Noisy image on VCR

[Hardball]

[Attachment 60243 - Click to enlarge]

Recently picked up the LG RCT689H and every tape I play is extremely noisy and unclean.

Is it the head of the VCR I need to clean or is it the tape that need cleaning? Or maybe the vcr’s playback quality is poor?

[rrats]

I think there is an avisynth filter than can filter this

[Skiller]

Try head cleaning first.

The recommended method is to use Isopropyl alcohol of 99% (not rubbing alcohol) and standard office paper cut into small sheets.
Soak one sheet at a time in alcohol and gently press against the head drum while gently turning it with your other hand.
Continue to do so until there is no dark grime on the sheets of paper anymore.

I think there is an avisynth filter than can filter this

Good luck with that.

[jagabo]

There's a bad ground flange between the head assembly and the chassis. Clean that with some fine sandpaper.

[dellsam34]

I think there is an avisynth filter than can filter this

Not everything can be or should be fixed with software, One has to adress the root cause first which is an obvious mechanical problem, only and only if that fails someone will seek other alternatives.

[Hardball]

There's a bad ground flange between the head assembly and the chassis. Clean that with some fine sandpaper.

is there any good tutorial on this?

[orsetto]

Thats a trainwreck of poor playback issues: mistracking badly on the bottom, plus the hundreds of "comets" likely due to the grounding problem suggested by jagabo (to some degree a dirty head can also give a similar result).

Filtering post-capture would work for a steady smaller area of comets or dropouts common to worn out tapes, but when they fill the frame like this its usually a VCR fault that needs repair. With these second-hand combo DVD/VCR recorders, the VCR section is often wrecked (they were flimsy to begin with and don't hold up well). If simple repairs don't fix the playback, it may be best to connect an external VCR to the combo and use it as a dvd-only recorder (forgetting the built-in VCR). Check the edges of any tapes you ran thru this used LG combo: it might have chewed them up or scratched them.

[Hardball]

[Attachment 60257 - Click to enlarge]

Is there any inherent problem with the vcr?

[Hardball]

Thats a trainwreck of poor playback issues: mistracking badly on the bottom, plus the hundreds of "comets" likely due to the grounding problem suggested by jagabo (to some degree a dirty head can also give a similar result).

Filtering post-capture would work for a steady smaller area of comets or dropouts common to worn out tapes, but when they fill the frame like this its usually a VCR fault that needs repair. With these second-hand combo DVD/VCR recorders, the VCR section is often wrecked (they were flimsy to begin with and don't hold up well). If simple repairs don't fix the playback, it may be best to connect an external VCR to the combo and use it as a dvd-only recorder (forgetting the built-in VCR). Check the edges of any tapes you ran thru this used LG combo: it might have chewed them up or scratched them.

[Attachment 60258 - Click to enlarge]

Thank you for specifying.
I opened the vcr and there was a large chunk of dust. Simply taking it out seemed to fix 95% of the issues. However, there are black specs scattered throughout the frame. Any idea what causes it and how to fix it?

[dellsam34]

Did you try to clean the tape path including the video drum?

[lordsmurf]

Do not use cotton swabs (Q-tips).
In fact, that may be what screwed up the heads to begin with.

[jjeff]

I personally prefer chamois, never Q-tips as LS said they shed particles that can get caught up in the fragile video heads. Never heard of the copy paper trick, maybe it works but I've got quite a few chamois(leather?) swabs purchase back in the day, that were specifically made for video heads, so that's what I use. Not sure how easy they are to find now days though.....

[Skiller]

Office copy paper definitely works very well. Have used it myself over the past decade on a hand full of machines.
What I like about paper is that it acts as an indicator of dirt. You can see the gunk that collects on the paper and notice when there is no more gunk collecting – and then you know you are done.

[mammo1789]

Office copy paper definitely works very well. Have used it myself over the past decade on a hand full of machines.
What I like about paper is that it acts as an indicator of dirt. You can see the gunk that collects on the paper and notice when there is no more gunk collecting – and then you know you are done.

I second that. I used copier paper and alcohol for decades on many machines vcr,hi8,vhc cameras only on video heads and it works without any problem what so ever q tips on other parts of the tape path

[dellsam34]

I don't see any mention that the OP said he used q-tips to clean his VCR video heads.