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Superstar 01-07-2009 09:39 AM

Videos into DVDs...
 
I have the Hauppage WinTV PVR-250, and the Panasonic AG-1980P VCR. I have several of questions, the VCR has features that I've never heard of before, so can you please can you give me a quick crash course on the settings that I need to use. My main goal is to put the videos on my computer, and put those onto DVDs, with the best picture and sound quality possible. i was told I can do 2 hrs on each DVD. If possible I'll want to enhance the original video tape if I can. This VCR comes with a keyboard looking thing, I've never seen anything like that before on a VCR lol. Seeing that and all of the features on it is intimidating lol
I have a lot q's, so I'll do my best to put each question in a new paragraph to make it as easy for you to read as possible.
Should I do S-VHS when I put the video on my computer, even though the video is regular VHS and not S-VHS?
I'm still not sure which kind of blank DVDs to use. For example, the video set I'm making is almost 500 matches, 26 VHS videos, almost all of the videos is 6 hrs long. So, it's going to take a TON of blank DVDs to make this. I want the best quality that I can get, but I also want to be somewhat price responsible as well, I don't think it would really be very smart for me to put 1 hours worth of matches on 1 DVD because sometimes I'll only be able to get 2-3 matches only on a DVD, do you see what I'm saying? O was told I might be able to put 2 hrs if I used 352x480 or 4 hrs on a DVD+R DL disc. I was also told to use 720x480 & put 1 hr on a 4.38 dvd, but for this specific project but, I don't think that would be very price smart for me as I explained earlier in this message, so keeping all of that in mind, which settings do you think I should use?
My next question is about bitrate. What should I make it in the PVR 250 for when I'm recording these matches onto my computer? I'm guessing I'll only be putting on 1-2 hrs worth of matches at a time. This is where I need guidance with the VCR, does it have settings for this, or what do I do with the VCR settings wise when I'm putting the matches on my computer? It looks super high tech to me. Also, when I only put 1 match at a time on my computer, should I use max. bitrate? I think it's like 9500?
Now, when I have the matches on the computer, and I want to put them onto the DVD, is there anything special I should do? I've never made a DVD like this before. I've always just put the whole video on, and made the DVD from that, I've never put like, 1 match from 5 different videos, and combined the 5 matches onto 1 DVD before, and I don't know how to do that, can you also instruct me on how to do that as well please.
Is there any special video cable that I should buy that will give me the best picture and sound quality? I guess the SVHS q kinda comes into play here.
When I want to take a match from 1 DVD, and add it to another DVD that I'm making, how do I do that?
The VCR will be hooked up to the PVR 250 which is in a PCI slot in my computer, so I'll be hooking the VCR up directly to that. Do you think I should add any other kind of hardware, or do you think I have really all that I need?
Also, this VCR has some SVHS slots, so I use that for the video hookup, and hook that up to the PVR 250? Or just use the regular RCA video cables? If you suggest I use the reg. RCA cables, which kind should I get? Like brand I mean. None of the videos that I will be making into dvds were recorded in SVHS, they were all in regular VHS.

lordsmurf 01-07-2009 02:39 PM

Lots of questions here! I'll reply as I read through it...
NOTE: I won't reply all at once either, I'm going to answer some, leave, come back, edit this post to answer more, etc -- until it's fully answered as it needs to be. Since you should get an e-mail notice that a reply has been made, I'll add a new post stating that an update has been made.

Hauppauge WinTV PVR-250 = good choice for a capture card, a MPEG hardware card, and it can capture both DVD-ready MPEG files, as well as lesser-compressed files that are suitable for more advanced editing, if and when needed (doesn't sound too needed for the wrestling videos project, however)

Panasonic AG-1980P VCR = good choice for a VCR, has an embedded TBC, some image and audio filtering options. Most of the dials, knobs and sliders won't actually be used, just a few of them -- more on that in a bit... This VCR excels where the better-quality JVC often fails, in that it can track SLP(EP) mode tapes much better, in general, and with an image quality close to that of the JVC line. Wise choice, for the massive project in front of you.

When it comes to quality (PQ, aka "picture quality"), the digital video need to have a good ratio of bitrate to resolution. That is to say that the amount of data per pixel (or frame) needs to be generous enough so that it is relatively free of digital noise, known as "artifacts". Artifacts include blocks, among others. But blocks are the most obvious and most common error created from a video with too-low bitrate. This isn't VHS, so forget about all that "SP mode" nonsense (2 hours, 4 hours, etc). Leave that for the people who don't want to learn about video. Digital video is all about the compression, and that includes knowing how many bits (and bandwidth) is needed for the digital files. This topic is actually discussed on the site a bit, with some charts. http://www.digitalfaq.com/dvdguides/...tm#mpegbitrate

If you used 704x480 or 720x480 ("Full D1 resolution", and these are NTSC specs, the same applies to the x576 PAL variants), then you'd want to use 5500k average bitrate, in a variable bitrate (VBR) scenario, at minimum. That would yield a 2-hour DVD. However, wrestling presents a unique challenge, with a lot of detail and information in the picture, much of which is panning around or scene-changing quickly -- not to mention the action of the wrestlers moving about. It needs more bitrate, or it will be flooded with blocks and other artifacts. So you'd want a higher bitrate, something closer to 7000-8000k, in a VBR encode. That would yield about 1 hours on a single-layer DVD. You'd be able to squeeze in about 2 hours on a DVD+R DL disc, a dual-layer disc. But your source is also VHS, and VHS is the lowest "medium resolution" format commonly found (low res is Internet junk like Youtube, high res is HD). You can easily record (the final product!) at 352x480 and preserve the same amount of detail as you would at the larger resolution -- your source doesn't really need 720x480. At 352x480 (Half D1 resolution) you can drop the bitrate to half as well, and therefore put more on a disc. How much data fits on a disc is SOLELY determined by bitrate. But how clean the image looks is determined by the ratio of bits to resolution. So at 352x480, you'll get about 2-3 hours on a single-layer disc at a high bitrate, that of the 4000-4500k range, and as much as 5 hours on a dual-layer disc. If your matches are only 4 hours long, maximize the bitrate to fit the disc, give it extra bits, and put it all on one DL disc. Or on two single-layer discs, to keep costs down, and with very little storage different (discs are thin and small, compared to those clunky tapes).

The S-VHS player plays both S-VHS and VHS tapes. The benefits of the S-VHS machines are that they are professional grade, with a lot of filtering and pure signal output. You'll be using the features of the machine, but it will only play and output VHS resolution and VHS information. But it will be far cleaner than a consumer grade VHS VCR would have been. Only S-VHS tapes have S-VHS quality (more resolution, slightly less chroma noise, but that's about it).

The only caveat I see so far is the Hauppauge card. It's a great capture card, but its 352x480 is a bit soft. Active capturing won't give the utmost quality results anyway (good, but not always best), so I suggest a two-step approach to this archival project. Capture at 720x480 with a CBR high bitrate (10000k, maybe 15000k) on the card. Then edit out junk in your editor (commercials, lead-in or lead-out times, etc), using a non-re-encoding editor like Womble MPEG Video Wizard (plain version, not DVD version). With your now-edited video, re-encode it with a good encoder, to the VBR specs given. You can even filter it a bit extra, to remove grain or other noise, should their be any. You'd also be able to mask the overscan with a black matte (never crop), so that the overscan noise does not steal valuable bitrate. If you clean the video up, and encode with this smart method, it's not impossible to encode an entire 6-hour block on time to a single DVD+R DL disc. The 4-5 hours results may yield higher quality, but maybe not. This would require a test on your part, do it both ways and see what looks best. Please view this on a large tv too, when deciding on how good the quality is. I view on a 55" SXRD Sony when I want to get critical, not the 13" CRT set on my kitchen counter. I'd personally look at doing 4-5 hour compilations, since I doubt the original sources are a continuous 6-hour show. And who watches all 6 hours in one sitting anyway?

Mixing and matching sources will require a good editor. Again, Womble MPEG Video Wizard would be my suggestion. You could also look into Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 or CS4, but that might be overkill. The "Elements" version will not work for this project. I use CS3 for my editing, but I'd use my Womble software for this exact project, if I did it.

Use the red/white "RCA" audio cables for audio. Do not use the yellow composite cable. Use a good s-video cable, preferably one that is gold-coated (though silver-colored plain metal is fine), and most importantly one that is nice and thick because it's well-shielded and a good gauge of wire. Monster is not needed, any brand of wire fitting that description is fine, and you don't need to pay a lot of money for it -- Walmart, Lowes (yes, the "home improvement" store) and Radio Shack have fine wires, often Philips branded.

Authoring may come into play too, if you want a menu system that goes to each separate match. The authoring software will become important there too. Cheaper software (TDA, TMPGEnc DVD Author) won't necessarily give advanced options, which is why I use Ulead DVD Workshop 2 for most projects. It's easy software to use, some good advanced options, but not one of those overly complex so-called "pro" programs.

You may already have free access to some of that software (if illegally, please don't tell me), or it may be something you wish to buy. It all depends on your budget, what you have, etc.

In the analog domain, your VCR may or may not need a TBC between the VCR and the Hauppauge card. A proc amp may be another good item, but it you decide to filter your video in software as mentioned earlier, and the source is good enough, then that device may or may not be necessary.

Hopefully a lot of this makes sense. It's pretty heavy with tech jargon, I'll admit, but you're learning the more advanced side of video, and it's almost impossible to avoid. Your software and hardware will pretty much force you to learn these concepts as you go through these projects.

Superstar 01-07-2009 09:49 PM

Thanks a lot. I very much look forward to your replies.

lordsmurf 01-13-2009 02:31 AM

Last post updated and finalized.

I'll add some images of the VCR, with some instructions, in a soon-to-be-made post.
That should answer the "how to use the AG-1980P" question.

Superstar 01-13-2009 11:06 AM

Thanks a lot for your very educational and informative reply. I will have a few more q's as I go along, but the ones that come immediately to mind are, with my VCR, is there anything else that I need to know regarding it, or any special settings that I need to use on it? Will I need to use the keyboard editor at all? There's tons of settings and buttons and stuff on it as you mentioned in your first reply,you did say that a lot are not needed, is there any ones inparticular that I should use, or anything I should set it to?

Quote:

"The only caveat I see so far is the Hauppauge card. It's a great capture card, but its 352x480 is a bit soft. Active capturing won't give the utmost quality results anyway (good, but not always best), so I suggest a two-step approach to this archival project. Capture at 720x480 with a CBR high bitrate (10000k, maybe 15000k) on the card. Then edit out junk in your editor (commercials, lead-in or lead-out times, etc), using a non-re-encoding editor like Womble MPEG Video Wizard (plain version, not DVD version)"
- I have the Womble MPEG Video, I bought it a few years ago, however the only thing that I ever used it for was editing out commercials. The videos that I will be putting on my computer does not have any commercials. Since I don't have any commercials or really anything that I need to edit out, do you think that I should still use it? All of the videos that I'm going to be putting on DVD, I made myself, so there's nothing that needs to be edited out..I'm just going to put them all straight onto the computer as is. Each video runs 5-6 hrs.

From what you said about the PQ, I gathered that you suggest that I capture at 720x480 with a CBR high bitrate (10000k, maybe 15000k) on the card, and then re-encode it with a good encoder, to the VBR specs given.(Can you explain what the VBR specs given means, I don't recall ever hearing that before) Also, what encoder should I use? Do I do all of this first, and then put it into my DVD editing program and make the DVD then? So in other words, I capture, then encode, then design, then burn..right?
I have DVDLab Pro, I bought it a few yrs ago, and I'm pretty familiar with it. I do want to make it so each match can be selected and viewed seperately if chosen.
I don't think I'll do any filtering to remove any noises or anything, simply because I've just never done it before, and I don't know how to. You did mention I might be able to squeeze an entire 6 hr video onto a DL disc if I do that though, do you think I should try? If I could fit an entire video onto a DL disc, that would be ideal for me because of the price situation with the cost of the blank DVDs.

Quote:

"In the analog domain, your VCR may or may not need a TBC between the VCR and the Hauppauge card. A proc amp may be another good item, but it you decide to filter your video in software as mentioned earlier, and the source is good enough, then that device may or may not be necessary."
-Can you maybe explain this part a little more in detail...I don't know really anything about TBC's honestly, however I believe my VCR has one built into it, is this something that works automatically, or something that I need to program to work? That question kinda goes back to the settings and stuff on the VCR question that I asked earlier, so you can just include that answer with the other ones if you want.
Ok, I think that's all of the q's that I can think of for now..I'm trying my best to learn :)
Thanks again very much for all of your help.

admin 01-13-2009 11:25 AM

There are different kinds of timebase correctors (TBCs). Essentially, a TBC cleans the video. However, not all of this cleaning is visual.
  • The TBC built into a VCR is there to improve image quality, visual information. But it tends to not clean much of the non-visual signal.
  • The TBC that is an external standalone box cleans the signal. The improvements are not usually visual in nature. The device outputs a constant signal to the recording device. It removes signal damage, be it actual damage or artificial damage (anti-copy, like Macrovision).
Whether or not you need a TBC completely depends on if your Hauppauge PVR-250 will record the signal without stopping or showing a corrupted signal. Signal corruption hapens when the recording devices thinks it sees an anti-copy error, and refuses to proceed normally.

Superstar 01-14-2009 07:23 PM

1 more q...when I put the video onto my computer, should I put the entire video on, or only put on like 3-4 hrs, and try to get that on a dvd?

lordsmurf 01-16-2009 06:06 PM

Quote:

1 more q...when I put the video onto my computer, should I put the entire video on, or only put on like 3-4 hrs, and try to get that on a dvd?
There's no rule one way or the other, but it's generally a good idea to not capture more than 2-3 hours at a time. Audio drift can build up over time, unders certain circumstances, and keeping the capture times low is just one way to avoid that possible scenario altogether.

Superstar 01-16-2009 06:21 PM

Ok, I'll try 3 hrs at a time then.
Can you scroll up and reply to the post that I made in response to your long post. Also, do you want to email me the pics that you took of the VCR, or do you just want to post them in here?

Thanks

lordsmurf 01-17-2009 03:29 AM

3 Attachment(s)
Attachment 24

As you've probably guessed by now, all of the important controls are hidden from view, until you gently pull on the top-front of the machine, to open and reveal the editor panel. Here's where all of the sliders and buttons are located, to help restore the quality of your video tapes.

Attachment 25

Let's look first at the top half of the panel, area located just underneath the tape slot, and the top row of the fold-out panel, which slopes down a bit. This is where most all of the "restoration" tools are located, to control the picture, audio and TBC. A lot of this comes back to VCR basics, the same concepts exist on other machines such as the JVC series. Panasonic just happens to keep their controls external, whereas JVC has a digitally-accessed menu using the remote.

NOTE: The colors used in the image have no special meaning. Different colors were used simply to aid in seeing individual areas better. I'll start from the top left, and work my way across to the bottom right.

PICTURE. Much like the JVC machines, this is simply a picture mode. The Panasonic VCRs tend to be a little soft by default, so the ideal setting is just right of the middle botch in the slider -- the notch is apparently what Panasonic considers to be "normal" (no sharpening, no softening). You want to avoid going too sharp, as it also introduces noise. If you go too soft, you lose definition in the images, and objects (especially people) start to look "plastic". How much you use this dial, soft or sharp, largely depends on the issues on the tape. Start just left of the notch, and then adjust from there. Remember that too much noise ("detail" for some people) in the signal will cause the MPEG videos to look blocky.

COLOR-B/W. This one is self-explanatory. Color is a color picture, B/W is a black and white image. You'll use B&W when you convert a B&W tape, to remove all traces of chroma noise present in the original signal. Sometimes it's used to make a good transfer of a tape with a severely damaged (beyond repair) color/chroma signal. At least the image tends to look good, if the luma portion of the signal was good, on a color-damaged tape.

DETAIL / NORMAL / EDIT. This is also very similar to the JVC picture control, where the signal being processed can be sharpened (R3 setting on JVC), normal processing (NORM/AUTO on JVC), or put into an unprocessed mode (also EDIT on JVC). Using EDIT is pretty well stupid, as you buy this machine to restore tapes, not pass the signal unprocessed as if it were any old $50 consumer VHS VCR. It's good for comparison, but little else. You only use EDIT in unusual circumstances where the processing causes odd errors in the video. In the image, I've got it set to DETAIL for a project that was running at the time, for a tape where DETAIL mode looked better than NORMAL. In general, leave it normal, adjust only for testing and comparison, changing only if you see better results. Again, remember that too much noise in the signal will cause the MPEG videos to look blocky.

TBC. Ah, the most important item in this machine -- the timebase corrector. This will almost always be turned on. It only gets turned off when the tape exhibits problems (violent shaking, jumping, tearing, etc). The TBC in this machines behaves differently from the one in the JVC series machines, and is why I have both machines. Sometimes tapes simply hate being processed by this TBC, although it's fairly rare. Also understand I have to deal with many more bad tapes in one month that you'll probably ever see, so if it's rare for me, it may never be seen by you. The TBC corrects various geometry and motion-distortion problems in tapes, purifying the quality of the visual signal.

HIFi LINEAR MIX. Do not use this. Set it OFF at all times. Mixing the linear (mono) and HiFi tracks results in an awful echo effect. I still have no idea why such a feature is so common on higher-end VCRs.

TAPE SELECT. I think this is for recording more than anything else, but just to be safe, set it to match the tape being played. T120 for "2-hour SP / 6-hour EP" T120 tapes, T160+ for those "3-hour SP / 8-10 hour EP" tapes. I've not read the manual for this setting, and I seem to only need it for T120 tapes to date.

MONO. Sometimes HiFi audio tracks are badly recorded, destroyed by hiss, warbling, partial recording quality, and other issues that make the HiFi track a nuisance to try and hear. When this happens, reverting the linear (mono) track will sound better. Sometimes mono is perfectly rich in quality, and sometimes it will later need a bit of restoration in Goldwave and/or SoundForge (audio software). I've actually created a number of SoundForge 6+ filters that restore richness to MONO audio.

Most all other settings here pertain to recording on the VCR, something you'll probably not need it for.

NOTE: Please break the safety tabs on all of your VHS tapes right now. You don't want to accidentally record over your precious video collection! Yikes!

Attachment 26

This is your standard VCR button layout -- with a few extra features you won't need. PLAY, FF, REW, PAUSE, STOP, EJECT -- I'm sure you know what to do here. I would not use PAUSE, FF while playing, or REW while playing -- at least not very often -- it's just not good for older VHS tapes. It's especially bad for VHS-C or S-VHS-C tapes.

The tracking may be important to note, as the machine does not always track perfectly right away. Watch at least a minute before starting to record. Then rewind it, play, and record.

TRACKING TIP! Another trick is to sometimes sacrifice the first 10-30 seconds of your recording. What I mean here is to queue up the tape to 30 seconds into your show, eject it, and then re-insert it. The first track it will make is on the signal you want now, rather than pre-recording blue-screen, blankness, or other initial-record errors often left by cheap consumer VCR recordings.

That's really all there is to this VCR.

lordsmurf 01-17-2009 04:53 PM

Quote:

- I have the Womble MPEG Video, I bought it a few years ago, however the only thing that I ever used it for was editing out commercials. The videos that I will be putting on my computer does not have any commercials. Since I don't have any commercials or really anything that I need to edit out, do you think that I should still use it? All of the videos that I'm going to be putting on DVD, I made myself, so there's nothing that needs to be edited out..I'm just going to put them all straight onto the computer as is. Each video runs 5-6 hrs.
It's only important to use if you want to remove rough record starts or ending. You can get frame accurate, to remove any small imperfection. My old VHS work is a bit rough, not 100% precise, so removing bad frames is something I always do. This would include commercial breaks that still show a few seconds of "going to commercial" or "coming back from commercial" type footage, or even pieces of the commercials. I don't want that, I just want the program.

Quote:

From what you said about the PQ, I gathered that you suggest that I capture at 720x480 with a CBR high bitrate (10000k, maybe 15000k) on the card, and then re-encode it with a good encoder, to the VBR specs given.(Can you explain what the VBR specs given means, I don't recall ever hearing that before)
720x480 CBR at 10000-15000k (probably 15000k, but 10000 may be enough), for capture, is correct. The "VBR specs given" refers to what I wrote here:

Quote:

If you used 704x480 or 720x480 ("Full D1 resolution", and these are NTSC specs, the same applies to the x576 PAL variants), then you'd want to use 5500k average bitrate, in a variable bitrate (VBR) scenario, at minimum. That would yield a 2-hour DVD. However, wrestling presents a unique challenge, with a lot of detail and information in the picture, much of which is panning around or scene-changing quickly -- not to mention the action of the wrestlers moving about. It needs more bitrate, or it will be flooded with blocks and other artifacts. So you'd want a higher bitrate, something closer to 7000-8000k, in a VBR encode. That would yield about 1 hours on a single-layer DVD. You'd be able to squeeze in about 2 hours on a DVD+R DL disc, a dual-layer disc. But your source is also VHS, and VHS is the lowest "medium resolution" format commonly found (low res is Internet junk like Youtube, high res is HD). You can easily record (the final product!) at 352x480 and preserve the same amount of detail as you would at the larger resolution -- your source doesn't really need 720x480. At 352x480 (Half D1 resolution) you can drop the bitrate to half as well, and therefore put more on a disc. How much data fits on a disc is SOLELY determined by bitrate. But how clean the image looks is determined by the ratio of bits to resolution. So at 352x480, you'll get about 2-3 hours on a single-layer disc at a high bitrate, that of the 4000-4500k range, and as much as 5 hours on a dual-layer disc. If your matches are only 4 hours long, maximize the bitrate to fit the disc, give it extra bits, and put it all on one DL disc. Or on two single-layer discs, to keep costs down, and with very little storage different (discs are thin and small, compared to those clunky tapes).
VBR specs to consider:
720x480 - VBR - 8000k max, 5500k avg, 2000k min = 2 hours on DVD5
352x480 - VBR - 4500k max, 3500k avg, 1000k min = 3 hours on DVD5
Just under 2x on hours (2x 2 = 4 hours, 2x 3 = 6 hours) when using DVD+R DL media instead of DVD5 (SL media).

Quote:

Also, what encoder should I use? Do I do all of this first, and then put it into my DVD editing program and make the DVD then? So in other words, I capture, then encode, then design, then burn..right?
Good encoders typically include: MainConcept 1.5, Procoder 1.5, Procoder 2. Some of the CinemaCraft Encoders may be okay. TMPGEnc Plus 2.5 may work, but quality not as good as others (requires about 500k more bitrate to achieved similar results). I use MainConcept 1.5 for most work. The only benefit of TMPGEnc is that it's cheap and easy to find. The others are more expensive, a tad harder to located (not current versions, or software discontinued).

Yes -- CAPTURE, RE-ENCODE (maybe filter at same time, to fix quality even more!), CREATE MENUS, AUTHOR, then finally BURN a disc.

Quote:

I have DVDLab Pro, I bought it a few yrs ago, and I'm pretty familiar with it. I do want to make it so each match can be selected and viewed seperately if chosen.
That will work.

Remember basic menu design techniques -- use "sans serif" fonts (see this wiki entry, if you're unsure what that means), in a large enough font to easily see on a typical 20-inch tv set, and don't places anything outside the "safe zone" (overscan area).

Because DL discs hold more content, you may have to move to multi-page menus.

Quote:

I don't think I'll do any filtering to remove any noises or anything, simply because I've just never done it before, and I don't know how to.
That's a shame, really. I think it's worth the extra effort to try, if only on a test clip of maybe 5 minutes, just to see how it can help (or not help, if that be the case).

Quote:

You did mention I might be able to squeeze an entire 6 hr video onto a DL disc if I do that though, do you think I should try? If I could fit an entire video onto a DL disc, that would be ideal for me because of the price situation with the cost of the blank DVDs.
Yeah, you might be able to.

Personally, I'd just do a lot of single-layer discs of 3 hours. I only use DL media for short projects (30 discs total or less) for up to 4-5 hours of best-quality recordings.

This all comes down to budget and preference, to be quite honest.

Superstar 01-17-2009 05:05 PM

Thank you very much for your very educational reply. You answered and taught me a lot about this VCR. I looked very closely at your pics, and adjusted all of my controls the same way that you have them in the pictures. The only other q's that I have as I look at the VCR is, for where it says S-VHS (in between tape select and mono) it gives u the option to turn it on, or turn it off, I bought the gold plated SVHS cord that you suggested, so should I turn this on, or turn it off? Also, a little to the left of that for input select where it says s-video or line, which one should I use? It's currently selected to line.
At that top for HI-Fi Rec level with the sliders, the top says L and the bottom says R, and u can set both up to ten, where should I put each one? I noticed in your pics that I tihnk the R was set to 5 and the L was a little farther to the right..

lordsmurf 01-17-2009 05:19 PM

Do not confuse "S-VHS" with "s-video".
  • S-VHS stands for "Super VHS" and is a physical tape format. It also refers to the higher-resolution signal recorded.
  • S-VIDEO stands for "separated video" because the signal is separated into its luma and chroma counterparts.
  • (Side Note: Composite video, the "yellow" wire, crunches luma and chroma together, and is where a lot of signal crosstalk noise comes from. Separation is better. Component video, "red-green-blue" wires, is another form of separation, where each chroma is separated too.)

The S-VHS setting on the machine is for recording. You can record S-VHS on S-VHS tapes, or VHS on VHS tapes if you turn off S-VHS mode.

The S-VIDEO input you see if for input. Neither of us are using this machine for input, we're using it to play tapes (output). So that setting doesn't matter much either. It would have been important, had we wanted to edit on-deck, or pass a signal through this deck for some reason (note, this deck does not have "pass-through" filtering).

HiFi REC Levels are, again, for recording. If you want to put them somewhere, set both of them to about 7. Mine were probably set to 7, but were tapped by accident when making other settings. My deck is in shadows, last unit on the rack at bottom, it can be hard to see during night. I just crawled on the floor, adjusted them both back to 7 again.

Superstar 01-18-2009 02:39 PM

I'm still a little confused with the bitrate, only because the WinTV32 words their options a little different then you were telling me, and I just wanna make sure I get everything right..
Ok, you told me this..4500 is max/peak, 3500 is the average/median
In the WinTV32, the 2 boxes are bitrate and the box under it says bitrate PEAK ..so, in the box the says bitrate would I put in 3500 and in the box that says peak would I put in 4500? Or is it reverse that..4500 in bitrate and 3500 in the peak box?
1 more thing...to the left of the bitrate boxes is Output Stream, and the options are Program, MPEG1, DVD, VCD, SVCD...
I've always just left it on Program (which was the default choice) should I leave it on that, or should I move it to another one of the choices?

lordsmurf 01-18-2009 03:39 PM

I don't have a Hauppauge PVR card right now, and therefore no WinTV32 software to view, so it's hard to give instructions on it. Can you post a screen capture of what you're seeing? Cap every screen that has settings on it, and I can give better instructions when I can see what I'm dealing with.

For help on how to post screen shots, see this: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/show...-site-327.html

lordsmurf 01-18-2009 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Superstar
1 more quick q, I was looking at the back of the VCR, and next to the 2 audio outlets, there's a silver plug that says Linear Audio, should I put anything in there?

On the back of the AG-1980P, you'll be using the RCA red/white audio wiring, you don't need to use the Linear input or output, no. Just forget it's there, pretty much.

Superstar 01-18-2009 04:13 PM

1 Attachment(s)
Here's the screenshot of the WinTV32
I added it as an attachment, because I don't have the screenshot on a website..also, in addition to the other q's that I asked about it do I keep it on constant or variable? You'll see the option for those two above the bitrate boxes.

Superstar 01-18-2009 04:18 PM

1 Attachment(s)
I just found this setting...for capture resolution.
It's default set on 320x240 you can see the other choices under that, should I leave it on 320x240, or change it to one of the other ones? The numbers are also distorted here...here's what the numbers are
320 x 240 (default selected)
640 x 480
800 x 600
1024 x 768
1280 x 1024
1600 x 1200

To the right is the Fields Captured the numbers are 1 (Motion) and 2 (still) 2 is def. selected.

Superstar 01-18-2009 04:20 PM

1 Attachment(s)
Color settings.....these are default settings. Change them, or leave them?
I just noticed that for some reason, the numbers are very distorted, so here's what they say..
Brightness - 136
Contrast - 144
Saturation - 142
Hue - 128

lordsmurf 01-18-2009 04:58 PM

I don't know what 2.JPG is showing, but it's not video. That's some settings for grabbing stills from the video. I'm just guessing here. It's surely not video.

WinTV calls the average bitrate "Bit Rate" and it calls the maximum bitrate "Bit Rate Peak". But thinking back, you'll be capturing at 720x480 at 15,000k anyway, constant bitrate (CBR). You won't be using VBR and the other settings until you re-encode.

The re-encode is so that you can balance the detail of wrestling, with the noise that comes from MPEG encoding. By encoding in a second step, you allow for lower noise, and therefore better image quality.

I guess you could look at skipping the re-encode, but I would not, not with wrestling, not if quality matters.

I don't know if the color settings matter for viewing only, or for encoding/capture too. You can always make a few tests. Change the values (major changes, to easily see differences), and then capture several times at different settings. If the captured video files look the same, then it doesn't matter. If it changes, then it matters. Adjust to where it looks best. Remember that your computer monitor may not be properly calibrated for video, so tv testing can be important. View the various tests in something like VLC Player, and/or author and burn to a test disc played on a tv set.

Testing is so important when it comes to video.


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