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  1. Multimedia storyteller bigass's Avatar
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    I've captured some VHS and I'm getting some weird, weird color changes showing up.

    The signal chain is Sony SVO-1630 S-Video -> Datavideo TBC-1000 S-Video -> Hauppauge PVR-250 Mpeg2 in WinTV.

    Here's a bit of what I'm seeing, posted to YouTube: http://youtu.be/TC5gZoqjPl8
    The flesh tones come out obscenely green or yellow -- see about 2:59 to see a jaundiced GW Bush.

    Does what you're seeing here point to any obvious (hopefully correctable) problem? Am I likely to be able to color-correct the captures, say, in Vegas Pro, or would you recommend tweaking/bypassing/adjusting/enhancing something and recapturing everything?
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  2. All whites, greens, and purples like that are a symptom of a missing v channel and a super saturated u channel. Is it only that tape giving you problems?
    Last edited by jagabo; 14th Dec 2011 at 00:04.
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  3. Member buckethead's Avatar
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    1) What does the video look like from the vcr direct to a tv / monitor ?

    2) If the vcr output is ok, remove the tbc from the capture chain. Are the greens still saturated ? If so, capture device is fubar.

    3) Try the tbc using composite cables. If this works, your tbc has s-video processing issues.

    Good luck !!
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  4. Multimedia storyteller bigass's Avatar
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    jagabo: Nope, all the tapes I've tried with this setup have come out weird, including a pro-dubbed tape with only a couple of plays, an old multi-generation dub of mid-1980s multiple-source material, and that taped-from-cable stuff. All showing the weird colors.

    buckethead: I'll try the process of elimination by dropping the TBC and alternately trying composite cables. I figured starting with s-vid would be a better move in the hierarchy of video qualities, but if it's actually munging up the signal, perhaps not. An alternate capture option is the PVR-150 -- I have two of those around...had always heard that the PVR-250 captured better, but any improvement is irrelevant if it's messing up the whole signal.

    So, to recap: try without the TBC, try composite vs svid, try alternate capture if both of those fail.

    Meantime -- I guess all the existing captures can go into the recycling bin. No fixing 'em, I guess?
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  5. I looked more closely at your youtube sample. It's possible to improve the colors but it won't be easy to completely fix them. And the errors are different during at different points in the video. It will be much easier and faster to recapture.

    You should go through each piece of equipment to determine where the problem is. Connect the VHS deck directly to a TV with s-video and composite. Are both OK? Connect some other video source to the capture card. Put the TBC between two known good components. Etc.
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  6. Multimedia storyteller bigass's Avatar
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    Well, I went back to tweak, and the machine I was capturing with won't even boot properly ... so, alt plan became moving my gear into the studio room and installing a PVR-150 into the bigass studio PC.

    After a workaround to make it work with Win7 64 and 4gb of memory (why doesn't stuff JUST WORK?), tested a couple of things.

    Correction to first post ... VCR wasn't outputting Svid -- it's composite through BNC, into RCA with an adapter.

    So, both Svid and Composite with the TBC look okay once more. I guess that suggests something bad with, at the very least, the svid in on the PVR-250.

    About to resume recapture project. Many thanks. Going with Mpeg2 12mpbs cbr -- overkill, yes, and I'm sure I could induce a lecture from Lordsmurf about the benefits of finding a straight AVI capture, but.... y'know, we all make choices in life.

    Here's the first test with the new setup. Bush looks normal again. Hair a bit green, perhaps, but within the realm of plausibility. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ivh2OwsC5C8
    Last edited by bigass; 14th Dec 2011 at 15:27. Reason: add video link
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  7. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
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    MPEG-2 is fine, 12Mbps is pretty good. (15Mbps would be better, 20-25Mbps transparent.)

    But the problem is your choice of card. The PVR-150 is craptastic.
    It has known audio flaws in the hardware. Your audio will be screwed up.
    The 250 and 350 don't have this problem.

    Hauppauge is also very soft at 352x480, so you're forced to use Full D1. Another flaw of the card's hardware.

    Use the s-video when possible.

    I don't get to visit VH much right now, but most people know where to find me if they need me.
    Want my help? Ask here! (not via PM!)
    FAQs: Best Blank DiscsBest TBCsBest VCRs for captureRestore VHS
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  8. Multimedia storyteller bigass's Avatar
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    I hear ya, Lordsmurf. Aware of all that -- that's why I went with the 250 first, and only went to the 150 when my 250 installation wouldn't boot. (Update: ended up figuring out that one of the RAM sticks is dead.) Going full D1 with the capture. I'm not aiming for perfection, just preservation at this point. To this point, I've got most of my capturing done. If I get ambitious, I may try swap the 250 in for any further work.

    Many thanks, as always.
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  9. The PVR150's audio is only poor because of the silly default configuration Hauppauge decided to push at it. Its easy enough to make it perform properly either by manually tweaking a few registry settings or using the PVR150 tweak tool. The wm8775eds is an excellent device, but that doesn't prevent it from being used in a stupid manner.

    Hauppauge's defaults are something like AGC on, -6db hard cut off and base level too high. Turning AGC and the -6db cut off off and setting the input gain to something sensible makes the PVR150's audio as good as any other card out there.
    Last edited by LightWeightProducer; 18th Dec 2011 at 03:07.
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  10. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
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    Even with the audio tweak, there is definite sound distortion still going on.
    I have one of the cards here, and it's a turd.

    I've tried almost everything imaginable to get good performance, but it's just not happening.

    I'll re-evaluate it again, when I get some time.
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  11. Only if the configuration that has been applied is still inappropriate. I can present some graphs of waveforms to demonstrate that the card can perform well when suitably configured. If you care to nominate some waveforms I can feed them into the card as well.
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