S-Video vs Composite for capture from S-VHS VCR

[HDClown]

I have a Toshiba W808 S-VHA VCR. It has DNR but no TBC (as far as I know).

I need to do a bunch of VHS capture and need to know if I would see any difference if I use S-Video instead of Composite from the VCR. The source material is all old family video type stuff that dates back a minimum of 14 years from when it was origianlly capture. Some of it was captured on cameras that date to the era of 8mm/Hi8, and the oldest stuff was captures on VHS camcorders.

The reason I ask this question is because I have a Canon HV20 HDV camcorder which can be used as a capture device, it has composite video only. The HV20 is the own device capable of capture that I own, so using S-Video means buying something.

Should S-Video mean a worthwhile bump in quality, what's the recommended device to get? I'm noy looking to spend more than $150'ish on a capture device, should I need to at all.

[redwudz]

S-video would be an improvement over composite as it separates the luma (Brightness) and the chroma (Color) resulting usually in a better quality signal. From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-Video The ATI chipset based capture cards have been popular for this.

For capture, etc., info, take a look here: http://www.digitalfaq.com/guides/video/index-record-capture.htm

[2Bdecided]

The Canon HV20 isn't even that good a capture device for composite - though it's quite tolerant of poor signals.

It won't let you get the full quality from your S-VHS tapes. I speak from experience!

Cheers,
David.

[HDClown]

The Canon HV20 isn't even that good a capture device for composite - though it's quite tolerant of poor signals.

It won't let you get the full quality from your S-VHS tapes. I speak from experience!

Cheers,
David.

What did you end up using after deciding to not use the HV20 ?

[Snakebyte1]

The best way to find out is to do a capture with both connections and see which one you find gives the best results. After getting a new Toshiba VCR/DVD Recorder combo unit the other month, I went about the task of setting up an S-Video connection to my PVR (which was in another cabinet and required a good part of the day snaking cables). End result was not near as good as I had hoped. As a means to compare, I tried a composite connection and the improvement was surprisingly significant. I wish I had of done this test before stringing the SVideo cable. Whether it due to cable quality, or something about the DVD or PVRs Svideo ports, I'm not sure, but the "lower quality" composite connection gives me better results that S-Video.

[2Bdecided]

What did you end up using after deciding to not use the HV20 ?

Canopus ADVC110. Other people here will suggest a PC video capture card direct to lossless. I think I'd also try a DV camcorder with S-video input - if these things were easy and cheap to find in Europe (they're not).

Cheers,
David.