SVID2USB232 lagging / stutterring no matter what I do

Docks, Hubs, Display Adapters
1

as the title says I have the SVID2USB232 that I bought brand new less than a week ago.
I am recording old tapes through OBS and after about 1-5 minutes the footage becomes extremely laggy and stutters, it goes way below 25fps and I have not been able to identify the issue at all. At this point the issue goes back and forth at random intervals between crazy lag and normal 25fps playback.
Here is an example of the issue of a cropped video where it goes from laggy to smooth playback: Watch vhs issue | Streamable
When googling I have found nothing about people having this or even a similar issue, even with other vhs capture devices.
Usually there are the common answers for issues with capture devices but none of them has helped me with my case unfortunately.

I will give details on how I have set up everything and what I have tried.
Here are details on my setup and things I have tried:

I have a beefy computer, a R7 3700x and the CPU usage has never gone over 3% duringrecording and a RTX 3060 with it’s utilization being around 10-15%.

I’m always using the latest version of OBS and have turned on process priority in settings, I have tried lowering capture quality settings and none of them help, both in OBS’ own settings and on the capture device itself.
I have tried two different VHS players and tried both OBS and Virtualdub and in the live feed without recording the lag is present so it’s not recording related either. I have also hooked up both VHS players to a tv to see if the lag happens there and it doesn’t.
I have also switched between two different VHS tapes and it still lags.

At this point the only guess I have is that the adapter is overheating because it gets a bit warm to the touch when plugged in. I would assume something like this is normal but maybe my unit is defect?

Let me know if there is any other info I can add to this because I am clueless otherwise and I just want to get to recording without issues.

2

Hello @Diode

Thank you for posting on our StarTech.com Community forum!

Thank you for providing all these details and the testing you have already done. Based on those details I would say there would only be a couple troubleshooting tests left that I would recommend if you have not already done so. First, I would suggest a full uninstall and reinstall of the drivers for the SVID2USB232, making sure you are using the most recent version available on our website. Second, I would suggest testing this on a different computer if possible. This, along with the other tests you have already done, would help to isolate the potential cause of this issue.

If the issue persists after this as well as on the second computer, I would agree it may be an issue with that SVID2USB232 specifically and at that point may want to look into your warranty replacement options depending on where and when this product was purchased.

Also, please feel free to contact our Technical support services via our Live Chat if you would like to speak with one of our Technical Advisors for any additional assistance!

Adam S.

3

Hi and thanks for the quick reply.
I have now tried a full uninstall and reinstall of the drivers, even tried installing both the regular and twine drivers just to see what would happen at this point, but that did not fix the issue.

I booted up my 12 year old laptop and to my surprise the issue went away. Even with it’s super slow components and high cpu usage was there zero lag.

Which means the issue comes from my pc itself some freaking how. I am usually very tech savvy but for an issue like this I’m just clueless of what to do.

Thanks for the support either way.

4

An important update to the situation,

I just tried capturing on a brand new laptop and I get the same lag but now I also get lag on the 12 year old laptop, so this mean the device is faulty without a doubt especially because the issue persists across 3 different pcs, 1 running W10 and the other two W11.

5

Hi @Diode.

Thank you for doing this additional testing and providing these updates. I am sorry to hear that the issue did persist after this testing as well and do agree it is likely based on this testing that the adapter itself could be faulty.

Depending on where and when you purchased this, you may be able to return it for replacement directly to the place it was purchased, however if you require any assistance with looking into warranty options, you can definitely reach out to our live support for assistance. You can find our live chat and contact phone number on our website here: https://www.startech.com/

Adam S.

6

I came back from a 3 week vacation and amazon sent me the exact same device with the only difference being that it’s very dirty now and the box a bit scuffed up. I guess nobody cares to take this device off the shelves as it is defect.

Anyways I did additional testing with Streamlabs x to see if there would be a difference but nope.
The defect I think is that it overheats because when it’s simply plugged in without doing anything it just starts heating up for some reason, and when recording from it cold it takes a while before it lags as I assume it hasn’t overheated and slowed down the chip?

Here is the serial number: 5021010762
In case you guys actually do care and are gonna remove it from shelves instead of letting someone way less technical get this unit and get tricked that that’s how the vhs tapes should look like.

7

Hello @Diode,

I am replying on behalf of my colleague @AdamS.

It is concerning to hear that the replacement SVID2USB232 adapter is in poor condition. Amazon does ship and stock our products from their warehouses directly so I may not be able to look into what happened with this particular adapter. You are welcome to try returning that through Amazon directly once more.

If preferred, I can arrange to have a case created for you and we can look into this directly through StarTech.com support directly. If you wish to pursue that can I contact you directly with the email you used to sign up to the StarTech.com community?

Please let me know how we can best help.

Sincerely,

@DavidF

8

Yes please I would like to make a support case for this.

I want to say also that I have since my last message ordered yet another recording adapter with a different serial number and the issue STILL persist.

9

Hello @Diode,

I have generated a case and reached out to by email. Let me know if that email does not get through to you.

We look forward to getting to the bottom of the issue with you.

Sincerely,

@DavidF

10

Contacted support which gave me the Movavi software that helps but doesn’t solve the issue fully. When using Movavi it lags way less frequently but it still occurs.

I also discovered that the issue is that the framerate is getting halved exactly, so the 25fps feed from the capture device becomes 12.5 fps, this is shown in the Movavi mkv file as it has a variable framerate and I have screen recorded the video playing so you can help me figure out if this is something someone else has ran into.

The support told me he had never seen this issue before.
Here is the video: Watch 2024-08-01 23-39-19-00.00.0 | Streamable

11

Hello @Diode,

Thank you for reaching out to my colleague on live chat, and for providing this video. I do see the frame rate drop.

I am glad to see that some progress was made, but it looks like there was a disconnection before my colleague could go over the crossbar settings that I had suggested in the case notes. Also, it may be good to review the capture settings I will add this to the case notes. You are certainly welcome to reconnect with us on chat again and we can review those.

I suspect that the lag and frame rate dropping on the playback is part of the file since it is encoded with a variable frame rate but I would be curious if the playback in the Movavi editor is any different.

May I ask which player you are using? Also, do you have any third party codecs or codec packs installed on this system?

You are welcome to reply here or reconnect on our live chat.

Sincerely,

@DavidF

12

Tried going over the crossbar & capture settings with the live chat but it did not help. I recorded this video that has the statistics on while playing the recording in case it helps: Watch lag demonstration of 31 july movavi video | Streamable

13

Hello @Diode,

I appreciate you taking the time to connect with me for a live chat session. We confirmed that everything was okay with the crossbar settings.

May I ask about the recording in the link above, was the VHS option checked with this recording? Also, was it recorded with Movavi or other software? While we did not discuss which player was used with the streamed output or if other video codecs were present on your computers, I suspect that these are not a factor.

Based on the information we reviewed, the framerate dropping may be due to a combination of issues. The video disruptions in the VHS output, and the framerate, or bandwidth, limits on the SVID2USB232 seem like they may be the source.

At the beginning of the video in the link above, the framerate is fluctuating and this seems to be directly related to distorted content on the VHS output. Later there are distortions again and the framerate is corrected. There is also constant distortion at the bottom of the video.

VHS media degrades over time and it may be increasingly difficult to capture video with inexpensive capture solutions as the signal breaks down. The SVID2USB232 can certainly capture PAL video at 25fps, but since it is actively attempting to match the framerate I suspect that the unit is accommodating the unsteady output. In my past experiences, some devices may drop the video altogether and present a black screen with disruptions to VHS video. I am happy to see that the SVID2USB232 is compensating this well. This sort of distorted video output issue would not likely cause the same issue for a standard display but it can be troublesome for lower bandwidth capture devices like USB 2.0 capture solutions.

There are a few ways to proceed. Based on the information I have gathered here and our live chat, it seems the SVID2USB232 is not faulty and is providing a best effort. However, capturing video from VHS may require a higher bandwidth option with the ability to capture higher framerates and accommodate video disruptions.

You may want to test with a USB 3.0 product like the USB3HDCAP.

The USB3HDCAP can capture analog output from composite, component, or S-Video. It can capture up to 60fps and requires a USB 3.0 connection. I strongly suspect that the USB3HDCAP capture device would be much more capable of accommodating the VHS distortions.

Another option, if you wish to confirm the SVID2USB232 further, is to try capturing video from a different device other than a VHS player. Do you have another video system with a composite or S-Video connection that could be tested with this USB 2.0 capture device to see how it performs there? This step can help to confirm if the VHS video quality is the source of the framerate drop.

Please let us know how you wish to proceed, and we will do our best to help in any way we can.

Sincerely,

@DavidF