NEWBIE wants SVHS to DVD with no Resolution Loss

[Alphathought]

Lots OF SVHS tapes, can't get good resolution with VIDBOX by Honestech. Treats SVHS like VHS. Is there a good device for this? I have SVHS player, Windows 7, and both standard DVD and BluRay disc writers. Goal is to maintain SVHS resolution on a DVD. Basic question, point me in the right direction please!

[jagabo]

I'm not familiar with that particular product but pretty much every standard definition video capture device can capture all the resolution of SVHS. Are you capturing directly to MPEG 2? Are you trying to put more than two hours on a DVD? Most software switches to half D1 (352x480) when you exceed two hours.

[OldMan64]

Like jagabo says, "I'm not familiar with that particular product". However when I looked up that device, the ones I saw did not have any SVHS inputs and these devices appear to be intended for a Mac. If that is the case, then the Elgato Video Capture Device has very good reviews when used with a Mac. http://vhs-to-dvd-review.toptenreviews.com/elgato-video-capture-device-review.html

[LMotlow]

Like jagabo says, "I'm not familiar with that particular product". However when I looked up that device, the ones I saw did not have any SVHS inputs and these devices appear to be intended for a Mac. If that is the case, then the Elgato Video Capture Device has very good reviews when used with a Mac. http://vhs-to-dvd-review.toptenreviews.com/elgato-video-capture-device-review.html

There's no such thing as an SVHS input. SVHS refers to a tape data storage format, not to hardware inputs/outputs. SVHS can be output from a player as composite or s-video, which have nothing to do with the way data is stored on the tape.

The Elgato device shouldn't be used for VHS capture. VHS is interlaced.

[hech54]

The Elgato device shouldn't be used for VHS capture. VHS is interlaced.

What?!

[LMotlow]

Oooops. hech54's on the ball today. Glad you caught that, I kept seeing Rocket instead of Elgato.

Many insist on capturing SVHS/VHS to h264, thinking it will look like "HD" or "DVD". What it will look like is noisy tape. You'll have to re-encode if you want DVD. Whatever turns you on.

These days a capture device is used for analog tape, whether it's VHS, SVHS, or VHS-C. The honestech is one such device. If you are capturing directly to MPEG, which is a pretty noisy way doing it, DVD is 720x756 PAL (720x480 NTSC). Both formats have higher resolution than SVHS. What resolution did you want?

[orsetto]

If you just want to see if S-Video connections alone will boost your PQ slightly, with a "one-touch" solution like your VIDBOX, the most recommended similar hardware by members here are the Hauppauge USB Live 2 and (for Macs) the Elgato mentioned above by OldMan64. Both have S--Video connectors. Quality of result depends what capture format you choose, your capture software, your particular VCR, and your specific tapes. Additional conversion to standard DVD MPEG2 format will muddy the PQ a bit (or a lot). "YMMV" applies here in spades.

VHS, SVHS and Beta digitization has been covered exhaustively in many MANY dedicated threads here on VH over the years. Nothing new has impacted this task for the past decade: if anything, choice of capture hardware, good VCRs and standalone recorders has greatly diminished. Mediocre capture quality is typical- to even approach "lossless" digital transfers that look "exactly like the original tape" takes a great deal of skill, time, familiarity with (and access to) old high-end VCRs and rather complex fussy software. Search for terms like "SVHS Capture", "JVC DigiPure VCR", "Panasonic AG-1980", "AVT-8710", "VirtualDub" and "AVIsynth" if you feel like being overwhelmed. The most significant factor in all of this is probably the VCR used to play the tapes, unfortunately the best ones are either long-discontinued (and tricky to buy second hand) or extremely expensive more recent DVHS models (figure $300 minimum for a clean functional high-end VCR).

[usually_quiet]

Like jagabo says, "I'm not familiar with that particular product". However when I looked up that device, the ones I saw did not have any SVHS inputs and these devices appear to be intended for a Mac. If that is the case, then the Elgato Video Capture Device has very good reviews when used with a Mac. http://vhs-to-dvd-review.toptenreviews.com/elgato-video-capture-device-review.html

You should have looked more carefully. The pictures of the Vidbox capture device at Honestech's website clearly show an S-Video connection, and Honestech lists S-Video in the specs as one of its connections on the product page for the Deluxe versions of its VHS to DVD products for Windows as well as their Mac product.

The Vidbox device has been around for several years and the device itself should be adequate for capturing SVHS, even if it is not one of the preferred devices among members here.

[Edit] Links to two of Honestech's Vidbox products.
http://www.honestech.com/main/vhs-to-dvd-80-deluxe.asp
http://www.honestech.com/main/VIDBOXforMac.asp