VHS capture setup options, SR-MV45 vs D-VHS?
 

My project is to digitize approximately 40-60 VHS tapes, all recorded in SP mode. The goal is to create PC files from these tapes and in general these files will not be used to author DVDs. The tapes consist of home videos recorded on a Panasonic AG-160 VHS camcorder and TV broadcasts (mostly music related, concerts, music videos, etc.) recorded on a Fisher FVH-840 VCR.

The two capture equipment setups I am considering are:

A) Marantz MV8300 DVHS VCR (JVC DH40000U clone)-->VC500 USB dongle (S-VHS input)-->Win 10 PC or

B) JVC SR-MV45 DVD Recorder/VCR Combo-->burn to DVD-R-->rip DVD-R files to Win 10 PC

I am considering option B after seeing the attached feature listing for the MV45/MV55 units that I found in the JVC website archives. The pre-processing features for DVD recording (“Super MPEG Processors”) appear to be similar to the DigiPure features on the JVC DH40000U.

I am hoping that members who have experience with the VHS capture process and the listed equipment can provide their recommendations on Setup A vs Setup B. Thanks in advance for your help.

With SP, both JVC D-VHS and JVC S-VHS should act similar for palyback.

In order to transfer tapes nicely on the SR-MV45, using the DVD dub function, understanding it's a professional deck, the tapes have to be in perfect condition. Master tapes shot on excellent cameras. Not just any ol' "good" camcorder (according to a non-pro user). Or VCR recordings from another S-VHS deck. A crummy tape will make a worse DVD. The reason is that it's a closed-loop system with VCR>DVD with only line TBC. A bad tape will often also need frame TBC, and it cannot be inserted into the chain (not open loop). Your SP content is very iffy here, it could go either way. May be fine, but I won't promise it. I have one of these, and it works well for the S-VHS SP sources that I feed it.

The Super MPEG Processors is the LSI Logic DMN chipset, and the D-VHS decks do not have this.

Do not get the VC500. I has AGC issues.

Equally JVC D-VHS directly into capture card may not work, no frame TBC. Even a minimal DVK (modded, setup correctly for capture workflows) should be inserted here.

Thanks for the reply LS.

It was my understanding that VCR output could be accessed using the S-Video Out on the MV45 if you need to insert a frame TBC into the loop.

I was thinking the Super MPEG Processors feature would give the MV45 an advantage over the JVC D-VHS deck for dubbing of VHS tapes, is this true?


Not sure what a DVK is, please explain. :question:

Lastly, do you have a good source for SR-MV45/55 units. I'm assuming that well maintained, functioning units (no cap problems, loading error issue, etc.) are a bit hard to find. Rather not risk buying a crap unit from ebay, even if it costs me a bit more.

Are you serious? and you do this 60 times? If you want MPEG-2 files with slightly better quality than DVD use the D-VHS deck's firewire port, It will give you MPEG-2 4:2:0 @720x480i for NTSC and an average bitrate of 15Mbps compression. But not as nearly as close to a lossless capture even after been encoded to h.264, I did a comparison between the two methods back in 2018.

The cloud player adds its own compression, download a sample if you can.

I'm not aware of a way to connect firewire to my Win 10 laptop. It would have to interface through USB.

D-VHS to Laptop :hmm: I tested hooking up DV and D8 camcorders to a win 10 machine using the Pinnacle 500-USB as shown in the link below, But I've never tried a D-VHS deck, I can give it a shot with the same Win10 machine that doesn't have firewire but it may take some time as I'm busy right now.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/...am#post2577576

The MV45 I am considering purchasing has a manufacture date of April, 2008 (see attached photo). Would this unit still use the preferred LSI chipset? I thought those models were all produced between 2003 - 2006.