Pinnacle Video Transfer

Pinnacle Video Transfer Introduced

'Pinnacle Video Transfer' is an innovative device -- that records analog video from a TV, VCD/DVD player, VHS player, camcorder, or set-top box, and transfers it directly onto a Video iPod, iPod Touch, iPod Nano, PSP, USB flash drive, USB hard drive, or any other portable video player -- without using a PC; claims Pinnacle Systems, the consumer division of Avid Technology.

The device is targeted at all those who want to enjoy TV shows and personal videos on their Video iPods, PSPs, etc, or want to store these on a USB drive for viewing later. With PC-less recording, Pinnacle says the device is also likely to appeal to people who want a simple way to offload footage from their cameras and portable USB devices when away from home.

Users with little or no technical expertise can begin audio-video recording at the touch of a button, and transfer files created onto any USB 2.0 storage device without using a PC. Three different recording levels can be selected for each connected device, depending on individual preferences (whether quality or size of video files). For instance, when 'Best' recording is selected, videos are claimed to be captured at up to 720 x 480/576 (NTSC/PAL) resolution. Videos are captured in the H.264 format or the high-compression multimedia technology supported by iPods and PSPs. Which does away with the need for time-consuming conversion. Pinnacle's H.264 encoding, also known as Advanced Video Codec (AVC) specification or MPEG 4- Part 10, promises to deliver high-quality videos with two to three times the compression efficiency of solutions such as MPEG-2 standard that are used in DVD video. "Pinnacle Video Transfer" supports multiple inputs, including S-Video, Composite video, and stereo audio analog. It helps store memories by making digital copies of personal videos shot on VHS, Hi8, or VHS-C tape, without having to deal with complicated PC-based software.