Connections Puzzle #328 Sat 4 May
Quizzes & Puzzles17 mins ago
Cam Corder To Pc
5 Answers
I have a Panasonic Cam Corder and wish to transfer videos from it to my PC. Where can I get the appropriate 'connection' from??!! USB that I have is too big.
Answers
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Digital video recorders often had an IEEE 3914 (AKA Firewire) connection. They look a bit like a USB but slightly wider. My camcorder is a Panasonic and I expect this is what you are looing at with the not quite USB description.
PCI Firewire cards are available for PCs. I bought a second hand one from a computer shop's junk collection for $5.
Macs included Firewire ports as standard for a long time but they became somewhat vestigial (for want of a better word) over time being reduced to a B type port. They have moved on to Thunderbolt ports now. A Thunderbolt/Firewire adaptor is available.
Appropriate software is also required to receive the input. This was generally supplied with the recorder. However it might not to install on a modern computer. Some Mac systems have suitable software included.
Camcorders also had an analog AV socket. A special lead fed this to AV terminals like are found on televisions. A video capture card would be required on the PC to use this. My $5 Firewire card also included video capture input but the special lead was missing.
The disadvantage of using the AV is that it is converted to analog then back. If you can do the Firewire then that will be better quality.
My Firewire/Video capture card eventually failed and I got an old laptop with Firewire port. However it was only a B type port and it never worked with the Firewire equipment I had. However it also had a PCM slot to which I added a Firewire card. That is what I use now.
PCI Firewire cards are available for PCs. I bought a second hand one from a computer shop's junk collection for $5.
Macs included Firewire ports as standard for a long time but they became somewhat vestigial (for want of a better word) over time being reduced to a B type port. They have moved on to Thunderbolt ports now. A Thunderbolt/Firewire adaptor is available.
Appropriate software is also required to receive the input. This was generally supplied with the recorder. However it might not to install on a modern computer. Some Mac systems have suitable software included.
Camcorders also had an analog AV socket. A special lead fed this to AV terminals like are found on televisions. A video capture card would be required on the PC to use this. My $5 Firewire card also included video capture input but the special lead was missing.
The disadvantage of using the AV is that it is converted to analog then back. If you can do the Firewire then that will be better quality.
My Firewire/Video capture card eventually failed and I got an old laptop with Firewire port. However it was only a B type port and it never worked with the Firewire equipment I had. However it also had a PCM slot to which I added a Firewire card. That is what I use now.
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