Camcorder as passthrough line TBC?
 

I've seen a few different references to using a camcorder as a "passthrough line TBC." I always thought that was in reference to Hi8 or Digital8 Cameras that have TBCs. Now that I've acquired a few Hi8 and Digital8 cameras, I'm not sure how you'd actually set that up, since they seem to usually have ONE SET of analog plugs that can be used as EITHER inputs OR outputs.

So given that you can't have analog in and out at the same time with most models, what are people referencing when they refer to using one as a passthrough?

Are they referencing giving it analog in and then converting to a DV stream via Firewire? That seems like more of a conversion than a passthrough to me if so.

No.

You must realize that passthrough is extremely rare, found in maybe 2% (at most) of consumer recording/playback devices. And most of those are higher-end, not junk from thrift stores, nothing ever sold at Walmart or Amazon.

You cannot take any random device (camcorder, DVD recorder, toaster, whatever), and expect it to have passthrough.

In an analog videotape capturing context, "passthrough" refers specifically to the ability for a signal to pass into a device with added TBCs/filters, while utilizing said TBCs/filters, yet not requiring playback on said device. Normally, devices only engage TBCs/filters while playback within the device, not from an external signal.

Hi8 camcorders don't have passthrough. And you are correct, as I'm not aware of any that have any inputs.

DV camcorders (mostly) don't have passthough. A few better cameras do engage mediocre/weak line TBC for external input. However, it comes at a price, because the analog input signal is converted to lossy blocky DV compressed output.

Digital8 is just a DV camera, using 8mm Sony tape. But it's more like Hi8 than DV in this regard.

So what you're reading is a mishmash of nonsense and bad understandings of gear. With all the info we have online, and have for decades, it's really quite sad.

Aside: Sometimes I feel like the video capture community is regressing to child-like naivety when it comes to video. We weren't all this ignorant 10/20/30 years ago. I blame skimming, and not actually reading. Or reading/watching whatever telephone gamed (Youtube/Reddit) BS people come across, and not vetting it or the author. Limited character Twitter/etc platforms didn't help, as you can't teach complex topics in the 2 allowed sentences (most of which is mind vomit anyway). NOTE: This comment is admittedly a bit harsh, but it's not to you directly. ;)

Yes.

Read the manuals. It's all in there. Do a couple of tests to see what, if any, degradation there is.

What on earth are you talking about? Quite a few D8 camcorders do passthrough. That's a fact. It's not "a mishmash of nonsense" or "bad understandings of gear".

As I stated, some did, but most did not. Same for DV cameras. And D8 was closer to Hi8 than DV.

Note that there were far fewer PAL models of camcorders, so that may skew the perception of how many cameras out there have certain features. The OP is NTSC, so that probably also needs to be taken into account.

Manuals have no concept of passthrough.

So what's all this "So what you're reading is a mishmash of nonsense and bad understandings of gear."?

Eh? If the camcorder has the passthrough/Signal convert feature, the manual will describe it.

Sheesh.

"passthrough" has more than one definition, which is why I defined ours. The manual is different.

In my experience with camcorders and VCRs even semi pro ones, I've never heard of a camcorder or a VCR that has analog in, analog out, passthrough that benefited from line TBC. TBC has always been for playing back own tapes, With the exception off course the players or devices with firewire, SDI and HDMI digital outputs which can carry the TBC correction over these ports.