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Does anyone know what these RCA-to-USB cables are/do? There doesn’t seem to be any electronics in the cable like an EasyCap, so I can only assume that the RCA connectors are directly connected to the USB pins. I suppose that it could be used for A/V capture, assuming of course that there were some kind of driver/software, but then again, I doubt that the computer would pick it up as a device of any kind when you connect it since it would be directly connected to a TV/VCR/etc. Looking around, I see mentions of connecting it to “RCA cameras”, but that does not clear things up at all.

What are they?

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According to the product description at Amazon, they are RCA-to-USB cables...

They plug into a camcorder via RCA, to display images/sound on certain "USB-enabled TVs and PCs."

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Exactly, but that doesn’t make sense; all modern PCs are “USB-enabled”, but I highly doubt that you can just plug an RCA A/V source into it and capture audio and video (for the reasons I mentioned in the post). Even with a TV, I would imagine that it would require a USB-to-USB cable the way a DVD/DivX-player with a USB connector does. – Synetech Jul 6 '11 at 6:29
Yeah, I don't know how it works. Google searching suggests that a driver is needed. But it does seem that it is intended only for camcorder-to-PC/TV, and not the other way around. I wonder if maybe it doesn't truly adhere to USB specs, and thus might not work through a USB hub? Or maybe there really are some conversion electronics in that little black box. I've seen a few other similar products on google with much larger boxes--with sufficient room for a PCB. Maybe the newer ones are just that much smaller. – Flimzy Jul 6 '11 at 6:36
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There's a lump of plastic in the lead and also a large moulding round the USB connector - plenty of room for some electronics – Linker3000 Jul 6 '11 at 8:42
@Linker3000, possibly, but I suspect that those are just to make it easier to manufacture these cheap cables (smaller = more expensive). – Synetech Jul 7 '11 at 0:13
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