July/August 2018
What’s the best way to capture images from my TV? I’m looking to do something like a computer “print screen.”
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There are two “inexpensive” ways to do a print screen from a TV screen:
1. Put a digital camera on a tripod and set it up in front of the screen — ensure the TV screen fills the viewfinder and ensure the flash is off. When you want to capture something, just take a picture of the screen.
After that, connect the camera to your PC via USB cable and download the screen capture. Be aware: the resolution of the photographed image will be limited by the screen resolution of the TV screen AND don’t be surprised if you get screen bars, etc. due to the timing between your camera’s shutter and the TV’s screen image refresh.
2. Install a stand-alone DVD recorder between your cable box and TV, or connect the recorder to your TV’s video out jack using a suitable interface cable. What you’ll do is record the program to the DVD (use DVD-R discs) and use the machine to finalize the recorded DVD (make it playable on other DVD drives) when the recording is complete.
Then, play that DVD on your computer’s DVD drive, use the computer’s playback program (i.e., Media Player for Windows) to get to the screen to capture, then PAUSE the playback. Use the image capture feature of the player to take a snapshot of the video image, then save it to your disc. Be aware: the resolution of the DVD-recorded material will be no better than the video signal (Composite, S-video, HDMI) fed to the recorder.
After you’ve screen captured your images to your computer, use your Image Editing utility to clean up, etc. the images for your use.
Now then, there’s a more expensive way to do it: it involves installing a video capture card into your PC. Like the DVD recorder option, you’ll have to patch the video signal from the cable box or TV’s Video Out into your video capture card.
This way, you can watch TV using your PC and, using the Video Capture Application Software, capture a snapshot in (more or less) real time. Also, you can record the program, while you’re watching it, to your PC and edit/manipulate the recorded material at your leisure.
The big advantage is your captured images will (typically) be the screen resolution of your computer’s display (or at least much better than the inexpensive options above).
This would be most easily accomplished using an HDMI splitter and an HDMI-capture device used with your computer.
HDMI-capture devices can be external (to the computer) for PC or Apple machines, or can be implemented as a pluggable card for use with a PC desktop machine (assuming that the machine has an unassigned motherboard PCIe connector available).
Connect the splitter to the television program source – e.g., a cable box. Using an HDMI cable, connect one of the splitter outputs to the television set. Using a second HDMI cable, connect the remaining splitter output to the HDMI-capture device.
Record the program material using the software provided with the HDMI-capture device. See Newegg et al for available devices.
