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  1. If wrong Forum Please Move

    Short Story, Discussions on here Tickled my memory. So this morning I went up into the attic and found my old Vidicraft Detailer II still sitting there. So my Questions are:

    Is this a decent piece of equipment, It only has composite I/O and Mono Audio? Any Delay/sync problems if I bypass the audio I/O?

    I'm guessing I can use this with my New (just got it) TBC-1000? If so which order, Detailer to TBC or TBC to detailer II?

    The manual, if any, is long gone, So What is the difference between Detail and Sharpness settings? Or Links to Online manual?

    What is VNX setting for? Video Noise is my guess.

    Any Hints or Suggestions for proper results?

    Sory for all these questions
    Many Thanks for any and All help
    Roger AKA TBoneit

    Edit: Almost Forgot, Will the Detailer Do more for me Vs using the S-Video?

    The hardware is to help capture VHS to a Standalone DVD Recorder to PC/ & Re-author s feeding it into my ADVC 100 and S/w conversion ND authoring, I have tons of VHS to do.

    I am thinking I can Switch between the Composite and the S-Video inputs using the remote on the Standalone so that I can see the results and decide that way.
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  2. You use the split screen function to see what it can do.

    They have them on ebay.com sometimes if you want to see what they can do.
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  3. Have a look here, where Vidicraft units are discussed...

    https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=239205

    The only difference between composite video and s-video signals is that the luminance and chroma (Y and C) signals are separated with s-video. That allows for the potential of a better detailed, more accurate image... but in actual practice is not always true. It depends on several different factors. A good composite signal can be very difficult to tell from the s-video version.
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  4. Member vhelp's Avatar
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    I agree w/ what gshelley61 says here about composite vs. s-video.

    I mean.., think about it. You have a TV set hooked up to
    your vcr, and ( at least min is ) hooked up to the Antenna
    turminal as the INPUT. My tv set is something like 20 years old,
    by GE. (they bring good things to life, and FWIW.., this 20" tv
    set has done just that, ) no complaints.

    Anyways..

    ..and everything goes through this coaxal cable to my tv set..
    Antenna; VHS; even DVD. And I must say, the picture is a perfect
    as it can be (on a professional level) and w/ no red blocks or chroma
    bugs to be seen. Nowheres. Its not s-video. But the quality is what I'd
    love to get from my captures. That means, if the the chain of quality
    whent like this, from lowest to highe quality:

    * Coaxal - - - - - - my tv setup.. and my captures are from this connection.
    * RCA / Composite
    * S-Video
    * Componeant

    I should be getting the worse captures in the world through my Coaxal cable.
    But, I'm getting great captures. Must be something we are all missing.
    hmm.. wonder what it is ??

    But, when I capture from my VCR (from a VHS tape) I use my VCR's s-video
    connections, just to get that extra ummph, if in fact it *is* working.

    But, everything I see on my TV set is crystle clean. That is what I want.
    And, all this is comming from my Coaxal

    I'm stumped

    -vhelp
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  5. NTSC over the air broadcast, analog cable, and laserdisc are all composite video - native. A comb filter is used to split the Y and C parts of the signal. The quality of the Y/C comb filter will determine how good the derived s-video signal will be in these cases.

    VHS, S-VHS, 8mm, and Hi8 actually record the Y and C signals separately. Digital video has separate Y and C information, too. So the s-video signal might be better from these sources, but like I said the composite (combined) signal may look just as good. In this case it depends on how good the circuit that combines the Y and C together is.
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  6. Member vhelp's Avatar
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    ..but what I"m saying is.., I want the one that used in my GE tv set for my
    encodes ..and it's composite hehe :P

    -vhelp
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  7. gshelly61, Thanks for the help, im reading that link you referred to you mention that you were planning to test the Detailer II, Did you ever test it? I see you are using the Detailer III, much difference?

    I was going to work on testing today with & without the Detailer II, However after my misadventures with the car today.... Tire Blew, Bolts holding the Spare and Jack were frozen, So I drove home on what was left of the tire! Solvent to unfreeze things, Fighting the frozen bolts, then Frozen Lug Nuts, And then to top the day off the old tire and rim didn't want to come off either. I ended up banging on the rim with a hammer to get the ruined one off.

    I keep telling myself better days are coming!

    Thanks
    Z
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  8. I never did check out a Detailer II, but all the Vidicraft gear I have tried has been outstanding. The Detailer III has four sets of inputs, but I think the Sharpen, Detail, VNX and Black controls would be identical in function to the Detailer II.
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  9. gshelley61, No black controls on the Detailer II, Maybe that is one of the differences and 3 inputs.

    I seem to remember buying from VCA in Edison,NJ back in the 80s or maybe early 90s to aid in copying Videotapes.

    I have tried it out now and it still seems to be functional despite being in the attic exoposed to attic type heat in the summer and no heat in the winter. Only problem I found is a loud AC hum from the TV speaker when it is plugged in, however the recording is hum free so I can still use it and just mute the TV volume. I played around with the sharpen and detail and could see the difference so I'll be using it from now on.

    Thanks
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  10. I basically don't use the enhancement noise reduction (VNX and Black) controls anyway. It sounds like your Detailer has returned from the dead! Good luck and have fun with it.
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  11. I am wondering if I am being "taken" by a "neighbor" I saw what is supposed to be a Vidicraft II in a yard sale. I put a down payment on it and came to ask this board for more info.

    The detailer has five knobs in front for: mode, detail,sharpness,core and input. The mode knob can be switched to either color, bypass and mono. What is confusing me is that there is no VNX knob in front as has been discussed here. Below the five knobs is written: "Detailer II VCR Image enhancer and detailer by Vidicraft." Is this the same as the Vidicraft being discussed here or for the price of $50.00 it does not matter and I should go ahead and purchase and try it?

    Any suggestions or comments will be appreciated.

    Thanks.
    If you do not learn from someone's knowledge and experience, then you are doing it the hard way
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  12. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
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    VNX = core (or black, I forget)
    Want my help? Ask here! (not via PM!)
    FAQs: Best Blank DiscsBest TBCsBest VCRs for captureRestore VHS
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  13. And the Detailer II that I bought way back when they were in production has 4 knobs. Input mode (Mono, Bypass & Color), sharpness, detail, and VNX.

    Whereas gshelley61 mentioned VNX and Black controls.

    So maybe they had a production run where they changed it at some point.

    FWIW Mine is blue, metal case, and professioal looking markings. You can tell that it isn't a high volume type of unit by the way it is made.

    That being said I'm sure the metal case aids durability and shielding of the internals. And I'm pretty sure it is the real deal as I am the original purchaser from a Video specialty store of the time.

    Cheers
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  14. Some of the early Detailer II units labeled the enhancement noise reduction "Core". They changed to "VNX" after they got a trademark on that name. "Black" is another enhancement noise reduction control that was added to the Detailer III and is also on the Detailer IV. The currently available SignVideo DR-1000 Image Enhancer has the "Core" and "Black" enhancement noise reduction knobs, too. I guess the folks at SignVideo can't use the "VNX" since it was trademarked by Vidicraft, even though they are former Vidicraft employees and that company is no longer in business.
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  15. I suspect that what happens is that even though the company is out of business, the copyright remains since the assets both physical and intellectual can be bought by another entity. Not necessarily right away either. If Vidicraft had released the copyright and any pataents before ceasing operation then they'd be available for anyone to use (speculation of course). However even if planning to cease operation that would be unlikely as they have a value that can be sold for revenue.

    YMMV
    Cheers
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  16. I need help connecting my Vidicraft II detailer. This product was purchased without a manual and I need help with the connections at the back. At the back of this detailer, there are three positions for input and each position has one audio and one video inputs. There are also four positions for output and each has a corresponding video and audio output.

    My problem is how do I connect a right and left audio channels from my Laser disc player (pioneer CLD D701) to this single audio input (at the back of the vidicraft) and from this single output to the right and left audio channels DVD recorder (JVC DR-M10S)? Will the sound be in mono?

    Also the connectors at the back of the vidicraft have threads on them so it looks like a different type of connectors are needed other than a RCA connectors for both video and audio. It looks like the connectors have to be screwed on at the back of the Vdidcraft II.

    Any help will be appreciated.....Please..... and oh I nearly forgot.... I wish you all the best of everything in the coming years and as my buddy would say..."may your road be smooth.... not rough... but very smooth"
    If you do not learn from someone's knowledge and experience, then you are doing it the hard way
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  17. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
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    I never plug in the audio to the detailers, no point to it. Bypass it. Audio from LD straight to JVC.

    Match the video in to video out: in 1 out 1, in 2 out 2, etc. Only use what's needed.

    BNC connectors? I doubt it. I think those are just threading for old-style composite cables.
    Want my help? Ask here! (not via PM!)
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  18. Member vhelp's Avatar
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    I have the CLD-D701 player.

    I'm not sure what you're doing, but you don't need to feed in the audio
    portion of the LD player to the Detailer. The audio from the LD would go to
    the sound card's AUX or Line-In.

    (
    .. If you're worried about audio sync, then I would def'ly not put the audio in
    .. through the Detailer unit. Feed it through to your sound card.
    .
    .. Also, the only way to rule out any audio sync issues (assuming that it might
    .. be your issues, or past issues in other scenarios) just make sure that you do
    .. not have any framedrops. Not one. As long as you have no drops in frames,
    .. you should not have any audio sync (assuming that your hidden issue)
    )

    From the video worksation of,
    -vhelp 2970
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  19. Ditto.

    The audio inputs and outputs on the Vidicraft units are just switchers... they don't actually do anything. Connect your LD player audio outputs directly to your DVD recorder audio inputs.

    The RCA jacks on the older US made Vidicrafts are a heavy duty type with threads for the mounting nut. No special plug is needed.
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  20. I do thank all of you for your replies. My problem is that I thouhgt that once it was there I had to use it. I did it the way LordSmurf suggested and it is working just fine.

    Thank all of you for your replies
    If you do not learn from someone's knowledge and experience, then you are doing it the hard way
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