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  1. Member Seeker47's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by jjeff View Post
    While I agree a TBC is the best solution, it's also the most expensive and bulky. I've had good luck with various filters although many have the tendency to lighten the blacks. Also a cheap VHS filter will not remove DVD CP, you need one that recreates the VI for DVD/PPV, like the old Sima CT-2/200's did or something like a Grex or Video Filter does now days. I've never ran across a DVD or BR my Sima wouldn't correct but again the downside I have to live with is about a +7.5 IRE increase in black level, most noticeable with white titles on a black background.
    For someone doing things commercially like LS a TBC is the best option but IMO for someone who just wants to copy a few commercial VHS tapes or DVDs a TBC a bit of an overkill. Just my 2 cents anyway.
    Those were the least of the problems I had with the Sima CT-200, which suffered from constant and very annoying color shifts and light/dark/light shifts. (Some said this was due to inconsistent QC in the device mfr., varying from sample to sample.) But I found it unacceptable.

    I have the Video Filter -- a.k.a. Zorilla, if that is the one being referred to -- and it was much better, though it sometimes went back & forth between 4:3 & 16:9, as if confused. I hope to work with that some more when I get back to doing xfers, since I never used it enough to form a solid conclusion about its effectiveness.
    When in Las Vegas, don't miss the Pinball Hall of Fame Museum http://www.pinballmuseum.org/ -- with over 150 tables from 6+ decades of this quintessentially American art form.
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    [QUOTE=Seeker47;2093227]
    Originally Posted by jjeff View Post

    Those were the least of the problems I had with the Sima CT-200, which suffered from constant and very annoying color shifts and light/dark/light shifts. (Some said this was due to inconsistent QC in the device mfr., varying from sample to sample.) But I found it unacceptable.

    I have the Video Filter -- a.k.a. Zorilla, if that is the one being referred to -- and it was much better, though it sometimes went back & forth between 4:3 & 16:9, as if confused. I hope to work with that some more when I get back to doing xfers, since I never used it enough to form a solid conclusion about its effectiveness.
    I think you may be onto something. I have 3 Sima CT-2s and 2 tend to mess with the brightness and contrast. If I feed it with a DVD player that has full output adjustments(brightness, contrast, gamma) I can get the output after the filter to look OK(not great but just OK) but one of my Simas works great and needs no such adjustments I took the other two apart and found no adjustments(I was hoping for a pot to adjust) so I guess it's just the luck of the draw with most tending to be overly bright.
    The Video Filter I was referring to is sold by a AVS member Logic Design. It's not cheap(I believe $169) but I believe they are custom built and I've read have a higher quality output. I haven't heard of a Zorilla filter.
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  3. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
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    Most people who "don't have problems" just haven't noticed them yet.
    I doubt many transfers were watched at the time of transfer.

    The butchering of values is commonplace, as Seeker describes.
    Want my help? Ask here! (not via PM!)
    FAQs: Best Blank DiscsBest TBCsBest VCRs for captureRestore VHS
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  4. Member Seeker47's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by jjeff View Post
    The Video Filter I was referring to is sold by a AVS member Logic Design. It's not cheap(I believe $169) but I believe they are custom built and I've read have a higher quality output. I haven't heard of a Zorilla filter.
    Most likely, we are talking about the same unit. (I probably still have a url for it.) If memory serves, the developer's name was Max Zorilla (?), hence the alternate product name.

    Originally Posted by lordsmurf
    Most people who "don't have problems" just haven't noticed them yet.
    I doubt many transfers were watched at the time of transfer.

    The butchering of values is commonplace, as Seeker describes
    Commonplace, but also possibly intermittent . . . meaning you might get lucky for short periods of time, or until the unit gets hot. I hope the AVT-8710 does not suffer from the same problem. I bought one used a while back, but haven't really tested it properly. They were reported to have rather inconsistent QC as well.
    Last edited by Seeker47; 16th Jul 2011 at 12:59.
    When in Las Vegas, don't miss the Pinball Hall of Fame Museum http://www.pinballmuseum.org/ -- with over 150 tables from 6+ decades of this quintessentially American art form.
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    I read that you might have the url for the zorrilla(?) filter.
    I have the old url

    http://home.cfl.rr.com/filter

    but this was changed shortly after I first heard about the video filter in early 2009.

    If you have his new url I'm interested in getting one.
    You can email me if you want.
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  6. Originally Posted by jjeff View Post
    That's what I have. An earlier version.
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  7. Member Seeker47's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by jagabo View Post
    Originally Posted by jjeff View Post
    That's what I have. An earlier version.
    Yes, that's it. So, if I got mine 1.5 - 2 years ago, it's an older version than the one he is selling now ? (Looks much the same, but some internal circuitry change might not be apparent.)
    When in Las Vegas, don't miss the Pinball Hall of Fame Museum http://www.pinballmuseum.org/ -- with over 150 tables from 6+ decades of this quintessentially American art form.
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  8. Originally Posted by Seeker47 View Post
    Originally Posted by jagabo View Post
    Originally Posted by jjeff View Post
    That's what I have. An earlier version.
    Yes, that's it. So, if I got mine 1.5 - 2 years ago, it's an older version than the one he is selling now ?
    I don't know. Mine is maybe 10 years old.
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    Thank you so very much.
    I really appreciate your help.

    I should have paid more attention when the address was changed and kept a copy of it.
    I guess I wasn't thinking ahead.
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    Try: http://www.xdimax.com/grex/grex.html Price is a little steep but, it works.
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    Originally Posted by orsetto View Post
    Hairy Gossamer,

    Seeker47,

    A friend of mine (who bought a Mag 513 on my recommendation) recently showed me how to record to the Magnavox HDD buffer, dump the selected contents to the HDD nav system, and make a DVD from it. The process isn't that difficult, its just totally alien to long-term Pioneer owners like you and me. For one thing, Pioneers do not have automated background buffers. For another, the Pioneer interface is much slicker and more intuitive: the Magnavox uses a cryptic system of icons and symbols at the top of the screen to manipulate its buffer. It is hard to explain the steps without both of us having a Magnavox in front of us, but here is the gist:

    1. The Magnavox starts recording to its HDD in the background as soon as you turn it on, much like a TiVO, in a six hour loop. This "buffer" is interrupted and erased whenever you change input sources, or start a manual or timer recording on the HDD. The Magnavox buffer is almost completely oblivious to MacroVision or CGMS and will record almost anything while it is running, unlike the manual and timer modes which stick more closely to standard restrictions. The advantage of using the buffer is you can avoid adding additional gear to the chain like filters or TBCs that can soften or otherwise affect video quality.

    2. To dub protected material, turn on the Magnavox and select the line input your VCR is plugged into. The Mag will immediately begin recording in the background. Start playing the tape you want to dub, and as it runs the Mag buffer will capture it.

    3. When the tape is over, press the Display button on the Magnavox remote to bring up a screen overlay of little icons and options. Using the arrow keys, select the HDD Buffer icon and hit Enter. The buffer will begin playing from the beginning. Using the various remote buttons and on screen symbols, you can select a beginning and end point in the buffer and then dump that segment into the main HDD nav window, where it will appear as if you had recorded it normally. From there you can manipulate the recording however you'd like (editing parts out, adding custom chapter marks) and then do a high-speed dub to DVD, much like you'd do on your Pioneer. The only major difference is the Magnavox does not allow custom thumbnails on the HDD: you select custom title thumbnails for the DVD menu after high speed dubbing but just before finalizing. This is a totally clumsy thumbnail system and possibly the single biggest stumbling block for owners of other brands when migrating to the Magnavox.
    I'm trying to use this method. I have a magnavox MDR513H/F7.
    The mag buffer is capturing the copy-protected movie.
    I'm having trouble with the next step: how to dump the movie into the main HDD nav window.
    You said, press the Display button on the Magnavox remote to bring up a screen overlay of little icons and options.
    I did that and it worked.
    Then, you wrote, "Using the various remote buttons and on screen symbols, you can select a beginning and end point in the buffer and then dump that segment into the main HDD nav window, where it will appear as if you had recorded it normally."
    This is the part I'm having trouble with. I can't find the right "icon" to dump the segment into the HDD nav window.
    Whenever I press record, it says not allowed.
    Anymore information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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  12. The procedure for saving the buffer as a normal HDD recording is described in depth at this link.

    Note since this thread was last updated, many more owners have reported more varied experiences using the Magnavox on various websites. The strategy of using the buffer as a MV or CP workaround has been debunked somewhat. It does not always completely succeed (may or may not record at all, or may record to the buffer but not permit dumping the contents to DVD). Most of the people raving about the buffer being impervious to CP appear to have been using it only to timeshift protected cable or satellite signals (not dub tapes). If you follow the steps in the link above and still get a "not allowed" alert, you will need to use an external CP filter with that tape. Also, be aware that the Magnavox encoder can have unpredictable issues encoding some tapes from some VCRs: you will see no issues while monitoring the recording, but when you go to play it back on the HDD you might suddenly see hiccups in the video here and there. For any project of importance, you should probably wait until the dub is finished and then review the actual HDD recording to check for hiccups. Usually these are minor and infrequent, but occasionally the frame will consistenty roll for a split second approx every minute or two. If this happens, the Magnavox is unsuitable for digitizing that particular tape.
    Last edited by orsetto; 6th Mar 2014 at 19:32.
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    Thanks, orsetto, for the further explanation and the link. I'll fool around with it some more.
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