I've duplicated some information from my post in the sticky TBC topic. But I felt that this deserved a thread of it's own. Especially as I have a question and I don't want to clutter up the sticky thread any further.
For some time I've been on the lookout for a good quality TBC and ProcAmp for use with PAL material here in the UK. I've been particularly interested in a possible ex-broadcast unit. With so many studios moving to digital and/or HD setups, I presume that many are in the process of disposing of redundant equipment. So I identified a small number of models of interest that had the required feature set and that weren't too archaic. Two names that popped up were Kramer and Leitch Harris. So I set up a bunch of ebay saved searches for both ebay.com and ebay.co.uk, looking for such a unit for the right price.
A few weeks ago I finally got a credible 'bite'. It was this listing for a Kramer SP-10D on ebay.co.uk. It's a broadcast grade unit that combines TBC, ProcAmp and standards converter. Actually, it's still a current offering in Kramer Electronics' product lineup. Here's a link if you want to check out the technical specs: Kramer SP-10D. These are hard to find new for less than £1500 including VAT.
Bandwidth - 5MHz (-0.5dB).
Multi-Format Capability - Selected input is simultaneously output as composite video, s-Video, and component video (YUV or RGBS).
Multi-Standard - NTSC 3.58/4.43, PAL-B/D/G/H/I/M/N and SECAM.
Standards Conversion - The unit converts any input video standard to any other video standard (NTSC 3.58/4.43, PAL-B/D/G/H/I/M/N, and SECAM).
I managed to land it for around £250 including delivery. Absolute bargain for what it is. It was supposedly bought as a backup unit that has never been actually used. It came in it's original packaging with manual, CD, power lead, rack ears with screws, and null modem adapter. The rubber feet that come with these units had already been attached to the unit. It hardly has a scratch on it; it looks pristine.
It has s-video sockets in and out as well as cv, component and a genlock loop as you would expect. No SDI sockets; those appear on the next models up. I've run a PAL VHS signal through it and the output looks clean and stable. Much better than my AVT-8710 which I've never quite been happy with (I suspect my 8710 is one with one of the dodgy chipsets).
Now, my question. A couple of people have expressed an interest in seeing a test of this wee beastie. I'd like to oblige, provided it doesn't get too involved. My question is, how do I best go about this?
My capture chain is:
JVC HR-S8950EK --> s-video --> Kramer SP-10D --> s-video --> Canopus ADVC-100 --> firewire --> PC
The biggest advantage to a unit like this is integrated high-quality proc amp, and being compatible with PAL and SECAM.
I would imagine it's just as clean as a TBC-100 or a flawless AVT-8710.
I just bought the newer version of this unit, the Kramer SP-11D on ebay. It retails for about $3000. Hopefully this should provide some good comparison to the Elite BVP4+ that I have, while also giving the abilities of a full frame TBC.
Have you had a chance to test it yet?
Interested in seeing how it peforms for users of this site, for your typical tape to digital work.
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It should get here on Friday. I am also interested in what it can do, seeing as how it's a $3000 dollar piece of equipment, which pretty much out-classes (at least money wise) any type of VCR or TBC/proc amp that's been mentioned on this site and that I know of. I have high expectations of it.
I've mucked around with mine a bit and it's great. But I haven't quite gotten round to running a scientific test of it. I've sort of figured out what I need to do.
I need to hook up my DVD player and play in an animation twice; once with the SP-10D in the chain and once without. That should prove it's transparency.
Second, I need to try capturing something from VHS; again with and without the SP-10D and see how it does with that.
I could do to find a piece of material that would benefit from the proc-amp correction to demonstrate how it performs with that.
It's just all the arsing about I've got to do moving the DVD player and switching around all the cables and finding time to do it amongst all the other stuff I've got on my plate.
Got to play with it for a while. In short, I can see why this is worth several thousand dollars. It's very robust, and I like being able to set different settings to a specific "set" and recall that set when I want to. Although I do like the knobs on the Elite BVP-4 Plus better than button pushing because it makes for a smother effect and is somewhat easier for control, the Kramer unit does just fine. Here's some pictures of the actual unit:
