Need VCRs with video stabilizers

[Litaiff]

Hello.

Here in my town, many tapes, the vast majority I receive for digital processing, always have various problems, almost always damaged. I live in the worst location for these tapes, where besides mold, there are insects that damage the magnetic strip, not to mention the weather with the very hot and humid climate here in the Amazon region. For me, it's extremely important to have devices that correct tape faults and stabilize the video.

I have a few, and of all of them, the Philips VR788 is the best I have for stabilizing the video on damaged tapes.

I'm always looking for devices that have the same "power" to stabilize video as the Philips VR788.

If anyone knows of good devices that can do this well, please recommend them to me.


I left an example of a damaged tape that the Philips VR788 managed to stabilize and another Philips VR999 that could not. Tape was in EP mode.

[timtape]

Probably the 788 is not "correcting" or "processing" anything. It's probably just playing the tape back better, extracting better what's on the tape because it's in better condition.

The 999 probably needs a service. The picture problems look like poor tape tracking due to the VCR needing attention. You may also find that the 999 is damaging the tapes as it plays them. Digital processing cannot bring back picture or sound information which was not captured. Sometimes it can replace lost picture information with similar information from other frames but that's about all.

There is no substitute for a good playback deck in good condition.

[Litaiff]

Probably the 788 is not "correcting" or "processing" anything. It's probably just playing the tape back better, extracting better what's on the tape because it's in better condition.

The 999 probably needs a service. The picture problems look like poor tape tracking due to the VCR needing attention. You may also find that the 999 is damaging the tapes as it plays them. Digital processing cannot bring back picture or sound information which was not captured. Sometimes it can replace lost picture information with similar information from other frames but that's about all.

There is no substitute for a good playback deck in good condition.

This tape was already damaged; the owner probably tried to play it without proper treatment and damaged the sides, as shown in the photo. The only VCR I have that played it well was the Philips VR788... But I also think the VR999 isn't in very good condition. I bought it recently.


[Attachment 88006 - Click to enlarge]

[timtape]

Yes both tape edges are stretched as shown by the frilling. Stretching is normally caused by playing the tape in a machine needing attention. It leads to unreliable linear audio and picture tracking. Playing a dirty tape can also stretch it. The best chance with a stretched tape is to play it on an excellent machine. For the very best results there is a way to reduce this problem but it's normally specialist work.