Frame grabber

card which receives video signals and transfers them to the computer

A frame grabber is a component of a computer vision system designed for digitizing analog video signals or reconstructing images from digital protocols. It performs the opposite function of a graphics adapter.
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A device that can seize and record a single frame of video information out of a sequence of many frames.

<hardware> 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.
(1997-07-11)