PAL Betamax lossless digitization service?
 

Hello,

I have a single Kodak L-750 PAL Betamax tape. I would like to get this digitized to a lossless video compression format and WAV audio, but I am having difficulty finding a service in the UK or Europe that advertises this capability. I've found one individual's service that looks good as far as equipment (midrange Sony Betamax + regularly maintenanced, and external TBC), but he digitizes only to DV. I understand PAL DV is 4:2:0 which is less bad than NTSC DV's 4:1:1, but nonetheless, I want to transfer this tape only once and to a lossless format in 4:2:2 and lossless audio for archival. I intend to encode the video to a more consumable format as well (H264 or H265), so originating from DV would result in generational loss.

I have the workflow (DataVideo TBC1000, ATI AIW card) to be able to capture the tape myself if I had a working PAL Betamax VCR, but I don't want to purchase a Betamax VCR for just a single tape and also gamble as to whether that VCR will even function. I do not anticipate ever needing to transfer a Betamax tape in the future either.

Is there someone on this forum perhaps that can digitize this Betamax tape for me, for an appropriate charge of course, to lossless HuffYUV and WAV audio using a respectable VCR and a TBC? Or can someone recommend such a service in Europe? The Betamax tape currently resides in Europe, but I live in the US.

Thanks in advance!

There are a few members of this site that, I believe, have a good Betamax deck, and are in UK/Norway/Netherlands/Sweden. PAL gear in USA is already not easy, and PAL Betamax can be challenging to both locate and import. It's easier to just mail the tape to somebody trustworthy overseas, and let them handle it. That's what I'd do, if in this situation.

You're in the right place. Now hopefully one of them will respond. :wink2: