NEC VersaVideo

Description

NEC VersaVideo was a PCMCIA Type-II 16-bit Expansion card that allowed for capture of video and screenshots from a video device attached to it's dongle. It was released in 1994 and was advertised as an accessory for the NEC Versa series of laptops at the time, but was compatible with basically any laptop computer with a PCMCIA Type-II Slot and a color screen.

There was also an alternate version known as the NEC VersaVideo VersaBay Adapter, which utilized the NEC Versa VersaBay (Floppy drive bay) rather than the PCMCIA bus.

Technical Details

The NEC VersaVideo was a rebranded Nogatech Nogavision PCMCIA Type II 16-bit Capture Card. It's model number was LLZ NV2561A. It came with NEC's "VersaVideo" software that allowed for capture and editing of video clips and screenshots from composite sources such as VCRs, TV Tuners, Game Consoles, and the like, as well as a DOS based "FullTV" application that allowed you to watch full screen video in DOS. It also had a passthrough for audio, though the manual stated that it could not record audio, at least not through that application.

Later releases of the driver for Windows 95 from Nogatech also allow recording audio with video from a source such as an internal mic or the Line-In ports on the computer's sound card. This version also improved stability of the application and offered a new video conferencing application for Windows 9x as well.

See Also