DVD vrs VHS quality

[mmarocks]

I have a Panasonic E-30. I'm wondering how quality compares to VHS in terms of time. Some DVD boxes say 6hrs on DVD is VHS quality. But is this VHS SP or VHS LP?

P.S. I really like the machine. Older archival stuff come out better than the original...

[txpharoah]

Forget what you knew about EP vs SP. There really is not comparison. Use the mid-grade mode on the DVD recorder, and it should be fine. Low looks low, and high is usually a waste.

[K2]

I have to assume you mean DVD5
6 hours on a DVD...
between a poor SP or good LP

a 2 hour DVD is typically far better than VHS SP


Quality in VHS is controlled by data per meter hence SP, LP and EP on the same media. Personally I think EP was a mistake many years ago.
Quality in DVD is data per second.

[EddyH]

6 hours on a recordable DVD is probably akin to a 1400k XVCD (even same rez?)... so maybe just-about the same as VHS. Tape still wins it on recording time per media at a certain quality, but if you stack five paper-cased DVDs on top of each other they're quite a bit smaller than a VHS And a lot lower video noise level, clearer audio..

A recorder that will let you get 6 hours, that'd be nice, most I've seen max out at 4.. which is approx the same as SVCD, kind of like SVHS. Suppose they don't want to make it possible for the user to make the quality bad even by choice, then they can sell it as being always better than tape..

[SatStorm]

By using PCs/MACs to encode, you can burn 3 Hours with a pro SVHS quality - like on a DVD5 disc. For a typical SVHS-like quality it is about 3.30 hours.
If you use a standalone DVD recorder for the job, it is about 1 to 1.30 min for the same quality. The 2 Hours ain't that good, the more is awfull.
6 Hours on a DVD5 is possible but ain't a good choice. It shall look like a VHS tape, and you need PC/Mac to succeed it. With a standalone DVD recorder is almost impossible, maybe 5 hours, but not 6!

[jsnkc1]

I would also like to point out that the source tapes need to be of good quality too, usually if you're going from VHS to DVD it's not really worth it to do it at the 2hr setting because it won't make the video look any better. Also not sure how the DVD copy is coming out better than the original, maybe your eyes are playing tricks on you.

[SatStorm]

My experience show me that the better VHS the less Bitrate you need.
If VHS is shit, you need more bitrate to succeed realtime a visual identical result.

That's why I advice anyone for the PC rout. With VHS, you need fitering. A good start which always help is use the filters Dynamic Noise reduction (stablise the picture) and Static Noise reduction (kill the random noise).
With VHS, also a colour noise reduction migh help on most situtations and a horizontal sharpness (only!)!
Of course, someone else might have a better way to present us. This is my way and it is pretty good to share it with you.