JVC HR-S9800U recommended settings?
I read LS's comments in the recent post "Comparing JVC VCR settings? (TBC, picture mode, calibration)" but either my menus are slightly different or I'm confused. Before I start my first capture with my new improved setup (ATI 600 USB and TBC-3000) I'd like to be sure I have the settings correct.
Below are what everything is set to currently. Video Calibration - OFF Picture Control - NORM Digital R3 - OFF Video Stabilizer - OFF (use the Digital TBC/NR button instead) S-VHS Mode - ON |
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Video Calibration - OFF - OK Picture Control - NORM This picture mode was designed for TV viewing, not for capture or dubbing, which is what the EDIT mode is for. NORM will soften your video, blur motion, and over filter noisy tape. But if you like it that way..... Digital R3 - OFF - Try this on and off. It's a sharpener. Looks good sometimes, sometimes not. Do you know sharpening when you see it? Video Stabilizer - OFF (use the Digital TBC/NR button instead) - OK S-VHS Mode - ON -- Are you playing SVHS tape or recording to SVHS? If not, turn this off. Of course you know the difference between SVHS and S-video, right? SVHS is a tape format. S-video is a type of signal transmission that separates luma from chroma and is usually cleaner and sharper than composite wire. S-video has nothing to do with SVHS, VHS, VHS-C, Hi8, Digital8, DV, DVD, BluRay, or anything else. |
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- The S-VHS VCR will record VHS onto VHS tapes if off. - If on, and ET enabled, it will record S-VHS to VHS tapes. Not something any of us use anymore. The very last time I used S-VHS recording was election night '08, almost 10 years ago. Quote:
Blurring, softening, and other artifacts are very tape specific. Sometimes I see that as well, but it's a minority of the time. The effects of disabling NORM (using EDIT), thus disabling all the VCR filters (a main reason I bought JVC S-VHS VCRs), can be more harmful to image quality than any VCR NR artifact. For example, chroma errors are best resolved in hardware, and can be impossible to remove in software post-capture without creating artifacts of its own. VirtualDub's CCD is quite amazing, but there are consequences to detail (worse than the VCR's NR). And chroma errors are a major way that bitrate is wasted in delivery formats (MPEG, H.264), thus causing more digital artifacts. Sometimes video is about trade-offs, choosing the least-worst error. I've never understood why NORM changed to AUTO, due to enabling/disabling of calibration. AUTO does not automatically pick a mode (sharp, soft, norm), and is always NORM. Calibration is an entirely separate function, and one that was hotly contested (in the 90s, early 00s) by video-savvy users because it rarely worked as advertised. Quote:
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Only the SR-VS30 seems to work well with calibration on. So when using that deck, try it. It may actually help. The transport in this model is superior, and that may have something to do with it. |
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You know, this kind of question is odd, really. What does the user think of the results with different settings? Can people see well enough these days that they can't discern when an image has defects or when it changes character with different settings? I can recall a time "back then" when even my half-blind godfather Uncle Johnny who took me to the movies could tell when the projectionist had the picture very slightly out of focus. Those were the days before autofocus projectors, and before digital video removed 45% of the original information that was on film. I'm beginning to think that we have a world of viewers who've been well trained to think of the visual experience as something that looks like "media", when in the past a movie was intended to appear as if you were looking out a clear window into the real world. |
OK, then it's user preference!
Video Calibration - OFF Picture Control - NORM or EDIT - user preference Digital R3 - OFF Video Stabilizer - OFF (use the Digital TBC/NR button instead) S-VHS Mode - ON (only for S-VHS tapes) Thanks for the advice. My test tape of old Star Trek episodes recorded off-air has already shown me that the Video Stabilizer, in this case, works better than the TBC-3000 for stabilizer some very jumpy video. Like others have said, every case can be unique. It's good to have lots of tools in the toolbox. This is going to be fun. I hope... |
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There is also an element of subjectivity at play, hence said disagreement. Quote:
One is the head condition of the deck itself. When heads start to age, video goes soft. And you'll see it more when using filters. Another is the tape quality, either due to the recording, or the tape properties. Retail vs. homemade doesn't matter. I specifically recall a "Junes Bugs" tape (Cartoon Network Bugs Bunny marathon from the 90s) that I had recorded. It was a Maxell Silver T160, and I generally disliked long-play tapes due to thinner materials. I had also used a different VCR than normal. That tape plays back in a JVC with really soft details, unlike the Panasonic AG1980. I don't fully understand why. What I do know is that's not normal. I took sample captures of this, but have misplaced them. I do know where the tape is, so I can redo it later. Quote:
But you need to be really careful about confusing noise with detail. Panasonic is oversharp by default, and modern HDTVs have spoiled us. Sometimes it's easy to think VHS is "soft" when it's really not. I'm pretty sure you already know this, but even I have to give myself reality checks from time to time. Quote:
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Too many people think that video "looks like" this or that (almost always low quality). There are of course limits to formats, be it MPEG or VHS or even HD, but too many people are setting that so ungodly low. This is mostly to blame on early Real/ASF/WMV/QT/Divx formats, but it continued with Youtube and cell phones. The irony, the sad thing, or course, is that the modern Youtube/phone generation H.264 can be quality (unlike those early Real/etc formats). As clear as possible, with the fewest artifacts possible, should be the goal. You and I disagree on where the line between clarity and analog artifacts lie. We're having more nuanced upper echelon discussions here. Many newbies are still stuck in the lower depths of video, and they don't know what they don't know. We may disagree, but it's still teaching. :) |
I've been an audio guy most of my life although I worked in TV for a few years. With streaming, mp3, portable players, etc it's sad what today passes for quality audio. Convenient, sure. Quality, no. I'm sure this is exactly what you guys are debating here as well with video. That's why I appreciate all the opinions presented on this forum. With your opinions it helps me as I make decisions about what looks good before I commit to a method (or methods) and begin the conversion from VHS to digital.
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I gave up on digital audio years ago. Still own and use analog gear, precision turntables, cartridge alignment tools, vinyl, tape, Dynaco amps, the whole late 60's works. A Telarc analog-mastered CD is as far as I'll go with digital, and it takes a $1000 or better player and external audio DAC to do it justice. When I saw the junkware BestBuy was selling for CD and DVD players, I knew it was permanently all over for video and sound. Digital audio is a travesty. mp3 and the rest of it just lowers the bar and makes it worse, as denuded and as ugly as the typical digital cinema demolition derby or YouTube.
End of rant. On with working with the pitiful resources that remain. |
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