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Plextor ConvertX PX-AV100U


Date
: 07/21/04 – 05:06:03 AM

Author
:

Category
: Misc

Page 1 : Introduction

Manufacturer: Plextor
Price: $79

With digital camcorders and their prices today it may be easy to overlook things like digital video converters. Despite that, there are many people who still use analog camcorders. There are also those who want to convert VHS tapes to digital copies they can then backup onto either hard disk or optical disk. These two uses alone are enough to justify the need for such a device, but then you also have the ability to digitally record gameplay and anything else you can think of that outputs an analog a/v signal. What we are looking at today is a product from Plextor that is marketed to do such tasks.

I myself wasn't familair with anything other than Plextor's highly esteemed optical drives. It turns out that they offer a whole line of digital video converters under a product line called ConvertX. Each solution is external, small, and makes use of USB 2.0 connectivity. While we have all come to expect a high degree of quality and performance from Plextor's optical drives, there is less that is known of these digital video converters.

Luckily we were able to get one of these converters on loan from Plextor to test and share the results with you. The model in the spotlight is the
Plextor ConvertX PX-AV100U
. The PX-AV100U is the entry ConvertX model and this article aims to provide you with an idea of how well this device performs in converting analog sources to various digital video formats.

Page 2 : Package

The ConvertX AV100U came safely packed in bubblewrap. The box was in perfect shape and inside the package were the AV100, its cables, a software disc, and a quickstart guide.

On the front-end of the AV100U are the inputs. There are composite and s-video connections to choose from.

The back-end has the USB 2.0 and mini-phone jacks. The mini-phone jack is only needed for Windows 2000 users, otherwise if you're on Windows XP the audio will be captured through the USB 2.0 bus.

There wasn't a whole lot to the outside of the AV100U, so what about the inside?

Inside we find that the video capture is done via an eMPIA EM2820 chip. The block diagram for this chip is shown below for those interested enough. Otherwise much of the PCB is fairly bare outside of the clustor around the EM2820.

Page 3 : Specifications

Plextor has these detailed specifications available via their website:

The ConvertX AV100U has plenty of conversion choices for users to muck around with. What it will come down to for most user is their data mediums capacity. A detailed specification of resolution and filesize can be found here. Despite the seemingly huge file sizes it should be pointed out that DivX, WMV, and other compression methods can greatly reduce the file size without effecting the image quality too much. If you've ever viewed a DVD-rip or a video clip online you've witnessed the usefulness of video compression.

All the supported formats are pretty run-of-the-mill and nothing spectacular. The key thing about the AV100U is the 'Software Encoder' bit. That's the explanation for those high system requirements, because while all the conversion from analog to digital is done by the AV100U's hardware the encoding will be left to your system. I'll touch more on the effects of this later in testing though.

Page 4 : Features

The features Plextor lists were found from their online datasheet and listed below:

Plextors AV100U is meant to offer users a friendly installation with an easy to use video editing program. Users should be able to easiely convert from their camcorder, VHS tapes, television (granted you have outputs on your television), etc. There is a minimal amount of wires needed to get rolling thanks to the USB 2.0 interface. Because of that, the AV100U is able to draw its power from the USB 2.0 bus so there is no need for a power adapter and one less wire to have lying around.

Page 5 : Installation

Installation was relatively quick and painless as it should be. Because there is very little hardware installation involved the majority of time spent getting things setup is all in the operating system. The AV100U was installed onto a fresh copy of WIndows XP Pro with SP1 and all updates. Plextor recommends you install all the updates to your OS before installing the ConvertX software. After all the Windows updates were done, all that's left is driver installation, installing the WinDVD Creator software, and then plugging in the ConvertX. A quick reboot later and we're all set.

I used the ConvertX on two different systems for this review. The exact specs of each system were:

Page 6 : Usage & Performance

The first system I tried tests on was a below spec AMD system that proved adequate in the long run for most of the conversion processes. The only trouble encountered was with audio capture at the two highest conversion resolutions, most probably due to processor speed when taking into account the information Plextor provides in their recommendations. The other system was using the recommended Intel spec performed without fault.

To evaluate the AV100U I converted some video from an analog camcorder I borrowed from my younger sister. Conversion and encoding was done in various decrements in quality and filesize. Screen captures were taken with PowerDVD.

All the video capture is done through WinDVD Creator. Upon launching the software you are greeted with a simple selection screen offering an easy to navigate starting point.

Capturing from a source connected to the AV100U is made almost as simple as using a VCR. If S-Video is being used you need only change the settings to use that video mode. The black box is where video can be previewed live even through recording. The conversion process is realtime and will be quicker or slower depending on system and settings. Together, the conversion and encoding process can take many minutes to hours depending on system speed, length of the converted media, and the quality settings chosen to capture at. For the scope of this article the time taken for various conversions was not particularly important, but rather the ease of use and final result.

The quality was close to what I expected for a camcorder conversion with slight scanlines visible in the higher resolution captures, though these are slightly exaggerated in the screen captures.

I also converted some analog signals from my Xbox to see how that would work. The capture quality is very good at lower resolutions, but at its native resolution we again see scanlines become slightly visible.

The home video was true to its original due to it being recorded on tape whereas direct conversion from a source such as the Xbox showed higher quality as expected. I should point out that while the stills exaggerate the scanlines, overall quality when viewed in motion was good.

With the capture completed you are able to split up the video into managable bits of increments as small as a hundreth of a second. With these bits of video you are able to throw in transition effects, images, text, you name it. The program also allows easy audio control for any music or sounds you may want to add. There's even the option to record live into your video from within WinDVD Creator.

Overall the software Plextor provides is enough to please the intended market with an easy to use video editor that provides a lot of capability without much know-how.

The performance of the AV100U is the units downside. Being a software encoder, everything relies heavily on your system and processors speed. Luckily the Athlon XP system was able to show much promise as the quality was still quite good compared to the higher conversion methods and the system costs a good amount less. The next ConvertX model up which has a hardware encoder and thus much lower system requirements can be had for close to $130 and anyone who is serious about converting analog sources to digital should definately look into a unit with hardware encoding before considering a full-fledged system upgrade. That is the biggest point I want to make, because unless you have a reasonably powerful system you probably won't be satisfied with the AV100U.

Page 7 : Conclusion

This was my first go with a digital video converter. Given that, I'd have to say that things were pretty easy to get installed and working thus meeting Plextors goal for the end user. Whether there are better options on the market, that's not for me to say. Within Plextors own line though, I think it's a given that if you don't have a system capable of meeting the recommended specs you should look at their two higher models. With their hardware encoding capabilities they'll be useful on something as low as a Pentium III 800.

That was the only thing I found that I didn't like about this product. I built my first Pentium 4 system in order to make a fair evaluation of the entire package Plextor has here, and given that, I can say it was able to do everything it was advertised to do. I think better system requirements (particularly those for AMD processors) would be appreciated by most users if they were posted on Plextors web site. Overall the AV100U does do a good job even when paired with a less than high-end machine. Plextor's AV100U ConvertX is worthy of a look if it's in your price range, you have a capable machine, and you want to be able to capture video from various analog sources easily.

The Good:
- Small
- Inexpensive
- WinDVD Creator included
- Easy to install/use
- Plextor quality

The Bad:
- High system requirements
- Only Windows 2000/XP Support

I'd like to thank Plextor for allowing us the time to review this sample.