Welcome to my world. :p

I've spent a ton of time and money in the past decade, serving as my own guinea pig. The rewards are worth it, however.
You do end up burned, with duds, etc. But it's a minority.

Kramer makes good stuff. Their transcoders (RGB<>YUV video, etc.) and sync separators are well regarded in the video game community. The FC400s never seem to show up used on ebay though!

Are there any more information about the TBC risks?
As it just say that some may be bad, are there certain model numbers i should look for etc?

As the PCI one doesn´t seem to exist:S

Yeah i would love to hear more info on the Kramer. Considering getting one myself. Their products seem a step up from the Cypress stuff and have s 5 year warrenty.

I also want to get a Kramer VP-701xl.
maybe th fact non show up used is a sign they are good and work and therefore people keep them?

If you ever get one, let us know what it's like. :)

I managed to get hold of a Kramer SP-10D on ebay. It's a broadcast industry unit that combines TBC, ProcAmp and standards converter. It's still a current offering in Kramer Electronics' product lineup. (Link: Kramer SP-10D). New, it's hard to find for less than £1500 including VAT.


These are rare on Ebay, but I had it as a saved search which alerted me when one popped up a few of weeks ago. I managed to win it for around £250 including delivery. Absolute bargain for what it is. It was supposedly bought as a backup unit that has never been actually used. It came in it's original packaging with manual, CD, power lead, rack ears and everything. Hardly a scratch on it, it looks pristine.

It has s-video sockets in and out as well as cv, component and a genlock loop through. I haven't done any extensive testing, but I've run a PAL VHS signal through it and the output looks clean and stable. Much better than my AVT-8710 which I've never quite been happy with (I suspect my 8710 is one with one of the dodgy chipsets).

Hi, keep us informed with more tests, please. I think that some people, me included, will be more eager to know more about this device.

Yeah, please upload clips and stuff.

Would be nice if you could compare it with TBC-1000, as that´s the one i will have to buy probably.

Same here.

I wouldn't hold your breath. I've got so much going on right now, I've only got limited time I can devote to playing with this gear.

One thing I have figured out is that it doesn't like the on screen menu output of the JVC VCR. At first I thought the VCR was broken, but it turns out that the TBC seems to grab the first frame of the menu and hangs onto it until you feed it some proper video again. When I hook up an alternate output to a monitor from the VCR's scart socket, it turns out the menu is working fine.

As for comparing it to a TBC-1000, I'm afraid I don't have one. All I have is a rather dodgy AVT-8710 which is why I've been looking for a quality alternative that works in PAL land.

Okay.

Well i am in the same place as you, i am looking for a TBC for PAL.
And i am recommended the TBC-1000, that´s why i wanted to know, but if you don´t have it, then nothing to be done about it:)

I finally tested out my new TBC1000 today. Had it for about a year and never tested it yet.
Well i can say it sure does work. I tested it with the recommended VHS of Liar Liar and it totally removes CP.
So far i can not fault it. I am no expert on picture quality but to my eyes all looks good. No major faults. Does not look like the distribution amp or power supply is causing any problems. I actually changed the power supply to a more modern switching/regulated one from what i was supplied as i got a big bulky square brick of a thing with EU pins and wanted one with Australian pins and the Au importer sold me the one that he said were being supplied with Australian stock Not sure what i should be looking for but to me i cant see any problems. I got mine from a seller in NZ who sent it to me direct from Taiwan or Singapore and its manufactured in 2012.

I have also got a Big Voodoo BVTBC10. This is the upmarket 10 bit version that used to sell for over $1000 USD. Yes i have read a few negatives about the bottom of the line model but for $50 i wanted to give this one a go. Just waiting on power supply.

Next i will be trying the Kramer FC-400

More TBC options to consider

http://www.ensembledesigns.com/products/brighteye/be01

http://www.ensembledesigns.com/products/brighteye/be03

http://www.ensembledesigns.com/products/brighteye/be05

I do not know much about these.

BE is not as error tolerant as TBC-1000 but quality is (quite obviously) better.

Sagatech TBC300
 

Greetings everyone.
I have joined the forum to maybe find out a few things about a TBC (Sagatech TBC300) that I am interested in.
I like the specs of this one because it seems comparable to the BrightEye 3
ie 12Bit processing with SDI out but I dont know if the TBC can handle domestic VCRs.

http://www.sagatech.cn/en/index.htm

www.sagatech.cn/images/download/TBC300_en.pdf‎

http://madeproduce.com/com/gzsagatec...mid-16016.html

http://www.made-in-china.com/showroo...r-TBC300-.html

I have'nt seen a price yet nor found a retailer for a single purchase.
Anyone else interested?
- WaxCyl

It says the TBC is 10-bit, so ignore the 12-bit A/D since that becomes irrelevant.

I don't have any experience purchasing something like that straight from one of the Chinese markets but I suspect shipping costs would make it not worthwhile.

Thanks for your reply. Yes you are correct it is only effectively 10 Bit.
I think that 10 bit digital processing is significantly better than all the 8 bit devices (with analog output)
often recommended on this forum. A disadvantage maybe that it then requires a PCIE SDI capture card to get it onto a PC.

The biggest benefit is that the workflow would be A to D,
whereas the suggested methods are A-D, D-A, A-D!
I would not underestimate the quality of Chinese designed gear, I think this is a serious piece of kit waiting for a Western OEM to re-brand. It is obviously aimed at professional broadcasting.
The big question marks over the device are:
1) Price?
2) Can the TBC tolerate domestic VCRs like the BrightEye 3?

Anyone have any more information?

WaxCyl

Like I said a few posts ago, BrightEye is not 100% tolerant to bad signals (home video). It will glitch easily. Because of this I haven't retired TBC-100 because it's needed from time to time alongside with BrightEye.

Thank you both for your good advice.
The BE 3 is rather expensive but I was hoping for something better quality than the Datavideos.

UPDATE:

I ended up buying a Brighteye BE75 for a fabulous price (2nd hand, in great nick with P Supply).
I had worked out that the previously listed models do not include audio embedding.
This may have meant lots of trouble trying to capture the audio in sync with TB corrected video.
PQ is excellent, much better than my previous DV captures.Video is 4.2.2 (10 bit SDI)
I had to make up leads up for S-video to 2xBNC and RCA audio to phoenix!
I have also been lucky enough to get a "new " Hi-8 camcorder from Ebay -a DCTRV-66 (same chassis as TRV99) which I think is the peak of the Hi-8 camcorders + it has LTBC- anyway it has a much sharper picture than my old TR-880.
I may have to wait a few more years for deinterlacing with AVISYNTH as the 10 bit compatibility is a nightmare at the moment. 10bit video is better for colour space conversions and more efficient re-encoding
Looking forward to some real capturing.

WaxCyl and juhok, thanks for posting.

I always find it interesting to hear what others have chosen to do, for their TBC needs -- especially when it's a unit that I have no experience with. The BrightEye (BE) units are new to me.