Channel Number still shows on screen - JVC HR-S3500U

[movieman444]

I'm transferring a VHS tape from my JVC HR-S3500U to my Panasonic DMR-EZ28 DVD burner via SVideo port and then output from the burner to my TV for viewing. Even though I turn OSD off, the channel number still appears on screen (see image). I checked the manual and online for a solution to no avail. Is there a workaround?

I remember years ago having a similar problem and I was able to change the hookups in a way that solved the problem but for the life of me I can't remember.

[themaster1]

what kind of video output do you have behind the deck ?

[movieman444]

Composite and SVideo and I'm using Composite because my TV only has an HDMI input so I'm using an adapter to go from composite to HDMI.

[dellsam34]

When playing a tape it should disappear regardless whether the OSD is enabled or disabled.

[movieman444]

Yes but I'd like to start the DVD burner on a black screen with nothing on it before I start playing the tape. Because many tapes start immediately so what I've been doing similar to what you're suggesting is I play the tape and pause it and then start the recorder so sometimes I'll start playing the tape at perfect time before the recorder picks up the paused image and sometimes I don't. It's nicer when the screen is black with nothing on the screen before I press play. Like I said all my other VCRs are able to do that except this specific one. The other problem is the other VCRs are inoperable at the moment.

[dellsam34]

Some of the low end VCRs did not offer editing capabilities so it is what it is. You can start playback, start the recorder then while the VCR is playing the tape press rewind to enter visual search and rewind the tape all the way to the start and release rewind button to resume playback and see if it works. Also, are you sure the display is not generated by the DVD recorder?

[movieman444]

I'm just going to continue doing it the way I do it which is to press play and pause immediately and sometimes I luck out that the video tape doesn't start right away so I'll start the recorder and it records that pause frame for a second and then I press play. And yes I checked to make sure it wasn't the DVD recorder that's sending out that signal

[Archiveuse_3000]

I'm currently using that exact same VCR. I don't have this problem, but im pretty sure turning off "superimpose" would fix it. It's in the settings menu.

*Also, if a tape start playing automatically when putting it in, just press stop, then rewind and it will go at the start of the tape and wait there until further instructions. It happens to me too sometimes, not sure why, but this always does the trick for me.

[movieman444]

Yes superimpose is off. So are you saying if I do those steps I will get a blank screen? I'm going to give that a try in a few minutes.

[Archiveuse_3000]

I actually tried again to make sure. And even off, there if still that number on the upper left on a blue screen when it's stopped. When i press play, there's a half second of black, without the number, then it plays, still without the number. I honestly thinks it's as good as it's gonna get. Thankfully that kind of thing is really easy to remove in post if you really need it.

[movieman444]

@Archiveuse_3000

Yes when I press play the channel number disappears and that's basically what I've been doing. Press play and pause it and start my recorder and just as my recorder is about to start recording I'll press play so I make sure I get the very beginning of the tape because I've got a lot of tapes that have something the moment it starts playing. By the way I'm in the business of converting media so this is not for myself it's for customers. Thank you for your suggesting about post-production but that would be very cost ineffective if I had to do that with every order.

[Archiveuse_3000]

If you're saying that the numbers disappear when you press play. What I would do in your situation, and it seems the easiest. Is to rewind to the beginning, start your recorder, then press play on the VCR and let it do it's thing. Then you just need to cut that few seconds at the beginning when the number is showing. You can then cut without it the 1st frame it disappears. Easier and faster since you don't need to press buttons as much and at the "right" time.

I just re-read your post, I see that you're trying to burn straight to DVD. Do you really need to? Why not just capture to computer then burn after? Then you have a digital copy you can burn and share as many times as you want without having to transfer it again. We all have our preferences tho, and I understand that. There might also be other factors in this scenario that I'm not aware of that makes this the easiest/preferred way.

[movieman444]

No your suggestion would not be cost-effective because I convert video tapes for a living so these are not my tapes but my customers tapes. They have a choice to transfer to DVD or usb. Of course I always encourage them to do USB because then yes that's exactly what I do is I let it record that blue screen and then I edit that out. But if they only pay me for DVD I'm going to go straight to DVD. Normally I use my Panasonic ag- 1980 which has the built-in time base corrector and there's an option to output a black screen with nothing on it and it's beautiful because I can start the DVD recorder and then press the play button but unfortunately it's giving me issues and that's why as an alternative I use this JVC super VHS VCR but can't turn off the blue screen nor the channel on the top left. Again it's not the end of the world. What I do is start and pause the tape immediately and if there's nothing recorded in the first couple of seconds then the DVD is going to record it maybe one second of snow. If there's something immediately on the video tape I try the time playing the tape when I see the DVD recorder time code at 0 and usually it records right when the tape plays. If not they're going to see maybe one second of a paused tape. Again not the end of the world. My customers are satisfied.

[movieman444]

I remember my workaround from many years ago. Again, it's not a big deal the way I'm doing it now but if I truly want a constant black clean screen before I play a videotape, what I did was connect my 8mm camcorder (video only) either using the SVHS or Composite out (as long as the setting on the VCR is set to the correct input), turn the camcorder setting to camera (not VCR) and viola! you get a black clean screen. So now I can start the DVD recorder and as soon it starts recording (which will be the clean black screen), I can play the videotape. In my case, since I'm in the business of converting videotapes, I have about 6 8mm camcorders of which 4 are having problems playing 8mm videotapes but can be used for this purpose. I'm thinking you can do this with other camcorders but I've only tried it with 8mm camcorders.

[Archiveuse_3000]

Thanks for taking the time to explain your situation I'm glad you remembered your old way of doing it!