Tricking a Pana into SVHS mode when playing a VHS tape in ET

[vhs?]

I have some Panasonic SVHS decks which are not ET. One is the 4566. When I play a vhs tape recorded in svhs-et, it does not sense the svhs signal as some decks do. It just saturates the picture and distorts. Does anyone know how to trick the machine into svhs mode without drilling the cassettes? I'd prefer to not permanently disable the sensor as I've heard of people doing. The decks all play vhs or svhs fine, but appear to rely on mechanical sensors alone. Has anyone else dealt with this?

[davideck]

Your Panasonic VCRs may not be SVHS-ET compatible. I do not think that drilling a hole will help.
If you record in SVHS-ET on an SVHS tape (with another VCR), will that tape play back in the Panasonics?

[vhs?]

As I understand it, ET decks revert to SVHS (if there's a difference) when you put in a svhs tape. They play SVHS tapes fine but the problem is when I try to get svhs playback on a vhs tape. I think the JVC and Panasonic et decks sense which signal is incoming. These do not.

[vhs?]

To clarify, these play back SVHS fine on a svhs tape regardless of source. I think they play VHS recorded on SVHS tape just as well. It is the SVHS signal on a VHS tape they don't adjust for. I think they will work fine if I kick them into SVHS mode somehow.

[edDV]

SVHS ET is a technique to record S-VHS FM modulation to VHS tape. It is a consumer deck trick that is possible because "premium" VHS blank tapes are now close enough to S-VHS blanks in quality that it will work.

I can't remember if there are other technical factors but ET mode was intended for use on ET players only. Tricking an older SVHS only deck to play these tapes was not supported. So will drilling a hole work? Try it and tell us what happens.

SVHS ET should not be used for any serious work in any case. Buy the proper tape.

You are working outside the design spec. I suggest you Google SVHS ET and see how others are doing.

[davideck]

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:Nmi2dZwZ_7IJ:www.clubmac.com/clubmac/shop/detail~d...s&ct=clnk&cd=7

...There are some S-VHS VCR models by JVC and other manufacturers with which playback of an S-VHS ET recorded tape is not possible.

[vhs?]

If I was serious, I'd be using one of the DV HD formats, but this will have to do for now. I understand a number of pro decks work fine with et. I think my decks are too stupid to react to the signal unless the switch tells them it's svhs. I can try a drilled tape as a test, but it is not a practical method for occasional playback use. I have been told ET is just SVHS enabled for the tape, by a JVC technician. I think JVC uses the calibration to regulate head flux to avoid saturating tape and that is why it works better than modifying a standard SVHS deck. This should not matter for playback though.
I've also been told by a pro place here that the best ET and VHS playback comes from the last generation BR series from Panasonic. Those are not ET decks, but he says they are the best for vhs, ET,SVHS playback. About $5000-$8000 new. On ebay, used lower.

I've heard of breaking or removing the sensor pin. Anyone know a way to do this without mayhem.

If anyone wants to really get serious, I used to use 2" reel to reel. Now that's my high standard for picture quality. Tape was a tad pricey. Took six people to move the transport too.

[edDV]

...

If anyone wants to really get serious, I used to use 2" reel to reel. Now that's my high standard for picture quality. Tape was a tad pricey. Took six people to move the transport too.

Are you talking about 2" Quadruplex? Those required a $2000 scanner rebuild every 1000 hours.

Quad quality was not much better than SVHS. It was a direct recording method rather than color under.

[lordsmurf]

ET mode never seems to work well on anything but S-VHS JVC players. Others have never looked as good from my experience. At best, they often had streaky black marks.

I also suggest that S-VHS ET tapes tend to play back best on the recorder that made them.

I also tend to use S-VHS ET mode in EP mode recordings, and only for something non-essential like timeshifting tv shows, never for archive or important videos. For that, grab an S-VHS tape and do SP mode.

For whatever reason, I've never been all that impressed by SP mode ET, it always seemed to make tape grain excessive, though sharper. I'd rather have the softer yet grain-free VHS SP recording. It all depends on the tape and what you see.

It all works fine, these are just my personal observations and preferences on the ET subject.

[davideck]

It's my understanding that during the early early days of Quad they had to ship the video scanner assembly along with the tape it had just recorded in order to insure proper playback at the destination. Talk about interchange.

S-VHS ET for me was like MiniDV LP Mode...I never went there.
Drilling the hole allowed TDK EHG tapes to make great SVHS recordings in SP mode. At least on my machines.

[vhs?]

I don't remember the technical name of the two decks I used or even the brand now. They used 2" wide videotape on large metal reels. Typically decks like this are calibrated very often, especially when using a tape transferred from another machine. I didn't do the maintenance on these, so I can't say, but with audio at this level a test tape might be sent to calibrate a deck to match the previous one. This is a common thing in the recording business. I'm sure the deck had it's technical failings compared to new ones, but I never found fault with it. I think the massive amount of media being used gave it great stability. Besides the width, I think the tape speed was quite fast. I was told they cost a million each new, but I can't verify that.
I was the first to try to use a large studio camera to record fireworks at night here. Because of the high lighting requirements of those cameras no one though it would work. I thought the v large lens would compensate in this case. It worked incredibly well, a dramatically better picture than the Betacams had at night. They made me sign the camera out, which I thought odd since I was the new guy. When we were done, they told me the lens costs $275,000. I never found out the cost of the camera. No one else wanted their name on the list.

I've had very good luck with the ET format myself. I've had a pair of 9500s since new. I tried out a 101 recently and was okay with it but I cannot see the color banding. Maybe it's my monitor which is nothing great. About to get a three gun Toshiba rear projector-ntsc. I've had great luck with the SP mode in ET as long as I have a good signal source. I'm satisfied with most things in slp especially b & w film but I can see a great improvement in SP. I just got in a few broadcast tapes in svhs, but I'm paying about $10 each for them. I have one Panasonic ET machine 4820, but I don't think it's a comparable model to the 9500s. It works okay though. I just want to be able to playback my et stuff on the non-et Panasonics as a convenience if I can. With a vhs tape they act like a non-quasi vhs deck. I'm surprised because I have a couple of Pana portable decks that are vhs only, and they play et tapes fantastic. They are pro decks though.
Has anyone out there tampered with the sensors themselves?
I've read of this, but I don't remember where.

Are any of you using HD with anything but a hard drive yet?

By the way, the Panasonic records in LP but not in ET format. I always liked LP as a compromise speed.

[edDV]

I don't remember the technical name of the two decks I used or even the brand now. They used 2" wide videotape on large metal reels. Typically decks like this are calibrated very often, especially when using a tape transferred from another machine. I didn't do the maintenance on these, so I can't say, but with audio at this level a test tape might be sent to calibrate a deck to match the previous one. This is a common thing in the recording business. I'm sure the deck had it's technical failings compared to new ones, but I never found fault with it. I think the massive amount of media being used gave it great stability. Besides the width, I think the tape speed was quite fast. I was told they cost a million each new, but I can't verify that.
I was the first to try to use a large studio camera to record fireworks at night here. Because of the high lighting requirements of those cameras no one though it would work. I thought the v large lens would compensate in this case. It worked incredibly well, a dramatically better picture than the Betacams had at night. They made me sign the camera out, which I thought odd since I was the new guy. When we were done, they told me the lens costs $275,000. I never found out the cost of the camera. No one else wanted their name on the list.

Did you say audio? Was this a multi-track audio recorder?

There were three 2" broadcast video recorders
- an early 2" helical (monochrome only)
- 2" quadruplex, the broadcast workhorse from 1956 into the 80's. (replaced by 1" typeC)
- the IVC-9000 2" wideband mastering helical that recorded out to 8MHz well beyond today's D1 format. It was mostly used for film transfer.

I've had very good luck with the ET format myself. I've had a pair of 9500s since new. I tried out a 101 recently and was okay with it but I cannot see the color banding. Maybe it's my monitor which is nothing great. About to get a three gun Toshiba rear projector-ntsc. I've had great luck with the SP mode in ET as long as I have a good signal source. I'm satisfied with most things in slp especially b & w film but I can see a great improvement in SP. I just got in a few broadcast tapes in svhs, but I'm paying about $10 each for them. I have one Panasonic ET machine 4820, but I don't think it's a comparable model to the 9500s. It works okay though. I just want to be able to playback my et stuff on the non-et Panasonics as a convenience if I can. With a vhs tape they act like a non-quasi vhs deck. I'm surprised because I have a couple of Pana portable decks that are vhs only, and they play et tapes fantastic. They are pro decks though.
Has anyone out there tampered with the sensors themselves?
I've read of this, but I don't remember where.

Are any of you using HD with anything but a hard drive yet?

By the way, the Panasonic records in LP but not in ET format. I always liked LP as a compromise speed.

S-VHS ET was only a trick used on consumer decks and was never included on pro decks. Just so you know you are working outside the design spec.

"Are any of you using HD with anything but a hard drive yet?"

What do you mean by HD? High definition? Current consumer tape standards are D-VHS and HDV. A D-VHS deck will also play VHS and SVHS. A different tape is used for digital recording.

[vhs?]

I was referring to other high end decks that recorded audio only on wide tape that I have used. Sorry I was unclear. These were certainly color machines. Could have been either one of the later decks, I guess. I could not tell tape from live on a very good monitor if that helps. The cost I was given may mean these were the higher quality version. I used a 1" format as well.

The pro decks are Pana AG series vhs only player only dc decks. They play ET in quasi but it is better than I have seen on any quasi deck. They were made in Japan. I understand a lot of high end SVHS decks play ET well regardless of what the manual says. I think the key is how the deck processes the signal.

Yes. I was talking about Hidef. Is anyone here actually using these formats now? I hear good things about the DV formats but mixed on the DVHS. What happens to DVHS if no one makes the tape?

[edDV]

HDV is primarily a camcorder and production format. It isn't targeted for PVR.

DVHS works fine but isn't taking off. The manufacturers aren't doing much to push it. There must be a replacement in the works.

HD/BR DVD recorders are going to be too expensive for too long. I expect a MPeg4 hardware encoding solution (probably h.264) coupled with standard DVD recorder technology will become the new "HD-VCR".

[vhs?]

I heard the DV prices are starting to come down at the low end.
Maybe they want to test the water at the high end of the consumer market.
Some people are spending a lot on hidef.
After seeing one of the better italian projectors, I doubled what I would spend right now.
But I'm going to wait anyway.

[vhs?]

The friend I'm buying the Toshiba from uses only hard drives now run through a computer bank for his hidef. I don't remember which software he uses for storage. He's building a quad drive raid computer from the ground up now.

[edDV]

I heard the DV prices are starting to come down at the low end.
Maybe they want to test the water at the high end of the consumer market.
Some people are spending a lot on hidef.
After seeing one of the better italian projectors, I doubled what I would spend right now.
But I'm going to wait anyway.

You are considering a fancy Italian HDTV projector but are too cheap to buy real SVHS tape? disconnect

I shudder to think what the life cycle of a premium Italian HD projector would be like. Fix It Again Tony.

[vhs?]

I am too cheap to buy the amount of tape I record on all in svhs tape. I like having a variety of films around. But I do wish I could afford to stick to a higher format.
Clearly with hidef I will have to adjust my recording habits.
Some of the Italian projectors are supposed to be very good.
I drove Fiats and Lancias all over the country while listening to people tell me how unreliable they are. Some people don't change their oil. All their cars break. I had one coupe that I kept over 5,000 rpm for 100,000 miles. Try that with a stock Camry. It was still running when I sold it. I have a stock Volvo and a hot Ford now. The Ford is great but it has only 2 or 3 original mechanical parts on the car. It operates well beyond the original design specs.

[vhs?]

After thinking about it, the only hidef in my budget now would be a Sony multisync projector circa 1985. I'm trying to get an apple capable of video editing and running video hard drives right now. I found an old model with mirrored 1ghz processors. It has a decent version of the usual video software final cut, etc and a copy of Shake. Most of what I want except Dreamweaver. Do you guys think this is too out of date or too slow? It's half as fast as the slowest new apple. I'm just past the etchasketch level on computers so any advice would be helpful.

I'm going to drill a tape and test the reaction of the Panasonic or I might try plugging the hole on a svhs tape and recording et on it and then put it in the Pana with the hole open. I'll let you know what happens.

[edDV]

Others may disagree but I've found that you need to keep cuurent with MAC updates, including new periodic hardware in order to stay in the Apple MAC game. There is little interest in supporting old hardware, OS versions and software versions. New products require recent hardware and software versions as prerequisites.

Only if you know going in that that particular time frozen FCP is doing everything you ever would want to do.

The good thing on the Windows side is broad OS version support for video tools. You still have tools coming out for the obsolete Video for Windows specification while at the same time the modern tools gravitate to the DirectShow model.

[vhs?]

So do you think this is too obsolete a model to get started with?
The windows and apple computers I have now are too old to do much with video.
Most of the software is current or one step behind the current versions.
Shake is supposed to be the current version. It has okay hard drives and is expandable.
It has 1.5g ram now. It is configured for video by the owner.

[vhs?]

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