TBC-1000 darkens the image?
 

I'm sending S-Video from my JVC-S9600U to my TBC-1000, and when my ATI Wonder 600 USB Stick picks up the signal it seems to be about 20% darker. Problem only happens going through the TBC-1000 & disappears if I remove it from the chain. Is this a sign that the TBC needs it's capacitors Replaced? I'm transferring Japanese tapes, but I don't think the darkness difference between the two regions should be super drastic like I'm seeing.

Do the tapes have Macrovision? Or if you remove the TBC-1000, does the picture stay the same brightness throughout the tape, or does it go brighter, darker, brighter, darker?

We need to remove NTSC-J from the equation. Set those tapes aside. You need to capture a regular NTSC tapes. Is the problem there as well?

Where did the TBC-1000 come from?

There are bad TBC-1000 units.
I see many on eBay.
I hear complaints from many eBay buyers (PM'ing me here, about their purchase there, wondering if they bought a dud), and those PMs have grown more in the past year or two. For whatever reason, a lot of not-great TBC-1000s have made their way there. Quite a few buyers are too shy, or embarrassed(?), and never post about their bad experiences here in public posts, even at my request.

TBC-1000 had at least 5 generations of units. There were many running production changes over the 10-15 years of it being manufactured. One of the latter specific units works really badly with PAL especially, messes with IRE and luma. So a bad reaction to NTSC-J is possible.

Other TBC-1000s react badly to certain capture cards. On those, a common tell-tale is that jailbars will appear, most noticeable on JVC menu backgrounds. Sometimes the jailbars are on played-back videos as well, sometimes only seen in the JVC menus. ATI 600 USB is generally not a card with problems.

For me to analyze the TBC-1000, I'd need to see:
- an image of the exterior of the unit (front, back, bottom, sides)
- an image of the interior of the unit (overall, closeup of main VP30x board)
- JVC menus images

I have watched some of those ebay auctions for "no function guarantee" TBC-1000s heading for $2,000. That would be a banquet of crow to willingly eat in public!

What always gets to me is how buyers don't know it's a bad unit until it's too late. For example, there are still buyers of black AVT-8710 units out there, complete oblivious to the issues.

Some actually never know their unit is bad. Many people convert videos without any degree of verification. That, in turn, leads to eBay auctions where the person claims "I used this for myself, and it works great!". But, in reality, it does not. (Some years later, they -- or more commonly, somebody else in the family -- finally wants to watch the video. Quality is bad, out of sync, etc. So some people have this backwards idea that "all VHS quality is bad", or that "TBCs don't do anything", whereas in reality it's user error.)

There are lots of bad TBCs, VCRs, and capture cards.
- Good models with problems.
- And just bad models, period. (black AVT-8710, Blackmagic cards, etc)

eBay for TBCs, VCRs, and capture cards is gambling, not buying. :2cents:

I saw a black one heading for $400 a few weeks back.

That's the most common claim. But compared to what? They never know. At least purchasing from known sellers, such as yourself, there's a personal reputation for honesty on the line.

The tapes do not have macrovision, and I just checked with no tape at all, & the Blue Menu screen is darker with the TBC in the chain. I think I can safely say it's not a tape problem since the menu is always darker.

Does the TBC have a physical proc-amp?

It does not. I broke the seals & unscrewed the top plate, and it looks like the largest Capacitors ARE budging. No leaking on the board, but I'm almost 100% positive that's my issue now. Does Lordsmurf do TBC-1000 repairs?