Conversion gear improvement comparison!
 

It truly is amazing to see how far I've come in the journey of mastering video conversions. This forum was a springboard for me into really honing my skills (and I still have a long way to go).

I wanted to share an image of my newish setup, vs. my old crap setup.

New Setup:
SHVS >> Frame TBC >> Roxio/EasyCrap (yeah I know...working on it, nearly done saving up for a better card)
Capturing in 4:3

Old Setup:
Symphonic VHS/DVD Combo >> Roxio/EasyCrap
Capturing in 16:9

Attachment 17888

I had a ton of tearing and artifacts in the old setup among other issues. I know the new setup isn't perfect but it sure is making a difference while I work my way up to my best gear which is nearly complete!

It's been a fun journey! I've even been further challenged with a VHS transplant where the inner mechanisms of 1 case were busted and had to carefully transfer the reels into a donor case. I also just recently had to splice a video from 1989 (my grandparent's 25th wedding anniversary) because the tape detached from one side of the reel and I couldn't rewind it.

Thankfully the tear was just on the clear end part of the tape and the splicing tape never had to pass through the heads!

Anyways, probably going on a bit long here, so just wanted to say thanks to all who've guided me so far!

Thanks,
MEL

What model SVHS and what model TBC?

SVHS - JVC HS-S7900U

I got it off Ebay (learning experience on my end) and it came DOA. The seller ghosted me. I was fortunate that I have a stellar local repair person in my area that was able to get it back to life.

TBC - CVP CDM-820

Again another Ebay learning experience...but got much luckier with this purchase!

Working my way towards paying off a premium workflow from Lord Smurf, so can't wait to see further improvements! At this rate the Capture card is only thing I haven't replaced yet...imagining that will show further improvement.

I'm in between jobs (side business) so practicing with my families tape and making sure I'm doing the best. (Don't worry I didn't ever charge anyone for work done on the old setup, I'm not a monster LOL!)

Thanks for that info. HS or HR?

The HR-S7900U is on the recommended list. I'd be asking LS if another VCR is really necessary.

That's surely HR.

JVC NTSC essentially has 3 generations of S-VHS VCRs, with 2/3 having dual branches. The 7900 has properties that are lesser than certain EOL, and it will matter in certain scenarios (and not at all, or even opposite, for others). Remember, I give custom advice, not generic. So it will be an upgrade here, for this specific user and use case. Realize that JVC PAL and JVC NTSC have very little in common on some aspects, and that is definitely true with the 7x00 models.

That CDM-820 is still suspect, I'd want to feed it some TBC test tapes.

At any rate, this thread is a great example of what trading up gear quality does. When it comes to VCRs, it's not just heads, but transport, alignment, etc, which is part of what creates quality and stability.

A comment on your two captures:

Assuming you used the Roxio digitiser for both, the capture software and/or VHS/DVD combo has been set up incorrectly for the 16:9 capture. You will not get a 16:9 frame if a proper capture is set up.

He says he used it for both.

That’s probably why he’s capturing 4:3 now.

Congratulations on your continuing improvement. If the pictures are a good representation of the video in this case that’s a massive difference.

It’s interesting to learn about.