Easycap

Many USB video capture devices are sold as EasyCAP.

It seems that EasyCAP is not a companys or brand name, but some manufacturers use this label for at least four completly hardware different clones of this USB analogue audio- and videocapturedevice. EasyCAP devices and clones are vastly sold in onlineshops at low prices.

This article describes, how to identify the chipset of the known EasyCAP devices and if they are supported/ working in Linux.

Overview/Features

• All the EasyCAP devices and clones need a USB 2.0 connection (USB 1.1 is too slow).
• They are tunerless but can capture analogue video up to 720x576 px (PAL) or 720x480 px (NTSC) and
• stereosound up to 48000 Hz sampling rate (or only 8000 Hz mono on some models where the AC'97 chip is missing)
• Most of them have input cables labelled CVBS, S-VIDEO, AUDIO(L), AUDIO(R).
• Some models do have 4 yellow input cables (CVBS) labelled 1, 2, 3, 4 and one white unlabelled audio cable.

Components Used

The components of the different EasyCAP labeled devices are mentioned in the Easycap#Known_Easycap_devices section below.

Other Images

• 

  Easycap labeled devices

• 

  Easycap clones with different components

Identification

Indentify your device before buying

It is hard to identify the chipset of any EasyCAP device before buying because most onlineshops (ebay, amazon) do not mention in the provided technical data the chipset of the device. Example from logilik.de where the chipset is declared

Identify device using installationinstructions for Windows

If the chipset is not mentioned in device specifications on the website, one way to figure out the chipset inside the EaysCAP is to read through the installationinstructions for Windows (if provided for download).

Screenshots of the windowsinstaller often reveal the devicename.

• STK1160 EasyCAP is in Windows: (Syntek) STK1160 or STK1150
• Empia EasyCAP is in Windows: USB 2861 Device or EMP
• Somagic EasyCAP is in Windows: SM-USB 007 or SMI Grabber Device
• UTV007 based EasyCAP is in Windows: OEM Capture Device

Known EasyCAP devices

STK1160 EasyCAP

For the stk1160 based EasyCAPs exists another article on this wiki with further information: Stk1160

It is assumed that the stk1160 based "EasyCAP DC60" ist the "originally" EasyCAP device. This device is sold in different varieties (models) and even under different names like: EzCap, LogiLink, Mumbi, Weltbild, and some more.

Indentify after buying

USB ID 05e1:0408

lsusb reports:

 Bus 001 Device 002: ID  Syntek Semiconductor Co., Ltd STK1160 Video Capture Device

Linux support

STK1160 based devices are supported (video and audio) in Linux by the easycap kernel module (kernel 2.6.38 and later) and further on by the stk1160 kernel module (kernel 3.7). More information on this wiki: Stk1160

Empia EasyCAP

The Empia EasyCAP is based on the EM2860 chip from empia.

Indentify after buying

USB ID eb1a:2861

lsusb reports:

Bus XXX Device XXX: ID eb1a:2861 eMPIA Technology, Inc.

Linux support

EM2860 based devices are supported in Linux by the em28xx kernle module. More information on this wiki: Em28xx_devices

Somagic EasyCAP

The Somagic EasyCAP is based on the SMI-2021 chip from somagic. It needs a firmware for operation.

Indentify after buying

USB ID 1c88:0007 (before loading the firmware)

USB ID 1c88:003c (after loading the firmware)

lsusb reports:

Bus XXX Device XXX: ID 1c88:0007 Somagic, Inc. 
and after loading the firmware
Bus XXX Device XXX: ID 1c88:003c Somagic, Inc. or Bus XXX Device XXX: ID 1c88:003f Somagic, Inc.

Linux support

For SMI-2021 based devices exists a proceeding Linux-driver project: easycap-somagic-linux

More information on this wiki: somagic

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Links

Jashi's ROOM User information about the three different EasyCAPs with hardware pictures (Japanese site translated with Google)

www.usbeasycap.info Site of a chinese EasyCAP manufacturer/ retailer where at some Easycap products the chipset is declared and at some it is not declared.