Betamax - horizontal black lines near white (example within) & other Qs

[PLC401]

It's well into January and I really do want to crack-on with this now; so if someone can actually give me an answer before the end of the month, please do (I've already stated what I'm after in my last few posts, but I'm still waiting for a recommendation or relevant reply related to it).

If no-one can do that - and I'd be surprised - then just direct me to somewhere that can help, so I get on with getting everything ready for transfer.

Thanks,

P

[2Bdecided]

Did you find any advice elsewhere P? What have you chosen to use? I notice you wanted to buy a "detailer" - I reckon you could do better in software, but others here seem to love their hardware processing.


I've got my ADVC110. It gives a sharper image than my HV20, but brighter too (too bright). S-video vs composite makes almost no difference, even for S-VHS originals.

The TBC within the VCR works well with the ADVC110. Without it, vertical lines aren't quite straight. With it, they're very much better (though still not perfect). The HV20 seems poorer either way, but I need to look more closely.


Sadly, I've found the same problem you have: short dark lines to the right of very bright parts of the image on some tapes. Older footage (S-VHS copies) are fine, newer footage (S-VHS-C originals) are not.

In my case, it's really unlikely that the current S-VHS VCR's head are worn - it's nearly new, had very little use, and still plays and records perfectly. It's possible the heads in the camcorder were worn by the time the newer tapes were recorded - it would have seen 100+ hours use by then. However, capturing several times and comparing frame by frame, the annoying lines are not in the same place each time.

That give me an obvious idea for an AVIsynth filter to fix the problem, but unfortunately multiple captures don't line up perfectly, so this could kill details.

I need something to make the video slightly less bright, and I need to find a solution to these dark lines (which look just like the image poster in the first page of this thread).

Cheers,
David.

[PLC401]

Funny that you should choose to reply on the day I'm celebrating a birthday!

Haven't searched around elsewhere I'm afraid - I don't want to completely chance a hardware purchase that might give minimal improvement, so for now I'll scratch the TBC plan and probs just stick with cleaning things up via software.

Good luck finding a filter solution to the black streaks - if you make a breakthrough, please, please, pretty please let me know about it - then I might be able to make something reasonable of the (almost unwatchable in places) 1995 recorded Beta.

But then re: 'streaky' Betas, logic dictates that any footage heading into the 90s onwards has a greater chance of being spoilt in that way because it's likely from a machine that would've been in use for a good few years at that point. So I reckon it's onto VHS for salvaging stable 1990s archived stuff, with Beta useful for the 80s footage.

...And although I don't have one, the early Philips models (N1700 etc) tapes if you're looking for 70s television - But I won't go into that!

NB: For general software noise removal too, I've told myself AviSynth is the way to go! Not to say that VDub isn't worthy (it's most definitely worthy), but from experience I've found AviSynth to have some very nifty, potent filters; with a bit of tweaking I can generally turn a video that's a bit 'rough around the edges' into something more respectable looking - and in the process I don't feel quite as much like my video is being butchered in some way, which was the feeling I always got with VDub smoother(s).

I think part of that is down to some AVS script paramenters allowing good flexibility over how much your computer scrutinizes each frame / subsequent frames, without the filter being necessarily locked down to any particular speed-quality tradeoff. It does seem nicely versatile.

[2Bdecided]

Happy Birthday!

If you play the same "streaky" tape twice, do the streaks appear identical both times? If you capture twice and compare a specific frame, do the streaks match exactly, or not? They don't for me, which gives some hope.

Cheers,
David.

[2Bdecided]

An update from me: I tried a JVC S-VHS deck, and the streaks were about 75% improved, but not fixed altogether - so it's probably a VCR and tape problem.

Sadly, this JVC (HR-S5967EK, a low end S-VHS unit) was poorer than the Panasonic (NV-SV121, not a very high end S-VHS unit) in every other respect. The performance with the JVC's video stabiliser on was worse (i.e. vertical picture content was more wavey) than the Panasonic with it's TBC off; colours were less stable, and the picture was a little softer but just as noisy.

The answer is either another different VCR, or multiple captures and some AVIsynth magic.

Cheers,
David.

[lordsmurf]

Being just one tape, have you considered professional help?

[2Bdecided]

Do you mean for myself or for the tape?

Seriously, I don't think either myself, or PLC401, are talking about a single tape. I've got loads (hundreds of hours), and at least ten have this problem.

You've made me wonder though: what would a professional do? I mean a "real" professional, not the "professionals" that pop up on this forum sometimes and ask such stupid questions that it makes me wary of giving my tapes to anyone else!

Cheers,
David.

[PLC401]

I ought to ask about my VHS player. It's been around for the few years but I'm not sure whether purchasing a different, better player may improve things as far as built-in TBC / enhancement and just general good function is concerned.

Currently I've got a Sanyo VHR-M290. For starters AIUI this is a Mono-only VCR so that's not ideal, and as it's getting on a bit, I'd like to know: what's the best replacement model (in this here PAL region) that I could get?

Ideally something that playback-wise is known for good picture quality, is Stereo and has TBC built-in. I'm not necessarily looking for the best recording functionailty, just good playback - something that will take the tapes and produce better results than what I've got now.

EDIT: It'll have to be an S-VHS VCR, too, I think that's important to address! I have a few S-VHS tapes acquired just recently and cannot play them on my existing equipment - definitely time for an upgrade then, and I would like to make a good choice with your help.