# DVD screen capture **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 8, 2004, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-screen-capture/233068 "2004-03-08T03:29:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-screen-capture/233068/1 "2004-03-08T03:29:41Z")
I’ve already found [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=188564) in an attempt to solve my problem, but I’ve got a twist on it. I’ve got WinDVD. I’m trying to capture a single frame image. WinDVD has a “Capture” function built into it. It works when you press “P”. The first time I tried it, I got an error message saying that this feature would not work if hardware acceleration was enabled. Fine. I disable hardware acceleration. It still won’t work. What am I missing? ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-screen-capture/233068/2 "2004-03-08T06:39:03Z")
The help file says to try disabling hardware motion compensation. You can do this by going into the “display” section of “properties” and unticking the appropriate box. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-screen-capture/233068/3 "2004-03-08T06:40:17Z")
The help file also says it won’t work if the picture is zoomed. ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-screen-capture/233068/4 "2004-03-08T12:59:07Z")
“Hardware motion compensation” does not appear as an option either in the Windows ME “Display Properties\>Effects” tab or anywhere that I can find in WinDVD. The hardware acceleration box has been unchecked, but the software still thinks it is enabled. Hence, my OP. The picture is not zoomed either. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-screen-capture/233068/5 "2004-03-08T16:04:50Z")
There is a “properties” section in WinDVD. By the way, I’ve got WinDVD 3.1 from 2001. (I found the version number by right-clicking in the middle of the main WinDVD display area and selecting “about”) The “properties” menu should be in that same right-click menu. I also found a “properties” icon along the top of the window. (It looks like a hand pointing to a box of writing) You could also try going into WinDVD’s help section - try pressing F1 to make it appear. Then in the “index” section go to “Capturing a Still Image”. This is what it says for me: > [@](#): > > WinDVD now allows users to capture a static image during movie playback. Press the “P” key at any time to capture a BMP file of a moving or static image. Capture does not work on zoomed regions and on some hardware motion compensation graphics chips. If you are having a problem, try disabling hardware motion compensation and capturing again. > > Captured bitmaps are stored in the Capture subdirectory of the WinDVD directory on your hard drive, unless you are using Windows XP. If you are using Windows XP, the captured bitmaps are stored under WinDVD Capture directory within My Documents\My Pictures directory. Captured files are number cap001.bmp, cap002.bmp, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-screen-capture/233068/6 "2004-03-08T23:26:50Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > There is a “properties” section in WinDVD. I have already found the “properties” section in WinDVD (my version is 2.1, by the way), and there’s nothing in there about “hardware motion compensation.” And I fear that we’re still drifting away from the crux of the OP: _Why does WinDVD insist that hardware acceleration is still enabled even after I have disabled it?_ Can anyone help? ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-screen-capture/233068/7 "2004-03-09T00:38:53Z")
You could try these things: Look in the WinDVD FAQ section: (that doesn’t seem to be helpful though) [http://www.intervideo.com/jsp/Support.jsp](http://www.intervideo.com/jsp/Support.jsp) Try downloading and possibly activating (buying?) WinDVD 5 [http://www.intervideo.com/jsp/Product\_Download.jsp?p=WinDVDPlatinum](http://www.intervideo.com/jsp/Product_Download.jsp?p=WinDVDPlatinum) Contact WinDVD customer support Customer Support: (510) 979-7366 (US number) [support@intervideo.com](mailto:support@intervideo.com) Try downloading other DVD players (the free ones first) [http://download.com.com/3120-20-0.html?qt=dvd+player&tg=dl-2001](http://download.com.com/3120-20-0.html?qt=dvd+player&tg=dl-2001) It may be a problem with your DVD drive… before contacting WinDVD you should find out what brand and model the drive you have is. ---
**Author:** ![leenmi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f1d935/32.png) [@leenmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leenmi)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-screen-capture/233068/8 "2004-03-09T02:22:07Z")
Hardware acceleration may not be the problem. The software may be written so that if a certain error is received the message is displayed to the user. The message may only be a suggestion of something that would cause the behavior. If turning off hardware acceleration didn’t solve the problem, hardware acceleration may not have been the problem. But the software may not know what else to suggest.