Fuzzy VHS masters

johnmurphy wrote on 9/27/2002, 2:53 PM
Help me, somebody, please!

I'm mastering to both mini-DV and VHS. Mini-DV comes out looking beautiful. But no matter what I do, when I record to VHS, it looks like snow-fall in Buffalo. The picture is very, very grainy upon replay of the premium grade VHS tape.

I tried going through a Matrox Marvel card and through the Canon XL1 DV to analog output. When I watch the monitor, the image quality is scarey, it's so sharp. But I've not been able to get the same result once I play it back off the VHS tape.

Any help is appreciated

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 9/27/2002, 4:19 PM
Have you cleaned your VCR's heads lately?
salad wrote on 9/27/2002, 6:48 PM
Yeah, I too would have to wonder about your VHS machine.
How old? How's the sound?
On playback of the VHS tape you made, you aren't using a coaxial cable to the TV/monitor are ya?




mikkie wrote on 9/28/2002, 10:17 AM
As salad mentioned, I've got a TV monitor over my PC monitor, & I can't get a good picture over coax period with the PC monitor on. otherwise...

Could you possibly rent another deck to see how well it works? Could your deck be too close to your PC &/or monitor? Have you tried replacing the cables, making sure they aren't routed where they can pick up noise?

RE; the Marvel, did more work with one of these beasts then I could ever write about -- just trying to keep it working... If nothing else works, I *think* the TV monitor is a much more forgiving device then the deck. Could the signal the marvel's putting out be slightly off spec? Could that monster of a cable be going bad?

You didn't hear it from me, but one quick check might be to pick up a scan convertor from some place like best buy, try that, & take it back. It might give you a clue if the noise tones down or dissappears, though I'm not sure it'll be up to the quality level you'll want or need for the finished project(s).
vicmilt wrote on 9/28/2002, 10:41 AM
Are you dubbing directly from VV to the VHS or are you dubbing from the DV tape to the VHS?
If you are trying to go directly from VV to the VHS, how are you transcoding the signal?
You will always have a somewhat inferior playback from a VHS tape than from a DV tape. VHS simply isn't as good. Plus if you are monitoring your DV on a SVHS output vs a composite output on VHS, there will be even more degradation, just on the hardware.
Am interested in your answers on the "how are you outputting to VHS"?