Will VHS tape playback better on SVHS VCR

[jimby452]

I have a bunch of old personal family video tapes that date back to the late 70's that are starting to fade a bit. I have been reading about all the different types of capturing devices, TBC's, software to clean up old tapes and so on. I don't hear too much about VCR's that are playing the tapes. Will a VHS tape play back clearer on a SVHS player with all the filters and the S-video output? Should I concern myself with getting a good JVC player with a S-video out and run it through say a ADVC-100 or use my old 15 yr old VCR and run it through say a ADVC-300.
Could anyone recomend a good SVHS unit that is not too expensive?
thanks

[lordsmurf]

S-VHS, yes. Better.

[foghorn02]

Use the S-video setup, even if the tapes are not s-vhs quality, you will still get a better output to your capture device.

I use Dazzle DVC150 with pinnacle to capture, then DVDMF 2.0 to burn.

I no longer use internal capture devices because dirext X degrades the picture quality (on purpose imho). External mpeg compressors do all the work and just send the mpgs to the HD untouched. No fuzzy or shaky movies anymore!

[wulf109]

S-VHS will look slightly sharper,but the only real improvement would be one of the JVC's with a TBC. They work wonders on tape anomilies. Diagonal lines will disappear,even minor tracking problems.

[vh5150]

JVC and Panasonic SVHS vcrs have 19 micron heads which are best for EP (6 hour) mode tapes. They also include some kind of video processing and/or a time base corrrector. The pro line of these makers have more features than the consumer versions.

[racerxnet]

19 micron heads have been out for years and are not specific to any particular brand of VCR's or playback speed. Nor is the JVC brand more apt to provide a better recording or playback of certain tapes compared to other manufactures. I have a NEC DS 8000MK II unit with DNR which is quite capable of removing unwanted artifacts during playback or recording. Is it the best? I doubt it. Will it outperform the JVC? More than likely.

What type of VCR is he using? Has it been tuned with a test tape of known quality? Are there tracking problems? How much have the ferrite tips been worn down. Does it have the Svideo out as suggested? I hate to see people chase good money for bad results before thoroughly examining their equipment they own.

[MrMungus]

19 micron heads have been out for years and are not specific to any particular brand of VCR's or playback speed. Nor is the JVC brand more apt to provide a better recording or playback of certain tapes compared to other manufactures. I have a NEC DS 8000MK II unit with DNR which is quite capable of removing unwanted artifacts during playback or recording. Is it the best? I doubt it. Will it outperform the JVC? More than likely.

What type of VCR is he using? Has it been tuned with a test tape of known quality? Are there tracking problems? How much have the ferrite tips been worn down. Does it have the Svideo out as suggested? I hate to see people chase good money for bad results before thoroughly examining their equipment they own.

Another consideration is whether it even has TBC or not. Some SVHS decks don't have it (like my cheap 3800U).

[Nelson37]

There are too many variables to give an absolute answer. A very good quality standard VHS may very well outperform a medium quality SVHS unit. Or a medium quality VHS outperform a poor quality SVHS, etc., etc.

Some TBC units will improve some tapes but not others. Digital Noise Reduction will enhance some but actually degrade others. The only real answer is that a good VCR is better than a bad one, but then you already knew that, didn't you?