Diagonal video distortion in VirtualDub?
 

Hi all,

First just want to say thank you to this site and Lord Smurf for being such a tremendous resource for those looking to digitize VHS tapes.

I am attempting to digitize some tapes of mine for the first time. My setup currently is:

JVC HR-DVS3U -> Panasonic DMR-ES15 (for TBC; not currently in the workflow at the moment) -> S-Video Cable -> ATI Wonder 600 USB -> VirtualDub (Windows 7)

VirtualDub gets the signal once the source has been switched to S-Video (same is true for composite). I get (fairly) clean video of the tape for about 3-5 seconds and then the video distorts terribly into diagonal strips going from bottom-left to top-right (please see attached image).

I've tried playing around with the settings in VirtualDub, but is this perhaps a settings issue with the VCR? It's odd to me that the video is fine and then changes for no apparent reason.

If anyone might have insight into what I'm doing wrong or how I might be able to combat this issue, I would very much appreciate it. Thanks very much in advance for any help.

Welcome. :)

- DVS3 has line TBC
- ES15 has line TBC (thus does nothing if VCR TBC on, and VCR TBC is better image quality)
- ES15 has non-TBC frame sync, which tends to just dupe bad frames, and not correct (ie, frame TBC)
- ES15, in general, lowers quality by a %

s-video, 600 USB, VirtualDub ... all good.

The ATI 600 USB "diagonal stripe" is anti-copy (usually Macrovision) detection. If may be legit, or false. An actual frame TBC is needed here.

99%+ of cards detect MV. And those that don't are rarely good quality.

Thanks so much. :) I really appreciate the reply.

This explains why the picture was just black when I passed the s-video through, ha. That's my fault for not understanding it wasn't needed with the VCR TBC in play, whoops.

When you say cards here, do you mean capture cards (like PCIe)? I know your advice is typically to avoid them so that's why I opted for the USB instead. However, if going with one could help resolve the issue, I'm happy to go that route. I just don't unfortunately think that a full-frame TBC is in my budget at the moment, as much as a convenience as it may be.

USB, Firewire, PCIe, PCI, AGP, etc -- those just comm methods. There is nothing inherently better/worse about any of them.

The card itself is what matters. Various PCI, AGP, and USB are best. While PCIe could be good, nothing really good exists for it. Even the AIW PCIe have various issues, and are best avoided.

There are frame TBC(ish) devices, but most of them have flaws, such as excessive luma gain. Most have versions, with the bad versions doing nothing.

The DVKs are the best of the frame TBC(ish), but must be modded. And as I wrote in another post, it's really a device that should be bought from me (or not at all), as there's so many variables. Several people have tried to DIY it, and it's not been cooperative. Right now, I don't have any. I see 3 on eBay, for about $1k each, but I'd definitely avoid 2 of them, and the 3rd is pure gamble. I hate to say "buy this", and then it doesn't work for the person.

The only card that "ignores" most anti-copy is the Tevion clone ATI 600, but I've not seen one of those in months. Those were always fairly rare, not huge production run. But even it can have image issues, just not drastic as the distortions you're seeing here. (Technically, the Canopus ADVC-100 DV box can as well, but quality on it is lousy.)

At this exact moment, this snapshot in time, it won't be easy to get what you want/need. But have some patience, that will change.