vhs to dvd on 9800pro

[aiw9800proman]

Hello everyone and a happy new year.

I have been struggling to get what I call 'decent' mpeg2 from my vhs tapes for a long time.

I recently built a high spec system with an ati aiw 9800 pro and am still not happy. Dont have much editing to do, so a capture direct to mpeg2 would seem the right way to go about things.

Im currently using the latest catalyst and mmc on 'dvd high' setting with cropping turned on and encoding as interlaced. Light video soap and pretty much defaults everywhere else.
The card and system are not struggling at all and no dropped frames on any setting, even 1 gb per min avi. Im thinking that maybe I expected too much from this card ?

Havent tried svhs yet and didnt think it would make much difference as it would still be coming out of the same kind of scart adapter. Or does an svhs scart adapter offer more 'lines' ?

Any help would be great as im a bit fed up

Regards

M

P.S. The vhs tapes are excellent quality

[aiw9800proman]

Forgot to say that capture drive is separate from system drive, clean and defragged.

[aiw9800proman]

Hi all,

Tried capturing from the vcr via coax cable and believe it or not the capture is slightly better !

Im now thinking I should try svhs, but before I buy a scart adapter with an svhs port can someone tell me if this is actually worth doing ? Im willing to try everything before I give up.

Regards

M

P.S. Been looking at the matrox rtx100 bundle, good deal !

[Guidoo]

Take a look at Lordsmurf.com He has some guides there aimed at us AIW users .....


Guido

[racerxnet]

SVHS is a player and tape in which there is added bandwidth due to the tape having more recording media applied to the surface. The VHS player needs to be able to extract the added information to play back the 400 lines of resolution. Svideo cables seperate the Chroma and Luma signal before passing thru the comb filter. This is better for recording (in my opinion).

1. You need a SVHS tape and player to play at 400 lines.
2. You need a Svideo cable to seperate the signal.
3. Your TV needs to be able to display the 400 lines to see the results.
4. Buy a quality tape deck that has been calibrated to insure the results you expect.
5. Keep the cables as short as possible. (No 30 footers)
6 Composite=crap Svideo=very good Component=great
7. Take all you feel is good information and trash the rest. After several attempts read the info again and re-evaluate what worked.

[aiw9800proman]

Thanks Racer,

As I thought, trying to use svhs connections on a non svhs player with an original non svhs tape would be utterly pointless.

Been surfing various forums for a while now and its a headache sifting through all the mis-information !
Im also thinking that it would be pointless in trying to dub a non svhs tape to an svhs tape through the correct recorder, surely the quality would not improve as it can only be as good as the original ?

Cheers

M

[lordsmurf]

Quit using the MMC defaults. Those suck. Read my guides.

[racerxnet]

Use the Svideo cable whenever and where possible. SVHS refers to a VCR player and its playback capabilities. Your assumption of Svdideo input/output is incorrect in reference that the quality will not be improved. You can see the difference in color rendering on the TV by having a composite and Svideo connection, while switching between input sources.

If the device accepts component input/output, it should be the preferred choice. The seperation of the Chroma/Luma signal thru the Svideo connection will render the better picture. If the source is of low quality it may actually look worse. There are filters which you can use to clean the signal up for an improvement based on the original.

You are correct that recording from VHS to SVHS is pointless. VHS playback is only at 240 lines vs 400 lines for SVHS. Svideo is a 4pin connection on video related devices. You can use the videosoap or virtualdubs filters to try and clean the signal. I would first suggest that the cables are as short as feasible and of the right connection type.

[aiw9800proman]

Thanks again.

As my source is an original vhs tape (not svhs) then im probably going the correct route with short, decent composite cables from the vcr to ati.

Lordsmurf,

I have already spent a looooong time surfing your very informative site and have tried many of your settings tips without any real gain in quality. I dont want that to sound like your tips are not good enough, they are good tips and you clearly have a very good understanding of videography, the problem is I want a higher quality mpeg than my equipment is capable of.

Which is why im surfing the Matrox and Canopus sites at the moment.

Best regards

M