accept analog, 15 kHz (SCART-)RGB signals from the old signal sources.
bro thank you so much. i love the widespread variety of youtube. legend.
Thanks Bro! I appreciate this review. I purchased the Elgato about 2 months ago and I will be duplicating my tapes soon. I also recieived a copy of 2 family vieos from my brother-in-law. He has the ClearClick and it was wayyyy to dark. So I really appreciate your comparisons!
Awesome ! Glad it could help. Thanks for your comment and best of luck with your transfers
720x480 is the way to go when capturing anything from VHS. 720x480 29.97fps 4:3 aspect ratio. If you are recording just to a hard drive record it in MP4 (h.264) in 4000kbps since that is the universal standard now. If you are putting it on a DVD and you want identical quality to the VHS source then you would record it to 720x 480 in MPEG-2 (6000-8000kbps) at 29.97fps. What I don't like about El Gato is the software and actual unit have not been updated since 2004...it only captures in 640x480 30fps (which is below DVD quality) 640x480 was used for CRT computer monitors years ago. It looks more pixelated on a larger tv monitor. 720x480 will give you identical quality to your VHS tape source. Be careful not to record in higher resolution, it will automatically convert and distort your final video file to 16:9 widescreen, and you don't want that because it will not only degrade the quality you will have a useless file.
Hu jenna , in aus pal resolution default is 640x480 , usa ntsc 720x576.
since elgato has the huccups u don't like , what is your workaround and what do u use pls ? Thank u.
Which device would you recommend that can capture in 720x480 @30fps for NTSC or in my case 720x576 @25fps for PAL tapes that are used in my country?
I have ElGato and it worked like a breeze but would like to get the best resolution possible for my VHS tapes.
Even better if it works on Mac.
@Jenna Thank you for confirming my suspicion! I was considering this product but wondering about the supported capture resolutions because the specifications on the Elgato site only mention 640x480 and 640x360 - neither of which is a standard video resolution. These non-standard resolutions hint at the direction that behind the scenes, the video capture utility bundled with the device is probably throwing a lot of information away and deinterlacing the signal as well. :(
The standard ITU-R BT.601 digital presentation for standard-definition video is 720x480 for 525-line systems and 720x576 for 625-line systems, captured from the “active picture area” with a 13.5 MHz sample rate / reproduced with a 13.5 MHz pixel clock. The resolution is the same for both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios - it is the shape of the pixels (or interpretation of their shape) that changes and not the number of pixels in the sampling matrix.
You can only retain the full video quality (and the correct scanline structure for interlaced video signal) using the industry-standard digital SD video resolutions (which are also employed by DVD discs/players, digital TV broadcasts, DV camcorders, etc.) instead of converting to some random non-standard resolution pulled out of thin air.
Hence, the Elgato device, or at least the software bundled with it, is apparently not capable of proper video capture/archival that would retain the original quality. :( (The other, stand-alone video capture device that was featured in the review did not seem to support standard capture resolutions, either... or at least did not list such resolutions in the menu that was shown in the video.)
@@JukkaMTAho This is very useful information, thank you. But it leaves me with the important question - if neither Elgato or ClearClick are capable or copying a video tape (VHS etc.) in its original quality as a digital file for archiving purposes, then which device or method CAN? If you can please share how you would do it or what you would recommend, it would answer many people's questions here, including mine. I live in the UK so have hundreds of PAL VHS tapes and I just want to convert them into digital files I can watch and store safely to preserve them. What specific device or set-up would enable that please? Thank you :)
I actually have a video on that in the works. Its not the easiest or cheapest method and not the easiest to implement but in my opinion, after trying almost all of them it works the best. And that is to get a Windows computer which has a IEEE1394 card (also known as firewire). I use an older defunct program called Windows Movie Maker which was bundled in all versions of Windows and stopped in Windows 7. There is a way to download it from the Internet however (be careful doing so) if you have a later version of Windows. As a camcorder I recommend a Digital 8 one as they all have firewire connections. So if you have 8mm tapes (Hi8 even or Digital 8) you go directly from the camcorder right into the computer and it does the A/V conversion on the fly. It will capture it in an AVI format which is an older codec but there are many programs that can convert that easily to MP4. The beauty of the Digital 8 camcorder is that most models have "pass through" so if you are inputting a signal from another VCR to the camcorder through the cameras input, it will convert that in real time to this digital signal as its being captured. This method is a standard that was developed when DV video was created in 1995 . All the boxes you buy now on Amazon are crapshoots as to what they are doing-they are not built to any standards. Again, I will go into more details in my video when i finally get to it, but that's the method I used and there are several other advantages to it as well, but that's it in a nutshell!
Thank you sir!!!! This is exactly the video I was looking for. Already ordered the Elgato video capture and for 70 bucks! Can't wait! Thank you so much for the video. Cheers from Argentina!
Great. I’m glad it could help. Best of luck with the Elgato !
The funny extra in the Elgato Video Capture kit is a Scart interface connector. This is an interface that you will find on the back of your old VHS cassette deck and very common at the time. Scart was the interface you plugged into the back of the old CRT TV’s. Obviously, if you have an old VHS player you will need to plug this into your scart “out” port to pick up the signal to port to your pc/Mac via the Elgato Video capture system.
Good to know ! Thanks for the info
I do video and film tranafers as a business. The elgato by far is the best way to go.
Thanks for sharing
Thats great that you verified my findings. Thanks for the comment
@@techtoremember8096 where you located
Great comparison, this video deserves more views.
Thanks for the comment. Much appreciated
Thanks for the comparison video. It made my purchasing confusion much easier
Thank you for this! This was very helpful, I was seriously considering giving the clearclick a go but this has convinced to focus on Elgato, unless clearclick 3 is a notable improvement.
Thanks to Show me very old User These really mode to fix all my old Footages, Tapes so easy.
Thanks a lot!!! Answered several questions I had. Keep up the great work.
Thank you ! Glad it could help Appreciate it
Thank you so much for this comparison! It is exactly what I was looking for.
That’s great to hear ! Glad it could help. Thanks for the comment
This was so incredibly helpful. Thank you so much!
My pleasure ! Glad it helped. Thanks for watching
Excellent video! This is exactly what I was looking for. Now I know which one I think I'm going to buy. Great work.
Glad it could help. Thank you for the comment!
I would go for the clear click - Miglia used to have a Tvmax / Eyetv 250 which was brilliant , they replaced it with the soft second rate Video Capture. I tried it and it was such a disappointment when you were use to the legacy devices which they have no taken off the market. Replaced by these HDMI boxes. I went with ClearClick AV2HD 2.0 which records to usb.. you can adjust all the brightness in post so it's not an issue. Resolution is better too. 16x9 or 4:3 + upscales.
Wow, thank you for this excellent review. I had trouble making up my mind between these two products and because of this video, I’m sold on the Elgato!
Glad it could help ! Thanks for your comment
Been torn between these two products. Thanks for that wonderful review.
My pleasure ! Best of luck
Fantastic stuff. I waa finding my Elgato VHS transfers were coming out quite dark. Will try this setting adjustment.
Great !!
Thank you so much for the time you took to demonstrate to us it is wondersul😎
My pleasure ! Thanks for your comment. I hope it helped
I have a diff clearclick and I use my hdmi input in the clearclick also use an upscale device and works great, your video was great. When I was using a reg vcr I did notice some tracking issues then I tried my Sony 9620 and Jvc broadcast hd sdi way way better picture for sure, when I use my pc I capture right in avid media composer.
Good job! Helped me much. I've not been sure which to get but now it's the Elgato for sure. Better quality and cheaper also easier to just store because it's smaller. if I needed the monitor capability maybe harder to decide but using the computer is fine with me. Trimming function seems useful too. I could do that in my video editor but for just an old video saving need why bother? Thanks again!
Great ! Glad it could help. Thanks for the comment and best of luck with your transfers
Fantastic review, this is what I needed, I've been reading reviews but seeing it, made the choice simple. Thank you.
Awesome ! Glad it could help
@@techtoremember8096 Does it work with other apps or just the one available from Elgato?
I think you can only use Elgato
Thank you for this video comparison. It helps when purchasing a product.
My pleasure !
Very useful review. It helped me to make a wise decision, thanks!
This is amazing! THANK YOU!
Not a problem Thanks for the comment !
Thanks for your excellent review! I've been searching and reading reviews of both products in the last weeks. I'm definitely going for the El Gato because of the software and Mac/Win compatibility. My VCR hasn't got an RCA output so I need this scart to RCA adaptor to connect it to the video capture device.
I let you know if it did it's job properly! Cheers!
Glad it could help ! Best of luck
Tested it out today with the Elgato software and OBS Studio. Wonderful product, I recomend it to everyone. Thanks again! The only downside(or positive side) of it is that my nephew now can see how big of a jerk he was in the late 80's... 😂
It does appear that the Elgato is the better converter, however for those who want to continue to use your old camcorder and record tapeless the ClearClick has an advantage in that you can record direct to the sd card of the ClearClick. There are several videos on RUclips showing how this is done...
Hi yes you could simply connect the video output of the camcorder (not every model has one but if it does you can ) and record the live output to the SD card on the Clearclick This would be a good option if the tape mechanism no longer works in your camera -thanks for the comment
I bought the elgato card eventually; it is a good one and has a straightforward process, though when uploading to youtube it reduced quality very much, as youtube detects the resolution and is processing it with an old codec. to bypass this you have to upscale it to HD and then upload to youtube, to retain the same quality as captured by the elgato card.
I've been using the Elgato Video Enhancer for a little over a year now and upload to RUclips. How do you upscale to HD? Any recommendations? Thanks I appreciate it!
The Elgato really doesn’t do that unfortunately. You’d have to go to a separate video editing program like Adobe premier or Final Cut Pro . Of course it won’t really be in true HD even so. These programs are really designed for SD material. Thank you for watching !
I was using Rixio before. Really finicky. And the dongle broke. I have the Elgato. Works beautifully!
That’s great to hear. Roxie has always been buggy for me too. Even years ago
@@techtoremember8096 Thanks for your reply! I actually transferred my entire video collection. And I been uploading to my youtube which is now full of old video. I used to vlog in my old days and people love to see what life looked like in the 80s and 90s! My oldest video is from 1988.
Love this video man, thanks so much! I have a pretty specific question about the elgato cable, which I've been using. It's about the preferences, specifically the "Preserve Source Format" option. With this checked, I end up with a 720x480 video file, with a pixel aspect ratio of 0.89, and it includes the sometimes messy border artifacts of the overscan area. If I uncheck it, I get a 640x480 file with a square (1.0) pixel aspect ratio, which is cropped a tiny bit, and most of that overscan area is cropped out. So it's a cleaner edge. I did notice in doing an intense comparison, the 640x480 file seems more compressed, more pixelated blocky artifacts if you're looking real close.
So I'm torn on the best way to go, there are annoyingly compelling pros and cons on both sides. I want to give the most pristine, faithful transfer, which would seem to be checking the "Preserve Source Format" option, but I'm concerned about the non-square pixel aspect ratio, and having the videos be slightly squeezed with a weird aspect ratio and potentially having to be processed more to be viewed correctly. I feel like I'm thinking WAY too hard about this, but so far the internet, and elgato, have yielded lots of information, but not answer to the question "which one should I choose". Grateful for any insight, thanks.
Hello, my friend, Yes I feel your pain, there are definitely some compromises on both sides with these units. If it were me, I'd probably go with the 720x480 and in editing, deal with the border artifacts. Of course, if you are not going to do editing, then this isn't a great option. Are you transferring DV footage or is it an older format? DV is native 720x480 and the older formats Hi8, 8mm etc are 640x480 so I would think that for DV the 720x480 works best and 8mm , VHS etc the 640 works best Thats what I believe I remember from my testing which was a couple years ago now. Just realize nothing is going to be "perfect" with these units.
@@techtoremember8096 thanks for the reply! Im digitizing vhs in this case. I’m doing this for clients who are not video experts, just preserving their home videos for the ages. I’m most concerned about the pixel aspect ratio. From what I’ve gathered, modern computers and devices are square pixels, and I worry that preserving these videos in non-square pixels will cause stretching and squeezing on different devices and be a big pain in the future, requiring someone to convert them. Plus normal non-film people probably appreciate cleaner edges. So I’m leaning toward the 640x480 files with the “preserve source media” unchecked.
I would agree! Sounds like a good plan. Best of luck!
@@techtoremember8096 Thanks!
Great job, thank you very much, this is what I was looking for
I will buy one from Elgato
Glad it could help ! And thank you for your comment
You gotta look at it the computer is faster then the clear click but clear click did a good job standing up to the computer
If you double click on the Elgato where the footage is visible, it’ll become full screen
Good to know !
thanks very much, comparison well done, very useful!
My pleasure ! Glad it was helpful
Thanks for this video !
I think I will be buying the El Gato.
ALso just saw someone using a basic AV to HDMI converter to video capture system. This seems most straight-forward of all, espcially if the video quality is what you see on the TV. I assume it has something to do with the type of video format created and the ability to use in other format (RUclips, Facebook).
Agreed, and timely for me. Thank you
My pleasure. Glad it helped
Thanks for the review, especially of the clearclick. I already have two capture cards already, I purchased one and borrowed the others, they are both very similar in looks to the elgato and use Arcsoft showbiz software.
Is it a safe bet to assume that the underlying chip in the convertor is the same or is there big difference in quality between very similar looking products. i.e. elgato, diamond, Video-2-PC.
My gut tells me that they all use the same chip and also that the software is likely the same too?
As you mentioned, these are precious memories and the task is going to be a labour our love, so I'd like to get the best tools before setting out. At least I know now not to bother with the Clearclick.
Hi there. Thanks for your comment. It may very well be the same chip in your other cards but there really is no way of knowing for sure. I would say if you see more of a noticeable difference in image quality than what I pointed out in the video, it could be different. At least you have a baseline to compare it to ! Hope that helps
One other question. You mentioned FireWire somewhere in there. I wonder why you would even consider Elgato or ClearClick if you have a system called FireWire that gives such quality? Of course I researched FireWire and am more confused than ever. Do you have a video or know of a video that explains / compares the FireWire process (equipment, set-up, editing) and why you would or would not use that system versus Elgato. Especially if FireWire preserves more of the original video.
Great question. Using a firewire workflow definitely provides the best results but it takes way more time and you need more equipment. Personally I do use Firewire when converting but that's because I have a Windows 7 desktop with an installed Firewire card and I am looking for the best possible quality. You need to have a card installed in your computer. Back in the day, many computers came with Firewire cards and ports but not any more. You can still buy the cards but then you have to install them. I also use Windows Movie Maker as the software to capture the footage but Windows dropped this after Windows 7, I believe. Once the footage is captured however it's in an older codec so that must be converted to MP4 if you want to edit it. There are many programs to convert files. You also need some sort of camcorder or VCR, whether its Mini DV or Digital 8, which will allow you to connect the camera to the computer while you are transferring the tapes. The camera will require a working IEEE1394 port, another name for Firewire. Those are easy to get on Ebay. But you see, its a multi-step process. I reviewed the Elgato and ClearClick because I think for many people, they don't want to bother doing all that. They want an easy and quick way to convert old footage and the Clear Click and Elgato fit that bill. Unfortunately , there are some issues and there is a bigger drop off in video quality. I made the video to see how much of a drop off there is in quality compared to Firewire and that is a personal decision, which people can decide on with respect to the quality trade offs.. I believe there is still a box you can buy on Ebay called Pinnacle Studio Box which is self contained unit which converts the Analog signal to firewire. Again, I don't know how well it will work with Windows 10/11 as these were designed with much older operating systems. If you search on RUclips you will find many videos on this. It's dizzying for sure as there are many options out there. It's just finding a reliable, stable one with the best possible quality!! Hope this helps a bit.
@@techtoremember8096 You ought do a video from start to finish on this. I'm still a bit lost but will continue to research, but this is the best answer I've found yet. I've seen other videos of people using an outside the computer Firewire converter (can't remember the name), and somehow uploading to Adobe (Pro or something). Not afraid of the work, but your point on ease of use hits home. Seems like if you have a modern recording application on your computer that can record directly from the FV, but don't know. That said, I would not be afraid to go this route if I new how to make it work. I have an older tower, from probably 2009 that would work (Version 7-8), but that point on still having to convert is a bit scary. If you have to convert the conversion to edit and use, I wonder what the impact would be to quality then? Its digital to ditigal, so not bad or bad?
Wonder if it is possible to use a more modern FireWire converter on modern systems. Here is what one other guy said on Tech TV. He seems super-techy, but loses me on details. He is talking to Mac, so not sure if it applies to Microsoft. Not sure work Premeire Pro is either, but will to learn. Any thoughts?
"You connect the VHS Deck to the DV converter with RCA cables and then connect the DV converter to the PC with a Firewire cable. It is that simple. The latest version of Premiere Pro on the Mac side does not support Firewire but iMovie does as seen by the video link below. You can import the videos from iMovie into Premiere Pro."
ruclips.net/video/rHWHE3ilBbU/видео.html
You ought do a video on FireWire as you seem to be the most clear, stated person on the internet. It would be interesting to see if you could recreate a FireWire system on Window 10 or so.
@@techtoremember8096 Side point. Your replies to questions are not viewable on my computer. Not sure if by your choice or not, but I'd love to read some of your replies to questions. Thanks Again.
That’s odd ! Hmmph I don’t have anything set that way. Do you have another computer to try ? Or phone ?
Thanks for saying I"m clear.. But I"m sure there are more experts out there than me. If you have the older tower that's half the battle. Converting is really pretty straightforward after you install the Firewire card. If you have Windows 7 it will have Movie Maker which is all you need to convert. And yes, you are correct doing the second conversion to MP4 results in barely any loss. I use a program called Movavi by the way. They have a video converter program for like $40 which I find works the best. You can control the quality level and its fast and almost lossless. IF you have Windows 8 however you'll need an extra piece of software in your computer to capture and to do the conversion because there is no Windows Movie Maker in Windows 8.
I hear your wish on modern firewire but as of yet, no one has come out with any modern firewire system. I guess there isn't enough call for it. Final Cut Pro on the Mac used to allow you to capture via Firewire and the latest version of OS I heard dropped it so I wouldnt count on Imovie lasting too long either. Eventually all these programs , Adobe etc. I am sure will drop Firewire support if they already haven't already. Its just too ancient. I suppose that is why the Elgatos and Clear Clicks of the world are popular now. I actually really focus on camera reviews but I have gotten a lot of questions on how I get my old footage to digital so I thought I would review these 2 pieces of software and am surprised how many views they've gotten! Lots of people want to to do this and while Firewire is the most stable, best quality way, the Elgato and Clearclick are viable as you save a tremendous amount of time and if you don't mind losing a little quality, its not a big deal. Thanks again
Have you ever run into audio/video syncing issues when using the Elgato (especially with players having no TBC)? That was my experience with them around 12 years ago. Got an ADVC box...problem solved. Maybe the Elgato has gotten better? Thanks for your video!
Hello there. I have not noticed any syncing issues but I did not run a long test so I can't 100% guarantee that. I will tell you that in doing research I have not heard many , if any complaints about that in that product and as you said they may have addressed that issue if it was in an earlier product! Thanks for the comment
Glad I saw this before buying the clear click. Not saying it’s bad but I just want the most accurate picture by default
Great ! Thanks for your comment
Excelent video!! Thank you! I choice elgato, but is so expensive to me. Maybe y choose roxio or dazzle.
Sounds good ! Thank you for your comment
I use the Elgato here in Europe and I found that I can play VHS tapes in NTSC or PAL format from my VHS player to my TV and both play fine. The player automatically detects and displays the format. The Elgato however wont record tapes that have been recorded in NTSC format. It simply states no signal found, sound however does come through.
Oh wow. Sorry to hear that. Thank you for reporting that info
I ended up buying the Roxio VHS but i still would like to see a comparison Elgato vs Roxio.
Same
Thank you so much for making this video. Super helpful!
*Smashes subscribe button*
Thank you for your comment ! I’m glad it could help !
Not really a fair comparison, Elgato should do better it is using a computer resources, graphic card. However when you get into editing you will need a computer. A good editing program can do the same thing and you get more options. And some are free to try. I like Davinci Resolve.
Many people just want to convert their videos and don't have the time/energy or desire to do any editing. The purpose of the video was to simply compare the 2 programs for capture and image quality. DaVinci Resolve is a good editing program and getting better I hear if you want to go further.
There is a huge difference using S-Video when properly capturing using AVI 4:2:2 chroma subsampling and the right resolution during capturing (720x480 NTSC) and not using any de-interlacing, Both devices are crap so you wouldn't see a difference via S-Video since they have mediocre quality to begin with.
What do you consider the best overall product for video capture? I’m looking to buy one. Thanks!
@@VanSavesLivesDude To be honest, all the crap selling now is from China and cannot be trusted, Your best bet is a legacy USB capture device or PCI card from back in the day under Win7.
@@Capturing-Memories Thank you! Your response is much appreciated.
@@Capturing-Memories isnt the elgato a legacy usb capture device?
@@user-ub5pb3hq8n Not if it's made last year, Legacy refers to Windows XP era.
great video thank you
Thank you !
Thank you very much for your job! Very helpful!!! Thanks
Not a Problem ! Glad it could help !
Great review! Thank you
No prob ! Hope it helps
TV Guide for Elgato is not working for me any more the yearly subscription - thanks
This was a great video!!
Thanks !
I have been using an Elgato and was looking to see if there was anything "better" out there. In my experience, the videos occasionally seemed to suffer from sync issues. Have you noticed anything like that? If so, does the ClearClick do any better?
Hi there. From my testing, I have not noticed the sync issue you mentioned. If anything, the ClearClick seemed to be more susceptible to instability if the source tape had some issues. What specifically are you seeing with the sync issue? If the tape isnt playing stable in the player, it's possible the Elgato cannot sync properly if there are some playback issues if that's what you are referring to.
@@techtoremember8096 Hi
Does ClearClick record without saving the file in segments, I bought a device recently and realized it records and saves the file every 30 minutes in the end I had so many files to stitch.
@@RufusAyerteyM Hey there. I don't believe the ClearClick divides the files, however the thing you have to be careful of is how the SD card is formatted. If its formatted as FAT32 and the file hits the 4gig limit it will stop recording so best off to format the card as NTSF or ex-FAT which avoid that limit. Hope this helps
For me, it's been all over the map with the ClearClick. I've done 2-hour tapes that stay in perfect SYNC throughout, and other tapes where the SYNC is totally off within 3 minutes. If I connect my VCR to my TBC (Time Base Corrector) then the SYNC is fine, but consumers will not have a $6000.00 TBC to solve SYNC problems.
TV Guide for Elgato is not working for me any more the yearly subscription - thanks
Thank you so much!!
Not a problem!
You cannot present a comparison of video capture devices in 30p. Sorry, this just does not work. Must be 60 fps. Look at the horrible stair-stepping between 5:20 and 5:30. ClearClick drops one field and doubles the other with simple "bob". Elgato has a slightly better deinterlacer. But it is 30p nonetheless. Can they capture interlaced as interlaced? Can they deinterlace to 60p?
I respectfully disagree. NTSC is not a 60p format. The frame rate for NTSC is 30fps, more precisely 29.97. So you can most certainly demonstrate NTSC video at 30fps. Each frame is comprised of 2 fields making it 60 fields. Not 60 frames (easily confused ) You bring up a good about deinterlacing however and I believe the video shows that the Elgato does a bit better job which you pointed out as well. The video compares the quality on a number of parameters such as brightness, artifacts etc which hopefully can help viewers in making an educated decision on which product can best suit their needs . Thanks for the comment !
I already bought the ClearClick over a year ago and couldn't make it work. I finally got it to work but many of the videos are too dark. I wish I had seen this video when I was looking for solutions!
Ah sorry to hear that. Yes the darkness is very annoying with that device. Thank you for your comment and best of luck
Great video! I want to convert 8mm to digital. I am going to buy this Elgato device. Would you recommend buying an rca to hdmi convertor to further improve the quality of the videos? My video camera is the sony ccd-tr70.
Thanks for the comment. No need on the converter. You need to Just connect the output of the camera to the device which is rca. Adding hdmi won’t help
I know that Clearclick records in 60(59.94)fps. How does it work with Elgato? I am trying to find a software for my mac that will either record in 60(59.94)fps OR it will will record in 29.97 BUT MUST record it in a way that preserves 60 fields (this way, I can pop it on to Premiere and easily make it into a 60fps video for digital).
Any chance of you testing the ClearClick Video 2 Digital 3.0 version in the future? It has an internal battery, and it takes microSD cards. Besides those 2 features, I don't know if it's worth the extra cost than the 2.0 version.
Thanks for your comment. On the clearclick website it lists the following as new features:
· Audio Recording Feature
· Larger 5" Preview Screen
· Built-In Rechargeable Battery
· Custom Auto Stop Feature
· MicroSD Memory Card Slot
· USB-C Charging Port
These features really have nothing to add to picture quality so I would not expect any difference in that area. The auto stop is nice in case you walk away and it was endlessly recording, so this version has that protection (as long as it works properly )
Thank you for this Great comparison! . Back in the early 90's I had a complete RT -2000 editing system ... Today I have many S-VHS then burn to DVD then Convert to a digital with Handbrake ... My results look good but would Elgato look and better ?
It’s hard to say what will look better but the Elgato should get you pretty darn close to the original ! Thanks got your comment
@@techtoremember8096 Thank You for your Help !! Always great for what available todays world...
Get and upscaler it would upscale you vhs to 1080p
Thank you so so much ! I bought a UCEC video converter for about $40 CDN and I found the video quality in the transfer wasn't very good. Do you think the Elgato would work well with an old Hitachi model of camcorder?
As long as you’re getting stable playback on your playback device. (Camcorder or Vcr) then yes the Elgato should work fine ! Thanks for watching
QUESTION: Can you rename the video, after you convert it? THANKS IN ADVANCE.
Hi. Thanks for watching. Yes. After the video is created , it’s just a file on your computer which can be renamed the same way you rename any other file.
@@techtoremember8096 Appreciate it. Can you tell what a tech "guru" I am? LOL!
Haha. It’s All good ! But at least you can program the VCR I hope !!
@@techtoremember8096 LOL. Yeah, I'm not THAT bad!!
Hi. Thanks for the video. There’s a lot of devices and methods out there, and they can start becoming confusing. I like the Elgato, but I understand the software comes on a CD/DVD But my Mac does not have an optical drive. I do have an older model PC with an optical drive. Can I transfer the software onto a USB drive and then load it onto my Mac? Thank you for the help.
Hi there actually you don’t need a CD most manufacturers dropped that method - you can just download the software from the website . Make sure you are downloading from the official Elgato site! Best of luck
I just bought the Elgato and was disappointed in the quality of the recorded video vs the original VHS video.
I have an older Broksonic all in one TV - VCR combo which I am using as my player/monitor.
The signal goes from there to the Elgato via RCA cables and then onto my desktop win 10 computer.
The difference in video quality is similar to the difference between recording in 6 hour mode vs 2 hour mode back in the day.
. If you are watching the Elgato created video an a computer monitor it’s not going to look great. No NTSC video will unless you watch in a very small window -Watching the original tape on a tube set will always look the best So it may not be that the Elgato is doing anything wrong , it’s just that now that the tape is in digital format and now it depends on how you are watching it , what video player you use- what computer monitor etc so , it’s going to look differently than the original
Not sure why there was a line through my text lol. But please read anyway
@@techtoremember8096 It just looks very washed out and low quality on the computer monitor.
Is there no remedy for this?
This is to be expected. You can try changing your computer screen resolution to the lowest possible setting which may help a bit also don’t play it full screen. It really will look terrible - the scaling gives it a terrible look - if your monitor has controls for color , contrast etc, you might try tweaking those
@@techtoremember8096 So is there a different product which may produce better results than the Elgato?
I just ordered a device from Roxio which I was going to give a try.
Thanks
Wish I didn't get the ClearClick (3.0). I'm having major issues with the video looking jittery and now I'll probably have to return it
Sorry to hear !
What is the file format of the Elgato. Can it be used on an iMac with either iMovie or Final Cut?
Also noted on their website, it captures at 680x480 (4:3) and/or 640x360 (16:9) The Clear Click boasts 720P but only in 4:3 Can you speak to that?
Yes. It’s an MP4. Compatible with both
@@techtoremember8096 Thank you 👍👍
Oh I didn’t see the second part of your question. I didn’t check 16:9 Honestly you would only really use this for SD material which is almost always 4:3. Once you start messing with that, it’s not going to look as good ! These are not HD devices -so if the clearclick does 720p then it’s probably just upscaling the footage
@@techtoremember8096 Understand... Thanks for quick reply
@@techtoremember8096 Sorry -- One more question. Can all the .MP4 files be transferred to an external hard drive? With dozens if not hundreds of hours, this could easily use up disk space on my iMac 5k with only 500gb SSD. Then name each file transferred to external HD for either editing or archiving..
Between using Elgato and a firewire connection between the camcorder and the laptop, what would you recommend?
It sounds like you prefer the original video quality from firewire?
To be honest, I feel firewire is always the best choice if you can use that option. The biggest issue when transferring analog footage is the conversion algorithm that is used for the compression. IEEE1394 (firewire) was a standard that was developed when the DV format was developed in 1995 and when you transfer analog footage to your computer this way, you do not see any blockiness or artifacting or darkening, as you do with other methods, only a very slight falloff in sharpness but barely noticeable. The ClearClick does a pretty good job but still firewire is the best. The downside is you need a dedicated card in your computer and older software which is someimes hard to find. If you happen to have a Windows 7 computer, that's perfect as you can use Windows Movie Maker to capture with a firewire card.
Hello, there. I am a filmmaker and I am thinking of using an old tape-based camcorder and recording directly to the capture device monitor as I would with a laptop computer. Obviously I'm going to need a USB drive to store the data on. I'm refering solely to the Clear Click 2.0.
Anyway, I have a couple of questions:
1. Does the capture device monitor capture interlaced video therefore capture both fields or is it progressive video therefore blend the fields together and cause a ghosting effect? If it is the latter, that is bad because it erases the smooth fluid motion we see on the camera and the videotapes which I believe is important.
2. Is the video file format MP4 or AVI? The latter is more sensible because it supports interlaced video therefore preserves both fields.
Although there are 30 (29.97) frames per second, there are also 60 (59.94) fields per second. There are two fields in each frame of interlaced video, one set of lines on top and another at the bottom. The reason why I'm hoping this capture device captures interlaced video is because historically video was captured at 60 fields per second so I can get the properly smooth fluid motion just as I've seen on both videotape and through the camera lens.
Please answer my questions. Thank you.
Hi there. Hopefully you watched my full review which should have answered some of your questions already.
It seems like you are leaning toward the Clearclick? If that is the case it only takes an SD card not a USB drive. The Elgato, since it attaches to your computer gives you more flexibility as to where to store the file (a hard drive, usb drive etc)
These capture devices are not extremely sophisticated and use an internal algorithm with compression to attempt to do the analog to digital conversion. In my testing it appears to output a file that plays like its only 30fps and not 60 so unfortunately you will not get that ultra fluid motion that you had when it was on your camcorder. I have not been able to find a way to get either device to play at a true 60fps interlaced. These are inexpensive devices and most people are simply happy to get their tapes off their cameras in a format they can watch. I do feel the Elgato does a somewhat better job, which was my conclusion in the video.They both output to the more modern MP4 file which can be played on Macs and PC's. AVI is the older format not always supported any more. So the bottom line is that they do an OK job, but its not perfect by any means. There is some loss in quality and especially brightness on the Clearclick. The Elgato gives you some more flexibility in adjusting the contrast, brightness etc.Thank you for your comment and I hope this helps.
The point is I believe it's vital to capture inerlaced video because it contains both fields in each frame therefore getting all 60 fields per second. Each frame contains two sets of lines called "fields" which show two images that have been captured at 1/60th of a second apart in time. It is best to capture interlaced video, which contains "mouse teeth" which can later be converted to progressive video in a program like Handbrake which can convert the fields into frames; each field will be converted into a frame individually which will create the smooth fluid motion. You can simply adjust settings like 59.94 fps + deinterlace mode yadif-bob and render the file. This keeps ALL video captures from old interlaced sources pure so everyone, including new generations, can (and will) experience the true look of videotape!
You are totally correct. The units reviewed do a good job of attempting to deinterlace -the comb teeth effect is hardly noticeable. But you still don’t get the true 60fps!
@@techtoremember8096 the combing effect is VERY important because it contains both the top and bottom fields which are essential for deinterlacing therefore converting to 60 fps later via Handbrake on a computer.
If the Clear Click 2.0 capture device either keeps the top field and throws the bottom field away OR blends both fields together to create a "ghosting" effect, then I will definitely NOT buy it. The latter two deinterlacing methods are awful because they ruin the way how old videotape format is INTENDED to be seen.
The question I'm trying to ask is does the MP4 video capture record at 30 frames per second WHILE preserving both fields in each frame necessary for later 60p conversion?
Hi there. I have not tried the handbrake solution you referenced. According to specs it can capture up to 60fps so you may be in luck. You can buy direct from the site or Amazon and if it doesn’t work out you can return it. I will tell you this however. You seem like you are very interested in video quality which is great. I would NOT recommend this system for you even if it does capture field info. The compression is pretty high with a noticeable loss in quality. If you watch my video you will see this is unacceptable for someone who really wants the best quality from the capture If you are looking for the highest quality capture then capture via FireWire using a digital 8 camcorder on a computer with a FireWire card to keep the file digital throughout the process. I have found this provides the best, most consistent results preserving the field info as well .
I found that the elgato has a lot of flickering stripes on saturated colours like red and blue.
Are you sure that wasn’t in the original tape as well ?
great video! would love to know the best way to source vhs-c tapes. i have the clearclick and have been using it for about a year now, never knew the elgato existed, thanks!
Hi ! Thanks for watching. Do you like the clearclick ? Vhs-c tapes are widely available on EBay! All brands and a wide variety of prices. Thanks again !
Great video. I'm also doing my own comparison between the two products during my "returnable phase". I've been trying to figure out what the Elgato General Preferences format options do: Format: [automatic, mp4 and h.264] and below it, the Preserve Source Format [checkbox]. I can't figure out what that 2nd one would do. Let me know if. you have any idea.
I'm converting original VHS tapes from the 90's, (Yellow, Red, White RCA, no S-Video) and the interlace zigzags seem unbearable when there is any motion, unless I shrink the output video to about 4" x 3" on my iMac monitor. I'm wondering if it's one of these Format settings, because I compared a test I did a week ago to another test of the same footage, and there are a lot more zigzags now. Would appreciate any comments if you've tried any VHS video transfer. Thanks.
HI, and thanks for your comment. Sorry about the frustrations you are having. That zigzagging as you correctly refer to it is actually a result of what happens after the footage is "deinterlaced." Without getting too technical, in the old days of analog video, each frame was comprised of 2 fields to give the appearance of smooth motion. When converting to modern digital, one of these fields has to be discarded and each converting system whether its Elgato or whoever, uses a slightly different algorithm to do that. Unfortunately, it always results in a loss of some information so the stair stepping effect is how it often manifests itself. You have the right idea by making the playback window smaller because on a high resolution computer monitor, the image tends to look worse, because those measly 640x480 or 720x480 pixels have to be scaled all the way up to the resolution of the monitor so you notice the zigagging even more. Bringing the window size down, helps minimize this effect. Question: you saw my sample footage. I think most of the time that looked acceptable,-its obviously very scene dependent but would you say you are getting worse results than the sample footage I showed on the video? It should be the same otherwise something isn't set right.
As for the general preferences that you mentioned, those codecs, mp4 etc really wouldn't affect it too much but I would definitely leave "preserve source format" checked as you don't want to mess with that or else it would probably cause more issues. There always is going to be some compromise with these stand-alone items in trying to merge old technology with new!
@@techtoremember8096 I figured out my issue with the zigzags. Had to do with S-Video in. When I first tried the ClearClick, I wasn't satisfied with the RCA connection (Yellow, White, Red -- all I have on my VCR. So their support team mailed me an RCA to S-Video adapter to attach to the yellow cable, then plug into the S-Video In on the ClearClick. I thought "This is weird". Why would that work? But evidently their S-Video circuitry is better, even if the original signal was coming from RCA composite. And the quality of the imported VHS was WAY better doing this, (changing the Input type from AV to S-Video inside the device). And the ClearClick image was a bit lighter to boot, although not much difference between both devices - I have the latest firmware and I think the darkness issue isn't as much of an issue as before.
So I thought - "if this worked for ClearClick, let me try it on the Elgato", and that failed miserably - the Elgato device cannot be "tricked" in this manner, and the S-Video adapter caused all the horrible zigzags.
I have to say, I was leaning towards the Elgato for VHS conversion, but think I'll be keeping both - The Elgato for Mini DV or other digital conversion, and the ClearClick for analog conversion. The S-VHS adapter on the ClearClick made a BIG difference in comparison to the Elgato, where any motion would enhance the "already exiting" line crookedness from the original mid-80's videos. Not with the ClearClick - much smoother and more detail. I mean, for VHS resolution, LOL. May not work on an HDTV, but acceptable on a computer monitor.
Another item in my evaluation: The ClearClick and Elgato both produced .MP4 files (H.264 wrapper), however on my iMac using VLC, the audio would drift out of sync if I clicked to a different area on playback, but not with the Elgato. After some testing, I discovered that when opening the same .MP4's using Quicktime, the audio stayed in sync. After a bit, I figured out the problem - I had to turn off "Hardware Decoding" in the VLC preferences on the Mac, then everything stayed in Sync. Weird.
Last thing: I actually have enough adapters from the past to connect DV out from my miniDV camcorder to the iMac Pro (DV to firewire 400 -800 - Thunderbolt 2 - Thunderbolt 3 USB-C). Surprisingly it works with iMovie (at least on Mojave). I also have Final Cut Pro X, so I'm going to compare the results with the ClearClick / Elgato. With about 150 videos to transfer from my dad's collection, I can't do this for -*-all-*- the videos, but maybe the most-precious, and use the other two devices for the less important transfers. However, DV is also a final-format lossy format, just like the Elgato and ClearClick. Unsure whether clipping what I want out of the 2 hour output files would require further rendering, or if splicing doesn't cause a second render -- will find out. People should know that the Elgato and ClearClick output files are highly compressed and lossy, so further editing is not suggested in the Video forums.
Thanks again for your comparison video. It got me starting on my transfer journey. Now I'm digging into the DigitalFAQ forum - I highly recommend this for anyone who wants to learn a lot about the different types of video transfer.
You asked about how my results compared to your sample footage. Yours looks much clearer, but two things: 1) the home movies I tested are not as good quality as your source, and 2) there's not a lot of fast movement in your videos. Weren't you starting from a digital source in your video? Also, what kind of playback machine were you using? I had planned on using a rather nice pro model VCR - Panasonic AG-1960 but it doesn't seem to be working right now. So for now I had to resort to using a cheap Toshiba W627 - Coax and RCA (Y,W,R) only. Grrrr.
Also, I don't know why one of the paragraphs in my earlier response has a strikethru - please read (not meant to be ignored)
Thanks again!
Hey, hi again. Yeah, I am glad you brought up the issue of your playback deck because that can definitely be a weak link in the chain. You know the expression, garbage in, garbage out. A way to check and see if that's a problem is to see how the regular playback looks on a CRT TV. Is it playing back the tape ok? If so, then the deck should be ok but if the deck you are using has an issue, then obviously what the units will be capturing will also have a problem My playback sources were Hi8 and VHS-C and I was playing those through analog outputs so not digital. The clearclick and Elgato do no accept firewire, only analog inputs. I was using a Digital 8 deck GV-D800 which does have firewire but I was not using that connection, only the analog outs of the deck.
That's great that you uncovered those issues with the S-video. Thanks for sharing that. Sometimes a lot of experimenting and time will get you the best results. Thanks for sharing that!
Great review! What deck did you use in the start of the video?
Thank you ! The playback deck that was used was a Sony GVD-800 Hi8 deck. Thanks for your comment
Interesting device. I was searching for an answer how usable it is for PAL video, which is 720x576 resolution with either 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio. Will it work at all, or will some of the top/bottom part of my video be missing? I can always stretch the video to correct aspect ratio, but missing 96 video lines is 17% of the image lost. I saw some other videos where video option was 720x480 and 640x480, no auto-detection. Maybe a different software version?
Funny that you call a SCART adapter a strange attachment :D
Hi it’s a good question the manual under technical specifications does suggest you can input a PAL tape with a resolution of 720x576 at 50i- I haven’t tested to confirm this so I would suggest that if you decide on the clearclick get it from a place you know you can return it if it doesn’t work out
Currently the Elgato 2.0 is not compatible with Macs that have the new M series processors.
Good to know. Thanks for that info. Hopefully they will do a software update
Please can you do a clearclick ultimate vs Elgato?
This is all so overwhelming with ocd i have trying to get everything from life onto one hard drive cell phones vhs mini8 even old pictures. Which brings up my question do you have a video on photo scanners
Hi I feel your pain. I don’t have a video on scanners sorry but I’m sure there are tons out there on RUclips. I use the epson v600 and I’m happy with it Scans photos and slides too
Looks like the Elgato has a TBC corrector as the jumping stops when capturing with the JVC ?
Not a TBC exactly but just better processing for the video footage!
the strange attachment is a scart to phono converter
Thank you
@@techtoremember8096 yep .. some older video players only have a scart connection so it's great they include an adaptor!
I am not able to get my Elgato to work. Using a 2022 Mac Studio. Getting no video and sound for a few seconds, then it disappears. I find other similar complaints out there, but no solutions. Would you have any advice?
Hi. Sorry you’re having trouble. Do you have the latest software or firmware on the Elgato ? It’s possible there’s a compatibility issue with the new Mac OS. Have you contacted Elgato support ?
On the Elgato or ClearClick, for long home videos full of different clips, can you pause the recording half way through, so that you can fast forward through the useless parts, then continue recording again? So that it stays as one full movie? If that makes sense.
Hi. That would be a great feature but unfortunately you cannot with either one. When you press stop it automatically stops the clip -You’d have to do all your editing later in another program. The Elgato does give you the ability however to trim the beginning and/or end of your captured clip but not in the middle
@@techtoremember8096 Thanks for replying. Im considering the elgato out of the two. Its for my dads birthday.
Oh ok. That’s a nice gift! I’m sure he’ll appreciate it
Once converted and downloaded to your PC do you need another program to put them on Disc
They are mp4 files. Pretty standard video files. Are you referring to making a DVD ? Then yes. You would need a DVD program to burn to disc
Thanks If I use the Elgato program do I store them in my Documents before using this Roxio Easy CD to DVD program . I have made music disc through this program
You can store the file anywhere you designate. Roxio should be able to recognize the Elgato MP4 file to make a DVD !
What do you suppose is the life-span of these products❓
I have had several different types of devices over the years,that I used to x-fer videos to HDD.
After some time,they all stopped working.
(Some lasted longer than others).
Am stuck without 1 at the moment. 😩
That’s a good question. There’s really no moving parts. The Elgato is mainly just software. So with the Elgato I don’t think you’ve got an issue. The clearclick might be but I have not really heard of many quality control issues
Thanks for the great video. Is it possible to put the elgato video on to a DVD?
Also do you have recommendations for head cleaners for vhs machine and a hi8 camcorder?
Hi there After you create the file with the Elgato you’d have to use a separate program to make a DVD. The Elgato doesn’t do that unfortunately. As far as head cleaners, I just check whatever is available on EBay. I use dry head cleaners Good luck !
Thanks.
If i just record my MiniDV's onto my DVD recorder's harddisc and then burn DVD's of it, does this affect the video quality at all?
That’s a good solution too I would just use the highest and best compression settings of the DVD recorder to keep your video loss from mini DV to the DVD as small as possible but the overall quality should be very good
Simple answer is yes, as DVD utilizes lossy MPEG2 compression, whereas MiniDV material captured to PC via 1394 (4-pin) can be preserved in uncompressed AVI format......
Considering to buy one. Just wondering is the audio captured similar to the original for both or is there differences too?
Audio capture is about the same for both I didn’t notice any sync issues or anamolies
@@techtoremember8096 that's great thanks. Awesome video, very informative :)
What is the model of the Sony 8mm tape player you’re using around 2:30? Thanks
It’s the GV-D800 a digital 8 player/recorder
What about the sound? Ive noticed with alot of these having problems staying insync
Yes. I’ve heard about some issues with that but I didn’t see that on my tests
@@techtoremember8096 how long we're your converted files with fine audio sync?
I think the longest one was about 15 minutes
Sir I belong to India I have a sony dcr-hc32e handycam this device is supported to sony cam pl.give me answer thanks for advance
You have to see if it is a PAL or NTSC model. As long as it matches your country’s format you’re ok
So should you turn the brightness up when you transfer or is the default brightness enough?
That’s a personal decision but if you can turn it up a bit I personally would
@@techtoremember8096 How much should you turn it up by?
You would just need to experiment a bit to see what works best for your footage but maybe around 20% I’d say
@@techtoremember8096 Alright, I'll try it. Thanks
Do you know if the ClearClick 3 is better ? Thanks
From what I understand they added a few new features, like the ability to record from audio sources, but they have not mentioned any picture quality improvements so from that perspective, I would think that there is no improvement in picture quality from version 2
Can it work with PAL input signal?
That’s a great question. I checked the clearclick manual and it does mention it supports PAL but I would email their support team to make 100% sure ! Their email is support@clearclick.tech
The Elgato can detect PAL so it should work
Can you burn the video to dvd with these devices?
No you will need a separate unit for that They just convert the video to mp4 file
Can you suggest any? I tried Pinnacle Dazzle with my Sony CCD-V8 camcorder but couldn't get it to work.
Yeah the software in the Pinnacle can be very finicky. The easiest thing to do would be to get a standalone DVD recorder. They are basically home DVD players but you could also record to a DVD-R disc. They used to make those, Panasonic and Sony had a few. You would have to buy them second hand now since they are no longer produced. as burning DVD's is a thing of the past. You can try looking up Roxio DVD software. I was going to review that I just haven't gotten to it yet. That is another option.