Experiences with the easycap DC60 audio and video capture adapter on Linux

This Blog is dedicated to all owners of the STK1160 chip based EasyCAP (or identical) devices, who want to use it under Linux.

Activating audio for the STK1160 device: read the this post

German speaking users: read my article on ubuntuusers.de

The EasyCAP DC60 and its clones are cheap little USB analogue capturing devices which can be used for viewing and recording video under Linux from different sources like VHS tape recorders, satellitereceivers, camcorders ...

tvcap

Here is the new tvcap-script, which is the successor of my easyview-n-cap script.
This script works for any analogue capturing device which creates a /dev/videoX on Linux.
Please email me or write comments if something doesn't work properly.

Function:

This script provides Zenity menues for viewing and capturing video with any tv-card that is supported on Linux.
With this script you can simply choose from which devices (video, OSS, ALSA soundcards)  you want to view or record video, and which program you want to use:
MPlayer, VLC, Tvtime, Cheese and MEncoder

Manual:
  • After downloading, save the script somewhere you have r/w access and make the script executeable. Type into the terminal as root:
    chmod a+x /path/to/tvcap-script.sh
  • The program zenity must be installed on your system to run the script
  • Note: Open the script in any editor, read through the given information and edit the options in the
    # Basic options:
    section of the script (see the extract below) according to your needs.
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

#  Basic options:
#
#  Change the following parameters for viewing/ capturing according to your needs
#
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
VERBOSE=1    # if '0', this script does not show messages window and does not ask for norm and input number anymore
NORM="PAL"    # preselect tv norm 'PAL' or 'NTSC'
INPUT_NR=0        # preselect input number of your easycap where video source is plugged in
input_width=720        # preselect width an height of video source (mplayer, vlc, mencoder)
input_height=576    # other possible combinations: 640/480; 320/240
ASPECT=169            # '169' (16:9) or '43' (4:3); this value affects video playback with mplayer or vlc only!
FREQ="48000"        # on soundproblems reduce audio frequency (44100 oder 32000 oder 8000)
TV_INPUT="no"        # if 'yes' the analogue antenna input of the tv-card will be used (mplayer only)
CHAN="chanlist=europe-west:channel=60"        # channel settings for mplayer
NORM="PAL"            # preselect TV-norm 'PAL' oder 'NTSC'
INPUT_NR=1            # preselect the Input on the TV-card, where the videosource is plugged in ('0' normally is the antenna, '1' the first CVBS ...
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  • It is recommended, to invoke the script from the commandline, when you first try it, to see, if error messages occur.
  • SOMETIMES on first try, vlc provides no sound or mplayer doesn't work properly (however?), so don't be unsettled and give it a second try. 
  • If everything works, simply run the skript by clicking on it.
  • Some zenity-boxes appear where you can select the videodevice, inputnumber, tv-norm, and soundcard
  • If everything is set up ok, a radio list appears where you can choose the prefered viewing application or mencoder for capturing.
    In the upper part of this box, all the seetings for the viewing/ capturing program are displayed.