 ahhnold
join:2003-12-04
Orland Park, IL | VHS to Digital Conversion I want to convert my collection of VHS tapes to digital video. I see a couple of ways to accomplish this goal. One is to buy a VHS-DVD recorder unit and do the transfer that way. On the surface this seems like the least complicated way to do the transfer. In reading over some of the reviews and comments for these combo devices the results seem to be all over the map from simple, insert tape and disk then record, viola great quality to device failures, poor recording quality, complicated procedures, and recorders not working as advertised. I'm sure the truth is somewhere in the middle.
The other option is to use a VCR connected into my camcorder then connected into a PC via firewire and transfer VHS video to DV. The DV files then need to be converted to a lossy archive format for storage. I have done this for a few VHS segments with good results. My camcorder has time base correction which helps clean up timing sync jitter inherent in VHS. This method is time consuming and labor intensive and prompting me to look at the combo recorders.
My question is, do these VHS-DVD recorder devices transfer video without noticeable degradation? The VHS source is inherently crappy but I don't want the transfer process to make it worse. Also do these VHS-DVD recorders have any time base correction? For me this is essential feature. TBC is not noted on the units I have seen to date. Does anyone know if it is included on any models or not?
I'd like to hear any experiences you may have had with this transfer and I'm open to any and all suggestions. Thanks. |
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| Using a VHS-DVD recorder unit I have found to be the easiest method by far. But it does has some drawbacks.
I have seen no degradation in the quality of the video that was transfered to DVD. Obviously it is no better than the tape was but is not any worse either.
My unit is a no-name brand I got at Walmart for under a hundred bucks. Very easy to use. Put tape in, insert blank DVD, set record length, and press copy. Done.
I have transfered all my home movies this way. I have also transfered many purchased movies.
One Drawback is that tapes that are protected with some sort of copy protection measure will not transfer. You will get an error indicating such.
There are ways to do this still. One could use a A/V reciever and connect a vcr to one of it's video inputs and connect the DVD recorder to the other set of inputs and the do the dubbing thru the A/V receiver. You would set the recorder unit to it's video input and connect it to the terminals marked "Play/Out" on the reciever.
I am not sure about you TBC concern so you would need to dig deeper on that. |
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 royphil345Premium
join:2004-12-10
Lakewood, OH
kudos:2 | reply to ahhnold
Yeah... A Combo VCR and DVD recorder sounds like a good bet unless you're copying protected tapes.
If you're copying protected movies, you could use something like my Hauppauge PVR-150 PCI capture / TV card (if you have a desktop). It has the advantages of capturing straight to DVD compatible MPEG 2 with a hardware encoder, so your captures would require no conversion / compression before authoring a DVD. Also, it doesn't detect copy protection. Not sure if the newer Hauppauge cards with digital TV tuners detect copy protection or not. I know the ATI cards do and won't let you copy. |
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 dvd536as Mr. Pink as they comePremium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
kudos:4 | said by royphil345:Yeah... A Combo VCR and DVD recorder sounds like a good bet unless you're copying protected tapes. If you're copying protected movies, you could use something like my Hauppauge PVR-150 PCI capture / TV card (if you have a desktop). It has the advantages of capturing straight to DVD compatible MPEG 2 with a hardware encoder, so your captures would require no conversion / compression before authoring a DVD. Also, it doesn't detect copy protection. Not sure if the newer Hauppauge cards with digital TV tuners detect copy protection or not. I know the ATI cards do and won't let you copy. Quality will also be degraded if the OS is vista as thats part of vistas DRM.
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When I gez aju zavateh na nalechoo more new yonooz tonigh molinigh - Ken Lee |
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ahhnold
join:2003-12-04
Orland Park, IL | reply to BoulderHill1
Thanks to all for the feedback. Sounds like the VHS-DVD will be OK. I'm copying home tapes no commercial/macrovision protected material so I won't have a problem with that. |
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