I've been noticing a signal noise on some of my VHS captures that I can best describe as a 'checkerboard' pattern. Searching the forums, the most common result seems to suggest s-video crosstalk:
POOR Y/C DECODING (S-VIDEO CROSSTALK). However, what I'm seeing on my captures doesn't quite match this.
It appears mostly on warm tones, and doesn't present itself across the whole screen like the other examples I've seen online do.
I'll mention now that the majority of what I'm capturing are concert videos, that have likely been copied from tape to tape on who-knows-what kind of setups.
I've been pulling my hair out trying to find which part of my setup was introducing this effect, but it persisted no matter what I tried. Eventually I came to the conclusion it must have been introduced during an earlier tape dub, and not in my capture chain. I tested this on a third VCR, connected to my TV via RCA, and noticed the same pattern. I was relieved, and moved on.
However, the next tape I tried had the same problem, as did the next two tapes I tried. This is now four different VHS tapes, which have come from three separate sources.
Tape 1: This was the first tape giving me trouble. I suspected it was either from an earlier copy process, or from the actual video camera used.
Screenshot 1:
Visible in orange area on left side of shirt.
Pattern1.png
Screenshot 2:
Visible across arms, shirt, hair and guitar amp.
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Tape 1: Second tape I noticed it on, which came from the same person that sent me Tape 1. This was taped off TV, but may have been copied once. So I suspected it was during the copy process.
Screenshot 3:
Visible on skin and a bit of shirt, and board on right hand side.
Pattern2.png
Tape 3: Satisfied I'm solved the mystery, I moved on to a new tape from a different collection, but noticed the same problem within seconds of playback.
Screenshot 4:
Visible on back of tshirt.
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Tape 4: This tape started out okay but also has almost the whole screen covered.
Screenshot 5:
Visible everywhere!!
Pattern3.png
Tape 5: This is just included to show another capture I've made which does not seem to have any sign of the problem.
Screenshot 5:
Visible... nowhere?
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My first worry was that it was TBC-related, but removing that from my chain made no difference.
Two different VCRs using different sets of s-video cables (though same brand) made no difference.
Playback on a third VCR using RCA made no difference.
So I'm still putting my money on it being present on the actual tapes I'm capturing, and not being introduced doing capture or playback. Not sure if it's related, but these have all been PAL tapes so far. I'm yet to notice it on any of my NTSC captures.
So, my questions are:
- Is this kind of problem so common that it would present itself on four out of five tapes I've picked at random?
- If this is coming from my end, what's the most likely culprit?
- Is there anything I can do post-capture to remedy this?
If it's relevant:
Playback VCRs:
JVC HR-DVS2 (TBC on) (s-video)
JVS HR-S5500AM (s-video)
Some old Sony (RCA)
Capture device:
Tevion DVD Maker+ (ATI clone from LS)
Capture PC:
Windows XP > Virtual Dub 1.9.11 >
HuffYUV .avi
Thanks in advance for any advice!!