JVC 9900 odd artifacts on motion scenes ?

zaq.hack · #1 10-17-2009, 12:24 AM

I have picked up a (new to me) JVC 9900 unit and it has notably improved the capture quality of most of my old tapes. Thanks so much for the buyers' guides and other advice out here.

Unfortunately, I'm getting some odd artifacts on "motion" in a scene. They look like drop-outs, but perhaps a full-frame TBC would catch them? The third screenshot would seem to indicate it is not an issue with the tapes (the lines occur in different places in separate captures) and I spent some time this evening diligently cleaning tape path. The lines are still there, and I am wondering if they could be something else or if there is/should be a separate method of correcting for them.

admin · #2 10-17-2009, 02:35 PM

The VCR heads are dirty.

There are several guides online for this.

Here's a basic one: http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...rcleaning.html
Or a far more complex one: http://books.google.com/books?id=NXE...age&q=&f=false

The most important rules are

Cleaning tapes are useless. They just smear, rarely can they actually clean and remove dirt/dust/debris.
Do this in a clean environment, not a room full of dust, not after you've vacuumed, not with kids running around, no cats/dogs trying to watch you, etc.
No Q-TIPS!!! Nothing cotton. Use non-cotton swabs.
VCRs are fragile. You can clean and service them, so don't be scared. But also realize this isn't a lawnmower, you can be too rough with it.

The streaks on the blue screen are odd. That almost leads me to believe the unit is defective, maybe hit by lightning strike or surge, or has some kind of error with overheating. Maybe the thing is full of dust or lint? I'm hoping it's just in need of cleaning, however. That's what the other images show, the ones where a tape is playing.

admin · #3 10-18-2009, 12:28 AM

Re-attaching images here:

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zaq.hack · #4 10-18-2009, 11:02 PM

I think it is electrical. I popped the top and the machine is ... VERY clean. I expected a family of dustbunnies given that I bought it used, but that was not the case. There is no electrical ground on this VCR and I suspect it is built to ground to the big cable coax that should be attached to it. I am not sure what else to do, but I have cleaned the heads a few times and there is virtually no change at all.

The possibility does exist that someone tried to clean this unit before I got my hands on it and damaged the heads, of course.

But the lines on the blue screen ARE odd. I think the defect is happening AFTER the image is read from tape and somewhere along the way until it gets into the PC. Three separate capture cards have this same defect, as do different S-Video cables.

Fun stuff.

For what it is worth, I DID find a way to get rid of the lines post-process, but it is not something most people would want to do. Details here.

zaq.hack · #5 10-20-2009, 08:42 AM

Running the composite video cable into a TV at the same time shows no lines on the TV. It is definitely something in the PC, but strangely enough, all three of my capture cards show this same defect while capturing from either S-Video or composite.

I ran a grounding wire from a screw on my power supply to a screw in the case of the VCR (the VCR has no ground; was thinking it might have been electrical loop between them).

I've dried different cables (they all look fine on the TV).

Thoughts???

admin · #6 10-21-2009, 05:52 AM

I don't ground my JVC 9800 or SR-V10 via coax, and neither give problems.

Dirt or filth on the heads can be hard to see. That doesn't seem to be the issue here, but keep that in mind.

The most grounding issues I've really ever "seen" is audio. Buzz, hum, hiss, etc -- never anything visual like this.

That appears to be a graphics card issue, but I don't see how that ties into video capture. Especially not on three different capture cards. Which cards are these, again?

It could be codec related, maybe. I guess it depends on how you're capturing, what you're using, etc. Don't have those details yet.

zaq.hack · #7 10-21-2009, 08:24 AM

Capture cards: Osprey-210, LeadTek Winfast PVR, and an MPEG card that I don't typically use because of the compression.

Codec is Lagarith lossless (typically RGB); but the lines show up in capture programs' preview window, so I don't think it is codec. I've used VirtualDub and Nero to capture.

I may have to try these cards in a different PC and see if I get the same result. The lines are completely random, which lends itself toward the heads of the VCR, but after hooking up the TV, I'm sure the problem is in the PC, somewhere.

It IS possible to have three bad capture cards, I suppose. That would not be unusual for the kind of luck I have, sometimes.

admin · #8 10-22-2009, 12:51 PM

Nero should probably not ever be a capture choice. VirtualDub, however, is perfect. Try with HuffYUV instead of Lagarith.

Do you know how many codecs are on this system?
Have you ever made the mistake of installing a "codec pack", by chance?

Excluding codec issues (and related fixes), trying the cards in another system is probably your only next step in the process of elimination. Those are the only two things you can do next in trying to isolate the issue causing the problem.