8mm Analogue Video magnetic tape recorder getting recordings.

[ericmark]

I have both mine and late father-in-laws recorders, I want to convert the tapes to format I can view on a computer, I have a few programs which seem to record honestech TVR 2.5 is the one I have used, AcrSoft Showbiz will display tape, but will not see the signal as a valid source.

All seem to have multi options for PAL, B, D, H, I, M, N, and 60, using an EasyCap USB device to convert from twin Phone cables to USB however the picture is not very good. There are some options which show strips or blocks of colour, but of those that work, there seems to be nothing I can do other than brightness etc. to improve the picture.

My camera I can't find a three pole jack to phone cable to use it, must have one some where, but just can't find it.

So to improve what am I looking for?
1) Swap camera.
2) Swap phone to USB adaptor.
3) Swap recording program.
4) Adjust something.

It is likely a one off exercise, the honestech TVR 2.5 program and EasyCap USB device will when plugged into the Sky+ HD box work A1, good picture no distortion so it would seem down to camera, SANYO VM-EX20P and a Samsung VP-A31 latter can't find lead for, both use same batteries and power supply only tried direct of power supply, I moved to the smaller digital tapes, then got what was intended as a still camera, but will take video the Nikon D7000 so today these old analogue cameras are only used to view very old recordings.

The digital tape used the firewire cables so the EasyCap USB converter was not required for them, however new PC does not have firewire however it does seem you can get cables firewire to USB so should not be a problem.

 

[Nozzle]

Thought about buying yourself a stand-alone DVD recorder with the correct inputs then taking the DVD and ripping it? I use a Lite-on DVD recorder to copy VHS to PC

Nozzle

 

[Lucid]

The cameras are most likely fine. The issue is/are probably timing signals and the quality of the capture device.

However, why don't you tell us more about what you feel is bad about the picture?

 

[Tigercubrider]

VHS tapes never did record a brilliant picture, even when using professional kit
You are better off tweaking the image in software after digitising it rather than attempting g to do so on transfer

If I had a lot to do I'd find a working vhs to DVD machine and rip the resulting DVD

 

[ericmark]

The picture is distorted top to bottom, losing colour I can put up with, but there does not seem to be any knob or button for tracking. Before this post I was unaware of a device to play the camera tapes in a standard VHS player

I have 1, 2, and 4 I think so this

device is it seems not for the type of tape I have. It says 90 (assume that's how long it lasts) video 8 Pal 8 MP standard (I assume means multi play) nothing on tape says VHS-C so assume the converter will not work, however they are analogue and the one which looks like my tape on picture says Digital 8 I also have the Mini DV tapes but they are completely different.

I have been looking for a 3.5 mm stereo jack to two phono outlets but can only find a 4 contact 3.5 mm to three phono which does not seem to work. If I can find a lead I will try using the other camera.

Not keen on buying new as will only be used once. I note there is a converter to RF however not got a RF to USB converter. And if camera is faulty it would not help anyway, but don't know if faulty recording or faulty playback.

 

[Tigercubrider]

S vhs is a modified version of vhs. The chroma and luma is sent differently via a four pin mini din and gives superior picture quality. S vhs matches will play vhs but rarely vice versa. But a few players did do "quasi vhs" (i.e. Play the tape back via a standard output)

The mother cassette will accept a small vhs/s vhs tape to play in a standard machine

8mm was an equivalent of vhs, hi 8 of s vhs
There were a few mains operated 8mm machines but they were rare

Dvc tapes were a digital system
Again, a few mains machines were available but rare
Dvc was also playable in dvcam machines which were the professional version, running at 50% faster

Digital 8 was the digital version of 8/hi8 and some played back all 8mm including those fecorded in NTSC (North American and Japanese system)

Afaik there was a difference between the 3.5 mm jack outputs ? Panasonic and Sony used different pins for video/audio. Somewhere like Keene electronics probably sell the different variations

 

[Tigercubrider]

Top to bottom distortion may be skew.
I don't remember domestic machines having a skew control

 

[Lucid]

The playback of Video8 tapes is limited to a video camera or Video8/Hi8 deck. There is no tracking control with Video8. That's part of the design and was one of the touted features over VHS/VHS-C that they didn't require manual tracking adjustment.

Regarding some form of post-processing to correct the colour loss top and bottom of the frame: I think you're barking up the wrong tree with that one. If there's colour loss then it's either in the source signal or it's to do with the sync pulses being read by the USB recording dongle. By the time you see it on the PC screen the damage is already done. Messing around with any post-processing controls won't fix it.

Regarding sync signals: Analogue tape has timing pulses in a similar way that cine film has sprocket holes, except they're not physical holes but electronic pulses on the tape. Analogue video tape relies on a mechanical tape drive and spinning video head to read or write data on to a recording medium that is known to stretch. With the best will in the world, analogue video will always have ropey sync, particularly if the tape has been through a deck or camera a few times and/or is old.

Once the timing pulses are no longer regular then it's much harder to get a decent transfer of the tape to a digital medium. One of the consequences of moving to a world of disc- and file-based video is that any recorders don't expect to see such poor sync signals, and so the cheap (and not so cheap) capture devices don't have such a wide tolerance built in to the electronics to cope with and correct these errors. This was was problem for some flatscreen TVs too; the analogue video inputs on them couldn't cope with wayward sync timing errors from VHS decks.

Back in the 80's the tech to deal with bad sync was common but expensive. Time Base Correctors and Frame Stores were available for semi-pro and professional users. Some of this tech filtered in to the consumer market when Panasonic launched their Frame Store-based vision mixers WJ-MX10 /20 /30 /50 and WJ-AVE3 /5 /7 models. Passing a signal through one of these devices stripped the original sync and gave the recording device a new and stable sync signal to latch to.

If the footage is important, then ditch the idea of recording it direct. Pass it through a frame store device or send the tapes off to a conversion house where you know they've got the gear to do the job properly.