EasyCapViewer 0.5.4
EasyCap DC60/002 Driver for Mac OS X
The EasyCap DC60/002 is not officially supported on Mac OS X. This page is for a port of an unofficial, reverse-engineered Linux driver. Many thanks to Ivor Hewitt for his great Linux version.
This driver does not support the DC60+. If you have a DC60+, VideoGlide should work for you instead.
This driver requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later.
There are some known issues with Mac OS X 10.7 and later.
- Download the application (version 0.5.4, 238KB)
- Download the QuickTime Component (version 0.5.4, 94KB)
- Check out the source (GPL/BSD licensed)
- NTSC source code patch for Linux (old)
- Email me (Please read the troubleshooting section below, first!)
EasyCapViewer features
- “User-space” driver
- Runs like a normal application
- No special installation needed
- Supports audio and video (audio only supported with certain models)
- Low latency
- Great for games
- Theoretical 1-3 frame delay (not measured)
- OpenGL display for best performance
- Supports NTSC, PAL, SECAM, and other formats
- Supports Composite and S-Video input
- Records to QuickTime .mov format
- Adjustable brightness, contrast, color, and tint
- Many de-interlacing options
- 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL) resolutions
- Anamorphic widescreen (16:9) and other aspect ratios
- Cropping
Model support table
| Feature / Model | DC60 | 002 | DC60+ | 009 |
| Description | Composite/S-Video | 4-channel composite | Composite/S-Video | Unknown |
| Vendor:Product ID | 05e1:0408 | 05e1:0408 | Unknown | Unknown |
| 1-channel composite | Yes | Yes | Use VideoGlide | Use VideoGlide |
| S-Video | Yes | N/A | ||
| 4-channel composite | N/A | Yes | ||
| Automatic channel rotation | N/A | No | ||
| Sound | * | No | ||
| Live preview | Yes | Yes | ||
| Recording | Yes | Yes |
The EasyCap DC60 is also be branded as the LogiLink VG0001. This device is supported in EasyCapViewer. However, similar devices such as the LogiLink VG0005 do not work.
- *Audio is supported for some DC60 versions, and not for others (you can always use a different audio input, regardless of EasyCap model)
- N/A: Device lacks this feature
- Unknown: Information welcome
Troubleshooting
Basic Checklist
- Make sure you have the latest version of EasyCapViewer
- Check the error log by choosing Error Log from the Window menu.
Playback
It says no supported device is found.
Make sure your EasyCap plugged in correctly.
Check your EasyCap’s Product and Vendor IDs. Unplug your EasyCap, then open System Profiler (/Applications/Utilities/) and look at the USB devices list. Then plug in the EasyCap and choose Refresh from the View menu. The entry that appears is the EasyCap. Select it and the device information should be shown below.
If your EasyCap’s Product and Vendor IDs aren’t 0x0408 and 0x05e1 (respectively), then EasyCapViewer doesn’t currently support your device. (More information)
It stops playing on its own (the File > Pause menu keeps changing back to “Play”).
Your computer might be too slow, or there might be a problem communicating with the EasyCap device. Choose Error Log from the Window menu to see the error log, which should indicate the problem.
The video is garbled or there seems to be a problem communicating with the device.
Try plugging the EasyCap into a different USB port (directly on your computer if possible), or removing the USB extension cable if you’re using one. Make sure there aren’t any other high-bandwidth USB devices connected to the same USB bus (most computers share a USB bus between several USB ports).
If that doesn’t help, your CPU/GPU might be too slow. This is especially likely if you’re running OS X on a PowerPC Mac or a Hackintosh with a Pentium 4 or Atom CPU. Choose Show Dropped Frames from the View menu to see a red border flash every time a frame is dropped. Use Activity Monitor (/Applications/Utilities/) to check CPU usage while EasyCapViewer is running. Making the window smaller might help.
It says it’s playing, but it still just shows a black screen.
Make sure the input source (camera, VCR, video game console, etc.) is connected properly and turned on. Make sure you have the right format selected in the Configure Device panel (in North America, choose NTSC). Choose S-Video or Composite # as appropriate.
Check your device video version in the error log (choose Error Log from the Window menu). If the version number isn’t 10 or 11, your device might be unsupported even if you have the right Product and Vendor IDs.
Video works, but audio doesn’t.
In EasyCapViewer, open the Configure Device panel and make sure that “USB 2.0 Video Capture Controller” is selected (it should be the first option, with a divider line after it). If you don’t see that option, that means your EasyCap’s audio input isn’t supported.
If your EasyCap’s audio isn’t supported, you can use your Mac’s line-in jack and a cheap RCA to ⅛" jack adapter cable. Select “Built-in Input” in EasyCapViewer. If the audio sounds distorted, go into the Sound pane in System Preferences, click the Input tab, select the Line In input, and then drag the input volume slider all the way to the left.
Full screen mode doesn’t work.
This is a known issue with Mac OS X 10.7. It will be addressed in an upcoming version.
Recording
Recording works, but the recorded video occasionally stutters (drops frames).
- Use the Motion JPEG codec (or MPEG-4 if CPU is fast enough)
- Turn the video quality all the way down
- Make sure the Half Frame Rate option is turned on
- Quit other applications and turn off Time Machine
- Make sure your USB HD has its own USB bus
- Get a faster HD
- Use the Record to RAM option for short videos
Recorded audio works in in QuickTime Player, but not in other applications (VLC, mplayer, YouTube, etc.).
EasyCapViewer records to the proprietary QuickTime movie format (.mov), which libavformat-based software seems to have a problem with. If you have QuickTime Player 7 Pro, you can change the movie’s container format without re-encoding. If you record with the MPEG-4 codec, use the MPEG-4 container (.mp4).
Future Development
Unsupported Devices
If you’ve gone through the troubleshooting steps above, and checked the Product and Vendor IDs, and you have confirmed your device is unsupported, there are still some options. Try searching online with the Product and Vendor IDs to find any alternate drivers (for example, Google "05e1:0408" with quotes).
If you still can’t get your capture device working, I’m willing to add support for (almost) any USB video capture device for $100 US plus the approximate cost of the device itself (including shipping). Please email me (with the device information, including name and Product and Vendor IDs) before donating, to make sure the device qualifies and to make sure you understand the terms. In short: it must be a USB video capture device, and it must have a driver that works under Windows XP. Some device features might not be included (please ask ahead of time).
If you have a device you can’t use, I’d like to give it a good home. Send it to me, and I will count that as a donation equivalent to the device’s cost (if I don’t already have one that’s identical). The driver CD must be included. Please email me for more information.
Planned Development
- EasyCap 1c88:0007 (Somagic, Inc.) Donations: $31.50 / $120
- EasyCap 05e1:0408 (Syntek Semiconductor) Audio support Donations: $50 / $100
- Mac OS X 10.7 support Donations: $30 / $30 (Pending release)
- EasyCap 05e1:0408 (Syntek Semiconductor) Video version 10 support $120 / $120 (Released)
If you have previously donated, and want your donation to count towards one of the above projects, please contact me.
This funding idea is being done on a trial-only basis. If it doesn’t work out, it will be stopped.
Contact
If you’re having problems, feel free to email me. (Please read the troubleshooting section above, first!) Be sure to mention:
- Which version of Mac OS X you are on
- What model of Mac you have
- Which EasyCap model you are using (DC60 or 002, and Product and Vendor IDs)
- Whether you are using NTSC or PAL
- Which version of EasyCapViewer you have
- Any messages in the error log (choose Error Log from the Window menu)
- The specific details of the problem you are experiencing
I also accept hardware donations, including unneeded EasyCaps.