I don’t have a VGA2USB LR, but that doesn’t work on Linux anyway (aside from using a very specific setup as the kernel driver is closed source). I do have a VGA2USB non-LR, but that also doesn’t work on Linux and also doesn’t like the signal from the 70004A (reports “no signal”). Seems like the AV. io should be the best option as this ostensibly can capture from VGA, and it supports UVC video and hence should have better software support.
My AV. io HD unit is reported by the config tool as “AV. io HD Video (359577 4.0.0.40528) [2b77:3601]”. Unfortunately, it also doesn’t seem to like the signal from the 70004A. When connected, the capture config tool reports the resolution as 1024x768i@62.20 RGB. This seems somewhat reasonable (I’m fine with a letter box, I can crop the output if necessary). However, the output is a black frame, in several different pieces of software on both Linux and Windows. It definitely seems to be doing something with the sync-on-green signal though - if I unplug the green channel, the config tool reports “no signal”.
Is there anything I can try on my end to make this work, or is this a firmware problem in the unit? There doesn’t seem to be any way to adjust the VGA signal timings on the device via the config tool, which seems like a major oversight for such an expensive capture device that supports VGA.
Hello Alex,
Thank you for reaching out on our forums, I’m sorry that you’re running into this issue with your AVio HD! One of the big differences here between the AVio and the VGA2USB LR mentioned in the blog post you linked is that the AVio is a UVC device, while the VGA2USB LR is one of our signature series devices.
The signature series devices were capture cards of various kinds that used specialized drivers and software created by Epiphan to work specifically with those devices. The Epiphan Capture Tool offers a variety of options to modify the signal, especially analog signals. However, this tool only works with the signature series devices, and will not function with the AVio series of capture cards. The reverse is also true, the Capture Config tool for the AVio series cards will not recognize the signature series cards. For the VGA2USB you would need to download the drivers here, https://www.epiphan.com/support/vga2usb-software-documentation/#drivers_softwares-2. This download also contains the Capture Tool software.
The AVio series of cards use the standard UVC drivers for functionality as you pointed out. Epiphan does not offer any software to modify the signal, beyond the Epiphan Config Tool. This tool allows you to make some minor modifications to the card, such as update the firmware, and add custom resolution modes that can sometimes help in capturing non-standard signals.
These cards are intended to be “plug-and-play” style cards for use with standard resolutions from devices outputting standard signals. I should point out that this device has since been discontinued, and its successor, the AVio HD+ does not have the analog capture option any longer.
If you would like you can reach out to us at support@epiphan.com and we can continue more in-depth troubleshooting, but since both the VGA2USB and the AVio HD are discontinued the possible support options will be somewhat limited.
I see. I guess I’ll have to see if I can edit the AVio firmware to support the non-standard 1024x400 resolution. Presumably that kind of configuration is handled by the CYUSB3014; I’ll have to take a look at the firmware in ghidra as presumably there is a table of VGA timing information that can be modified.
I did try the proprietary capture software for the VGA2USB non-LR, and it works with some other devices, but not with the 70004A. However it seems that the VGA2USB is quite cost-optimized and as such the video quality is not so great even when it does work.