JVC transports are simple compared to the cuckoo-clock in a Panasonic deck

I bought a PANASONIC NV-HS 960 EG-S S-VHS ET. I am satisfied and I think from what I read I did just fine. In any case I prefer Panasonic, Jvc compared. TVB of these respective brands do you think?

I'm in a position to potentially acquire a JVC HR-S7500U. Looking at the manual, it appears to lack the AUTO/EDIT/NORM/SOFT etc "Picture Control" function the 7600+ units feature. It does have the 2MB Digipure TBC/DNR circuit with the Digital R3 and Calibration functions, along with Dynamic Drum (something none of my current VCRs have). Is the lack of Picture Control a deal killer? When I do transfers off of my 7800U, I usually leave it on NORM.

Well if you have the 7800u deck, can't you just use that one if you need the picture modes? If you haven't missed them by now, you probably won't later.

i have personally owned all the 7000 series VCRs.
i feel the 2 best are the 7500 and 7600 - that have the DD and better build quality.
the 7800 and 7900 dont have the DD and are cheaper made.
the 7600 is just a 9600 minus the ghost reduction tuner and with 2mb instead of 4mb

Yeah I have owned most of them as we'll and I'd say the 7600u was built the sturdiest -- it was certainly the heaviest of the bunch. Performance wise though, I found the 7600u, 7800u, and V101US to be basically identical and I'd expect the 7500u to perform similarly if it's in good working condition.

I say the more the merrier though! Pickup the 7500 and keep the 7800 as a spare in the event that you need the picture modes.

The older x500 units actually weren't as well built as the x600-x900 units. Not bad, however. It's probably comparable to the SR-V101, and not so much the 7600, 7800, 7900 or SR-V10.

One of the biggest benefits of JVC S-VHS decks are those image filters. So yes, without those, it's a bit of a deal killer. It would be like having the unit in EDIT mode all the time, meaning the image signal comes complete with all of the grain and other VHS noise boogers. You'd just have the TBC, and nothing else. It would, at best, be a backup unit, or a unit good for misaligning on purpose.

Just my take on it. :2cents:

Yeah, I was wondering if the 7500U was a slightly different construction, because it's sort of the odd man out in terms of the weight and dimensions -- the 7800, 7900, and SR-V10 are all pretty close, but the 7500 is a bit lighter, even though I think it came out a year before the 7600. The SR-V101US is the lightest and smallest of the whole bunch at under 7 lbs (no metal casing) but it also came out way down the line from the others. I bought mine new in 2005, and remember being very concerned about it's diminutive stature, but it's actually held up very well, outlasting my 7600U.

having owned both x500's - (i have 2 9500's right here)
i rate them better than the 7800 or 7900 and WAY better than a V101 as far as build quality
the 9500 actually has a nice metal face plate,great fit/finish and the mechanicals are the exact same as a 9600

Considering I'm getting this on a possible trade for something else, it isn't a deal killer. The machine does have the 3-DNR noise reduction system in it, so it should do some cleaning of the image. I just assumed the picture control was just an extra setting to control the DNR and that the 7500/9500 were just stuck in NORM/AUTO mode with no controls otherwise. I'll take a look at the service manuals to see if the TBC/DNR daughter card has the same part number.

Whatcha doing with it btw? Just an extra deck to play around with?

It would be "stuck in EDIT". There is no NORM/AUTO because it lacks picture controls.
It's very similar to Panasonic S-VHS units, for this very reason.

Otherwise, you are correct -- picture modes are advanced filters beyond the abilities of the DNR/TBC filter.

Pretty much. I'm getting rid of some antique electronics at a family member's house and the guy mentioned he had it. The fact that the machine has the dynamic drum caught my eye since my 7800 lacks it. Perhaps I can pass it through the SR-VD400U to get some of it's filter advantages.

After stumbling through JVC's French site with Google translate and finding the manual, it appears that JVC's "MS" VCRs do offer TBC/DNR support for playing back SECAM-L tapes (True French SECAM). It specifically notes that the TBC/DNR is inactive when playing back MESECAM (Middle East SECAM or SECAM-B, actually a more common format). Same goes for the EU and EK models playing back MESECAM.

The MS models are basically the same as the common EU/EK models with a French TV tuner and SECAM-L playback and recording. According to the manual, they can play back all PAL, SECAM, and NTSC (as an NTSC 4.43 signal) tapes.

Is Panasonic Better Than JVC for EP / SLP tapes?
 

Hello,

For digitizing 30 year old VHS tapes recorded in EP / SLP, would I be better off with a JVC with TBC and Dynamic Drum, or the Panasonic models which you mention are better for EP / SLP?

Thanks!

for EP/SLP the Panasonic AG-1980 will be you best bet. just make sure to find one in 100% working order.
(many on ebay are well used or have problems).

Thanks!

There are sellers on ebay, with 100% ratings, who have "refurbished" the Panasonic AG-1980s.

i.e. http://www.ebay.ca/itm/370756748041?...ht_1076wt_1273
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/290678274748?...ht_2833wt_1273

Any thoughts? They don't seem to offer warranties.

both of them buy broken decks on ebay and fix them-but i cant vouch for eithers abilities
(AV-Collection has multiple user-ids - at least 4 that i know of)
i do know MHtradingpost and Southern Advantage are good

you could also buy one cheap that needs service and send it to Southern - they will go through it for $125

About the Panasonic I would like to know if all models listed below are all equal in "better EP/SLP tape playback" TBC or not!

Do you know others models not listed below that are as good or even better at playing EP/SLP tape?

Thanks

the ones you want if you are doing NTSC tapes are the AG-1980 or the AG-5710 - they are the 2 best
they have an awesome TBC and are great with EP tapes.

the 1960 and 1970 are too damned old, will mostly like have cap problems and are not worth having serviced.

Hi volksjager,

So you telling me that there is no AG-1980 or AG-5710 little brother that come from the same generation with same mechanical efficient tape transport without the TBC.:hmm:

the 1970 does indeed have a great transport - but the TBC is weak and that is important.
the 1960 and 1970 are also much older - the 1970 ended production in 1995 when the 1980 began.
so we are talking an almost 20 year old deck that is known to have cap issues
the chances are you wont get one that does not need servicing (despite what an ebay seller will claim)
and the cost of service will far exceed the value of the deck.
1980's and 5710 are worth the cost of service - 1960's and 1970's are not.
the 1980 and 5710 where made until 2001

Panasonic NV-SV 120
 

Hi, yesterday i bought a Panasonic NV-SV 120 from a person here in Slovenija, and wanna hear if I made a good deal or not.

The picture is working gr8, tested it on some realy old and newer cassetts. The commands are all ok, also the outputs work fine. The inside looks spotles also. But i think it does not have TBC... or yes? TBH i don't understand well the meaning of TBC. I have it plugged to a Yamaha RX-V1600 reciever and it sounds realy nice.

I was looking to buy a NV-HS 1000 2 weaks a go from italy, missed it for some reason and another guy got first. Then the same person was selling a NV-HS 950, but decided to keep it (bad luck i guess)

When i was at my teens i borrowed a NV-HS 950, been recording a lot with it. Thats why i was looking for a S-VHS VCR for a long time.

Too bad i haven't seen this forum before :S

Thanks for the tips!

I've actually had very good luck with the AG-2560 - it has a very good transport thats tracks problematic tapes very well and it doesn't have TBC. I got turned on to it after orsetto's many posts over on videohelp recommending it.

the AG-2560 is not even a Super-VHS and does not have S-video - i would not recommend it at all.
Videohelp has more bad information than good.
most users over there are more interested in saving a buck than doing the job right.

Oh, right, I do forget the AG-2560 is not a S-VHS vcr and that is what this thread is for.

However, for a non S-VHS vcr, I can highly recommend it. Nice picture and great tracking.

I don't remember all the models offhand, but if it has a TBC it's good.
If not, meh.

It's really that easy, for this series of PAL Panasonic units. :)

Hello, I've read through lots of posts on this forum and the entire VCR Buying Guide thread, and there's a ton of great information from folks who seem to really know their stuff, but it's all pretty overwhelming. I have a lot of tapes that I would love to back up digitally, but I'm unsure of what machine would be the best way to go.

Most of my tapes that I want to back up are 20+ years old and recorded in EP/SLP mode, and a lot of them have tough to get rid of, white static-like tracking lines and lots of dark-looking noise in the occurrence of bright reds and oranges. Rainbow-colored chroma noise is sometimes an issue, too. I know the tapes can't be perfect, but I am hopeful that they can probably look a little better than they do now.

Is this something a TBC could help? Is one type of TBC better suited to this case than another? Would DNR be a useful feature? I have looked at the list of VCRs with TBC, but I didn't know which of those also feature DNR.

Right now, the capture device I am using is a Canopus ADVC 110. If there is another that would work better, I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks a ton!

for EP tapes get a Panasonic AG-1980 VCR
just make sure you buy one that is fully tested - many ebay sellers either dont test them at all or dont know how to test them properly.
i have 1 left for sale if interested - it is posted in the marketplace

that Canapus device is not really good for VHS captures
get an ATI capture card
an AIW if using windows XP
or a ATI600USB if using vista or 7

you may also need an External TBC box as well

How many tapes are we talking?
If under 50, use a service -- it's cheaper. If under 100, you'll break even if you buy a good setup, so again, use a service.
So keep that in mind.

The S-VHS VCR TBC helps, yes. It cleans the image/picture up. It removes chroma noise especially.
The external TBC cleans the signal. (Not the same. Which is why you need to get both!)

The "white static-like tracking lines" may be dropouts, and there's nothing you can do for this.

You may need a proc amp for "lots of dark-looking noise".

DNR is the TBC in a VCR. It's more like DNR+TBC.

The ATI AIW and ATI 600 cards are best -- much better than a Canopus ADVC-110.

For EP/SLP, you need a Panasonic AG-1980.

Thanks for the replies and advice.

I'd say at least 100 tapes is a conservative estimate, and most are ones that are rare/irreplaceable enough that I'd hate to turn them over to someone else. A lot of them have been transferred to DVD via a Sony VCR/DVD combo just to have another copy, but I am definitely shooting for quality back-ups.

I actually bought an AG 1980 a while back that has been in the shop for months because it can't eject a tape and their guy can't figure it out. I'm not sure if this is fixable, or if I should just cut my losses and look for a working one.

Is there a certain kind of external TBC or proc amp that is best suited to this kind of thing?

After looking up drop out, the static/lines I was referring to are definitely tracking related.

For suggested TBC, read this: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vide...html#post17020 (post #3)
For proc amps, the Elite Video BVP4, SignVideo PA-100, or a Vidicraft unit. In that order.

I hope this is the right forum section to ask.

Let's say I have money to burn, what's the best of the best* (vcr)? And preferably a pal model that can play pal vhs (svhs isn't important). I've also been looking at some vcr's, that I understand are pro vcr decks, tv station stuff.
For example: http://www.ebay.de/itm/JVC-BR-S-811-...item25793643e7

Would a vcr like that be significantly better (or worse) than any prosumer model?

*= A matter of taste and opinion too I guess.

I'm no expert but would recommend the JVC HR-S9600 or HR-S9700.
You can also look for the Sharp VC-S2000 or some Philips models (1000/1200/1500).
From Panasonic the FS-200 or the HS-1000 are the best.

With the pro decks you can have luck or not (got a Sony with only 36 drum hours that works like a charm) but usually I would avoid them! They are not better!

Hope this helps a bit

sorry if my english isn't correct

The HR-S8xxx series, such as the PAL JVC HR-S8965EK.
Or the Panasnic line, such as the Panasonic NV-HS1000 or Panasonic NV-FS200.

Complete waste of money. That item may be "professional" but it's not the right component for the job. It's not useful for playing VHS tapes or S-VHS tapes. It's primarily a recording unit, and an ancient one at that. (i.e., Likely to have all kinds of problems and worn out parts.)

There's nothing inferior about a prosumer model, and nothing superior about a professional model. Prosumer means the item has consumer features in it, and well as professional. In many cases, the pro features vastly outweigh the consumer features. Few have been added. In the case of VCRs, you want the prosumer item in most cases. The only exception is really latter-generation "professional" models, which resemble prosumer items from 5-10 years earlier. Realize the what's "pro" is as subjective as "best".

Only up to a point. There's an obvious group of 10-20 "best". Which exact one you want, however, is the up to debate. For example, JVC dynamic drum or not. Or JVC vs. Panasonic, which is heavily affected by the tapes in your collection. So while it's partially subjective, there's most certainly "best" VCRs to start from.

Hope that helps clarify it for you. :)

Yes it does, thanks to the both of you. Though the model numbers are confusing. Here's a bunch of JVC's, any of those "hit the spot" so to speak?

I have lots of very old rental tapes, so the best one for old rentals would be right one.
If I've understod correct, a HR-S9*** model might not be an better than a HR-S8*** series model. I'm hope I'm on the right track.

I currently have a JVC HM-DR10000 and assume one of those "10-20 "best" would be better than my DR10000?

9850
9700
9600
8700
7711
7722
7700
7600

There's several great models. :congrats:

Just refer to this guide on the first page of this thread. I need to add some more, I think. It's not complete.

Thank you. Though there's so many models, I'm not sure which one to buy.:hmm:

In my opinion and experience DR-10000 most def is better than 9xxx and 8xxx.

So there's no step up from Dr-10000?:eek: