One interesting note about the JVC SR-S388E i noticed today when browsing about in manuals, it seems to share ICs and mechanism with the pre-1998 JVC comsumer decks, so it's more akin to e.g the HR-S9400E (albeit without the dynamic drum) than the common JVC TBC decks which are all from 1998 (e.g S9500) or later and which adopted a redesigned mechanism and compacted several ICs into the main Video/Audio IC. How well it works in practice though I have no idea. on

Also different note about PAL JVC SVHS decks, besides ones with Philips badges there are some Thomson-badged variants of the JVC SVHS decks, including some with TBC, though I don't know which ones correspond to what JVC/Philips ones.

I have a number of Chromium tapes that have audio only recorded onto them using a Panasonic NV-HD675B using the RCA inputs on the machine (in SP mode) recorded in 1999. (The audio is from a radio station after limiter/compression but before transmission, so is fairly loud) I want to extract the audio now from the tapes, but have been advised that I should get a machine that produces a cleaner outgoing audio signal, than simply getting another NV-HD675B machine?? Can anyone let me know if that is true? and which machine/s would best lend themselves to extraction of the audio only.

After my overview of all PAL Panasonic SVHS video recorders from 1988-2004 released in Germany:

http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vide...html#post77079

Here now the overview of all PAL JVC SVHS VCRs which were released in Germany from 1988-2004.
The list also includes the most interesting SVHS recorders from JVC's Professional series as well as some french devices and some that were available in the United Kingdom (UK) but not all of them.


1988: JVC HR-S5000
1989: JVC BR-S811E (JVC Professional Series)
1990: JVC HR-S5500
1991: JVC HR-S9000
1991: JVC HR-S5800
1991/1992: JVC HR-S4700
1992: JVC BR-S622E (JVC Professional Series with TBC board)
1992: JVC BR-S822E (JVC Professional Series with TBC board)
1992/1993: JVC HR-S6800
1993: JVC BR-S522E (JVC Professional Series with TBC board)
1993: JVC BR-S525E (JVC Professional Series with TBC board)
1994: JVC HR-S5900
1994: JVC HR-S6900
1995/1996: JVC HR-S7000
1995/1996: JVC HR-S9200
1997: JVC HR-S9400 with DD (Dynamic Drum)
1998: JVC HR-S9500 with TBC, DD
1998: JVC HR-S7500
1998: JVC HR-S8500 withTBC, DD
1999: JVC HR-S6600
1999: JVC HR-S6611
1999: JVC HR-S7600 with TBC (Champagne Color)
1999: JVC HR-S7611 with TBC (Black Color)
1999: JVC HR-S8600 with TBC, DD
1999: JVC HR-S9600 with TBC, DD
1999: JVC HR-DVS1 DV+SVHS device with TBC
2000: JVC HR-S7700 with TBC, Champagne Color, first VCR with ET Technology (recording on VHS Tapes with SVHS Quality)
2000: JVC HR-S7711 with TBC (Black Color)
2000: JVC HR-S7722 with TBC (Silver Color)
2000: JVC HR-S8700 with TBC
2000: JVC HR-S9700 with TBC, DD
2000: JVC HM-DR10000 with TBC
2000: JVC HR-S6700
2000: JVC HR-S6711
2000: JVC HR-DVS2EU DV+SVHS device with TBC
2001: JVC HR-S6850 (Front Panel: Pure Silver, Window: Smoke Light Gray Color)
2001: JVC HR-S6851 (Front Panel: Pure Silver, Window: Green Color)
2001: JVC HR-S6852 (Front Panel: Black, Window: Smoke Pink Color)
2001: JVC HR-S6855EK (UK)
2001: JVC HR-S6856EK (UK)
2001: JVC HR-S6856EK (UK)
2001: JVC HM-HDS1 Harddisk Recorder + SVHS device with TBC
2001/2002: JVC HR-S9850 with TBC
2001/2002: JVC HR-S8850 with TBC
2001/2002: JVC HR-S7850
2001/2002: JVC HR-S7851
2001/2002: JVC HR-DVS3 DV+SVHS device with TBC
2002: JVC HR-S5950
2002: JVC HR-S5955EK (UK)
2002: JVC HR-S5955MS (french)
2002: JVC HR-S6950 (silver color)
2002: JVC HR-S6953 (black color)
2002: JVC HR-S6955MS (french)
2002: JVC HR-S7950 with TBC
2002: JVC HR-S7955EK with TBC (UK)
2002: JVC HR-S7955MS no TBC!!! (french)
2003: JVC HR-S6960
2003: JVC HR-S7960 with TBC
2003: JVC HR-S7965EK with TBC (UK)
2003: JVC HR-S8960 with TBC
2003: JVC HR-S8965EK (UK)
2003: JVC HR-XVS20EU DVD/SVHS device
2003: JVC HR-S6960
2003: JVC HR-S5960
2004: JVC HR-S5970

some additional information:
I have collect all the information from old video magazines, advertisements, service and user manuals and my own devices.
If I have forgotten or some information is wrong about the TBC or DD, please let me know to complete the overview.
If someone is thinking of buying one of the JVC Professional series, please make sure that the TBC board is really included.

Thank you, very useful! :congrats:

I really like my HR-S7965EK, but didn't realize or more likey just forgot) it was one of the final with-TBC decks. Some of the EOL JVC decks were the best of the best.

I see the SR-V10E is missing.
Also SR-VS30E, an excellent S-VHS deck (but terrible DV deck).

Isn't the SR-V10E at least German? I thought so. Both German and Australian. In fact, one of the very few Australia native PAL decks, made and sold for that market, not just import from Europe.

I did some more research in regards to the JVC SR-VS30E, JVC SR-MV30, JVC SR-V10E.
I can't find any information in german video magazines, advertisements or video forums.

The only thing I found was a german user manual for the SR-V10E. The SR-V10E is from JVC's Professional series. The SR-V10E can still be added to the list.

For the SR-VS30E, I'm not sure if it was sold in Germany, I can't find any informationen in german language.

For the SR-MV30 I only found information about the NTSC version.

2002: JVC SR-V10E with TBC (JVC Professional Series)

2002: JVC SR-VS30E MiniDV + SVHS with TBC
2004: JVC SR-MV30 DVD + SVHS with TBC (NTSC)

1999: JVC HR-S7600 with TBC (Champagne Color) should have DD and S-VHS ET, At least the HR-S7600AM and HR-S7600U (black) which I'm certain they are.

You have to pay attention to the correct designation of the name.

The full name for the device is JVC HR-S 7600EU.

The JVC HR-S7600AM and JVC HR-S7600U are different devices.

This means JVC-HR-S7600EU with TBC, no DD, no S-VHS ET.

Yeah they used 8xxx for the almost top of the line model in Europe for those years, so the 8600EU/EK does have DD and is more akin to the 7600U than the 7600EU. Some features also came later to the european variants, such as SVHS ET (one gen later) and video stabilizer which is only on the very late European models.

Not sure where the AM variants were sold, they seem to be models designed to handle both standard NTSC and PAL (as opposed to NTSC on PAL playback on the Ex models, may have tuner for both but not sure).

The S388E may or may not have been sold in Germany, at least it was sold in Europe somewhere but seems it was pretty rare according to this post.

Besides that, there were some philips SVHS decks (2000s ones) and some with Thomson/Telefunken (and maybe their other brands?) that shared parts with the JVC ones. Not sure how the relationship was exactly.

Oh I see, So 7600 is the base model and the letters indicate the added features.
@ hodgey: The HR-7600AM was an international model probably made in Singapore, It is the only model ever made including non JVC brands with S-VHS and line TBC with native 525/626 scanning (no conversion between standards), PAL, NTSC 5.58, NTSC 4.43 and MESECAM ( no SECAM).

I would say the letters at the end mostly (if not entirely) indicate the target market. Here is lordsmurf's breakdown of JVC's letter codes. This reply and this one are good too.

Kinda weird that they keep the light on to trick ya.

Would it be possible to incorporate or list remote control compatibility between the various recommended VCR units?

For example, JVC HM-DH40000U VCR's (refurbished or otherwise) are almost always sold missing their remote (JVC LP21036-013 I think), but they are effectively useless without one since the buttons on the unit are limited. What other remote(s) would work with the JVC HM-DH40000U?

I believe that it would help a lot of people if any of the recommended VCR's that require a remote to be useful also had compatible JVC or universal remotes listed, especially since this thread is a top search result for these projects. Thanks.

New here, sup. I dumped "jvc hr" vhs on US eBay and found some S-VHS players/records not listed on the pages 1-2 model listing. Would be good to update and include others mentioned, such as VC BR-S822DXU from VideoTechMan.

I like Bogilein's PAL list for narrowing down when the U models were made and for mentioning to check that the TBC board is included. The BR model I found is pretty cool for having separate sync BNC input for genlocking. Perhaps is standard for BR models.

• JVC BR-S500U
• JVC HR-S4800U
• JVC HR-S3600U
• JVC HR-S5912U
• JVC HR-S5000U
• JVC HR-S5800U
• JVC HR-S6700U

those are not TBC VCRS and would not be good for tape transfers

I was just searching replacement remotes for this JVC and came upon your post. I've noticed the same about used models like this missing the original. Definitely wondering whether or not a universal/compatible remote would offer all of the desired functions. Would be curious to hear from anyone who's dealt with purchasing a remote separately.

How does an HDMI VCR model like the Panasonic DMR-EZ47V compare to the recommended VHS-S/D/W models? I'm looking to get a VCR without having to also invest in a HDMI conversion kit, if possible. I don't want to sacrifice quality, though, so please be honest with me if this isn't the best route for capturing VHS digitally.

It doesn't even come close. Those are low-end consumer VCR+DVD combos, and are essentially bottom quality. Garbage even. The signal is sloppy and unstable, the image looks like crap. Wiggle, chroma noise, etc.

Why are you trying to force VHS into HDMI? That alone will severely harm quality.

Thank you!

Just a question,

So the difference between the JVC HR-9700EU and the 9700EK is that the former was from Europe, while the 9700EK was the same model sold in the UK.

Would a UK tape work in a 9700EU?

Yeah the only difference is what the tuner accepts broadcast stereo system support and what the rf modulator outputs but that's not relevant unless you need to use the antenna cables for some reason. The only PAL variants that are special are PAL-M used in brazil and PAL-N used in some south american countries (though the latter plays mostly normally in a normal PAL deck.)

The UK model also lacks MESECAM support. Seems it was common for UK models to not feature that while central european models typically did.

Lastly a UK deck will have a UK power plug, central europe variant an europlug, though if you are in europe it's gonna be same voltage/frequency so can simply use an adapter which are readily available.

That's interesting. I guess based on that I'll go with the 9700EU.
So a Brazilian tape wouldn't work in a PAL VCR ?

IIRC, Argentinian tapes were NTSC.

I am purchasing a JVC 7611 with TBC though it does not have a remote I have many JVC professional VCRs with remotes that are NTSC will these remotes work with the 7611?

Also I live in Canada and our power is 120 volts will I need a step up convertor to 220 volts?

No special remote needed. Use standard JVC MBR, the LP20303 safest.

No special (step) power needed. Just get a plug shape adapter, convert PAL/Europe prongs to USA, about $5-10 on Amazon or eBay. The power specs of the unit probably do say 50/60 100-240, aka a worldwide power supply. Even if not, ignore any PAL-only 220/240 specs, on these JVC S-VHS decks on these generations.

I use a 7611, simple plug shape adapter, wonderful deck. Mine came from VCRshop. And I use the JVC remotes I already had, came with 3800/7600/9900/etc. All fine.

The strange thing is, the JVC 7611 manual on manualsLib has a picture of this vcr that are taken from the vcrshop website… (4 digit number sticker on top) Shame about those high prices at vcrshop for desperate people i guess...

Nonsense.
Twice.

The 7611 deck predates VCRshop, and VCRshop doesn't use stock photos. Those ripoff manual sites scrape information from places like VCRshop, this site, manufacturer sites, and others. Most of those sites have added watermarks, missing pages, wrong info, etc. It's nothing more than a shoddy scraper. So I'm not shocked whatsoever if content was taken from multiple sources, mashed together, and you got fooled by it.

VCRshop prices are a bargain. He sells refurb'd decks, not some random crap from eBay, a thrift market, or a boot sale. Right now, PAL S-VHS decks are somewhat abundant. But someday that will change (as it has with NTSC), the prices will move upwards (and no, not due to mere supply/demand).

You admittedly use low-end cheap combo decks, lousy VCRs with DVD players/recorders, not quality VCRs of any kind, so I'd suggest this isn't a conversation where you're qualified to give any input.

Good to know that I do not need a step up power supply. Glad to know I can use my remote which is the one you have listed.

Greetings! I am converting my VHS tapes and I have the JVC HR-V510 model at hand. Is it any good? I could not find information if it has TBC. Any opinions, should I look for something else?

In post No 3 many of the PAL models have "EK". I see many VCRs on VCRShop have "EU". Could somebody please explain the significance of the EK and EU, and is one better than the other?

The last 2 letters is a designation of what marked it was sold in. Suspect EU is central/northern europe (sans france) and EK is british isles based on features but not 100% sure. Difference between EU and EK will mostly be tuner and broadcast stereo system support which isn't really relevant for capture though one potential relevant thing is that the variation sold in the British isles often lacked MESECAM support. The designation wasn't always super consistent though.

On e.g the HR-S9700 the EU model you can see the feature table in this service manual. Unless you plan to use the rf modulator/tuner the only relevant difference is the lack of MESECAM support on the EK model.

Models with e.g AM , MS and U suffix are going to differ much more so have to check more carefully on those.

Thanks Hodgey, that's great.

I know for sure AM Multi-system NTSC/PAL/MESECAM, MS SECAM, U NTSC US model. I believe European models have differences on how to handle other formats such as NTSC (PAL60, NTSC 4,43) and MESECAM, but not sure.

Thanks Latreche, I'm looking for a bog-standard PAL box so all those should be OK.

This list is great, and so glad I've found this site. Made an account just to say thanks!

I don't have tons of experience with any sort of tape players (unless I count my reel-to-reel...) but I at least have a little bit of knowledge of "video stuff" due to my arcade/retro-game hobby. I have a lot of Sony PVM/BVM and Panasonic CRT monitors which I have learned to service, Extron RGB interfaces/scalers/matrix switches, and some modern upscalers/capture devices.

I don't have a massive amount of tapes to digitise but I'm building a sort of "playback/archival/preservation" rack where my goal is to have at least one good quality playback/recording device for each major obsolete media format so in the event I ever would like to play, digitise or copy my old media to the same or another format in the future I will be able to do so with ease.

I was surprised to see no Sony VHS devices in the list. Is the reason for this simply lacking features such as no TBC? For my rack project I was exclusively looking for rack-mounted/factory rackmountable equipment (which the Sonys seemed to satisfy) and from some quick searching noticed a lot of the recommended JVC/Panasonic suggestions did not have rack ears. So, I'm best to stick to only those in this list and then put them in a tray mount? Are there any rack equivalents or ones I missed/overlooked?

Sony was not clear about how they implemented their TBC functionality and certainly never called it as such, They've been always sectretive about their designs, That uncertainty from the consumer kept their brand off the suggested list, I'm pretty sure that some of their machines have some sort of time base correction since they did employ digital processing and memory buffers in some of their VCRs but there was no button to turn them on or off for comparaison purposes. hence there is no way to know their effectivness.

The majority of the listed models are prosumer decks meant to sit in someones living room rather than designed with rackmount in mind, though some of the more editing-focused ones did to an extent.

There are some Sony SVHS VCRs with TBC, the SVO-5800 definitely has it, while the SVO-9500MDP and SVO-9600 with an add in card that states "corrects jitter" among other things. The 9500 you can see Jason Scott of archive.org using several of to digitize on his twitch stream with subsequent uploads to archive.org if you want to get an idea of how those work. Not seen much samples of the other too, though some people on videohelp have praised the 5800. These are all SP-only professional marked decks though.

In the Japanese marked there are some Sony consumer-oriented SVHS decks that advertise TBC, such as the WV-DR7/WV-DR9 and Wv-D9000 SVHS/DVCam combos, and the SLV-R7 (which looks to be a fancier variant of the SLV-R5 we got elsewhere.) and probably some more. Not much info in engish on any of these. The Japanese market had a number of bonkers over the top VCRs which we only got cut down variants of elsewhere.

@ kardus: VHS was a typical consumers format, only as option used in studios, keep also in mind, that there are many newer VHS consumer VCR's perform better than those old bulky VHS studio models,
The most recent scalers and converters are mostly made for game consoles, which have a steady signal already, unlike an analog vcr, some vcr's or camcorders claim to have some sort of stablilisation, which is sometimes just enough for the not so picky consumer capture devices, if you have a lot of money, and find that rare & costly good working TBC, you are in luck, my personal opinion is, that it is a lot of work and knowledge to use a computer to capture analog video, once having a steady video signal, (f.i. by use of a consumer passthrough device with VHS refresh feature) then using a dedicated (no cheap china) analog to digital (SDI/HDMI) converter, one can have a good transfer, where the "think" stuff is already done, like the video levels etc… and record to an invisible lossless format, like Prores422 onto monitor/recorder (or add on SDI/HDMI pc-card, no usb..)
You have an easy workflow that way also for bulk transfer, if that is what you need, if you have enough of spare time you can try using an computer, but the learning curve is steep is my opinion, i know other people completly disagree with my opinion, i don't care, that's another story for different reasons :)

You are 100% correct. :)

Generic lowest-end PAL consumer VCR. Not a good deck at all, way too low end.

:congrats:

Be careful with Extron gear, some BS is out there, claiming features/abilities not actually present, for functions never intended.

The main reasons are that
- Not intended for consumer sources whatsoever, so no VHS, especially not LP and SLP/EP mode.
- Most Sony S-VHS decks are ancient, lacking features, and failing en masse (and have been for decades now, reason why so few are now seen).
- The Sony decks were intended for niche uses, such as using in hospitals, surveillance, or with pro turnkey Sony edit setups. So heavily used by non-video people, aja another reason units were abused, and mostly failed.

In the Sony S-VHS decks that were created for hobbyist/pro "prosumers", and using some % of consumer sources (ie VHS), where playback line TBC is essential, no such TBC was included. It was just overpriced, and you paid for the Sony name brand, not the features and function.

I believe a single Sony deck had TBC, but it's so rarely seen.
(Around 1998/99, I vaguely remember that Sony being on the shelf, at a flagship major-metro Circuit City store, next to an Aiwa S-VHS, and several JVCs. At the time, I was considering adding a non-JVC deck, but trying to resist pricey Panasonics, then ~$2k MSRP. I took a test tape with me. I left with another JVC.)

JVC racks exist. The gear I sell in the marketplace isn't picked-over eBay junk sold by recyclers, but comes from more professional settings. It's often gear pulled from racks, from facilities ending analog work, or closing entirely. Most all TBCs and S-VHS have racks, it's simply harder to locate in the 2020s, seeing as how that was a 90s/00s need and use. Over the years, I tried to sell them cheap, then tried togive them away for free. No takers. I now just trash or recycle them.

Right now, I have a JVC rack in the garage. If you want it, just cover the shipping, and it's yours. It's in nice condition too, no real scratches. It wasn't even dirty until I set it out there. But I'd clean it back off for you. We can discuss details on the rack, the models it's made for, via PM.

That's exactly it. The suggested list for models that are guaranteed to work, though condition of course matters more now (good model + bad condition = bad unit). Anything that is screwy to use simply is not suggested. The list is meant to help others, not give them more problems. Yes, some items are omitted by oversight, but some are purposely not listed. In fact, after the forum upgrade, I want to create a list of NOT suggested items, with reasons.

I think you're referring to the old VTRs here, the medical and whatnot. And that's all correct for those. The units "do stuff", because the intended users were non-video persons. As we all know, reading is often hard, instructions are just more padding in the box. To protect their own brand reputation (ie, items work, and well, for that intended use), it had to be dumbed down for dummies. And not having buttons, menus, all cheaper to not implement.

No, never. Prosumer decks were intended for hobbyists, and professionals (tertiaries, backup, portables, smaller shops, etc), not Joe Sixpack that sat his duff on the couch with a bag of Cheetos.

It was really just a case of smarter design, smarter at knowing their audience, and smarter at cost savings (everything from materials costs to shipping costs). These units did not need rack ears, but racks were optionally available as needed.

... and intended for special settings, heavily recording-only, sometimes linear editing.

A setting like medical is disgusting, so many (hopefully) dead germs/bacteria/allergens on and in those things. It's a petri dish. I've turned down medical VCRs, even for free, for decades now. No way. Nasty. Unless I know, with documented proof, what it was used in a non-medical setting. Normal VCRs are risky enough as it is (mold spew).

And NTSC-J, so IRE/pedestal doesn't match North America.

It's because your opinion is based on a tiny sample size, where luck can massively skew your results. Furthermore, your samples to date have been extremely lackluster, even to other newbies/laymen. Again, I'm glad you found a solution for yourself, but many others won't be anywhere as pleased, and in fact your solutions won't work for them whatsoever.

Also notice this is a thread dedicated to recommended VCRs. Not other random cheap items. Stay on topic. ;)

The NTSC vs NTSC-J difference is what's on the tape, the VCR normally won't have any effect on it, it's just going to pass whatever variant was recorded on the tape out. Though in this case the VCR has TBC/Digital processing that actually does interact with the sync pulses in the video so could get the level slightly off depending on how it's designed. Unless it's actually clipping (though that seems like it would be more a thing with NTSC-J tape on standard NTSC) it should be an issue though.

Internal processing. That's exactly it, as is often the case. Almost everything internally processes to some degree, and has since the late 80s. Most processing is bad, in a macro sense of all VCRs ever made. Not including the VCRs on the recommended list, or course, though many of those also have lousy settings that harm (JVC R3, Sharp picture mode, Calibration).

In the later years of VHS, Sony basically let other manufacturers use their technology under other brands in other markets around the world, Asia, Europe, Africa, They kept selling few high end consumer models mostly in North America and Japan, I remeber when I use to live in North Africa I see Aiwa, Funai, Toshiba, Philips, Sanyo, Thomson (French). Basically JVC, Sony and Panasonic were rare and very expensive because they were imported by individual immigrants.