Is this the VCR?? or the source tape?? or both??

[spawnuvsatan]

Ok .. I have given up the trying to master the A/V sync issues with my LeadTek USB TV II. I purchased an ADVC 100 and when I try to capture from two different VCRs I get this at either the bottom or the top of the picture:



If I view a TV feed through the VCR it happens as well so I am guessing it's the VCR (maybe the cabling). It seemed to improve a bit with a different VCR and a different tape (which is this screenshot) but it hasn't gone away. I am connecting to the ADVC with just a regular A/V cable. When I connect my TIVO to it via S-Video this isn't happening.

I guess I am just looking for confirmation that this is the VCR before I go hunting for a VCR with S-Video out. Or maybe some suggestions on how to fix this if it can be fixed.

[BrainStorm69]

That just looks like overscan to me. It will happen with any vcr. It won't show when you play the resulting DVD on a tv.

[hech54]

I get that on every VHS to DVD Recorder project I do. Brainstorm is correct...it's just overscan. It will show up on your computer but not on your TV.

[spawnuvsatan]

Thanks for the responses. I was unsure if it would show up on the dvd and was nervous that it would, so I didn't want to waste a lot of time making a dvd that would end up with this.

It makes sense now that you say that. Both VCRs do play back on the TV ok. I'll give it a try and see what kind of results I get.

Thanks again

[SatStorm]

Those 8 to 12 lines at the bottom of the screen, is always present to VHS and SVHS tapes. We don't see it because they are on the overscan area.

I always cut them during the encoding (I use TMPGenc)

[non-linear]

I always cut them during the encoding (I use TMPGenc)

I find it better to just mask those lines. If you cut them, then some of the video that was visible at the bottom will be drawn down into the overscan area.

[SatStorm]

If you use "keep aspect ratio 2", it doesn't!

[The_Doman]

I always cut them during the encoding (I use TMPGenc)

I find it better to just mask those lines. If you cut them, then some of the video that was visible at the bottom will be drawn down into the overscan area.

Agreed, I also always mask it with a black bar. If you cut it it wil mess up your interlaced video if you resize it to the DVD resolution again. I mostly also mask the top and sides with a small black bar.

[SatStorm]

Video Arrange Method: Full Screen (keep aspect ratio 2).
That way it doesn't resize / doesn't mess up with the interlace video. The only thing it migh do is to center the picture (let say crop 4 lines of the top and 12 lines of the bottom, gonna center the video and have 8 lines on top and 8 lines at the bottom.

[vodkafish]

I was going to start a similar thread to this - as I capture a lot of stuff from second-fourth generation vhs tape and I notice this on many videos. I've burned and watched them, so I know it generally doesn't creep up into view - but I'm wondering - would a better vcr help me in any way?

I'm using an older JVC VCR capturing through A/V wires (no s-video) with my DAC-100.

I was considering getting a newer VCR for this as they're generally not that much money, and I figure the quality of the picture could be better (and maybe get an s-video output) - and I was even thinking of getting one that could just put a whole tape on dvd and then I could even just edit that.

Any suggestions?