Capturing tv with a s-vhs vcr

[Bontas]

Hi,
I´ve got a question about capturing s-vhs quality signal with my brand new s-vhs vcr (jvc HR-S 6953). When I connect my dv camcorder to the vcr with the s-video in,I know the resolution is aprox. 400 lines but if I use the vcr to record a broadcast signal (received by the RF in connexion), will the vcr capture 400 lines too? Is the RF (coaxial) cable able to send 400 lines or that´s only possible with the s-video in or the scart in? Thanks

[johns0]

The svhs will record 400 lines thru the rf coax if the signal is at least 400 lines which most broadcast is.

[lordsmurf]

The svhs will record 400 lines thru the rf coax if the signal is at least 400 lines which most broadcast is.

Broadcast is closer to 300-350.

[johns0]

Ya your right,just checked on the specs and they are at around 330 lines,i thought they would have increased it in the last 10 years that i last checked.

[ronnylov]

NTSC broadcast can be up to approx. 330 lines of horisontal resolution, which converted to pixels corresponds to 440 pixels.

PALbroadcast can be up to approx. 402 lines of horisontal resolution, which converted to pixels corresponds to 536 pixels.

So if you record a broadcast on SVHS tape you can record almost the full broadcasted resolution of the luminance, but the colour resolution is as bad as on VHS. If the tape is of lower quality you will also see more noise on the recorded SVHS compared to the live broadcast.

So you may get better quality by recording the broadcast to SVHS compared to VHS because VHS max resolution is 240 lines (which corresponds to 320 pixels in digital resolution) regardless if you are recording PAL or NTSC. The SVHS tape can have a resolution up to 400 lines (or 533 pixels if translated to digital video resolution).

I have also tried the recording of the JVC format SVHS-ET to normal VHS tapes but in my opinion I got better quality when recording as VHS, probably because of too low quality of my tapes. But a true high quality SVHS tape gave excellent results from live broadcast.

[Werble]

When using a tape recorded on a standard vhs from a standard VCR, would there be any quality increase by playing it on a s-vhs machine going out thru the s-vhs port? I know the resolution would remian the same but I would imagine the color would be better. Yes/No?

[WuphonsReach]

Only if you're comparing a crappy quality VHS deck with a quality S-VHS deck. Playback on a S-VHS deck can't add back in information that is missing from the VHS tape. The exception is if the S-VHS deck has better quality hardware then the old VHS deck.

Odds are, the answer is simply "No" for all practical purposes.