TBC1000 vs ADVC300

[ahrmny]

Is anyone familiar with the LTBC of the Canopus ADVC300? Do you think it is/would be as effective (or close to it) as the Datavideo TBC-1000?

I'm going to get one of these, but could use the conversion features of the Canopus. I'd rather not have to buy both, but the quality of the VHS tape I'm capturing is awful. I get alot of dropouts using my Matrix RT.X100 and Premier Pro - trying to capture this really bad tape.
My JVC HR-S9800 helps a little, but not enough - that's how bad this tape is.
Anyway, I have to get this tape captured to digital format and I was wondering if the LTBC of the ADVC300 would give me as good a result (or close to it) as the TBC-1000.
Thanks.

[gshelley61]

The line TBC in the Canopus is not nearly as effective and robust as a full frame TBC (like the TBC-1000) - and will not defeat copy protection signals.

If you only have one really bad tape, consider going to a professional conversion facility that uses broadcast type VCR's and processors. Otherwise, you need to look into a getting full frame TBC and a Proc Amp. The AV Tools AVT-8710 is a small consumer full frame TBC that has some picture adjustment controls.

Also, if you describe the specific problems you are having with the tape, lordsmurf may be able to help...

[Ron B]

Hello-I've just purchased the AVT-8710 and have been using it for the past couple days. For about $200.USD, it's worth it. The TBC does a good job and the adjustment settings do a pretty good job. It makes analog capture a lot cleaner and easier.

[ahrmny]

Thanks for the replies.
The problem is that the tape heads on the original recording deck are way out of line. So playing a tape recorded on that machine is awful when played on any other deck.

I don't have the original machine, so I'm trying to digitize a badly recorded B/W VHS recording.

With my JVC 9800 I was actually able to capture most of it, however there is still about 30 min. of video that is so poor I can't get it captured.
When it's being converted, it seems the signal is so bad/screwed up that the capture screen goes blank although the tape is still playing during the last 30 min. of the tape. It will play through a TV, but any attempt to convert this last part of it to digital fails.

I'm not "techie" enough to align the heads of a VCR to the tape, which is what has been suggested. LordSmurf - thanks again LS - and a couple of local video services pretty much told me the same thing - tape head alignment problems can't be corrected short of possessing the original deck or through trial & error with another old one(older VCRs are more forgiving and more likely to play a bad tape).

I was thinking that if the ADVC300 was doing the converting, then its TBC might be more likely to produce a more compatible/corrected signal for it to convert. However, it's a little expensive to experiment with it and I can't get both ADVC300 and the TBC-1000 before the deadline.

At this point, it's not a problem of quality, it's a problem of just getting the whole thing converted. Even when I record it to another deck (which it will do completely), the new recording still won't convert and I've tried every configuration with my present equipment. Re-recorded garbage is still garbage, I guess.

So my question is: Does anyone think the TBC in the ADVC300 will be more likely to allow the ADVC300 to convert it since it's made to work together? Or would say that if the TBC-1000 won't correct it enough to capture it, then forget it?

Thanks. A.

[lordsmurf]

I don't think the ADVC300 will do anything at all for you. The TBC-1000 at very least will prevent dropped frames to a degree. It may also be the Matrox card being overly sensitive, not real sure.

You may want to look for an older SHARP VHS VCR and see how that treats your tape. I've got players set at different alignments here, so that I can handle most tapes.

[Numbat]

FWIW there is an updated firmware available from Canopus for the ADVC300 that enables the hidden feature that was available with the ADVC100