JVC S-VHS VCR difficult to obtain

[abbymat]

hello,

VCR such as JVC HR-S9911U, HR-S9800U with built in
TBC are very difficult to buy now. so will I get the same result
if I use an ordinary S-VHS VCR by Panasonic and an external
TBC to restore old VHS tapes ?

thanks

[TBoneit]

A external TBC is a different animal that one in the JVC. The one in the JVC can fix certain things and a external can fix other problems. I use both.

The other thing is that the JVC has other settings to improve playback quality.

[Marvingj]

Just check Ebay every now and then, they always have JVC SVHS VCR on sale. Never know you may luck up and find the one your looking for. But JVC still sales the SR-V101US.

[victoriabears]

do a saved search on Ebay, look at these, if you have only say 100 tapes to convert, consider a GOOD combo. The panasonic DMR-e45 series has very good reviews.

Having spent years converting vhs to dvd, I have come to a conclusion, achieving perfection needs to be a time judgement, be careful not to get caught up in it.

Do you wish to simply archive valuable material or achieve the best picture quality which will take months to learn and do?

[lordsmurf]

Here: http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail.asp?dpno=483729

Problem solved.

That is the most recent JVC S-VHS machine, after the 9000 and 7000 series were discontinued. They're also very good machines. I have a preference to a 9000 line unit, but I also own a SR-V10U as a backup.

[davideck]

I prefer capturing with my older JVC 6800 (without TBC/DNR) than with my 7600 or 9600 because it provides a slightly more detailed image without any DNR artifacts. The same may be true of your Panasonic, particularly if the tapes were recorded on that machine.

A lot depends upon the condition of the tapes and the capture setup. DVD Recorders have a built in TBC/Frame Synchronizer. Are you capturing with a DVD Recorder? Do your captures look jittery and/or noisy with the Panasonic?

[abbymat]

Thanks for the advice

[davideck]

Your images appear to suffer from tracking error and/or RF dropout. Can you improve or move the marginal areas by adjusting the tracking control on the VCR? If so, then a different VCR might help. If not, then the defects may be embedded on tape.

An external TBC won't restore the marginal areas. It might even makes things worse.

[abbymat]

The tracking is now adjusted to the best picture possible. When I adjust the tracking the noisy lines move up and down and become worse.

What do you mean by "marginal areas"......is it the black areas at the sides ? If so....no, they don't move on tracking. (I think the VCR has only Vertical Tracking).

Thus, will it be useful to buy a better quality VCR ? The one that is now played on is a low-end Thomson 2-head VCR.

BTW, one other question, is Audio-Out via composite into the Line-In of soundcard for capture, independent of NTSC, PAL, SECAM etc ? i.e. Is S-VHS for video only and audio has to be taken via composite ?

[davideck]

The noisy lines are what I meant by "marginal areas".
If the tracking is already optimized, and if your VCR plays other tapes just fine, then I would not expect too much improvement from another VCR. Nevertheless, I think it would be worthwhile trying the tape in any other VCR you might have access to just to be sure.

Audio is separate from the S-Video connection and should be routed the same way as when using composite video.

[abbymat]

yes, I will try on some other VCR hoping for improvement since the tape is valuable to me.

I found some good deals on both JVC 9600 and Panasonic AG-1980 series on ebay. Which do you think would give a better picture, the JVC or Panasonic ?

[davideck]

It's unfortunate that the video sample comparison links in the thread below are no longer valid. They were quite compelling.

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=287476

[victoriabears]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160104276906

howszat ?

[abbymat]

ok, I've ordered a Panasonic NV-HS1000 PAL (1994 model) from ebay.co.uk [ GBP 50 = $98 ]. JVC too difficult to get and seems most video guys (except Lord Smurf) are rooting for Panasonic !

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/S-VHS-PANASONIC-NVHS1000-TOP-OF-THE-RANGE-WAS-1000_W0QQitemZ1501...QQcmdZViewItem

seems to have very good reviews, more recent model than AG-1980 (NTSC 1992 model) which is known as NV-FS200 for PAL versions.

[victoriabears]

Be interested how well you think it works when you get it,,my research said JVc or sharp.

[abbymat]

yes, i'll let u know how that old tape plays on it, too bad i dont have a JVC also to compare it with.

there is a mad rush for JVC compared to Panasonic, very hard to find JVC PAL versions.

[lordsmurf]

there is a mad rush for JVC compared to Panasonic, very hard to find JVC PAL versions.

Not as hard as you might think. Search ebay.de instead of ebay.com or ebay.co.uk. And then find somebody who will ship outside Germany, or find a friend that can ask/beg for non-Germany shipment. It works.

[abbymat]

few of those on ebay.de speak english and most don't ship outside germany, thats why i had to buy on ebay.co.uk.

[lordsmurf]

That's why I said to find somebody who speaks German. If you have any friends/family in Germany, or just randomly know somebody online willing to help, you can use them as a proxy.

If you really get after it, you can make these sorts of situations work for you. I've done it many times in the past.

[vico1]

Here: http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail.asp?dpno=483729

Problem solved.

If you have any ideas...how would you compare this unit (or any comparable new series)
to a 9800. (that I have)

[abbymat]

That's why I said to find somebody who speaks German. If you have any friends/family in Germany, or just randomly know somebody online willing to help, you can use them as a proxy.

If you really get after it, you can make these sorts of situations work for you. I've done it many times in the past.

yes its possible but needs a bit of effort. however, since the panasonic was readily available so cheaply with reviews equal to the jvcs, i decided to buy it.

[lordsmurf]

Here: http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail.asp?dpno=483729

Problem solved.

If you have any ideas...how would you compare this unit (or any comparable new series)
to a 9800. (that I have)

The 9800 is better. Better made, more RAM in the TBC, etc. It's not leaps and bounds better, we're nitpicking.

[vico1]

If you have any ideas...how would you compare this unit (or any comparable new series)
to a 9800. (that I have)

The 9800 is better. Better made, more RAM in the TBC, etc.
It's not leaps and bounds better, we're nitpicking.

Thanks...I was guessing that the margin would not have been big.

[vhs?]

The big difference is in the timescan audio quality and the tilting head which is not on the 101.
The 101 does have some way cool industrial features.
I will convert mine to camera use when I am through with it because of this.
It is a great bargain for this use.
The JVCs have more svhs-et than Panasonic and this is why they are in demand.
There are some Panasonics with et but not many.
I think a svhs machine will do a better job of playing vhs tapes but I am told this only applies to et machines.
I have used machines that were clearly weighted to certain speeds, relating to the cost of the deck.
You can record and play vhs in the Panas I have, but the non-et decks will not record svhs on the vhs tapes if you don't disable the tape sensor at the tape or deck.
The digital buffer on the high end jvc can make a difference.
I think some of the et Panasonics have this too.
I have not used PAL though.

The 101 offers a very long play speed and deck stacking, etc.

The older JVCs are very sensitive when they wear.
I would buy a new 101 before an older deck, unless it was very cheap.
In fact, I bought a new 9800 and 101 recently.
I still plan to get my 9500s rebuilt if hard drives don't replace them first.
I have one of the last jvcs made with the old features-9911? maybe.
I'll probably sell it.

[abbymat]

while the noisy lines have decreased on switching on the TBC, they are still present.....so will adding an external Datavideo TBC help to eliminate them or are they embedded tape defects and nothing further can be done ?

[StuR]

Hi abbymat, that last set of pics appear to be the same as the origonal pics. Did you mean to post before and after. If so it would be interesting to see them to compare the PQ improvement you mention. I've got the Pan NV-HS860 so I'm interested to see how other Pan's compare.

[Bix]

Remember when checking eBay and the like that the GoVideo SDV-650 is a rebadged JVC HR-S9800U.

[John M]

I have been reading the following links regarding the quality obtained using SVHS/S-Video for VHS to DVD conversion, and I am convinced that this is the way to go.

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=247084
https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=1676352
https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=326313
https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=325260
https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=255539
and many more.

VHS/SVHS players with S-Video output are hard to find here in Melbourne Australia.

Has anyone ever investigated the inside circuitry of VHSDVD Combo units and whether in the internal electronics, the luminance and chrominance are transferred separately (rather than composite) when a cassette is played and the DVD is recording?.

The first link above says that all recordings i.e. VHS or SVHS tape happen with luminance and chrominance separated. I cannot think of a reason why the manufacturers would want to combine them internally, before sending it to be recorded on to the DVD.
Now, assuming that they are kept separate, could we "trick" the unit by pretending to be recording from VHS to DVD (using a re-writable disc to avoid wasting discs); and while it is recording, connect our capture device using the S-Video output from the DVD out section of the unit ? This will give us the high quality S-Video signals that we are looking for.

Thanks
John