Is VCR actually effecting output video quality?
Hello, apologies for the possible newbie question. I am new here, but not new to video. I have read the pinged posts relating to VCR buying, but am in need of a bit more specific advice.
My scenario: Does my grandma's cheap VCR (that works just fine) negatively affect the captured video quality in comparison to a true professional VHS deck? Is a cheap VCR really outputting a lower quality signal than the professional decks? Notwithstanding the difference in build quality/reliability/Effects/TBC. 1) I am capturing using an AJA KONA LHE+ I/O. S-VIDEO input. TBC in VCR is not an issue for me, I have external devices in my signal chain that can handle that. 2) I am not interested in using any special, non-standard smoothing or filtering effects in the VCR. My mindset is archival: capture the VHS tape in its true raw form. 3) BONUS: Ideally, I would love to capture the edges of the VHS frame. Comparable to an "overscan" with sprockets in the film telecine world. If a pro-level device could help with this, it would convince me to switch. |
What is your signal chain - please include make and model and software being used?
Assuming both machines are well tuned and performing according to spec, a professional, prosumer, or high end consumer S-VHS VCR will give better output than a plain old VHS deck. This applies to the recommended machines. For starters, VHS video on tape is recorded in what amounts to a Y/C (s-video) mode. The composite (yellow jack) video output of the VHS VCR electrically combines the Y/C signals into the composite signal only to have it separated again in the TBC and/or capture system. This is extra processing that can add distortion, resolution loss, and noise. Beyond that the internal electronics and mechanics of the better machines generally will have better frequency response, less distortion, more accurate tracking, wider bandwidth, and lower noise. That said, VHS machines tend to be old and often suffer the abuses of age, wear, component value drift, and lack of maintenance, so there is no assurance that a given used machine will perform to its capability. Further, recordings, especially home recordings, will suffer from what ever alignment quirks the original recorder had, and thus may play better on some machines than on other more accurately aligned machines. Inability to capture the ovescan area might be a limitation of your capture device/software, not the playback VCR. Some setups may crop the edges. Most TV do not display the overscan areas unless specifically set up to do so. |
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For example, you have less chroma skew/offset from a prosumer or pro deck. Less timing wobbles. Quote:
Line TBC cleans the image. Frame TBC cleans the signal. You need both. Quote:
I don't suggest that route, but it's viable. |
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The same goes for 720, having extra 8 pixels of noise on each side gives you the option to select your active cropped 704 pixels evenly between left and right. From 704x480 resolution you can set the aspect ratio flag accordingly during encoding or resize to 640x480 which ever works for you. |
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