Need help selecting TBC, capture card, and PC

[LFonseca]

Sorry for creating a new thread, but the other one nobody else was answering me And this sub-forum is probably the most adequate anyway (project planning).

I've now received the Sony Super Betamax SL-HF950 and the JVC HR S9600 S-VHS Rekorder / Player. They both appear to be in pretty good condition. I was particularly surprised with the Sony unit, considering its 30 years old+.

I have on the way to me a Kramer SP-11 ProcAmp. It was the only one I could found at a decent price that supported pal video. I also like the analog knobs rather than digital buttons for adjustments.

As for TBC, I can get a Datavideo TBC-4000 Time Base Corrector for about $300 (used, from ebay, supposedly "working perfectly"). My only other choice would be a TBC-5000 new, which is $800 (I've already spent more than I wanted, I'd like to keep the remainder - capture card + capture hardware (I no longer have any AGP boards) + TBC to €600 or less. But I also want to avoid the random issues the CYP-CTB100 apparently has, as sending it back would be very troublesome for me. How reliable is the TBC.4000?

For capture card, I can get a ATI All-In-Wonder 9800 PRO (128 MB) (100-713100), supposedly still new in box, for €50. Or I can get a 7500 for €20, splitter cable bought separately, used. Given the choice I'd prefer the new unit, but any opinions would be appreciated.

Finally the PC setup. I'm thinking an AMD socket 939 board would probably allow for the most recent CPU still compatible with an AGP board. I think AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+. It would run with 2gb ram for windows XP. These two are available atm in ebay in europe:

MSI K8T Neo2-F, 939, VIA K8T800 Pro, FSB 800, DDR 400, GLAN, SATA, AGP 8x, ATX
ASUS K8V-MX AMD DDR400 AGP skt 939

Either one would cost me about €60 with shipping included. Generally I'd prefer ASUS but the MSI seems to have better specs and is from a trade dealer in GErmany. The ASUS is from a private seller in Italy.

Opinions would be appreciated. Should I be looking elsewhere? I need to get this setup up-and-running quickly...

[lordsmurf]

We never intentionally ignore anyone.

The Betamax deck sounds nice. The S-VHS VCR should be one of the best ever made.

Yep, analog knobs for proc amp controls are what I like too.

I need to see if that Kramer is good, and list it here in the suggested gear lists. Have you tested it yet? I'd love to see some screen caps of its abilities. The biggest issue with a proc amp is adding noise to the signal. That's really bad, and you need to avoid it. The BVP4+ adds some edge smear, but is tolerable. That's always the test of a proc amp -- the noise adds.

How much was the Kramer?

The TBC-4000 should be every bit as good as the TBC-1000.

Both of those ATI cards should be fine. My personal preference is to use 9000-series cards, but there's really no reason behind it. The Theatre 200 chips (9000) and Theatre Rage/100 (7000-8000) are essentially the same. The 7000 actually works better for Windows Vista/7 hacking, though it's not something that is guaranteed to work.

AMD boards have never been decent for ATI cards. There are too many issues. It's ironic now that AMD owns ATI. But back then, it did not. Get an Intel.

[LFonseca]

The Kramer was 250€. It seems to be working fine, colors go all the way up and down, similar to playing with the color controls of media player. To be honest I don't know what to be looking for as regards to noise. I can't really see a difference (other than color, brightness, etc) between the processor and the unprocessed image. What would the noise look like? I'll try to run a few caps for you the next few days, I'm putting together a dedicated work bench for video work.

I've ordered the TBC-4000 for $300, a bit higher than I wanted but it was the only one available for the last month or so I've been looking.

I also ended up ordering the ATI 9800.

Now I just have to find a decent mobo to get it up and running. Any ideas?

[Mejnour]

The kramer is a tbc-pro-amp...but don't have any filter for noise!

[Mejnour]

User manual sp11d

[LFonseca]

Its the sp-11 not the sp-11d. No TBC, only proc-amp, and analog.

http://www.kramerelectronics.com/sup...ads.asp?pid=97

[Mejnour]

Oh sorry! My mistake!

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LFonseca

Now I just have to find a decent mobo to get it up and running. Any ideas?

This is a great board fir AGP: http://www.asrock.com/mb/VIA/775Dual-VSTA.

eBay has one about once a month.There's one on there right now. Be ready to budget up to $100 to get it.

There are a few others from ASRock, but (if I remember correctly), this was the one that took the best Core 2 Duo of them all, had SATA, and all the needed slots for my setup.

[LFonseca]

Was able to find one for about $50 on ebay uk. I think it was a more popular board here in Europe, there are several more for sale relatively cheap.

Also bought 2GB DDR2 for $10 and an Intel e6700 core2duo for $30 or so. Almost all set.

Thanks for the tip.