frame grabber

A device that accepts standard TV signals and digitizes the current video frame into a single, bitmapped still image. Frame grabbers can be stand-alone devices that plug into a port on the computer or a function built into the video capture board or display adapter. See video capture board. See also frame buffer.

Snappy Frame Grabber

One of the first popular video frame grabbers, Snappy plugged into the PC's parallel port, and a camcorder or VCR cable plugged into Snappy. This was the control panel, which let you adjust the image and preview results. You took the picture by clicking the "Snap" button. (Screen shot courtesy of Play Inc.)

GrabIT Frame Grabber

GrabIT used an optional six-frame video capture that made it easier to grab just the right moment from a choice of six images a couple of seconds apart. (Screen shot courtesy of AIMS Lab.)

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(hardware)

frame grabber - A device that captures a single frame from an analog video signal (from a video camera or VCR) and stores it as a digital image under computer control.