advice on my VHS recordings

[VHSvideocapture]

I have done a test capture.
The first clip is with the ES15 in the chain.
Please give me your opinion if it's good quality or not?

I hear clipping in the audio this is the only fault I can find but the experts might see other faults I can't.

I'm sure I can lower the sound of the capture card next time I just left it on default or maybe it was picking up a different or wrong input? it was showing as Line in Audio input, is this correct?
0 capture device on virtualrub 1.9.11
Captured lossless using lagrith in virtualdub version 1.9.11 that is the version recommended on here I have left them as interlaced.

Thanks to everyone for helping me.
I hope that by adding captures people now see me as someone genuinely looking for help different opinions and not being a troll.

[lollo]

My quick contribution.

You capture is fine.

The ES-15 does not bring any advantage (did you turn off the TBC of the 7600 while using it?):



In general the levels are sufficiently well distributed, but you may want to experiement if reducing brightness and contrast in the procamp can avoid some accumulation in the blacks close to Y=16 and reveals more details:





Here my usual attempt of basic restoration, with just denoise and sharpening:

HP_restored.avi

and some frame comparison about it:



with image slider: https://imgsli.com/MjMxMzcy



with image slider: https://imgsli.com/MjMxMzc2

In preference, use edit mode on our VCR and avoid sharpening in the capture card.

Good luck with your next captures!

[VHSvideocapture]

lolo My quick contribution.

You capture is fine.

The ES-15 does not bring any advantage (did you turn off the TBC of the 7600 while using it?):

In general the levels are sufficiently well distributed, but you may want to experiement if reducing brightness and contrast in the procamp can avoid some accumulation in the blacks close to Y=16 and reveals more details:

I used the ES15 for jitter correction and lowered the brightness levels in proc amp
I think the VCR TBC was off but I don't see any timing errors wiggles or jumps this tape is from 2002 I just used it to test.

I tried to set the levels using VD histogram I made sure the edge was not red and the blue was in the middle. I followed user Alwyn's tutorial from YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYlNS3s0ZN0

Lowering contrast crushes black level and lowering brightness can effect white levels, every tape is different the brightness and contrast can change from scene to scene outside scenes will be bright than a night scene it's very difficult to get the right balance.

I wss thinking leave everything at default which is middle and 0 on sharpening levels.
Would this be a good idea? Should I have saturated the capture a bit?

Here my usual attempt of basic restoration, with just denoise and sharpening:

and some frame comparison about it

In preference, use edit mode on our VCR and avoid sharpening in the capture card.

Good luck with your next captures!

I like these I think you added a bit of saturation right?

The colors look close to mine and yours look de-interlaced and sharper?

QTGMC sharpens automatic I think? I'm not restoring yet I just want to get the captures right first .

I can't remember if VCR was in edut mode I tried I've always turned off the B.E.S.T whatever that's suppose to do?
I think that is used for the digital tracking I could be wrong I'm new to all this.

I never knew it would be that difficult I was thinking hit play on the VCR and capture away I was so wrong but this forum has been a great help I thank you for your input.

Out of 10 would would you give my captures? Are they good or just ok or passable quality?
I find it amazing that you get high quality with Hauppage live USB-2 and JVC 9500 and no TBC.

[lollo]

I used the ES15 for jitter correction and lowered the brightness levels in proc amp
I think the VCR TBC was off but I don't see any timing errors wiggles or jumps this tape is from 2002 I just used it to test.

I do not see the need to use the ES-15 here, given the sample you provided.

I tried to set the levels using VD histogram I made sure the edge was not red and the blue was in the middle. I followed user Alwyn's tutorial from YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYlNS3s0ZN0

OK

Lowering contrast crushes black level and lowering brightness can effect white levels, every tape is different the brightness and contrast can change from scene to scene outside scenes will be bright than a night scene it's very difficult to get the right balance.

Yes, every tape is unique, but also scenes inside the tape are different. Try to find a significant segment with deep blacks and whites for tuning. You do not need to be very accurate in the middle regions, in post-processing is better handled.

I wss thinking leave everything at default which is middle and 0 on sharpening levels.

Would this be a good idea? Should I have saturated the capture a bit?

Yes, no need to fine tune while capturing (except if you want a final result without postprocessing for whatever reason)

I like these I think you added a bit of saturation right?

No, just denoise (TemporalDegrain2(degrainTR=3) and sharpening (LSFmode(defaults="slow"))

The colors look close to mine and yours look de-interlaced and sharper?

No deinterlace, it was not necessary (in your source the fields are from the same moment in time, i.e. PsF architecture)

QTGMC sharpens automatic I think? I'm not restoring yet I just want to get the captures right first .

I did not use QTGMC

I can't remember if VCR was in edut mode I tried I've always turned off the B.E.S.T whatever that's suppose to do?
I think that is used for the digital tracking I could be wrong I'm new to all this.

B.E.S.T is a pre-calibration of the reading/writing circuitery of the JVC in accordance to the conditions of the tapes. It should be always on, especially if you
read a tape recorded with the same machine.

Out of 10 would would you give my captures? Are they good or just ok or passable quality?

It is just a sample, but I found it OK. It's a good capture

[VHSvideocapture]

[QUOTE=lollo;2718891]
I do not see the need to use the ES-15 here, given the sample you provided.
[\QUOTE]
I mistook the sound clipping for jitter so I added ES15

[QUOTE=lollo;2718891]
Yes, every tape is unique, but also scenes inside the tape are different. Try to find a significant segment with deep blacks and whites for tuning. You do not need to be very accurate in the middle regions, in post-processing is better handled. [\QUOTE]

I think it would be best to leave it at default, only change it if brights clip.
What would be the best numbers for brightness, contrast in VD procamp?

[QUOTE=lollo;2718891]
Yes, no need to fine tune while capturing (except if you want a final result without postprocessing for whatever reason)[\quote]

I can take into editor after capture it just means a bit more work, it's difficult to get the proc amp settings correct I really thought I had the correct settings on this capture, the difference really shows on the light shining at the top in your restored vlip it's yellow on my clip its white.

No, just denoise (TemporalDegrain2(degrainTR=3) and sharpening (LSFmode(defaults="slow")

For this I will use Selur's Hybird it has quite a few plugins I think it has those you mentioned too this is the easiest way of doing it for me. I just want to get the captures right first next time I will work on improvements to the quality, this was just a capturing quality test it hasn't fully passed but it hasn't fully failed it's kind of good gor someone with not that much video knowledge.

No deinterlace, it was not necessary (in your source the fields are from the same moment in time, i.e. PsF architecture)

This I don't understand you will need to educate me on this
Are they progressive? If it is I can still see interlace lines in the picture



[QUOTE=lolo2718891]
B.E.S.T is a pre-calibration of the reading/writing circuitery of the JVC in accordance to the conditions of the tapes. It should be always on, especially if you
read a tape recorded with the same machine.
[\QUOTE]

I turn best off but should it only be used if it's recorded with tye same VCR? I think think it's possible to have the same VCR you recorded tapes from 25 years ago, unless you only used it for recording no playback no rewind.

[dellsam34]

B.E.S.T for video and HiFi works like a tape bias for audio tapes but it's all automatic, During playback it pre-reads few RF tracks from the tape, checks the level of RF and it adjusts the heads' preamp to an optimum level to compensate for the difference. During recording, it writes few tracks and read them immediately to check for RF level and adjusts heads' coils current for optimum recording level.

It doesn't matter if the tape is recorded on the same VCR or not, The feature always looking for optimum level regardless what tape is and what VCR was recorded on.

[lollo]

It doesn't matter if the tape is recorded on the same VCR or not, The feature always looking for optimum level regardless what tape is and what VCR was recorded on.

While the B.E.S.T. features are what we described, if using the same tape on the same machine where has been recorded, it is obvious that in a deterministic world the "fitting" for the wirte/read pocedures will be optimal, thus is matters just a little bit more.

P.S. I generally do not blindly trust the user manuals without my own testing, but the JVCs specs just recommend that.

[dellsam34]

Well, the differences of it being On and OFF are hard to notice let alone a tape being recorded on the same VCR or not, I wouldn't worry about what VCR a tape is recorded on because it is a task that has been done 20 years ago, we can't go back and change it. What's important is, leave the feature ON all the time, regardless the tape history.

[lollo]

What would be the best numbers for brightness, contrast in VD procamp?

There are not, and once more you should not use the card procamp for a fine tuning, but just to insure that you capture within the levels that your card can support (for example 16-250) to avoid crushing blacks and clipping whites.
There are many posts about this in the forum.

This I don't understand you will need to educate me on this
Are they progressive? If it is I can still see interlace lines in the picture

First step, write a simple AviSynth script and open it in VirtualDub, or use Hybryd for the whole if you ar emore familiar with it:

video_org=FFmpegSource2(HP.avi, atrack=-1)

# separate fields tff
video_org_sep_tff=video_org.AssumeTFF().separateFields()

	# to check if progressive or interlaced
return(video_org_sep_tff)

Now step field-by-field and check if there is motion between the fields. If there is the video is interlaced, otherwise is PsF. There are many other cases (NTSC telecine, PAL phase shift, etc.), but just focus on this for now.
Here a sample of what you should see:



You can notice that the pixels inside the fields move in the vertical direction across them; that's because one field contains the odd lines and the next the even lines.

This is always the first operation to perform on a capture, to understand the architecture of the source. Then comes the analysis of the levels and so on, but that's another story, maybe for the next post if you need.

[lollo]

What's important is, leave the feature ON all the time, regardless the tape history.

I agree

[Bogilein]

B.E.S.T is a pre-calibration of the reading/writing circuitery of the JVC in accordance to the conditions of the tapes. It should be always on, especially if you
read a tape recorded with the same machine.

Best=on is often fine.

Depending on the recordings, however, you may have to proceed differently:
Wait until the calibration is complete, stop the tape, deselect "Best" in the settings, rewind and start capturing.

As with so many settings, you have to test yourself and compare the recordings. As everyone can only report their experiences with their own videotapes and video players.

The same applies to Digital 3R=on/off, Pictures modes=Norm/Sharp/Soft/Edit, TBC/DNR=on/off (or is it better to use the stabilization of the ES15)?

[lollo]

Depending on the recordings, however, you may have to proceed differently:
Wait until the calibration is complete, stop the tape, deselect "Best" in the settings, rewind and start capturing.

Yes Bogilein, but that procedure is not to disable BEST, but to do not loose frames while BEST is working. I always do that.
The BEST settings are erased only when the tape is ejected or if you turn off the VCR.

As with so many settings, you have to test yourself and compare the recordings. As everyone can only report their experiences with their own videotapes and video players.

Absolutely!

The same applies to Digital 3R=on/off, Pictures modes=Norm/Sharp/Soft/Edit, TBC/DNR=on/off (or is it better to use the stabilization of the ES15)?

Yes. There are generic suggestions, but each case need a specific testing for the best results. What works for something does not work for something else. Edit mode and D3R on/off is a classic example.

[Bogilein]

From the User Manual of the JVC HR-S9600.

Recording:
Calibration occurs immediately after inserting the cassette. It does not take place during recording. Once the cassette is ejected, the calibration data is canceled.

Playback:
The VCR adjusts the playback picture quality based on the quality of the tape in use.

When using rental tapes, or tapes recorded on other VCRs, set “VIDEO CALIBRATION (B.E.S.T.)” to either “ON” or “OFF” as desired to give the best picture.

The Video Calibration screen only appears at the beginning of automatic tracking. Even though the screen doesn't appear after that, the Video Calibration function is operative.

[lollo]

Indeed