Transferring video from VHS tape - hardware advice required

[jparnold]

I found a few VHS tapes I forgot I had and as they are of family events I would like to transfer to my PC and edit and create DVD's.

I have found lots of different 'hardware' (RCA in and USB out) with required software online to do the job which vary in price and wondered do some (brands) do the job better than others.
Do they all generally output similar quality or are the more expensive ones better?

Thanks

[Davidk]

I use(d) a kaiser-Baas unit to to transfer my VHS tapes - 10 years ago now. And as you will know, this sort of use is a one-time thing; once all your tapes are transferred, the conversion unit has no further use.
To do a transfer, you 'play' the tape to the PC; if it's a 2 hour tape, then it will take that long to transfer. And generally you need a program on the computer that will 'read' the digital data coming from the conversion devices and save/store it somewhere. In my case, a specially modified version of PowerDirector 4SE. If you don't already have such a conversion unit, then the best choice is to get a professional media company to do the conversion: get the result in mpg files stored on a CD/DVD disk.

But you mis-understand the nature of the transfer. What those units are doing is to digitise the analogue signal the VHS tape unit sends to a TV screen. Generally, based on a 32bit conversion that suits all old and new PC's. But the resolution of the result cannot exceed the resolution of the source - and by todays' standards VHS resolution is even worse than mpeg2 or DVD normal.
So expecting one conversion unit to produce a better output than another is not realistic. Expect any converted result to lack resolution and look scratchy on any current HD flat screen.

[jparnold]

Thanks David,

Yes I realise all you state including that the device simply converts the analogue signal to digital. And oh those terrible resolutions from VHS as well as S-VIDEO. And we all thought it was marvelous when VHS appeared - I had a BETA video tape recorder which they claimed was better than VHS but was not marketed as well as VHS.

All the devices I have seen on Ebay come with software which I suspect is what is needed to get the data onto disk.

I was wondering if spending more results in a better conversion (device) and/or better software.

Since my post I found a website which evaluates 5 different devices 3 of which I cannot source however I have found one which is the DIGITNOW capture device but $A12 more expensive than an upbranded one yet the images in both listing look identical.

Thanks for your help.

[canuck]

Corel sells a VHS2DVD device and software via its "daughter" company Roxio. I have used for many hours of conversion with excellent results considering the VHS video is poor quality compared to todays quality.

Here is the link to the product"https://www.roxio.com/en/products/easy- ... /standard/

[jparnold]

Thanks canuck
The ROXIO comes in a 6 in the "top 10 best". I am starting to think, after reading about each of the "top 10" that the variation in cost mostly comes down to easy of use with the software although it seems that each one comes with software which can also edit which I don't need as I will use VS.

I did transfer some VHS to digital many years ago and think that I did it using an old digital video camera (as the converter) which had an S-Video analogue input - not sure.

I then looked and found that I can record from AV IN to the inbuilt HDD in my BlueRay player/recorder attached to my TV and then copy from the internal HDD to DVD but that sounds complex. It can't record direct to DVD possibly because the burning of a DVD can't 'keep up with' the 'streaming' from the AV IN.

Thanks again for all your suggestions.

[lata]

I did transfer some VHS to digital many years ago and think that I did it using an old digital video camera (as the converter) which had an S-Video analogue input - not sure.
.

Find that camera, if it supports Throughput / Passthrough ( AV In to DV Out) and does act as a AV/DV converter you should be able to save as DV-AVI giving you the best quality for standard definition video, (you can of course capture to Mpeg2.)
Then edit the DvAvi and save as Mpeg2 to burn a disc, or Mpeg 4 for computer use.

Just be care full with the Frame Order, the original video will use Lower Field where VS defaults to Upper Field, simply create your own output template.

[jparnold]

Thanks Trevor for pointing out the Frame Order. I now think I can remember seeing that somewhere in the past.

Unfortunately I don't have the video camera but might try using my DVD player/recorder even though it is a two step process.

[pepegota]

I have and old JVC DVR that does it quickly. I don't know if you can get any DVR's anymore. I can still record off the TV to DVD.

[pvreditor]

I have the Roxio digitizing device and use it occasionally. A few months ago, I had a client project that involved loading a VHS recording into my computer, and I used the Roxio USB digitizer for that. Fortunately, I still have a couple VHS recorders that playback fine. The software that came with the Roxio device is a bit of a head-scratcher, but not impossible to figure out. If you are in the US, the Roxio product sells for less than $45 on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Roxio-Easy-Burni ... s9dHJ1ZQ==