VHS plays fine on TV, bad when captured...

[rachel.twu]

I have several home videos on VHS that I want to convert to digital files and DVDs. These videos are of good quality and play fine when viewed through a TV.

I have an HP ExpressCard Analog TV Tuner, which came with my HP Pavilion dv8000. I have to use the program Sonic MyDVD to capture video because that is the only one I have been able to find that actually works with my capture card.

I use a composite cable and connect my VCR to my capture card, and the resulting video that plays through my computer is mostly good and the same quality as what plays through the TV when my VCR is connected to the TV. However, every once and a while the frames will become skewed in some direction and you can see a black border and it just kind of skips for a second. Also sometimes the color will go weird and stripey.

I have tried several VCRs, including a nice new 4 head one. I have also tried just putting the little VHS tape into my camcorder and plugging that into my capture card via a composite cable. The results are always the same.

I have tried burning the captured video with the jerky frames onto a DVD and playing it through the TV via a DVD player, but it still plays all jerky, because the signal it is receiving is now digital instead of analog. There is SOMETHING in the TV that stabilizes the video signal it receives from a VCR and keeps it from skipping and going weird. The tapes always skip in the same place, too, so there is something actually wrong with the tape, but somehow the TV compensates for it and you can't even tell. I have a newfound respect and awe for televisions...

I have been researching like crazy trying to find SOME solution to my problem. I'd really like to get these VHS tapes converted and have them be the same quality as what I see when I watch them on TV. I really don't want to have to buy a TBC or spend very much money.

I don't understand why I need to spend $300 on a TBC to stabilize a VHS signal when a little 13" TV which costs probably $50 can do it. Does anyone have an explanation as to why the videos play fine via a VCR connected to a TV but skip when captured to my computer from a VCR?

Also, has anyone with a nice new TV with video output ever tried to capture via VCR out > TV in > TV out > capture card...?

[thecoalman]

That certainly sounds like Macrovison, assuming you are capturing home videos basically your capture card is interpreting plain old errors as Macrovison protection skewing and ruining your capture. I'd suggest getting a new VHS tape, record some video to it and try to capture it. If you have no isuues from the freshy recorded tape then it's good chance that's what it is.

To fix the problem:

1. See if there is driver hack for the card or in some cases an older driver without the MV detection. HP ExpressCard Analog TV Tuner----> most likely a rebranded card, look under devices to determine what it is.
2. A TBC or other device like the ones from Sima. A TBC will provide other benefits, if you have a lot of tapes you might find you need one of these for a few flaky ones anyway, expensive though. Sima products on the other hand may actually degrade the signal albeit without the issue you have now.
3. Get a different card, some like the Hauppage don't have MV detection at all. Others are less prone to see it as MV, Having had the same similar problem with two seperate cards, Canopus ADVC 110 didn't.

Option 3 is probably the best, BTW one of the best methods for transferring analog is through a DV cam with pass-thru. If you have a DV-cam look to see if it has this feature.

[rachel.twu]

Well I know my card does detect macrovision because when I am using Sonic MyDVD to capture and what is being captured is static or a snowy screen on a home movie tape, the MyDVD program gives me an *annoying* error that says "Macrovision detected, capture ended" and it won't let me capture it, even though it's just some snowy footage between shots. I can get around this annoyance by using a certain VCR that always replaces snowy screens with a blue screen and then MyDVD doesn't detect the "macrovision". Also, I just tried two commercially produced tapes and both of them gave me the macrovision error immediately.

Today I tried to record my home movie VHS tapes to a new VHS tape via two VCRs connected together, but the resulting recording captured the very same way that the original did, or maybe even a little worse quality.

The thing that makes me think that the skips that show up on my home videos when I capture them AREN'T macrovision errors is that MyDVD doesn't give me an error disabling the capture because macrovision was detected.

I have tried capturing a regular VHS tape with some recorded TV on it, and it captures just fine with no weird jumps, skips, skews or color changes.

The HP ExpressCard Analog TV Tuner says on the back of the card that it was manufactured by YUAN High-Tech Development Co . In the device manager the card says it was manufactured by Conexant, Inc.

I'm still wondering about why the TV plays these tapes fine and somehow fixes the errors on the tape. What is inside a TV that fixes that? Why can't someone make a $10 cable that does what a TV does to stabilize VCR signals?

[thecoalman]

I'm still wondering about why the TV plays these tapes fine and somehow fixes the errors on the tape.

Assuming the issue is MV it's not that your TV is fixing anything, it's that the card is too sensitive to the minor errors... I won't say it's a common problem but it's not uncommon either. The post you have made is similar to thousands of others made here....

Some devices are more prone than others, as an example I had one tape that would not record using a 2 seperate cards but captured flawlessly on a Canopus ADVC 110. The ADVC has MV detection but it's lees prone to get set off than other devices.

Also sometimes the color will go weird and stripey.

This BTW is pretty indicatrive that is what the problem is, I'll guess the color shift and stripes are of a purplish blue hue?

[TooLFooL]

this is normal operation. when a tv loses the signal momentarily, it will show a little snow or whatever, but the tape keeps rolling. however, when you are trying to capture, a loss of signal results in frames being 'dropped' from the capture, and the result is jerky playback where those frames are missing. the video stabilizer is there to provide a solid signal to the capture device, preventing it from dropping those frames, giving a smoother playback.

[Bjs]

You dont need to spend that much ... here's one device that would do the job for you

http://www.facetvideo.com/xcart/customer/home.php ... $99.00

[LOWTECH]

I had same problems.........problem solved using a firewire card .. never looked back.

Perfect results every time now...........Best move I ever made regarding importing home VHS movies into my computer.

[thecoalman]

I had same problems.........problem solved using a firewire card ..

? A firewire card by itself isn't going to do anything but supply the ports for a firewire device which could be video related but not necessarily..

[rachel.twu]

when a tv loses the signal momentarily, it will show a little snow or whatever, but the tape keeps rolling

But in this case the TV doesn't lose the signal from the VCR. When I'm watching the tape playing on the TV, the footage is smooth and unbroken. No snow or gaps in the video. It is perfect and unjerky.

I made an animated gif to show what happens in some places on the video when I capture it:

[TooLFooL]

wow. thats really strange. that looks like something you'd get with an anolog capture, but not digital? looks like a sync problem.
...where's "edDV"?!

[LOWTECH]

I had same problems.........problem solved using a firewire card ..

? A firewire card by itself isn't going to do anything but supply the ports for a firewire device which could be video related but not necessarily..

Maybe, but it certainly solved my problem...................all my VHS transfering is done through my camercorder bypass and firewire card and problem free... My ATI TV capture card failed miserably and gave many constant Macrovision infested problems even on home movie transfers.

The Firewire way Best investment I ever made for £12 ...England... anologue or digital all now perfect.

[The_Doman]

wow. thats really strange. that looks like something you'd get with an anolog capture, but not digital? looks like a sync problem.
...where's "edDV"?!

Yes, it is a sync problem.
Allmost all TV's will automatically compensate for bad/weak sync signals from analog VCR sources.
Most capturecards don't have such feature resulting in all sorts of problems.

Maybe, but it certainly solved my problem...................all my VHS transfering is done through my camercorder bypass and firewire card and problem free... My ATI TV capture card failed miserably and gave many constant Macrovision infested problems even on home movie transfers.

Indeed most DV camorders with analog-in will give excellent results because of a (simple) TBC function stabilizing the analog input signal.

[Capmaster]

You need a full-frame Timebase Corrector to completely clean it up. Camcorders usually have only line TBCs and do nothing to clean the vertical timing.

Or send it out for transfer (about $10).

[davideck]

It could be that your capture device is just taking a long time to relock after some type of input disturbance. Much longer than your TV takes.

Is this a first generation recording?

[rachel.twu]

Thanks everyone for the help!

Davideck, the videos are first generation, if by that you mean they weren't recorded on over and over again.

Has anyone had this problem and solved it by running the signal through a TV with outputs? All the TV's I've had access to never have outputs; it seems like only the newer ones have them. I've considered renting one at Rent-A-Center for like $50 and converting all my tapes. But to me, $50 is a lot and I'd like to know if it worked for someone else before trying it.

Also, my old 13 inch cheapo TV stabilizes the signal, so I have a hard time accepting that I need a super fancy TBC.

I've been considering getting a new camcorder sometime in the near future; for those who stabilize their signals by using the passthrough function of a DV camcorder, which one do you have? Has anyone had one that DIDN'T stabilize their signal that is otherwise stabilized by a cheapo TV? Keep in mind I don't mean unstabilized video that plays all jumpy on a TV too. That video probably DOES need a TBC to clean it up.

Again, thanks for everyone's help.

[jamko101]

I was having the same exact problems you were. I was using a VCR and using the pass-thru method to try to capture VHS tapes on my PC. Well, at certain point of the tape, the tape would always skip and it would always be at the exact spot every time. I spent hours trying to figure this out and I found your post and I still couldn't do it right. So I decided to haul my TV from my room upstairs and try to capture using the TV out (which has built in VCR) and whala! it worked. I have no skips or frame drops anymore. I guess it just has something to do with the VCR I was using! Hope this helps.