Outsourcing VHS digitization: Costs?

[Knocks]

What are the current costs to send VHS tapes out by mail and have them captured and digitized? U.S.-based shops with proven track record would be preferred.

I'm looking at 10-15 VHS tapes, a mix of NTSC, PAL, and SECAM, recorded at various speeds (no idea which tapes were recorded at which TV standards and which speeds).

Targeted format is:
- lossless video (FFV1 is pretty good from what I've read?)
- Perhaps FLAC audio (to save space over PCM)
- MKV container
- I assume NTSC and PAL tapes would be captured at their respective standard resolutions, is that correct?

I want the absolute best VHS players and capture hardware to be used. How much would this job cost, per hour of video?

[lingyi]

Contact lordsmurf. He provides transfer services. Not sure about PAL and SECAM though.

[DB83]

There are several members who do this work.

lordsmurf has been mentioned. johnmeyer is another

I would have thought that both can handle multi standards since you only need a multi-standard vcr for that

Some months ago a guy came to the forum boasting of his 'studio' to do this work. The topic is worth a read just for his nonsense

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/388888-An-actual-VHS-to-Digital-Studio

And how much he was charging per tape. That itself will makes your eyes water

[lingyi]

As has been discussed here, multi-standard VCRs may not output a true PAL or SECAM signal. Also, in addition to a VCR, a compatible TBC, capture device and processor if used are necessary.

[DB83]

Maybe I passed those topics. It has always been my understanding that a proper multi-standard vcr can handle these broadcast standards. Many moons ago I sent off tapes of both Brasil and Russian recordings to a guy who then offered the service as a standards conversion using two multi-standard vcrs. In return I received PAL tapes.

Of course you would also require a multi-standard tv to view the output.

[lingyi]

For reference, it was recently discussed here: https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/392974-What-do-you-consider-the-best-PAL-NTSC-SECAM-VHS-player and here https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/392960-Is-the-quality-output-of-these-vcrs-lowered...-multi-support