John,

Thanks for the quick response.

Option 1 doesn't appeal to me. The cassett deck I gave my daughter has mono audio output (I didn't tell you that in my original post).

Some variant of Option 2 sounds better as I have the time and inclination to this right. I will look for a device to convert video output from a VHS deck to firewire for capture. If you have a preferred device, I would be interested. Also, I don't have a camcorder.

Thanks,
Greg

Greg: Take a look at the Canopus web site, where you'll find several converters listed; or consider buying an inexpensive camera with pass-through capabilities on Ebay.

Jack

Don't be too quick to dismiss option 1. I can't tell you how many people have come to me over the past five years wanting to convert their VHS tapes to DVD. So far, not one of them has managed to make it through even 10% of their stash. The reason? As soon as they get through a few tapes, they realize how much time they have spent, do the calculation on what it will take to finish, and give up.

Believe me, I know. I actually have done this, and I did make it through, but I'm retired and have the time. Also, I had lots of family members who wanted to see the results (these were tapes from the early 1980s from my original VHS camera/recorder combo).

So, the ability to just press play on the VHS deck and record on the DVD recorder is a real positive. It requires almost no involvement or time on your part, other than inserting another tape and another blank disc.

True, the playback experience will not be as nice, since the menus will just have timed chapter stops rather than chapters at the actual scene breaks. But in actual practice, if you have a decent <--REW FF--> scan feature on your DVD playback, combined with chapter stops every five minues, you can pretty quickly access the scenes you want.

However, if you really think you can make it through the more hands-on manual approach (option 2), then I would definitely recommend getting the S-VHS deck (slightly better quality). Make sure you get one that has an "edit switch." It may also be labeled "Video Dub." This is VERY important. When you enable this, it defeats all the "image enhancement" built into almost every VHS consumer deck. This enhancement actually degrades the picture (it adds extra white around high-contrast objects to create the illusion of more detail) and screws up dubs or copies.

You can purchase dedicated conversion units, but for the same price, you can probably get a camcorder that has analog inputs and "pass through." So, if you want to think about it this way, you get a free camcorder with your video conversion unit.

John,

As helpful and informative as ever.

I note what you say about the Edit Switch or Video Dub facility on the VCR but wonder how the image deterioration looks in practice if this is not available. Does the white edging you mention show as such or does it affect the whole picture? Or does it show itself in another way (e.g. compressed contrast, colour degradatuiion or something)?

Would this problem be corrected if the images were passed through the Canopus ADVC 300 and would the cost of this be justifiable if you already use their ADVC110 ?

Finally (sorry to be a pain), what are the problems given that the original VHS tape will probably have been recorded in the 4:3 format wheras most TV sets are now 16:9? Will the automatic zoom correction on the TV cope with this or should it be manually over-ridden to show 4:3 (which does not make for pleasant viewing because of the black bars awhich then show around the recorded image)?

Many thanks,

Richard Jones

As far as I know there is no automatic zoom on TVs, but they have several manual settings labelled---normal, stretch, widescreen, full, full widescreen, letterbox, zoom, and a slew of others. If you like short fat people put it in stretch or if you like vertical zoom or horizontal zoom that will screw it up too. My neighbor likes stretchovision as my tire dealer and my hospital waiting rooms do.
JJK

I spent five hours in a hospital waiting room a few weeks ago and they had a 16x9 set up for stretch-o-vision on 4x3 material. It drove me CRAZY and they wouldn't trust me with the remote so I could fix it. There were no user accessible buttons on the TV itself.

Odlly enough, one of the manufacaturers of HD 16 x 9 TVs recommends that you do not use a 4 x 3 aspected pic for the first 100 hours of use. To help minimize burn in.

Dave T2

John,

Re my note above, I've just realised that some of the VHS tapes might have been recorded in EP. I know this can mean a degradation in quality which you can probably live with if you are viewing only from the tape but it presumably must worsen the problem when you try to convert tit o DVD. I should guess that , if the quality has already been reduced, there's nothing that can be done about this but wonder if you would be kind enough to comment on this when you deal with my earlier ponts.

Best Wishes,

Richard Jones

I note what you say about the Edit Switch or Video Dub facility on the VCR but wonder how the image deterioration looks in practice if this is not available. Does the white edging you mention show as such or does it affect the whole picture?

Most VCRs contain an "enhancement circuit" that is intended to fool the user into thinking there is more detail in the picture than there really is. Even SP VHS video is pathetically low-res, and EP has almost no detail at all. That's why this circuit was invented.

In the early days, this circuit was nothing more than a "peaking" capacitor that introduced a little overshoot in the luma signal. If you looked at the signal on a scope, instead of going from the bottom (dark) to the top (light), it would go beyond light to almost blown-out, and then quickly back down to the proper level (this is called overshoot). Visually, this puts a white line around every abrupt dark/light transition, and provides the illusion of crispness. A little like top-stitching on a suit, for those that know clothing.

Anyway, while it may "fool" untrained eyes, it paradoxically actually destroys what little detail was there in the first place. If you leave this circuit enabled when dubbing, these artificial halos are now embedded forever in your video. You don't want this.

Would this problem be corrected if the images were passed through the Canopus ADVC 300 and would the cost of this be justifiable if you already use their ADVC110 ?

Definitely not. Remember that once the halo is added to the picture, that IS the picture as far any "later" circuitry or software is concerned. Just re-read that last sentence until you understand the implications. The degraded, altered video IS the picture. You can't get back the original. Every circuit, every bit of software, and every human being thinks those halos are supposed to be part of the picture. There is no way to tell otherwise.

This has nothing to do with time base correction (the circuit in the ADVC 300), which deals with the timing pulses in each frame of video and is useful to correct one very limited type of problem. TBC is actually far less useful in an analog to digital conversion than it was in the days when doing analog-to-analog dubs. In that case, time base errors could quickly accumulate and make the analog dub look terrible when played back. However, the act of digitizing the video actually acts sort of like a TBC for the reason that the digital representation of the signal no longer needs any timing information, and if it is ever converted back to analog for playback, all the timing signals are completely re-created at that moment by the digital to analog conversion, with no reference whatsoever to the original timing signals. Thus, the only thing a TBC will do for you when converting from analog to digital is if the original timing is so bad that the picture actually "flags" when played back. There are some tapes that are so degraded that this happens, and for those tapes, the TBC in the ADVC 300 will probably help. For most others, I doubt it will make any difference at all.

Finally (sorry to be a pain), what are the problems given that the original VHS tape will probably have been recorded in the 4:3 format whereas most TV sets are now 16:9? Will the automatic zoom correction on the TV cope with this or should it be manually over-ridden to show 4:3

You definitely DO NOT want to attempt any 4:3 to 16:9 conversion. Actually you NEVER want to do this. If the original video was 4:3, then leave it 4:3 and show it 4:3. That's what it is. I know some people use the stretch function on their 16:9 screens so they can fill up their screen real estate when watching 4:3. Being stuck in a hospital bed and not being able to change this would be a sure way to never get well: It would be torture!! My wife actually has refused to purchase a 16:9 set because all she has ever seen is 4:3 material stretched to 16:9. She is a ballet dancer and completely non-technical and, despite my explanations, she thinks this is how 16:9 sets display ALL video and therefore think they are all terrible.

Anyway, you never want to alter or ruin the video you are transferring. Thus, keep it 4:3 all the way and store it as 4:3. Always.

Or buy a DVD recorder VHS combo deck, they are dirt cheap. Here's one on Amazon for $55 (doesn't have a tuner, but sounds like you don't care)

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-DVD-V6700-Tunerless-Combo-Player/dp/B000N81C92

nolonemo,

The Samsung DVD-V6700 is really two players in one box. It won't record anything. I just bought a Samsung DVD-VR357. It records both VHS and DVD. Seems to be doing an adequate job, but I'm not sure it's any faster than going the Canopus route. The way the copying from VHS to DVD is implemented takes quite a bit more time than just throwing in a tape and Disc and hitting record. I still may buy the Canopus 110.

Greg