Capturing VHS - Getting wobbly horizontal lines

[FillPatron]

Hello!

I have this VHS PAL tape that has these wobbly horizontal lines from top to bottom throughout the video. See the attached sample.
The VCR player is LG V782W. It plays other VHS tapes fine. I'm capturing with I-O Data GV-USB2.

Please help me diagnose what are the possible issues and solutions for this.

Thank you!

[Sharc]

Did you connect via S-Video?
As a budget solution use a recommended DVD recorder in passthrough to stabilize the picture. Search the forum.
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/403635-Panasonic-DVD-recorder-passthrough-settings...15-DMR-ES25%29

Or use a VCR with TBC.

As you say it happens with this tape only, maybe it is like this baked into the source. Do other captured tapes look ok?. Not much you can do then.

[FillPatron]

Did you connect via S-Video?
As a budget solution use a recommended DVD recorder in passthrough to stabilize the picture. Search the forum.
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/403635-Panasonic-DVD-recorder-passthrough-settings...15-DMR-ES25%29

Or use a VCR with TBC.

As you say it happens with this tape only, maybe it is like this baked into the source. Do other captured tapes look ok?. Not much you can do then.

My other tapes are captured fine.
My VCR doesn't have S-Video for VSH, it's only exclusive for DVD. Is S-Video available on SVHS players only?

[Sharc]

My other tapes are captured fine.
My VCR doesn't have S-Video for VSH, it's only exclusive for DVD. Is S-Video available on SVHS players only?

Usually yes. You could convert Composite to S-Video (and possibly stabilize the wiggling) by means of a DVD recorder in passthrough. Up to you if the tape is worth the efforts.

[Eric-jan]

Maybe the the video on this tape is recorded in longplay ? like said, use another vcr to get better results,(only composite is available for VHS for this VCR model) also because your capture device does well with other tapes... passthrough might help, but the other tapes don't need this, you see the same defect also "live" with playback on your screen ? then it could be in the recording it self, and then you're stuck with it in that case, so it depends...

[jagabo]

Try fast forwarding the tape to the end, then rewinding it, and capture again. That will loosen up the windings, allowing the tape to move more freely. That sometimes helps.

[Eric-jan]

Try fast forwarding the tape to the end, then rewinding it, and capture again. That will loosen up the windings, allowing the tape to move more freely. That sometimes helps.

Yes, that's also something to try, for a moment i also thought i saw the interferrence in the picture going in the same pace as the sound levels, not sure about that though… also at the start my player had some difficulty playing the clip and gave a freeze frame, for a couple of seconds, that normally doesn't happen with any clip, my guess is that the compression did not do a great job.

[FillPatron]

Try fast forwarding the tape to the end, then rewinding it, and capture again. That will loosen up the windings, allowing the tape to move more freely. That sometimes helps.

Thanks. I have tried that but it doesn't mitigate the issue.

Maybe the the video on this tape is recorded in longplay ? like said, use another vcr to get better results,(only composite is available for VHS for this VCR model) also because your capture device does well with other tapes... passthrough might help, but the other tapes don't need this, you see the same defect also "live" with playback on your screen ? then it could be in the recording it self, and then you're stuck with it in that case, so it depends...

My VCR player supports Long Play. And yes the playback is like that.

But yeah I'll see if I can find a DVD recorder to try the passthrough trick.

[jagabo]

I'll see if I can find a DVD recorder to try the passthrough trick.

Note that not all DVD recorders had a line TBC.

[FillPatron]

I'll see if I can find a DVD recorder to try the passthrough trick.

Note that not all DVD recorders had a line TBC.

Yep, I did a search around the forum to get some idea. The only model I can find in my city at the moment is a Panasonic DMR -EH50. According to this post it works. Hopefully will pick it up soon and I will follow up with the result.

[oln]

Yeah that's model is one of the best ones for this (EH50 is similar to ES10 just with HDD), just be aware these older panasonics very often have capacitors in the power supply that cause them to fail to turn on. It's pretty simple to fix if one has some basic soldering equipment and experience but it can be a little daunting if one has never done it before.

[Sharc]

Yeah that's model is one of the best ones for this (EH50 is similar to ES10 just with HDD), just be aware these older panasonics very often have capacitors in the power supply that cause them to fail to turn on. It's pretty simple to fix if one has some basic soldering equipment and experience but it can be a little daunting if one has never done it before.

Another possible issue with the otherwise excellent EH50 is a dark display. One does however not need it for capturing as all the settings are available via its remote and the menu displayed on the PC monitor.

[FillPatron]

I've got the Panasonic DMR -EH50 today. Simply connect the VCR player to it, then to the USB recorder, and it works like magic! The wobbly lines are corrected throughout the video.
I've recorded the tape and am very happy with the result. Thank you all!


[Attachment 77340 - Click to enlarge]