Backing up VHS tapes with as little loss as possible?
Hello,
I am trying to archive a LOT of VHS tapes (NTSC, PAL, and even SECAM) over to a digital file with as little loss as possible. I read the VCR Buying Guide, as well as the ATI All-in-Wonder guide, and I still have just a few more questions. First, I purchased a JVC HR-S5800U because the guide said that these are good for tape transport for tapes not requiring TBC (most of mine don't). It was damaged during shipment, but I opened it up and it seems to be fine. It also plays back tapes fine, too. Except for tapes recorded using the VCR itself, which I find to be a bit weird. The colors are off by just a little bit (light blue looks like teal), and changing the "EDIT" switch from OFF to ON seems to change the colors to what they should be. But then again, I'm afraid of that tampering the output in some way. Also, the sound seems to be lowered an awful lot, and mainly coming out the right speaker. Playing that same tape on another, lower-cost VCR makes the colors & audio appear fine. For the record, I live in the US and the tapes I tested were NTSC. Additionally, so far I've tested out Santa Clause, some Batman VHS, and The Rescuers Down Under, and those all seemed to play fine, without any copy protection issues. I'm not sure if it's just that those tapes don't have any protection on them to begin with, or my setup is bypassing it. Either way, I'd like to bypass any copy protection I may face (may sound obvious to some, but I just to clarify). I also read that, to get the tapes over to digital I would need to get an ATI All-in-Wonder card from the list of recommended models. I followed up by purchasing an ATI All-in-Wonder 9600 128MB AGP card and threw it into an XP machine I had lying around. FYI, my entire setup is using S-Video and composite stereo audio. Another thing to add is that, with VirtualDub, doesn't saving as an .AVI file introduce loss? I don't want to deinterlace my video, by the way. Just want a raw, untouched input with a raw, untouched output. After all of that, I looked elsewhere and found someone on a different forum discussing the exact same thing I'm trying to do back in February of 2017. Other people recommended him to go all out and get one of those medical-grade VTRs, and then get either a Canopus ADVC-110 or one of those Blackmagic Intensity Shuttles to record the video to. What I'm wondering is, what would be the best option for me to choose? Is there a certain model of VCR/VTR that I should get, or a few that you recommend I should get for each situation I may fall into? Is my current setup of a JVC HR-S5800U and an ATI AiW 9600 good enough to get what I'm looking for? Money isn't an issue. I want to get the absolute best out of my tapes. Thank you EDIT: After some more checking, I would say about 50% of the tapes don't need a TBC, while the other half do. Also, I discovered that the colors & sound are off no matter what tape I play. But oddly enough, a tape recorded with my JVC HR-S5800U appears fine on a different player (but still, not the JVC one). |
Welcome.
Hm, a lot to think about here.... Quote:
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The best way around the shortcomings of any single player is to do the best you can with it and use an alternate player when necessary. Lots of users have found themselves in that situation. My primary player is a rebuilt Panasonic AG-1980. But I've had to use a non-tbc Panasonic with a Panny tbc pass-thru unit in tow because of a maverick tape that simply refused to make nice with the 1980, and got better results. It usually means doing more denoising later, but it's better than dealing with a tape that won't behave. |
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Posted examples of a really bad player that needs a line tbc, solved with a pass-thru unit: https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/...=ES10+line+TBC. A common but rather mild example of line "wiggles" produced by typical scanline errors is here: https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/...bo#post1882662. Long discussion thread of other units tested for line tbc use (usually with less serious distortion present): https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/...hat-do-you-use. Quote:
Here's a link to a sample video that displays side effects from copy protection (chroma flicker and periodic red/green color changes, especially visible in bright areas) as well as distortions in the histogram that throw a cyan color cast into neutral gray areas, resulting in grubby looking colors. The capture was made with a 1998 Panny with no tbc or noise reduction, because players with aggressive dnr simply smeared everything and made the made the side effects slightly worse to work with: B_flicker_samples_after.mpg . The line-tbc pass-thru unit for this capture was a Toshiba XS34 DVD-R. The external line tbc to defeat copy protection was an AVT-8710, 2004 vintage. The repair of that chroma problem was B_flicker_samples_after.mpg, but it's partial and not very satisfactory IMO. I still had to tweak that one later. Side effects weakened as the tape played, and disappeared about 20 minutes into the movie. Thank goodness. Quote:
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I'd say you have enough lower-tier VCRs to work with. I'd put my investment in a premium unit such as JVC 9800 series or the Panasonic AG series. This assumes the units have been brought up to spec, which is difficult to find from auction sites. Better to get something from a pro shop that knows what's it doing (https://www.tgrantphoto.com/sales/in...fessional-vcrs is recommended). |
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We'll probably always disagree on this, but that's what I've done since the 90s. Quote:
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