PAL support of JVC HR-S4800 VCR?
 

Does anyone know if the JVC HR-S4800 VCR and Panasonic DMR-ES15 DVD Recorder (to be used as a passthrough TBC), bought in the US, would support playback of PAL VHS recorded by a Panasonic M5 VHS camera from Europe? The goal is video capture.

If it's JVC HR-S4800U the answer is no, Give more information about the VCR, HR-S4800 alone doesn't mean anything.

Yes, it's JVC HR-S4800U (with the U at the end).

Regarding the DVD recorder (Panasonic DMR-ES15), do you think it's possible to use it as a passthrough TBC if connected to a PAL VCR? Or TBCs are also PAL/NTSC?

I don't know about the DMR-ES15, I would assume that they have NTSC and PAL versions as well.

as latreche34 said, there are mutli-region ES10/ES15, and NTSC only ES10/ES15.

PAL units can do NTSC, PAL and SECAM inputs (model number ends with eg or egc)

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/...15-DMR-ES25%29

So no, if you want PAL equipment, buy it from ebay UK, or from DE/NL sellers. Usually, equipment in the US cannot do PAL.

Be careful of linking that VH thread. It has massive amounts of misinformation in it. At very most, if reading, don't read beyond the first post. Some of the people who replied to that thread have zero knowledge of Panasonic units. Bad advice, bad info.

Be careful of ES10/15 on eBay, without living in the same country. I only buy these PAL units from local contacts that I trust (even if he/she buys from eBay, so it can be local returned), not from random eBay sellers directly. As per some recent Europe contacts, eBay gear in Europe is now getting bad like North America. I guess it was inevitable.

I have a PAL ES10, and it's overall as good as the NTSC units. In fact, PAL units swap PAL/NTSC (not quasi, true NTSC).

So HR-S4800U would work with PAL ES10 swapped to NTSC mode. Just note that it's not entirely 1:1 with the USA version, and the swap can be a bit tricky/unnerving.

I didn't read beyond the first post, so I didn't know about the comments... thanks for mentioning it.

You will get PAL60 or NTSC 4.43 out of a PAL DVD recorder, not all capture cards support that pseudo format.

Have you used a PAL DVD recorder before? if yes, which model?

The statement is a bit misleading. DVD recorders are not like VCRs. Every single PAL DVD recorder I have seen, or heard about CAN OUTPUT TRUE NTSC, you just have to find the button(s) to switch from PAL (default) to NTSC mode, some DVD recorders won't even output anything if you give them NTSC input without setting them on NTSC output. This includes non-Panasonic DVD recorders. There might be pal DVD recorders that can only output pal60 as you said, but it is not the norm.

DVD recorders are very commonly used across Europe as a standard converter for people with cards that can't do PAL 60 (i.e people with canopus advc).
PAL VCR with NTSC tape---(pal 60)--> DVD recorder---> True NTSC, or True PAL ---> Capture card that does not support pal 60.

Literally, LS precisely specified "units swap PAL/NTSC (not quasi, true NTSC)." in his reply above.

Other than that, and to stay on topic. OP:

You want an external correction à la ES10/ES15. Get a 1x EU/PAL ES 10, it will work 100% fine for your NTSC vcr and your PAL VCR, no need to buy another US es10.

Your current VCR is a US model, so no, it won't play PAL tapes. If you want to play PAL tapes, get a PAL VCR, or a multi-standard VCR (ends with AM, not U) like the one latreche34 has.

I either never thought about it, or just not thought about it in a long time.

You are correct. I don't recall seeing any DVD players/recorder that failed to output true PAL or NTSC.
With one exception...
I think...
Maybe...
It was a certain Cyberhome from the early 2000s. Those were some fun players to hack, access hidden menus. All of ours failed years ago, in the 00s. Like most players, those failed in 2-5 years, disposable junk in the end.

No, I don't have a PAL DVD recorder but I'm aware that there are VCR's and DVD recorders that convert from one format to another. My post was based on the idea that devices that convert 100% from one format to another in the analog domain screw up frame rate, It is best to keep the original frame rate outputing a pseudo format and have a compatible capture card do the processing directly into YUV during the analog to digital conversion process.

Ideally use the same VCR format and tape but sometimes you work with what you got and try to minimize losses, I'm not a big fan of converting formats, I've seen results of converting VCR's before such as the Samsung 5000 series.