Elite Video BVP-4+ Flesh Tone And Depth Black Restore Dials Not Working

[Upandrunning]

Hi All

I have an Elite Video Broadcast Video Process Plus with "Model BVP 4 +" on the back of the unit.

The unit is black in color, it is not the white unit.

The unit seems to work fine except that the "FLESH TONE" dial, and the "DEPTH BLACK RESTORE" on/of switch and dial, do not work.

Does anyone know how to fix these problems? Does anyone know how to check what the actual fault is? Is there any specific information on the circuitry of this unit?

The other options such as Split Screen, Color Level and PTP Luminance and IRE etc on the unit seem to work ok.

So you know some background, I live in Australia and bought this unit second hand off Ebay in the USA. This is the first time I am using this unit after it sitting in my cupboard for a number of years.

Also, my workflow is a JVC HR-S7600AM VHS VCR with internal TBC turned on, connecting into the Elite Video BVP4+, then going into a blue HRT Hall Research TBC-100 time based corrector, then into a Black Magic Intensity Pro 4k PCIe card running Blackmagic Media Express on Windows 10 to save as an AVI file. The video signal in the chain s-video.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[dpalomaki]

Did the unit work properly when you first received it?

What level of electronic technician skill do you have?

This thread mentions some adjustments
http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vcr-repair/2035-elite-bvp-bvp4.html#post10748

The BVP4+ came out about 25 years ago an was a niche product. I suspect finding repair service or service manuals will be difficult. If you have the necessary skills you could check for any apparently failed parts (e.g., leaking/bulging caps) and dirty switches or pots preventing the controls from working.

Good luck in your quest.

[RobustReviews]

Probably not the answer you're looking for but I might suggest it's easier to just make these adjustments in software now, procamps were very useful bits of kit but as the years pass probably less so.

We only use them for signal level adjustment and signal alignment now, everything else we take care of after capture.

[dpalomaki]

One benefit of a proc amp is that it can be used to bring an analog signal into the proper range for optimum digitizing. It can help clean stuff that once digitized is baked into the signal and thus will limit what can be digitally.

For example, if highlights peak at only 50 IRE then a bit may have been effectively lopped off the potential bit depth, and if blacks fall below 7.5 (in the case of NTSC) shadow detail may be lost beyond recovery.
]
While commercial studio tapes were typically well recorded at appropriate signal levels, Typical home video is far from it due to issues such as poor lighting and marginal camcorders. It boils down to some tapes will benefit greatly from a proc amp in the chain, others not at all.

[RobustReviews]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dpalomaki

One benefit of a proc amp is that it can be used to bring an analog signal into the proper range for optimum digitizing. It can help clean stuff that once digitized is baked into the signal and thus will limit what can be digitally.

For example, if highlights peak at only 50 IRE then a bit may have been effectively lopped off the potential bit depth, and if blacks fall below 7.5 (in the case of NTSC) shadow detail may be lost beyond recovery.
]
While commercial studio tapes were typically well recorded at appropriate signal levels, Typical home video is far from it due to issues such as poor lighting and marginal camcorders. It boils down to some tapes will benefit greatly from a proc amp in the chain, others not at all.

You're entirely right, I did try and communicate this but I think I could have made a better job of it.

In PAL land it's not so critical, we just use them for level mostly, a bit of gain on a low-signal tape can work wonders. It's a seasoning that can be added to taste, I still (personally) think that colour correction is best done in software on a calibrated monitor, but everybody is welcome to their own opinion on that one.