Good VHS capture device for Windows 10?
 

I am looking for a new hobby as my kids head off to college. I have a bunch of home movies on VHS-C and regular VHS that I want to convert to digital. I have plenty of time to work on this project.

I have a modern PC with Windows 10 and lots of memory and hard drive space. I currently have a Panasonic AG-1970 S-VHS deck that I will use with the VHS-C tapes. I am looking for a JVC S-VHS deck with TBC for the regular VHS tapes. I can wait on the regular VHS tapes for now.

What I need help with now is finding a really good capture device from the Panasonic AG-1970 to my PC. Any good modern equipment suggestions for S-video output?

Thanks in advance.

John

The Hauppauge USB-Live2 works in Windows 10. Note that a good line TBC is absolutely required to get decent results with this device. I think the one built into the AG-1970 is too weak to be useful.

http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vide...ti-wonder.html (listed as Hauppauge 610)

Thank you! I ordered Hauppauge from Amazon last night.

I know the Panasonic AG-1970 TBC is not as good as the TBC in Panasonic AG-1980 or the Panasonic AG-5710, but it is what I have for right now. I will look for a better unit over the next few months.

I read where people recommend a PC with Windows XP. Is that solely for the drivers for the ATI All in Wonder cards? Are there other benefits as well? For instance does VirtualDub work better under Windows XP than Windows 10?

standard Capture cards are tricky, if you're willing to put your hands in the dirt it's ok (i have for the last 15 years with 3 different cards but it's a pain...).
I don't recommend usb cards in any case (pci/pci-e only !).Better semi pro cards like Canopus advc (the chip inside encode in DV as opposed to standard cards where your chosen codec will encode(software); with windows as the "guru" to manage all this...)

If you don't plan to edit (color correction, levels etc..) a good dvd recorder (old models) or dvd recorder with hdd will get you the best results.The ones with a TBC: Panasonic ES10, Panasonic DMR-ES15, Panasonic DMR-E55, Lite-On LVW5005

johncan is capturing VHS-C, not DV to DV, As these are home made videos one can expect plenty of noise, camera jiggle, bad levels, and whatnot. Not too favorable for analog to lossy noisy DV and Canopus. I'd say msgohan has the better suggestion, although Windows 10 has limitations when it comes to analog USB capture whether lossless or not. While the Hauppauge card isn't the greatest, it's a workable solution for lossless capture, post-processing, and encoding. Cleaning up DV would be an added chore, IMO.

Even if johncan goes with DV he'd have to decode to lossless for cleanup and re-encode anyway. DV is PC-only playback, not supported by external players or the web. Two lossy encodes aren't better than one.

I agree that if johncan has no intention of any cleanup he's better off recording directly to DVD with a recorder. That would limit edits to a smart-rendering editor. Cleanup wouldn't be a good option with direct-to-DVD.

I'd suggest johncan take a look at the capture and restoration guides if he hasn't done so already: http://www.digitalfaq.com/guides/video.htm
There are several recent threads during the past several days dealing with this same kind of project.

The ATI 600 also has been confirmed to work by members here: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vide...html#post43060

From what I've read, assuming it's correct, these are also ATI 600 USB clones:
- Elgato EyeTV Hybrid US
- Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-850 (some revisions, not all)
- Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-950 (some revisions, not all)
- KWorld ATSC 330U
- Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick (800e)

^ All use the Empia EM2883 chipset.

I can second the ATI 600 is a fantastic card. I had some issues with drivers in Windows 7, but I ended up installing the card into my my DELL Optiplex that I use for legacy hardware/software. Be wary of it overheating, though.

For Windows 8.1 I use the Ion Video2PC USB. It works great, too.

Any tips on which clone to purchase with Windows 10? (since I can't find another ATI 600 after my unit broke)

The Diamond Multimedia VC500 is a very good USB device and has been popular for many years. Current versions have drivers for Windows 10. Install its generic EZGrabber software to get the capture drivers but the drivers themselves will interface with VirtualDub and AmarecTV rfor capture, both of which are better for capture.

The reason you see so many users going for XP or Windows 7 for video work is because there is a vast tonnage of free and paid video software, utilities, and hardware that won't work in Windows 10 and because, for constistency and trouble-free video work in general, W10 sucks.

Thank you I will check it out. Just purchased a JVC HR-7800U and waiting for that to come in. My current setup is a terrible sony vcr and ATI 750 w/ Virtual Dub; the ATI 750 has just terrible quality and has vertical jitters. Looking forward to the new capture system!

Most longtime users caution that JVC players and VHS-C adapters don't make nice with each other. Panasonic players are almost always recommended with those adapters.

The AG-1970 and many other non-tbc players are used with tbc pass-thru devices. The recommended devices are legacy Panasonic DMR-ES10 and ES15, whose line tbc circuits are often more powerful than those in VCR's. I used pass-thru's with my old AG-1970 until the '70 finally bit the dust after 200 tapes, but I still use pass-thru's today with my preferred Panny PV-V4670 players, forerunner of many AG series. There's a series of tests and posts that goes back 8 years: https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/...hat-do-you-use.

Well I'm not using a VHS-C adaptor if that is this issue. Strictly VHS. I paid only $50 so if this does not work very well I'll consider the next step.

I've actually often ended up using my Toshiba RD-XS24 as a pass-through to correct jitter on our Philips VR1100 (JVC clone) as it doesn't have the issue with causing the image to "jump" occasionally like the TBC in the VCR (my JVC HR-s8500u behaves similarly). I know it's an issue with JVCs in general though I wonder if PAL is worse than NTSC in this regard seeing as the JVC machines seem widely used here. Our Panasonic deck doesn't have this issue, and neither the JVC S-VHS camcorder I got.

For europeans out there, I've also never had issues with VHS-C adapters on the Philips, like I head about with JVC machines (haven't really dared testing in my JVC deck), I think they may have some philips tape transport that's different from the JVCs, despite being otherwise very similar internally. VHS-C seems to be particularly prone to cause the TBC jumping though.