ripping VHS tapes to my computer then to DVD

[curt1sw]

Hello,

I have a bunch of old VHS tapes I want to transfer to DVD. I have my VCR hooked into my tv card. What quality should I rip the VHS tapes at so I dont lose much quality but they are easy to put on DVD? Is VCD quality good enough or must I do it in SVCD?

Thanks!

[gadgetguy]

VCD video is part of the DVD specs and can be used as-is, only the audio needs to be converted to 48kbps. SVCD is not and will require converting/reencoding. There are some methods of fooling the DVD player to think it's within spec without converting, but there's no guarantee they will play correctly on any given player.
Only you can judge whether the quality is good enough or not.

[yoda313]

Yep gadgetguy is right. VCD may be good enough for you. Do a test on a tape and find out. SVCD is not a good choice since its not dvd spec and only a few players are designed to play it natively. Best choice is either vcd on dvd or record straight to mpeg2 in a dvd mode.

And fyi the term you are looking for is CAPTURING a vhs tape. You rip a cd or dvd. VHS is analog and you must do a realtime capture to a capture device in order to digitize it.