Thread: Firewire
View Single Post
Old 20-02-2014, 17:00   #14
Studio25
Senior Member
 
Studio25's Avatar
 

Re: Firewire

Quote:
Originally Posted by maxthecollie View Post
I have a usb to firewire lead.The firewire fits in my camcorder and the usb in my pc., but my pc will not pick it up.
Cables like that do not work - ever.

Firewire and USB are both serial protocols, but there the similarity ends. Firewire is peer to peer while USB is host to peripheral. USB started off at 12mbps and USB2 upped that to 480mbps - but that data throughput was only available in short bursts. Firewire can tank along at 400mbps continually, so it was the ideal standard originally for video streaming.

The need for 400mbps had not really materialised before USB3 was announced - the original HD rate matched that of DV cameras at about 30mbps. So it looks like firewire will die off if it hasn't already.

If you have a desktop machine, a firewire card is the best bet. It will need to suit the architecture of the slot you intend to use, which depends really on the age of the machine. Use the mainboard tab of CPU-Z which will tell you which slots are free, or at least give you the model of motherboard and you can look up the slot types and compare the free ones and make your choice from that.

If it's a laptop, you need an expresscard or PCMCIA card depending on what slot your laptop has.
__________________

Studio25 is offline   Reply With Quote