How Do These JVC D-VHS Decks Compare with JVC HR-S7800U
 

I have two JVC D-VHS decks: HM-DH5U and HM-DT100U
I also own a JVC S-VHS deck: HR-S7800U

I'm testing these machines out and what I want to do is record some new footage sourced from a S-VHS camera and a DVD player onto new S-VHS tape via s-video using these machines, and then capture that tape onto my PC with Hauppauge USB2 Live via s-video. I'm looking to compare the results. I don't have an external TBC, nor will I be getting one. I'm wondering which of these machines might have the best picture quality in S-VHS mode.

Also, some literature that was published when the D-VHS machines came out that suggested they had an internal TBC. But the manual mentions nothing about TBC and there is no way to manually turn it on or off. I'm wondering if there is some kind of TBC light that is just permanently on, or if that feature ultimately never made to these decks. The HR-S7800U does have a TBC.

Many thanks.

In terms of recording they should all be the same in VHS/S-VHS mode, D-VHS machines don't have a flying erase head so you'll get that colored rainbow at the beginning of each new recording, D-VHS machines have line and frame TBC if used in MPEG-2 mode capture not sure about S-Video out and never actually tried my HM-DH5U in that mode, I did a comparison between the HM-DH5U MPEG-2 files over firewire and the HR-S7600AM over S-Video over at videohelp.

Thanks for the input! I guess when you say the D-VHS machines have TBC if used in MPEG-2 mode, you mean a digital recording on D-VHS, and not S-VHS/VHS, correct?

No, for playing back analog recordings over firewire, D-VHS tapes don't need TBC, timing is digital.

This seems unclear to me. What combinations of recording (analog vs. digital), tape type (VHS or DVHS) and output (HDMI or firewire) result in MPEG-2 being implemented and in TBC being implemented?

Analog tapes only use TBC not digital tapes, Be it D-VHS, DV, HDV...etc And recording to tape has nothing to do with TBC, But I don't know about using S-Video out or HDMI of D-VHS decks for capturing, because I only tested firewire for MPEG-2 capture, So I don't understand what you are asking about. You have the decks just experiment with them and post samples so we can judge the quality.

Fair enough. I appreciate your input.