VHS>>DVD Conversion....Use of Video Scaler???

[VIP]

A long time ago I had a profile here...don't remember what it was so, eh,..start new and everything. I wasn't a posting maniac anyways....

I have what is probably a really stupid question. I'm debating on getting back into some VHS>DVD conversions as something of a community service/hobby to help preserve some specific video material. So...it's going to take me some time to scrap the rust off my brain and remember some things (plus unboxing some of my equipment). I can't say I was always the smartest most technically inclined person when it came to converting, but I enjoyed myself and I think that was the most important thing as long as my finished work was pretty good (and in this case it's not like I'd be getting paid back by anything more than self satisfaction of doing something nice, which is a good thing).

Anyways...after that long introduction....I've been doing some research and trying to freshen up before I pull my hardware out and I had a thought. Would a video scaler be of any benefit? I mean, I'm figuring if I upscale the video for the mpeg conversion via software would I expect to see a better result if I used a hardware scaler prior to mpeg? I know it's a weird question and may get back answers of "apples vs oranges" meaning it don't work like that but I really can't find any reference to this anywhere (which probably means it's not a valid question).

I've always been a bit of a gadget person so I've always preferred using hardware to filter my material over software. I actually have some decent hardware already (packed away at present) so I'd really only have to buy a decent (used) video scaler for a couple hundred, which I wouldn't mind the one time cost if it would return good results.

Be gentle folks....I'm just shooting a bit in the dark here so I might be missing the mark completely. Oh, and believe me, I'm very aware that one can only do "so much" with VHS and that a scaler won't magically make it look like HD.

[jagabo]

You can't scale VHS to SD -- it's already SD. There's no point in upscaling to HD before capturing. A $200 scaler won't do any better than you can in software. Upscaling SD to HD (even in an external device) involves digitizing the video, digitally scaling, then converting back to analog (or maybe sending the upscaled digital video via HDMI). So you won't be avoiding a digital step. Then you will need an HD capture device. After capturing you'll only have only a bigger version of low quality VHS. At best, you would simply be saving time by upscaling before capturing. And to make a DVD you will have to downscale again!