アイ・オー・データ I-O Data GV-USB2 Video/VHS 0.3 inch (8 mm) DVD Dubbing PC Ingestion Video Capture Japanese Manufacturer

The I/O Data GV-USB2 is the best device I found for capturing 8mm video. There is no need to use the included Japanese language software. My goal was to capture my videos as accurately as possible so that I had a master copy I could use to experiment with various post-processing methods. In the review I outline some of the capture process and settings that worked for me using free capture software.I don’t know if the GV-USB2 is the absolute best capture device for analog video, but it was the best I found. I tried many capture devices from very cheap to a few hundred dollars. The colors, brightness and contrast with this device were the best of the bunch. I captured using the default proc amp settings for the GV-USB2 as many sources suggest so that all available data was recorded for post processing. It won’t upscale or give you HD, but after deinterlacing my captures I am able to watch them on a 65” TV as well as a standard definition TV show. Of course, Video8 only has 240 lines of resolution compared to 480 for standard TV, but the deinterlaced captures seem to come close. I imagine VHS would be similar. Hi8 would probably look much better. Watching on a smaller screen like a tablet the capture look quite good.I did not use the software that came with the GV-USB2 other than to install it to get drivers on my computer. Installation is easy. While the software and instruction manual included are in Japanese, the manual has pictures for every step of the software installation with arrows pointing to the buttons you need to click on screen. Once installed, you should be able to use free capture software like OBS, Virtualdub or AmarecTV.In Windows 10, I ended up using AmarecTV 3.10 with an open source codec to capture AVI files which I later deinterlaced with Handbrake. I recommend this method over all others. AmarecTV produced the best video and audio, and was also the easiest to use. AmarecTV is also the only software that did not drop frames during capture. Virtualdub and Virtualdub2 both had audio sync issues and dropped frame problems despite having comparable video quality to AmarecTV. I initially tried the Oldskool method using OBS on YouTube. It worked, but video quality was not as good since OBS is just a screen capture rather than direct capture of the GV-USB2 data. You can search the internet or YouTube for how to use any of these capture programs.

This capture device is the one you want. Don't waste your time with others, they all have one issue or another. Simply put this one works plain and simple. No video issues, no audio issues. rock solid. Pair it up with OBS Studio and your done! Don't be scared because its manual and install disk are in Japanese. Resources are on the web to decipher that and get it installed. Very satisfied with the I-O Data GV-USB2. After wasting time and money with 3 other devices, priced low to high this is a definite winner!

Functionality: 10/10 (works great after you figure out what your doing)Setup difficulty: 4/10 (Instructions and Driver installation setup guide are all in Japanese. The setup is very easy, but can be tedious if you can not read Japanese. If you can not, you'll end up doing what I did and looking up a guide or a video of somebody else going through the installation steps and copying them. I used youtube for this.)Stream/Recording quality: 7/10 (not for HD/newer-gen games, but works great for older games, such as N64, NES, SNES, Ps1, etc...)Durability: ?/10 (Seems fairly durable. The cable itself is fairly short, not reaching very far from where it connects to the computer. But I have only had this for 1 day, and it works great so far. I can't say for sure on the durability of it as of yet, though.)I use the GV-USB2 to stream my console games to Twitch.tv. This particular item does NOT stream in HD, meaning you'll get, at most, a quality of around 480p on your stream. Which isn't the greatest, but its fine. For example, if you stream a game, say Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on the Wii U, using the GV-USB2, it'll be watchable to an extent but the quality of the video will not be good, to the extent of text on the screen being hard to read by your viewers. However, it does stream flawlessly. Does not lag by any means, and definitely gets the job done.This capture card is GREAT for lower-res games on systems such as the Nintendo 64, Super Nintendo, NES, Ps1, and so on. I particularly plan to use it to stream my journey to learning to speedrun Super Mario 64, and don't think there will be any problems in the future with this capture card.Overall, I really like it. The price is fair (I paid $40 for mine through amazon on 11-12-14) and it works wonders for what its supposed to be for. This is definitely the way to go if you're searching for a capture card for the same reasons as me.Side Note: If you are also planning on speedrunning, like me, the tools found here may be of use to you![...]

Works as intended, but the setup is problematic, and the software is cryptic, confusing, and doesn't like to retain or save settings properly, sometimes going against how the menu is representing the settings.You have to get the software from a Japanese website, and unfortunately it seemed like some of the downloads I required were dead links at the time (mid-late 2023), but I found that missing software elsewhere by digging deeper elsewhere. After this, it was matter of figuring out exactly what I was supposed to run to bring up the capturing software, and after 30-40 minutes of trial and error, I finally got it to capture a signal, allowing me to stream.The software gives you control over the image quality to some degree, but it's nothing too advanced as I believe it's locked to a max of a fuzzy looking 480p.

when used with downloaded driver and free online software, this cable worked amazingly well. some translation of Japanese instructions is required, but it does not take long to get it working, especially after consulting a few videos on the topic. was able to convert many old videos from tape to digital, and in much better quality than the original. both video and audio. very happy to have finally made this purchase.