VCR or CAP card

[cesarin]

well here i am again, again with a little problem i hope you help me solve.

ok lets get to the point i got my new pc and since i kow nothing about capturing i bought a cheap card, hercules something, i did not have any trouble capturing from the web cam, but when i tryed to capture from the vcr, thats when the problems started, i live in belgium (europe) so it will be really helpful if you live over here too!!! the main problem that got is a resulting black and white video from the VCR on the screen, now, i dont know if the problem is the VCR itself, which is new, or the capture card, i must mentione that im using a convertor on the eurocable vcr to tranfer the video to the pc, i tryed everything i could but i dont have a clear colored image, i also must say im trying to tranfers american video sistem to pal, this tape i got was recorded on ep mode, and wel i guess thats all the information i can give you now...


ok people i hope to hear from you soon!!!!!!!!!!

bye bye and thxxx

[thecoalman]

You can't play a NTSC tape on a pal VCR unless it's a multi format VCR. Now if your using a NTSC VCR and running it though some kind of adapter to change it to PAL make sure your capture card is configured for PAL or vice versa.....

[akbor75]

maybe you used the SVHS output of the VCR while the source is VHS. if this is the case, use the composite output.

[thecoalman]

maybe you used the SVHS output of the VCR while the source is VHS. if this is the case, use the composite output.

Why would that make a difference? I'm just asking because I use the s-video cable all the time. None of my material is svhs though and I have no trouble, matter of fact it looks slighly sharper compared to composite.

[cesarin]

You can't play a NTSC tape on a pal VCR unless it's a multi format VCR. Now if your using a NTSC VCR and running it though some kind of adapter to change it to PAL make sure your capture card is configured for PAL or vice versa.....

ok lets get clear, YES, you can play ntsc on a pal vcr as long as the vcr reads ntsc, i have no problem playing the ntsc tape and watching it on the tv, the problem comes when i try to transfer to the pc, the adapter im using its for the euro-cable, since i found impossible to transfered with out it, this adapter only changes the in and out options and converts the euro-cable in or out plugs , to svhs or composite so you can plug them to the pc, i tryed from changing pal a,b,c to ntsc but still nothing so... what then?

is it the capture card? should i get a better card or a better vcr with more in and out options, which vcr do you suggest?

thxx again

[FulciLives]

You can't play a NTSC tape on a pal VCR unless it's a multi format VCR. Now if your using a NTSC VCR and running it though some kind of adapter to change it to PAL make sure your capture card is configured for PAL or vice versa.....

ok lets get clear, YES, you can play ntsc on a pal vcr as long as the vcr reads ntsc, i have no problem playing the ntsc tape and watching it on the tv, the problem comes when i try to transfer to the pc, the adapter im using its for the euro-cable, since i found impossible to transfered with out it, this adapter only changes the in and out options and converts the euro-cable in or out plugs , to svhs or composite so you can plug them to the pc, i tryed from changing pal a,b,c to ntsc but still nothing so... what then?

is it the capture card? should i get a better card or a better vcr with more in and out options, which vcr do you suggest?

thxx again

Most PAL VCR units that play back NTSC tapes do so using a "trick" that is not a full blown NTSC to PAL conversion nor are you getting full blown NTSC.

Instead you are getting a wierd hybrid that works on most (if not all) PAL televisions but will not work with most (like 99.9%) of capture devices.

Instead you need to get a VCR that either plays back NTSC as NTSC (and capture it as NTSC) or a VCR that does full blown NTSC to PAL conversion (and capture it as PAL).

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[cesarin]

Most PAL VCR units that play back NTSC tapes do so using a "trick" that is not a full blown NTSC to PAL conversion nor are you getting full blown NTSC.

Instead you are getting a wierd hybrid that works on most (if not all) PAL televisions but will not work with most (like 99.9%) of capture devices.

Instead you need to get a VCR that either plays back NTSC as NTSC (and capture it as NTSC) or a VCR that does full blown NTSC to PAL conversion (and capture it as PAL).

- John "FulciLives" Coleman[/quote]

well thxx for anwers, fisrt i must say i dont get the hole comcept of a blown ntsc, if what you meaned was, can i see ntsc tapes with good quality on a european vcr? the anwers is yes, the only problem is capturing... now you mentioned i need a new vcr, which one should i get? im willing to pay good money for this stuff so... but what if i make a copy of this ntsc tape to a regular european vcr, the resulting format tape would be pal right? then i could transfer to the pc, offcourse ill lose image quality during the process but... well i dont know!!!

hope to hear from you soon!!

[FulciLives]

You need one or the other here ... your choice.

1.) A VHS VCR that can play back NTSC VHS videos as NTSC without any type of conversion. You then would capture this to your computer as NTSC. You can then burn a NTSC DVD on the computer or you can do the NTSC to PAL conversion ON THE COMPUTER then burn a PAL DVD.

2.) A VHS VCR that can play back NTSC VHS videos and convert them to full spec PAL format. It sounds like your VHS VCR converts NTSC to something called PAL 60 which is not a full NTSC to PAL conversion. A VCR that does do full NTSC to full PAL conversion is very expensive though this would allow you to capture as PAL on your computer and therefore save you the computer step of doing NTSC to PAL conversion which can be rather tricky.

If you simply feed a NTSC signal to a PAL VCR you still have a NTSC signal that your PAL VCR will not be able to copy.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[pyrohydra]

maybe you used the SVHS output of the VCR while the source is VHS. if this is the case, use the composite output.

Capturing, especially from a source such as VHS, is difficult enough as it is. The above example of disinformation certainly doesn't help matters.

[cesarin]

2.) A VHS VCR that can play back NTSC VHS videos and convert them to full spec PAL format. It sounds like your VHS VCR converts NTSC to something called PAL 60 which is not a full NTSC to PAL conversion. A VCR that does do full NTSC to full PAL conversion is very expensive though this would allow you to capture as PAL on your computer and therefore save you the computer step of doing NTSC to PAL conversion which can be rather tricky.


well ok i think ill do this: i gona buy this vcr you mentioned earlier VCR that does do full NTSC to full PAL, now, where should i get this vcr? what should i be looking for when i go to the store? is there a specific brand? yes i know... im lost

thxxx again

[akbor75]

Capturing, especially from a source such as VHS, is difficult enough as it is. The above example of disinformation certainly doesn't help matters.

well excuse me for providing disinformation... just trying to help here.
i once used an s-video cable, which resulted in b/w picture. when i use composite it's ok. so i thought maybe that's the case.

if my answer is not the solution just let it go. don't suggest that i try to make things more difficult. that's not fair.

[pyrohydra]

well excuse me for providing disinformation... just trying to help here.
i once used an s-video cable, which resulted in b/w picture. when i use composite it's ok. so i thought maybe that's the case.

if my answer is not the solution just let it go. don't suggest that i try to make things more difficult. that's not fair.

It wasn't my intent to flame, though I can see how I may have come off that way. I was simply trying to nip erroneous information in the bud, so that anyone with this particular problem doing a search won't waste time with it, as it actually has nothing to do with the topic in the thread. If I posted something that was wrong, I would expect to be corrected. Posting erroneous information is worse than posting no response at all. Whenever I'm about to post something that I'm not 100% sure about, I usually do at least a small amount of research to convince myself that my response is valid.

[Doramius]

I doubt that the VCR would be just a B?W VCR, and I don't think they've made them since late 70's, so that wouldn't be your main issue. The PAL NTSC conversion may have something to do with it, but it's hard to tell as it sounds like you're using a multiformat VCR. Also some Capture cards won't record anything that is Macrovision recorded and coming in through your RF jack. I Think it depends on the VCR, but S-video may or may not pass the Macrovision signal through as well. If you have an S-Video out on the VCR then try it and see what happens. You're most likely going to have composite out ports on your VCR, though the quality isn't top notch as S-Video, the signal is not going to be too bad as long as your original source is good. Composite doesn't pass the Macrovision through to the Capture card. That's how I record from a seperate Region Free DVD Player. I don't feel like playing with my comp. to make Power DVD Region Free, and I can add captions and other things to it after it's recorded.

[thecoalman]

Composite doesn't pass the Macrovision through to the Capture card.

Do you wish to elaborate on this statement, from my understanding macrovision is embedded in the video signal itself. It will pass through any means you use to convey it to the capture card. If the capture card is capable of detecting macrovision it will regardless of connection type. I can even provide examples of macrovision free tapes that have been detected as having macrovision on them through the composite, s-video and coaxial connections due to what I think is weak signals.

[Doramius]

I haven't had any problems due to Macrovision using composite cables into my card. I even test copied Jurassic Park from a VCR and several UK retail DVDs on my multiregion DVD Player. If they put put Macrovision on the Video signal, itself, my factory bought card doesn't pick it up. And I haven't put on any software to pass it through my card. When I use RF, my card certainly picks it up.