A frame grabber or sometimes referred to as a framegrabber, is a device to capture a VGA or DVI signal. Frame grabbers can be used for a surveillance system, real-time radar, medical imagery and research applications. Oh, yes, you can use them to make movies as well. There are several benefits and features you should look for before purchasing when video frame grabber.

There are different companies making video frame grabbers and not all of them have the same features or software. If they don’t come with software you should probably keep looking until you find a brand that has the software with it. Otherwise you could spend hours trying to configuring the card to work with the software only to find out the software won’t work with the video frame grabber.

Frame grabbers are versatile units and as long as you know what you want to use one for then they will capture any VGA or DVI output. Most digital video recorders (DVR) are installed in the computer and will work with the software that comes with them.

Some of the features to look for are:

· They should work with the parallel port and USB cameras. It should also work with network IP cameras and be compatible with your operating system.

· It should be able to broadcast live video at least at a rate of 27 frames per second.

· It should be able to work with more than one camera especial if you’re using it for a security system.

· It needs to have the ability to time stamp a recording or image captured.

· Most software will automatically send an e-mail message if a capture happens but it should be able to be configured to e-mail as the data is collected.

· One major feature to look for is the ability to change hard drives if the present drive is full and e-mail you when it happens (in case you have to go check on it).

By keeping the above in mind when researching a video frame grabber you will find one that meets your requirements.

Check out our new tutorial section full of helpful text and short video guides that explain different elements of using Blogetery.