I moved this part of the conversation from PM to thread because it's not the first time I've seen this misunderstanding...
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Originally Posted by OBNOXIUs
I don't understand the advantage of a chroma key yet, I will need to check it on the forum.
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The chroma key aspect of the DVK-100 is completely useless, and not at all used. It is ignored. What matters is that the DVK-100 contains a weak DataVideo TBC based on the TBC-5000. The 5000 is not a TBC that was designed for consumer analog signals, unlike the units from the late 90s and early 00s (100, 1000, 3000, 4000, 7000).
Used alone, both ES10/15 and DVK-100 fail to do what is considered a "proper TBC job" for the consumer analog formats like VHS. Without adequate/proper TBC, a signal will usually drop frames on capture (and/or lose audio sync), visual oddities will appear, weird motion/jitter will happen, and you'll run into AGC/brightness/contrast issues.
The ES10/15 units have weak frame sync with holes punched in it for anti-copy to pass, while the TBC-5000 expects clean professional analog sources. Only when combined do they create a decent stand-in for a TBC, though with drawbacks over using a
recommended TBC. Those drawbacks are specifically (1) posterization for the ES10, and (2) some seconds-long initial AGC/luma/contrast/brightness issues as the ES10/15+DVK start to communicate, sometimes also initial jitter and weirdness.
On the other hand, if tapes have a high likelihood of serious TBC issues, that combo can be more effective than a recommended TBC. However, it will be worse than having an ES10/15 combined with a recommended TBC, and not the DVK. And then you can only use the ES10/15 as needed.
The main advantage of the ES10/15+DVK combo is for price and availability. There have been times where a true TBC is not available, just the DVK and an ES10/15. And while the combo will not be cheap, it can often come in at $100-200 less. And for those on a tight budget, it's better than no TBC at all. Or the wrong TBC.
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The things that keeps me from using the ES10 in my normal set-up, is that it encodes to MPEG2 (right?).
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Wrong. The DVD recorder is ignored. Therefore no MPEG-2 is ever created. The ES10/15 units are unusual and special because they function on passthrough. By that I mean the signal goes in, gets corrected, and pass back out. So you can then capture the output signal with the desired method. That can be anything from uncompressed/lossless, to MPEG capturing with a card (ie ATI AIW as 15-20mbps), or even a better DVD recorder (ie JVC with LSI Logic chipsets).
The ES10/15 has terrible recording quality, even though it also uses LSI. The Panasonic firmware settings are terrible, and it is a shame.
Trivia: It could have actually been as good as a JVC or LiteOn. Without the posterization, even better. Those all 3 brands, all recorders in general, have varying luma/IRE issues, the Panasonic was probably better than the JVC/LiteOn. more like Samsung (but without ther VTS issues).
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It seems like a good way to correct really bad tapes, but then to forget about the lossless capturing but just burn it directly to DVD, since the quality is the same in a much smaller file size.
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You can, but the above reasons, it's not suggested. That's not why the ES10/15 is suggested.
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I have found a DataVideo TBC-1000 for €500, that's probably a better option to buy?
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That's what I do. And I do do.
In fact, TBC-1000 + ES10 (or ES15) would be the best option. And I do that as well. The ES10 is a wee bit stronger, but larger. And PAL ES10 may have some IRE/AGC issues that do not exist on the ES15; something I've read about from our member Bogelein, but I've not yet had time to investigate/confirm it, new info to me.
Right now €500 is about $600 USD (plus overseas shipping). Decent price, as current valuation is $700+ on those. Just make sure it's been tested. You don't want a "working" TBC that is noisy, and isn't actually working. That happens far too often, especially when sourced from eBay.