Capturing PAL VHS to NTSC

[echo1434]

Hello,

I need to make a decision soon. My friend from Germany has sent me some very nice standard VHS PAL tapes for me to convert. I am going to convert them to NTSC, and I want to do the very best job possible.

I realize that I need a VCR that plays PAL and a converter of some sort to convert the signal to NTSC. My capture card will be the Canopus MPEG PRO MVR, which has always given me great results for direct NTSC VHS captures.

One attractive idea is getting the Samsung SV-5000W multi-format VCR with a built-in converter. These go for around just under $400.

The second option, which a salesperson was really trying to push on me was to get a very high-end multi-format JVC VCR (around $400) and a Tenlab PAL to NTSC coverter separately (over $500). He said that this is really the way to go if you want the best results. He really played this up, saying the difference was astonishing. He's obviously good at what he does, because he really had me sold on the idea for a while.

But since I did not wish to purchase right away, a bit of afterthought makes me wonder how truthful he was. I am willing to spend the extra money if there is a true quality difference, but I don't need to shell out an extra $600+ for a negligible difference, if anything at all.

I've heard both sides of the argument from salespeople, but can anyone lend me an unbiased opinion? Thanks in advance.

[lordsmurf]

I would agree that a high end JVC HR-S79xx or HR-S89xx S-VHS PAL VCR would be great. I have a JVC HR-S7965EK, and it's awesome for PAL tapes. Much like the NTSC JVC HR-S9800 I have had for years now. However, these are not all that easy to find.

This store has the HR-S6970, but it is a "basic style" unit with no TBC inside of it. Sort of expensive given that fact:
http://www.dvdoverseas.com/store/index.html?itemhrs6970.html

I got my 7965 just before JVC seemingly discontinued the PAL model lines last fall. There is a place in Australia where you can import the JVC SR-V10E if you one. It's the PAL version of the SR-V10U, another nice high-end S-VHS unit.
http://www.expandore.biz/detail.asp?getITEM=304&start=1&getbrand=4&getproducttype=31

The Samsung 5000W is probably a decent choice if you don't do that much work, and as long as you capture with good hardware at a high bitrate (do not use a crappy Panasonic or Philips DVD recorder, either). The Samsung can play the tapes fine, but does nothing to remove noise.

The Tenlab unit that was suggested I would not suggest. It deinterlaces and converts. Barf.

I have a Centrios EDW8020 DVD recorder that I got from Circuit City last week for $80 plus tax, and it will make PAL DVDs from a PAL signal. It also modulates out NTSC on the coax, so I can plug in the coax to my NTSC DVD recorder and make NTSC DVDs if needed (or just output to watch on the tv). The conversion is quasi signal, so there is slight ghosting from time to time, but there is no jitter or interlace issues whatsoever.

[echo1434]

Thanks for that. That's the kind of thing that someone who wanted my money would never tell me about the Tenlab.

The Canopus card I got does beautiful captures in my opinion, and it has options for noise reduction when using the composite input. I'm going to be making my final products with dual layer DVD-R, so I will be able to keep the bitrate quite high.

With all this in mind, am I correct in assuming I might do very well with just the Samsung? I'm afraid that I myself am biased by my desire to spend less money and have a simple all-in-one unit!

[lordsmurf]

You may want to run that video through VIRTUALDUB and then use the CHROMA NOISE REDUCTION filter on it. Save as HuffYUV or uncompressed AVI. And then do your editing and/or MPEG encoding.

Your Canopus does nothing for chroma noise.

If you do that, Samsung should be fine. The advantage of the JVC is it does this in realtime, and a bit more effective. More effective than the Canopus AND the VirtualDub filters.