VCR from attic/loft, JVC HR-S8960 is good?

[Eric-Jan]

Rediscovered a JVC HR-S8960 i had stored in the atic, which i dumped there for a reason i guess, but the tapeloading seems to work i now see, and will try some more, does this one have a good reputation ? Google gave me no real results, it's a Super VHS recorder, it says it has a TBC an Digi pure
maybe better than a Panasonic DMR ES35V ? maybe not with only up to S-video out. compaired to component on the Panasonic.

-- merged --

The JVC does a good job also with my Intensity Shuttle, but it needs to adjust at the start of a different tape i notice, but after that no problems, best video output of this JVC is a s-video connection, compaired to component from an other recorder, i notice that strong colors bleed, strong contrast between black and white has fine striped edges, parts of the image that have no details are smoother than that of the Panasonic DMR-ES35V i have, but still i think having the component output on the DMR-ES35V is a great advantage.

[hodgey]

Those ranges of JVC SVHS machines are generally very highly regarded around here. Not seeing this particular model in the buying guide, though there is a S8965 there, so maybe it's closely related to that one.

I don't think component output makes much difference for VHS recordings, it's something that has been mainly used for more high-res media where S-Video doesn't cut it, and for certain formats like Betacam where the colur data is actually stored in component form on the tape. I suppose it may be preferable to the S-Video out on the Panasonic though since it looks like it may do some digital processing of the video before outputting it.

[Eric-Jan]

Yes, according to the user manual of the Panasonic vcr, the component output is for plasma flatscreens, and can be set in interlaced or progressive, i understand it is allways better to have signals separated, instead of through one wire, but in the end all will come together, maybe one device or another will do a better job,
but most of the time one has no choice.

I also notice different tapes, have different tracking "bandwith" but the same is also valid for the vcr's, and again also for the build quality of the tapes and vcr's, the tape is a vulnerable medium...
I was surprised that the JVC vcr is in good working condition, it was bare stored in de atic, for several years, more then 15 years for sure, plus it did not perform good when i stored it, that was the reason to store it, most of the time rubber parts degrade, i have a Sony camcorder and a Sony (audio) cassette-deck that suffer from that,

the cassette-deck has even S-Dolby noise surpression....

I notice some of the FAQ's and posts are quiet old here, and now there is much more better hardware to capture video with, (DV/iLink/firewire is also a good option)

Like from BlackMagic Design, the costs are also reasonable, for an video hobby amateur, only thing is you need the right interface type, and USB isn't allways the right choice, some times you can adapt that, but better checkout if it is done before by other users, a recorder with (good) build-in stabilization is a good start, this isn't always known by the user, to purchase TBC hardware is difficult, because of the technology you need to know about, and 2nd hand availability + working state judgement, that's why i'm happy to own some good recorders, which is just luck i guess.

-- merged --

The only difference i can find between the HR-S8960 and HR-S8965 is that mine uses PDC for automatic tv program recording and the HR-S8965 uses Video-Plus for that, both versions have insert-recording i noticed, and can playback quasi NTSC (NTSC50) both have also BEST, a feature that continuously adjust record and playback quality, so when you want to capture, you need to playback more before your actualy start capturing.

Besides the "TBC" feature it has also a picture Noise Reduction feature, i don't know if this will do good to details in de video image....

Both have also a digital audio decoder (NICAM) which was never used in the Netherlands to my knowledge, UK and Germany did though.