SECAM tapes black and white?

[FelipeArchives]

Hello, I’ve been transferring my VHS tapes with a JVC HR-S8700EU VCR and the picture has no color, it’s only black and white. Does anyone know if I need a secam player to be able to see the picture in color or is my current VCR okay? Thank you!

[dellsam34]

I believe you need a SECAM VCR or at least a PAL player that can convert SECAM to PAL, But for capturing it is always recommended to get a native format player.

[FelipeArchives]

I believe you need a SECAM VCR or at least a PAL player that can convert SECAM to PAL, But for capturing it is always recommended to get a native format player.

my VCR player is this PAL JVC HR-S8700EU

[lordsmurf]

I believe you need a SECAM VCR or at least a PAL player that can convert SECAM to PAL, But for capturing it is always recommended to get a native format player.

There certain TBCs that convert SECAM to PAL, and I generally suggested that. Not to capture SECAM as SECAM, since quite a few quality cards do not accept SECAM input. So it depends on card, drivers, sometimes OS.

[dellsam34]

It's hard to find a TBC that accepts SECAM let alone converts it to something else, But some DVD recorders do have that option to re-encode the chroma into PAL digitally, But I personally don't recommend using anything that converts the chroma in the analog domain, SECAM chroma is a mess to begin with, fiddling with it in the analog domain creates all kind of chroma artifacts, I still remember those days when people converted SECAM VHS-C tapes into PAL and the horrible chroma artifacts.

[lollo]

The general best approach is to play the SECAM tape with a SECAM VCR, i.e. a JVC HR-S9X00MS, and capture the SECAM signal, i.e. with a Hauppauge USB-Live 2 card.

Unfortunately, the T.B.C./N.R. of the JVCs is not active when playing SECAM tapes (I do not remeber now if there was some exceptions, I think no, but check some threads with my and user themaster1 contributions in digitalfaq forum, such as https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-restore/11461-tbc-secam-vhs-2.html). So you need absolute pristine tapes conditions.
Or use PAL conversion out of the VCR, which quality really depends on the device, and capture PAL.

[DB83]

I must ask.

Why SECAM ? If you recorded these tapes in Chile then they would be NTSC and not SECAM.


Same issue tho. If this is a european vcr you might still get B&W but a european vcr also had PAL-60 so if your capture device/software supports that you will get color.

[Eric-jan]

You really need to know where the vhs tape is recorded, you can't guess that, certainly not with the info given by the OP,
First check with NTSC mode playing vcr for NTSC 4.43/3.58,
SECAM from France = SECAM west, (SECAM-L)
SECAM from outside France = SECAM east, (or MESECAM?) both are also not interchangeable, when wrong they also give b/w picture.
My guess the HR-S8700EU is not a vcr used in France because it records a SECAM signal as MESECAM onto the vhs tape.
It still depends where the vhs tape is recorded…… on which VCR.
btw. where did you buy the JVC VCR … online, or in your own country ? in which country are the VHS tapes recorded ?

[Aro]

Hello everyone,
I have tapes from all over the world and I noticed that many - while not all - recorded in France give me black and white picture, with various VCRs. Is it safe to assume those are Secam tapes? What would be my best option to play and digitise them in colour? Do I need a specific Secam VCRs, or is there a way to somehow "convert" the signal, sort of as it can be done with some Panasonic DVD players in pass-through mode?
Any advice will be greatly apperciated, thanks!

[mohamed]

Hello everyone,
I have tapes from all over the world and I noticed that many - while not all - recorded in France give me black and white picture, with various VCRs. Is it safe to assume those are Secam tapes? What would be my best option to play and digitise them in colour? Do I need a specific Secam VCRs, or is there a way to somehow "convert" the signal, sort of as it can be done with some Panasonic DVD players in pass-through mode?
Any advice will be greatly apperciated, thanks!

It is best to open your own thread, and not bump/hijack old threads.

Very safe to assume they're SECAM, yes.

To double check, what are the exact models of the VCRs you tried (read the label on the back and give the code at the end, example JVR HR-S7700EU, EE, ETC)

No, no magic can be done if your tapes are SECAM, if you want to read SECAM tapes you need a SECAM-Capable VCR.

[Aro]

"It is best to open your own thread, and not bump/hijack old threads."
My apologies, will keep that in mind for the future.

I tried with JVC HR-7700EU, Blaupunkt RTV 966EGC and Panasonic NF-FS200EG. Panasonic had Mesecam "switch", but it doesn't seem to make a difference.
Could You perhaps advise me on some Secam VCR options? Thank You!

[mohamed]

These are all regular German/EU devices, capable of reading PAL tapes (and NTSC as PAL-60). I am guessing you live in Germany or NL?
MESECAM is NOT SECAM-West (SECAM-L/French SECAM), this is just a recording capability in those devices because due to old historical reasons people in some countries needed to record "SECAM TV Broadcast" on their PAL devices. This is not related to reading from tapes.

You need a French VCR, from France, or possibly neighbor countries, like Belgium and spain (some French models made it there). VCRshop have some SECAM devices too. I even sold them one a couple of weeks ago. If you don't have a big volume I am happy to help you, can do them for free.

Feel free to PM me if you need help with your tapes or to get a French SECAM device.

[Aro]

Thank You sir, that's very kind! I live in Poland, so yeah that region (and big part of the VCRs in our market come from Germany).
I don't really know how many SECAM tapes I have.. There's over 6000 tapes in the collection I acquired, but the format is not specified so I find it out as I get through them. It's probably not that many though since I only found about 5 so far (Out of 400 or so I went through).

I actually have a friend in France who also deals with VHS, so I'll ask him first - but I really appreciate the offer! Do You live in France as well?

[CaptureCraft]

Aro, I just wanted to make sure, you did switch your capture card to SECAM, did you not?

[Aro]

Hi!
Not sure actually. I did switch to Secam-L(and tried other options) on AmarecTV. Or are You talking about something else? I'm using Hauppauge capture card.

[CaptureCraft]

Hi!
Not sure actually. I did switch to Secam-L(and tried other options) on AmarecTV. Or are You talking about something else? I'm using Hauppauge capture card.

I'm not familiar with either, but I would assume you control your Hauppauge capture card from within AmarecTV program (or any other capture program).
So, it looks like you indeed need true French SECAM VCR.
If your tape would've been recorded using MESECAM, then your card should've been set to SECAM-B.

[Aro]

If your tape would've been recorded using MESECAM, then your card should've been set to SECAM-B.

Thanks - and this is also an useful info. Since I don't really know what I'm dealing with, I'll make sure to try it out on those black and white tapes!

[dellsam34]

Wow, 6000 tapes is a lot to convert, you may need more than one VCR since the VCR heads have limited usage before they start to wear out and give you problems, I would not bother converting commercially recorded tapes, you can get those on better digital formats.

[Aro]

Wow, 6000 tapes is a lot to convert, you may need more than one VCR since the VCR heads have limited usage before they start to wear out and give you problems, I would not bother converting commercially recorded tapes, you can get those on better digital formats.

Yes, it's certainly quite a lot - although I have a collegue who helps me with this project, so We're going to split it. I have 3 solid VCRs for now - and yes I'm prepared that They might not last...
Those are all private recordings, kind of stuff I really want to preserve, not even for myself.