Video

Many folks here are very interested in trying VHS-Decode but even with the instructions the ordering process is not intuitive for the average person. And there’s some DIY once one gets the hardware. I think there is a good market for the RF capture device once someone packages it and sells them, even when factoring in a profit. Perhaps a good business model is Home Assistant where one can set it up themselves and login from a distance but where the Home Assistant founders created a for profit company to offer that service turnkey for those that want it.

@@videocaptureguide what do you mean ordering process? There is multiple avenues and multiple device choices, the whole point is open source high flexibility anyone who reads the homepage of the wiki instantly realises this. The DomesDay Duplicator is 3 clicks from the factory, self-contained flashing guide and software bundle is provided for the two of off shelf dev boards. CX Cards are outright order, clock gen mod is available on the Kofi along with amplifiers, very cheap and easy to modify and afford to break one or two and I also have offered modification as a service for about 2 years now for anyone that reached out via email. I think the average person can easily order everything because it's listed and linked, and there is multiple avenues for support resources. The formatting of the wiki docs even considers people with dyslexia with a heavily biased brake block formatting. So the average person who just won't read well they're just screwed as much as they would be on conventional capture. But with the development of the MISRC we aim to take both the conventional and the RF market, still end users are going to have to tap their decks but that's completely documented with hundreds of units coverd in the wiki.

@@videocaptureguide what do you mean ordering process? The DomesDay Duplicator is 3 clicks from the factory, self-contained flashing guide and software bundle is provided for the two of off shelf dev boards. CX Cards are outright order, clock gen mod is available on the Kofi along with amplifiers, very cheap and easy to modify and afford to break one or two and I also have offered modification as a service for about 2 years now for anyone that reached out via email. I think the average person can easily order everything because it's listed and linked, and there is multiple avenues for support resources. The formatting of the wiki docs even considers people with dyslexia with a heavily biased brake block formatting. So the average person who just won't read well they're just screwed as much as they would be on conventional capture.

​@@videocaptureguide Right now the hardware comes in DIY kit bits or order on demand when stocks are built up this is for the clockgen mod and CX Cards are off shelf. The DomesDay Duplicator is turn key all year avalible as long as a vender has the FX3 and DE0 dev boards anyone get ahold of one within 14 days +- at cost, the MIRSC v1.5 has just also dropped as a dev board ready for direct fab order. The order docs are fairly 1-2-3 nowadays and the community support is always around to assist new users to the workflow at all times of the day. There is a kofi store, and I plan on listing more hardware there and sell pre-tested cards, its not a cheep thing to build a buffer for selling physical goods.

That would be an interesting comparison video but I don’t have a side by side unit. I have a video on the channel where I compare SD capture (ATI AIW 9600XT) with a DVD recorder mpeg2 file. I will need to redo that test with better footage as the recording I used from the 1990s was a bit unsteady. I think for some people a DVD recorder is quick and easy and doable for their skill level or free time. Other methods produce a better result but I’d rather the tapes get digitized any which way instead of losing them in a flood or through tape degradation.

Some VHS VCRs are not bad including Sharp models. Tapes aren’t getting any younger so might as well digitize them with what you have and if you ever get better equipment you can redo the most special tapes.

Someone asked this question in 2013 at DigitalFAQ and NJRoadfan replued: "Use S-Video. The SCART port on SVHS decks only carries audio and composite video." Source: www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-restore/5601-capturing-vcr-video.html#post29553 Good luck on your digitization project!

True. In more recent videos, I recorded new footage on a Hi8 camcorder using a tripod and more steady motion. But in this video, I just used old video I had lying around.

You can only use this TRV-330 Digital8 camcorder as a passthrough if you output via DV (firewire). There is no way to send analog into the camcorder and passthrough to analog out to an SD capture card.

I am working on a video where I compare the DV encoding of the JVC VS30 with that of the Sony TRV-17 MiniDV camcorder. The VS30 DV passthrough is just like using a DV camcorder, which makes this SVHS player quite special. I know that SD capture purists will balk at using DV passthrough, but I think that if one were to find one of these SVHS models, it could be good enough to digitize one's VHS collection.

@@videocaptureguide thank you for your response

That’s a very good point. I think for any decades old electronics that is in that price range one should only buy it if the capacitors have been replaced and or if other work has been done to ensure that it runs for the next 20 or 30 years. I have not used that Grant VCR restoration service but they do the type of work (for a price) that is necessary to justify such high prices.

Yes, you can connect an SVideo cable from SVHS VCR to a MiniDV camcorder, and then output the signal in passthrough mode to your DV out (firewire out). That said, my MiniDV camcorder (Sony TRV-17, circa 2001) has an SVideo input. I assume (?) that all other MiniDV camcorders have such an input, too. Which model do you have? Also, note that one must change a setting in the menu to turn on DV out. If one doesn't set it correctly, then no DV signal will be sent to the DV port out. Re Hi8 camcorders, these do not have a DV out (firewire out) so you cannot accomplish DV passthrough as it doesn't have this feature.

DV passthrough produces a very nice video file and is good enough for most situation. The MiniDV camcorders in passthrough mode will stabilize jittery video and look good. The only drawback is that it uses a compressed video format and a compressed color (4:1:1) that some experts poo poo. If you go the SD capture route there are a lot of crappy devices and many are windows only. Some are overpriced like the medium Elgato. The GV USB2 is well respected by people I respect. Some ATI devices (ATI 600) are still sworn by by experts. I’ve come to the view that there are several ways to achieve acceptable results. Depends on what used devices are available locally at a good price.

It would be very happy to get the RF capture devices. So far I get as far as the website that sells the components and I give up when I read the instructions on how to buy the cards. That doesn’t include the DIY stuff that needs to be done to combine them. That’s why I haven’t tried it yet. I’m pretty sure I can figure out the capture and post capture. But getting the hardware and connecting it is my main problem. I salute the people with the DIY skills and brains to get past those hurdles.

​@@videocaptureguide I totally get it. I said the same thing to Harrypm on his channel. he replied with: "I do plan on making a video about a full hardware installation with adjusting a new impedance matched amplifier and without". Let's hope that comes out soon and does a better job shedding light on it than the wiki page, which is a mouthful.

I don't know. I opened it up to have a look but there are no markings that would help. I had one unit where the dvd drive didn't work. I tried a dvd cleaner disk but it didn't help. You could try opening the case and cleaning the lens manually. Since I only use the ES15 (and ES16) in passthrough mode, I don't even use the DVD recorder anyway.

Yes, I think you are right. There are good SD capture devices and bad ones. Same with HDMI capture. So when discussing this point in future, I will make sure to mention that it depends. I didn't mention DV passthrough transfer in this video, which was an oversight. I mentioned it as a viable option in subsequent videos. The good think about DV passthrough is that the results are consistent and very acceptable. So in many ways, DV passthrough is probably the safest choice for someone who doesn't want to spend a lot of time tracking down the recommended SD capture devices or HDMI ones.

Is your video already captured (digitized) and you would like step by step instructions on how to deinterlace (make progressive) with Hybrid?

@@videocaptureguide No not converted yet, too many setting to know what to choose. I have OBS and capcut. I understand Hybrid is quiet costly. This is mainly needed for a one off conversion for now at least. I'm using my MacBook Pro M1 Max, not WIndows system for info. Thanking you in advance. Steven.

I will publish a future video with more details on how to deinterlace. Hybrid is a free software. And while it can feel overwhelming, there are only a few screens that one needs to use.

@@videocaptureguide Thank you. I look forward to that video.

I read your comment a few times as there is a lot to it. I'm not an expert in deinterlacing or the theories. As a next step I would suggest you repeat the steps but this time add a line of code to indicate if it's a top field first or bottom field first source video (ie, SD capture or DV transfer). The symptom you described with the pumpkin roll reminds me of what happens when TFF is used on a MiniDV video, and vice versa. Then I suggest you try QTGMC deinterlacer to verify if it does the same thing or not in the pumpkin video.

It starts with the actual fps of your source. Interlaced NTSC has both 29.97 and 30.00, but broadcast is 29.97 as it was easier to transmit than 30.00. So when you deinterlace, you're joining both top field and bottom field into a single frame, so 29.97 becomes 59.94. Increasing it to 30/60 is possible, but it speeds up the audio. But as for combing artifacts, it comes down to the algorithm you choose... the better the algorithm, the less chance of artifacts.

@@michaelbinbc No, I don’t think that’s true. That’s not how deinterlacing algorithms work as I tried (poorly) to explain in the comment above. I’m traveling now so can’t get into it further, but I may return to this when I return home.

​@@WardCogo ask on an actual video editing site like Blackmagic... the makers of Davinci Resolve editing software. Industry professionals will give the same response. Bob only uses 1 field at a time, but interpolates the missing data, while weaving the 2 fields into a single frame at 2x the fps gives all the data and looks far superior. And broadcast interkaced NTSC in North America is 29.97, not 30. They have 30fps videos, but not for broadcast. It comes down to data rate and the ability to broadcast both color and stereo audio. But hey... believe what you want I guess.🙄

Good point. I found a Digital8 on Facebook Marketplace and the price was lower than elsewhere. Was curious about it and figured it would be good for comparison tests and in case someone has Digital8 recordings.

You're welcome. But to be clear, these devices have a line TBC to help prevent wavy and flaggy video image. Those very expensive frame TBC devices are for creating a stable signal, which is meant to prevent audio and video from going out of sync. In another video I argue that the average person was avoid the need for that by using the right settings in VirtualDub. Cheers.

He has several videos where the ATI aspect ratio is wrong yet he never mentions that in the video. People like you and me have to point it out. For the record the video link you posted wouldn't allow a person to tell if the ATI or DV was more color accurate. What does the video look like when you connect the Hi-8 directly to a TV? What dose the Hi-8 video look like once it is captured to the computer and output back the same TV using Resolve and the Intensity Shuttle? Would the ATI or DV camcorder be more accurate to the original hi-8 tape? That type of test will show who the winner is. If you capture Hi-8 tapes using the ADVC 110 or the Intensity Shuttle the colors will match the original hHi-8 tape 100%. You cannot do better than that. I have several videos demonstrating this.

I agree that when one considers how much better video is in 2024, it can seem silly to worry about small differences SD video. The counter argument, however, is that because the quality isn't great, you have to fight for every small improvement. But in general I agree that one's time could be better used reading a good book or watching Quentin Tarantino movies.

@@videocaptureguide usually I apply a touch of sharpening to every analog (&DV) I convert to ensure detail is preserved, and a touch of color saturation, noise if part of life , want to make sure its all there (despite HEVC requires higher rates & hates noise), I archive to HEVC, 5000-8000 can't afford the storage for proress or lossless and the degradation is minimal for SD.

I told Video Capture Guide his camcorder may not be color accurate but the ADVC 110 and Intensity Shuttle are. He has seen my video that demonstrates this beyond a shadow of a doubt. Professionals would not buy the products from Canopus or Backmagic Design if they made orange items turn red.

@videocaptureguide If you're willing to share your mailing address with me, I may be able to record for you a Hi8 tape containing SMPTE colorbars and other test patterns. I have a rackmount unit with TSG mode containing 33 test patterns. After recording to Hi8, I can camcorder a video off-screen my WFM/vectorscope showing the levels as recorded to tape. I have 2 Hi8 cams and 1 pro Hi8 deck. So we can see how all 3 interpret the signal in the analog domain and then compare to your capture workflow.