Hi all,

Despite the title of this topic, it is not intended to be a "How-To" or a guide. I just wanted to share my experience with converting and copying old VHS tapes. I have some pretty ratty looking tapes and thought they were just doomed to history and time. I was absolutely AMAZED by the resulting video output with the equipment that I will talk about in a second. It was astonishing the difference, before and after. If I get a chance I will post some pictures.

I think, I have found an unbeatable combination of hardware:

JVC HR-S9800U SVHS VCR, S-Video connected to
Datavideo TBC-1000, S-Video connected to
Canopus ADVC-100, Firewire connected to
Computer with a separate hard drive dedicated to video.

I have some NTSC VHS tapes that are from the early 80's up to the present, as well as second and probably third generation VHS. So after doing extensive research and reading this board diligently I bought the above equipment over an extended time period. This is an EXPENSIVE HOBBY!!!

The JVC HR-S9800U is not made anymore and are hard to find. It is the last best SVHS that JVC made. It has some OUTSTANDING features that you need to clean up you tapes. It has a:
- 3-setting Ghost Reduction tuner (gotta have that)
- Picture Stabalizer (can turn on or off as needed)
- Built in Time Base Corrector (TBC) - you all should see this thing go to work. Its almost magical. I couldnt believe the difference it made. You can turn this on and off too.
- Video calibration (on/off setting)

The TBC-1000 is a stand-alone TBC. Why do you need 2 separate TBCs. They both do different things. One does horizontal and the other works vertical picture. Combined they give you the best possible picture. The nice thing about the TBC-1000, is that it has tons of connections out, so you can connect to a TV at the same time you view it on your computer.

The ADVC-100 is used to capture uncompressed AVI, with great audio-video synch. There are lots of posts on this unit on this board, so you can read about this great little unit.

As for software, you have lots of choices. I use a number of them. I use ScenalyzerLive to capture AVI from the ADVC-100. Then I use any number and combiations of the below list:

- Virtualdub (editing with various filters and frameserving)
- TMPGEnc Plus
- Vegas 4 (for editing and video swipes, transitions, etc)- MY FAVORITE
- CCE Basic

With this combination, all you restoration projects will be a pleasure. I was amazed. While it will cost you some $$$s, if you are serious about getting the best visual quality form your VHS tapes, it is well worth the investment. Word of wisdom here for all with similar plight as mine, while this set-up does a GREAT GREAT job, it is not a silver bullet. If your video is just crappy beyond belief, dont expect anything to fix it. Also, you should not expect an old "not-so-good-looking" tape to all of a sudden look like something you just bought from the store. Lets not get carried away here . But if you VHS tapes are tough to watch or just annoying the heck out of you and/or just interested in preserving some memories, this is a very very viable solution that works.

Hope this helps someone out.