VCR makes a world of difference

[fmctm1sw]

I've been using a Sony SLV-700HF for my VHS to DVD conversions for the last few months. I recently picked up a Sony SLV-575UC for $1 at the thrift store and with $30 worth of repair parts it is now part of my capture rig. Seeing it sell for up to $130 on ebay, I figure I got a good deal. The difference in picture quality is quite noticable. The pictures are from my 700HF and 575UC (with the edit button on). The diffference is easy to see. Moral of the story, if you plan on making good VHS caps, check out a decent quality VCR. Oh yeah, the details: 368x480 cropped to 352x480 with huffyuv compression (convert to yuy2 and "best" setting) for both. I used avisynth to render them side by side and saved them as bmps with virtualdub. Then converted to jpg quality 6 and 7 (can't remember which is which) from Roxio's photo editing program.

The sand even looks a different color in the first one...

[BrainStorm69]

Impressive difference. And that is only with composite connections, right? Did you know anything about the SLV-575UC before you bought it, or did you take a chance just because it was cheap and you thought it was a bargain?

Also, was that set for the sharpest picture on the SLV-575UC? My Sony SLV-740HF doesn't have a sharpness control, and although I really like my JVC HR-S9900U and its features, the one thing I have noticed is that it loses some of the detail that even my Sony can show.

[fmctm1sw]

I didn't know anything about it other than it was a $1 VCR. The folks at the thrift shop rarely know what things even are, much less whether they work or not. I just buy up pretty much anything I see there. Yes, that was the RCA inputs to it. I've fooled around with the sharpness but it seems when you press the edit button, it overrides any tweaking of the sharpness control. It had an issue with dropped framesl. I've found that if I disable auto tracking and adjust it manually, it stops. It dropped 7 frames for a two hours movie. It seems to have trouble with my old 3 Stooges VHS tapes too. I guess I'll try the manual tracking "trick" on those too....

[BrainStorm69]

fmctm1sw, I was wondering how things are going with your SLV-575UC? I'm considering picking one up on ebay. Or perhaps a 676 or 757. Can't make up my mind right now. Also, I read your rant where you were having some problem with it. Did you get it sorted out?

[awhitney]

wow, nice improvement! Good job!

[fmctm1sw]

fmctm1sw, I was wondering how things are going with your SLV-575UC? I'm considering picking one up on ebay. Or perhaps a 676 or 757. Can't make up my mind right now. Also, I read your rant where you were having some problem with it. Did you get it sorted out?

Good you mention this. I was quite upset after I thought I had it figured out. I've resigned myself to this:

1] For good condition VHS tapes, the 575UC will do a fantastic job. On older or beat up tapes I noticed a lot more jumpiness in captured material and dropped frames. I also notice that it helps to turn off the auto tracking sometimes to help with dropped frames. I was also not happy about what appears to be macrovision when I try to capture stuff from the movie channels. But in fairness, I never tested that with my 700HF (it only tunes up to channel 13).

2] For more beat up stuff, the 700HF is very forgiving. It doesn't drop any frames unless you are at a point that got eaten it seems.

I've done Casino, Tommyknockers, and Goodfellas with the 575Uc and I am very happy with the results. For my old Three Stooges tapes, it looks like the 700HF is the choice for now. I imagine with a TBC, I could fix the issues with the 575UC. I'd have the best of both worlds. But until I can cough up $300 I'll just use both VCR's.

[BrainStorm69]

Thanks for the info. I was wondering if you could tell me what tape you captured the images from for this thread. I'd like to try capturing the same scene with my Sony SLV-740HF and see how it compares before I run off and buy yet another VCR!

Thanks.

[Capmaster]

It generally looks like the 575UC does a slightly better job, but it's hard to make a real comparison because of all the JPEG artifacts in all four pics.

[fmctm1sw]

@ Brainstorm69: It's Jurassic Park: The Lost World (very early in the movie)
@Capmaster: I think I have the original bmp files.

[lordsmurf]

Regarding the JVC comments, you know you can change the picture sharpness and filters on good S-VHS units, right?

[BrainStorm69]

@lordsmurf - Yes, but it doesn't bring out the detail that is captured by my Sony.

@fmctm1sw - thanks for the info.

I'll see if I can cap something soon that shows what I'm talking about. Maybe I should try a comparison between my Sony and JVC on the same scene fmctm1sw capped. I'm not sure if we have that tape or whether I'd need to rent it though (that's the second Jurassic Park film, right?).

[fmctm1sw]

I'll see if I can cap something soon that shows what I'm talking about. Maybe I should try a comparison between my Sony and JVC on the same scene fmctm1sw capped. I'm not sure if we have that tape or whether I'd need to rent it though (that's the second Jurassic Park film, right?).

I believe it is the second one. I'm not big into movies, it was just one we had laying around. I'd be very interested to see other folks' comparisons.

[MrMungus]

It is pretty amazing sometimes how different VCRs perform. I have 4 now and some tapes work better on some VCRs (mainly tracking issues).

[fmctm1sw]

It is pretty amazing sometimes how different VCRs perform. I have 4 now and some tapes work better on some VCRs (mainly tracking issues).

I'm glad someone else speaks of auto tracking issues... I thought I was the only one..

[MrMungus]

It is pretty amazing sometimes how different VCRs perform. I have 4 now and some tapes work better on some VCRs (mainly tracking issues).

I'm glad someone else speaks of auto tracking issues... I thought I was the only one..

Yeah, I have a JVC with TBC but I couldn't get the "secret" manual tracking to work so I had to use a Toshiba VCR which had much better automatic tracking (to the point where the tracking issues stopped being a problem). And the only reason I have four is just time...got one, then got one for the computer, then got a SVHS, then got an SVHS with TBC, haha.

[BrainStorm69]

Well, unfortunately we only had the first Jurassic Park on Tape. So if I'm going to do a direct comparison, I'll have to rent the tape.

I did do some testing on spy kids last night, and found that the Sony and the JVC weren't that far off in the detail department for that tape (with the JVC set to the "sharp" picture setting, the TBC/DNR off, and the R3 set to on). I'm starting to think that it does depend on the tape (age, condition, whether it was pre-recorded or not). I did try it on the tape that I originally noticed the detail problem with, and it still had the problem. But that is an old tape in not so good condition, and not pre-recorded.

So just as I'm thinking I probably don't need another VCR, last night just before I went to bed, I saw a new posting for a Sony SLV-585HF (I believe this is the next year's model replacing the 575UC) on ebay. Said it was in excellent shape with no problems. And it had a buy it now price of $25.00 and only $7.50 for shipping.

Needless to say, I now own another VCR :P We'll see how it does compared to my other Sony and the JVC.