Have VCR and Panasonic E50, need something to cleanup VHS

[Gun4u]

Hi there I have been using my VCR and my Panasonic E50 to record to DVD-ram and to edit on PC and burn to DVD-r. I have some really old tapes, when I say old I mean old VHS tapes. I would like something to help make the picture better. I know there is only so much that can be done to fix the picture quality. Some people have said to buy a Elite BVP-4, however I would like to get other people opinions on what to use. Some people have also said to get a TBC and a enhancer. My spending limit is $500, so I am guessing I could only get one of them.

Thanks
Dave

[heman28]

Hello if your looking to clean up a little and make adjustments to your vhs tapes using a Panasonic dvd recorder wich I also use then here is what I reccommend. If your looking for the 500.00 range then go with the Datavideo TBC 1000 around 300.00 wich works wonders on tapes and helps in jitter and such and helps with video errors. The Sima SCC2 is around 150.00 from most online stores and is decent in adjusting things like color and such. Also the Panasonic does have a built in Time base corrector but it does not do what the Datavideo TBC does but sometimes depending what is wrong with the tape like jumping screens or other little and very minor things the panasonic does better than the Datavideo but only in certain situations and with certain tapes or vcr's. But that is my opinion and from my own experience and I know Lordsmurf will ring my neck for saying that but he knows a lot about stuff and is 99.99 percent right on most things. But opinions will vary on stuff and with users and what makes people happy with quality etc. Here is what I use in my setup so far. First a Hifi vcr-Datavideo TBC 1000- Sima SCC2 for color adjustments- Panasonic Dmr e55. I get great results with this setup and does a heck of a lot better then going from vhs to dvd straight through. But I just ordered a DR-1000 Image enhancer from Signvideo and it has noise reduction and sharpness control and is around 300.00 so I will be putting that in the mix soon and am going to see how it may help out with quality wise in making my image better and more sharp but with better noise reduction. The Sima box has a sharpness function on it but does not make that much of a difference and its better for color adjustments only. You can email me with any questions if you want but people on here will most likely give more detailed advice then me since I am some what of a newbie but have been doing stuff for a couple of years now and learned from reading here.

[trock]

But I just ordered a DR-1000 Image enhancer from Signvideo and it has noise reduction and sharpness control and is around 300.00 so I will be putting that in the mix soon and am going to see how it may help out with quality wise in making my image better and more sharp but with better noise reduction.

Bear in mind that the noise reduction on the DR-1000 doesn't do anything to reduce noise on the original tape, it lessens the noise introduced by its own sharpening.

[gshelley61]

If you get hold of a high end JVC S-VHS VCR like the HR-S9600U (or the 9800, 9900, 9911, 9500) they have a built in line TBC and noise reduction processor that does a pretty good job of cleaning up the appearance of VHS. Plus, they deliver about the best VHS playback image of any consumer VCR.

For tapes that need lots of help, I have a professional Feral A:4:2:2 full frame TBC/Synch/Proc Amp. It has a "coring" function which is essentially hardware video noise reduction. I've heard the Datavideo TBC-1000 may also provide a preset level of video noise reduction, but I have not tried one so I don't know for sure.

[trock]

How effective have you found the "coring" function to be?

[lordsmurf]

Panasonic DVD recorder tend to enhance noise (make it worse!) coming from VHS sources. The Datavideo TBC-1000 does not "clean an image". No TBC "cleans an image". That's not what they're for.

You want NR filters. For that, you need software or NR hardware (fairly uncommon). The LSI chips found in DVD recorders (especially the ones in JVC machines that work in conjuction with DigiPure) tends to remove noise, especially chroma noise.

A JVC S-VHS VCR has a TBC/NR unit which is quite good too.

The Elite is a proc amp. It changes color/contrast, not noise.

A DR-1000 or other image sharpener/enhancer does not remove noise either, not really. It's there to sharpen an image, nothing more.

People like SIMA devices, but they tend to introduce their own noise into the stream. Yuck. Avoid those if possible.

Simple advice: BUY A BETTER VCR. The JVC.

You will find that the Panasonic is your WORST enemy when it comes to converting VHS, and pretty much all hopes at restoring and improving the qualtiy is a lost cause. You'll be lucky if you can maintain the quality (only use SP mode).

[gshelley61]

How effective have you found the "coring" function to be?

The Feral TBC has pretty effective noise reduction... stronger than what the JVC VCR's with DigiPure can do. It does a great job with grain, streaks and chroma noise. However, as with all video noise reduction (hardware or software filters) the picture is softened by the process.

I think what I recall is someone mentioning the TBC-1000 softens the picture slightly, so perhaps I speculated something about mild noise reduction into that observation. Like I said, I have not tried out a TBC-1000, so I don't know. I defer to lordsmurf since he has one and would have noticed it if it was there. The Feral definitely has it, though. You can see a big difference when the Coring is turned on and off.

[lordsmurf]

If you view a test pattern and blow up the image you MIGHT be able to see the TBC-1000 soften some. Most of that is imagination, people seeing what they want to believe, rather than what is really there. Unless you have a 60"+ tv set, not even worth talking about, though it should be noted that those people tend to be a bit obnoxious about video.

[trock]

Thanks gshelley61, coupled with everything else it does, it sounds like a very good unit. I wish one would show up on eBay.

[gshelley61]

Thanks gshelley61, coupled with everything else it does, it sounds like a very good unit. I wish one would show up on eBay.

Too bad Feral went out of business. Prime Image, Hotronic, DPS/Leitch and FOR-A are all still making professional TBC's, though. Their more recent units are all real good, too. I know some of the Prime Image units have variable noise reduction...

[handyguy]

Get a better vcr & adjust the tracking. Play directly into the panasonic in real time & record. The panasonic has a lot of special filters already to clean things up. So you might need a better vcr.

[vhelp]

If you can post a PIC of your issues, that might help with a few better
suggestions

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EDITED - I give up..

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