Captured video is in black and white (NTSC vs PAL problem?)

[Helena]

Hi there everyone,

I am trying to capture my VHS tapes to save as files on my computer. I have hooked up my VCR to my computer with something (probably crap) called EasyCAP (a bunch of cords from my VCR into some USB thingy). I've tried different software for the actual capturing; Ulead VideoStudios (came with EasyCAP) and VirtualDub (downloaded online). Both of them work fine.

I live in Europe and use PAL. My VCR is PAL but supports NTSC playback (I have no problem watching NTSC VHS's on my TV played on that VCR). I have successfully captured PAL videos. However, when I try to capture NTSC videos, the video is in black and white. I have changed the software's settings to NTSC, but that doesn't help. My guess is that it still has something to do with NTSC vs PAL, but I don't know how to fix it. Any ideas?

Thanks a lot,
Helena

[jman98]

Welcome to the forums. Please let us know what brand and model your capture card is. That will help you to better get help. The less you tell us about what you are doing, the less likely you are to get help. It is possible that your capture card only really supports PAL capture, but that can sometimes be fixed on certain models. It all depends on the model.

Unlike a lot of new members this week, you actually took to the time to read the forum headings and post in the appropriate group. Thank you for that.

Be sure that your VCR is outputting a true NTSC signal and NOT that bastardized PAL60 crap that's kind of NTSC-like, kind of PAL-like, and not really enough of either to be useful for capturing. If you are only able to send out a PAL60 signal with your VCR, very few capture cards support that. We've had discussion even today about this in another thread in this forum.

[Helena]

Thank you for your reply and welcome, jman98.

In the operating instructions of my Sony VCR it says:

"This VCR is designed to record using the PAL (B/G) colour system and play back using the PAL (B/G) and NTSC 4.43 colour systems. Recordning of video sources based on other colour systems cannot be guaranteed."

"NTSC 4.43", that would mean no PAL-60 crap, right?

What kind of capture card I use? Well, I have no idea. (God, I'm such a newbie.)

The capture card would be listed under Sound, video and game controllers in the device manager...? Then one of these things has to be the capture card:

ATI WDM Rage Theater Video NSP
ATI WDM Specialized MVD Codec
Audio Codecs
Creative SB X-Fi
Hauppauge WinTV 88x Audio Capture
Hauppauge WinTV 88x Crossbar
Hauppauge WinTV 88x DVB-T Hybrib Tuner/Demod
Hauppauge WinTV 88x TS Capture (94xxx)
Hauppauge WinTV 88x Tuner
Hauppauge WinTV 88x Video (DVB-T)
Legacy Audio Drivers
Legacy Video Capture Devices
Media Control Devices
USB Audio Device
Video Codecs

(EasyCAP is, by the way, listed as Syntek STK1160 under Imaging devices.)

[DB83]

If I may add to this.

'NTSC Playback' means PAL60 and not pure NTSC.

I do not think the Hauppauge 88x series will support PAL60 input although the 87x series did.

There are digital converters available to convert PAL60 to pure PAL but they do not come cheap > £100 ( > 140 euro )

[themaster1]

try virtual vcr
I record pal 60 "ntsc playback" vhs successfully with it daily

[jman98]

You have some type of Hauppauge WinTV card, but I can't tell which model from the above. Note that most Hauppauge cards do not support PAL60 captures. You can try virtual vcr, but probably it won't work.

[Helena]

Thanks for your replies guys.

Now that I think about it (and have looked more carefully) the source I've chosen when I've captured video is Syntek STK1160 ("EasyCAP"). The options given to me have been that, and ATI Rage Theater Video Capture and Hauppauge WinTV 88x Video Capture. But when I choose any of the last two nothing happens, there's no video at all. So maybe those capture cards can't be used when I've hooked up my VCR the way that I have, or something. ("EasyCAP" by the way supports both NTSC and PAL according to the box. By then again, if my VCR sends out PAL-60 then I guess that doesn't me any good anyway.)

I've installed VirtualVCR but my first try capturing didn't go so well. PAL videos became black and white and with NTSC videos only the sound was captured. I must've screwed up the settings somewhere. I'll try some more and get back to you all.

Edit:

Everything is "back to normal" with VirtualVCR now: PAL videos in color, NTSC videos in black and white.

When I'm playing a NTSC video and go to Settings -> Video -> Device settings to choose between NTSC and PAL, it says "Identified signal: 1" when I choose NTSC, but zero when I choose PAL. So it would seem that the software realizes that I'm playing an NTSC video.

If you were in my shoes, what would you try next? Would you go about in a completely different way, kind of start over with other hardware/software?

[themaster1]

If i remember well 2 years ago i had a similar issue with my card of that time.
Despite i had connected everything the right way i could only get a black & white picture
Then i tried the software called DSCALER. With it, you can literally "FORCE" the card to use the pal60 mode
I guess somehow your card is stuck/locked to the ntsc mode hence the black & white result.

I'm assuming you have connected everything the right way (composite cable if you got a normal vcr or s-video cable if s-vhs player with the s-vhs mode enabled in the vcr indeed->otherwise:b&w picture)

So like i said try Dscaler(the 4.1.12.0 version, might be a little hard to find by now) message me and ill provide you a link if you can't find it.

The only problem is that although this software is superb(provide a clear picture) it's not designed to record videos the best way(not as good as virtualvcr that's for sure).

So you will have to use it to solve the problem then coming back to virtual vcr which is THE tool to record (especially vhs sources )

You couldn't do that with virtualvcr (forcing to the pal60 mode) because it's all automatic , can't do nothing ..know what i mean.


If that doesn't work your card may probably not support the pal60 hertz and you can go back to your local store buy a new card.

[Bryan H]

Hi
I have a problem with Easycap. I can only 'view' and capture in black and white from a Sony VCR. In UK so presumably the VCR system is PAL - all settings have been set for PAL, etc. I've tried c apturing via U-Lead, Nero, Windows Movie Maker; AMCAOP - no joy.
Any thoughts anyone?

[hech54]

Hi
I have a problem with Easycap. I can only 'view' and capture in black and white from a Sony VCR. In UK so presumably the VCR system is PAL - all settings have been set for PAL, etc. I've tried c apturing via U-Lead, Nero, Windows Movie Maker; AMCAOP - no joy.
Any thoughts anyone?

If the Sony does not have SCART connections....it is not a PAL VCR.

[Bryan H]

Hi
I have a problem with Easycap. I can only 'view' and capture in black and white from a Sony VCR. In UK so presumably the VCR system is PAL - all settings have been set for PAL, etc. I've tried c apturing via U-Lead, Nero, Windows Movie Maker; AMCAOP - no joy.
Any thoughts anyone?

If the Sony does not have SCART connections....it is not a PAL VCR.

It has a scart connection - and I've linked it via the S-Video rather than the composite connection (plus audio of course)

[hech54]

Hi
I have a problem with Easycap. I can only 'view' and capture in black and white from a Sony VCR. In UK so presumably the VCR system is PAL - all settings have been set for PAL, etc. I've tried c apturing via U-Lead, Nero, Windows Movie Maker; AMCAOP - no joy.
Any thoughts anyone?

If the Sony does not have SCART connections....it is not a PAL VCR.

It has a scart connection - and I've linked it via the S-Video rather than the composite connection (plus audio of course)

Where did the VHS tape come from?.....the one you are trying to capture.

[Bryan H]

Hi
I have a problem with Easycap. I can only 'view' and capture in black and white from a Sony VCR. In UK so presumably the VCR system is PAL - all settings have been set for PAL, etc. I've tried c apturing via U-Lead, Nero, Windows Movie Maker; AMCAOP - no joy.
Any thoughts anyone?

If the Sony does not have SCART connections....it is not a PAL VCR.

It has a scart connection - and I've linked it via the S-Video rather than the composite connection (plus audio of course)

Where did the VHS tape come from?.....the one you are trying to capture.

Commercial tapes (professionally made exercise videos) manuf in the UK plus a couple of home recorded tapes. All the same result. I've tried copying a couple from VCR to DVD recorder and they appear to copy perfectly OK.
I saw somewhere else on a posting that with some/most VCRs you should use the composite connection not s-video. Could that be the problem?

[hech54]

Hi
I have a problem with Easycap. I can only 'view' and capture in black and white from a Sony VCR. In UK so presumably the VCR system is PAL - all settings have been set for PAL, etc. I've tried c apturing via U-Lead, Nero, Windows Movie Maker; AMCAOP - no joy.
Any thoughts anyone?

If the Sony does not have SCART connections....it is not a PAL VCR.

It has a scart connection - and I've linked it via the S-Video rather than the composite connection (plus audio of course)

Where did the VHS tape come from?.....the one you are trying to capture.

Commercial tapes (professionally made exercise videos) manuf in the UK plus a couple of home recorded tapes. All the same result. I've tried copying a couple from VCR to DVD recorder and they appear to copy perfectly OK.
I saw somewhere else on a posting that with some/most VCRs you should use the composite connection not s-video. Could that be the problem?

My S-VHS machine outputs any tape via the S-Video connection....but someone once told
me that this is not always the case. A friend actually inquired about borrowing my machine
(a Philips) because his machine only output S-VHS tapes....recorded as S-VHS....via S-Video.
But I think his output showed NOTHING....not black and white.

I've never captured with anything other than this machine so I just may be talking
out of my butt....having been fed bad information.

[themaster1]

the s-video signal doesn't work on a standard vcr (black&white result)
You must use composite

[jman98]

I rarely capture VHS tapes to my PC as it's a lot of effort and honestly I'm just not as interested in seeing those things again as I thought I would be years ago when I originally made the tapes. However, when I have done it the S-video signal has always worked. Maybe on some VCRs you need to use composite, but it just seems odd to me that if S-video is capable of sending a signal to a TV that you can't capture that.

There may be another issue at work here. I seem to recall that some European VCRs actually output that bastardized PAL 60 signal instead of true NTSC. Very few capture cards can capture PAL 60 correctly. If that is the case, that's the problem. I'm not sure how you tell as I don't live in PAL land. But a search of the forums for "PAL 60" might provide some helpful info in other posts.

[hech54]

I seem to recall that some European VCRs actually output that bastardized PAL 60 signal instead of true NTSC.

His tapes and his VCR are both European PAL.

[Alexdude333]

Do you know how to capture audio from a hauppage wintv 88x audio capture using Ulead, You said that's what you have but for me when i go to audio devices it isnt there and it only shows up on MSN.

Do you know how to make it available to use on Ulead (I have version 9)

[easycaphelper]

Hi there everyone,

I am trying to capture my VHS tapes to save as files on my computer. I have hooked up my VCR to my computer with something (probably crap) called EasyCAP (a bunch of cords from my VCR into some USB thingy). I've tried different software for the actual capturing; Ulead VideoStudios (came with EasyCAP) and VirtualDub (downloaded online). Both of them work fine.

I live in Europe and use PAL. My VCR is PAL but supports NTSC playback (I have no problem watching NTSC VHS's on my TV played on that VCR). I have successfully captured PAL videos. However, when I try to capture NTSC videos, the video is in black and white. I have changed the software's settings to NTSC, but that doesn't help. My guess is that it still has something to do with NTSC vs PAL, but I don't know how to fix it. Any ideas?

Thanks a lot,
Helena

Easy Cap setup Tutorial: Capturing Colour

People have requested that I show them how to capture in colour as its in black and white. Heres a video explaining how its done.

The software I used to record is AMCap you can download it here:

http://amcap.en.softonic.com/


I hope you guys found this tutorial helpful, and if you need any help please comment or contact me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jckdIWQZalQ&feature=related

[Suny]

Hi
when i capture movies From handycam through EASYCAP to my pc (usb shape common easycap) then quality are perfect but when i capture from VCR so found colorfull strips or sometime black n white recording..
Am i face ths problem due to old model vcr or fake easycao..?
..plssssss help
1_captured with easy cap
2_captured with vcr

[Alextopchikchik]

HI!

I have a similar problem as you. Please tell me how did you solve the problem with the black and white color and stripes in the easyCAP picture? Did you manage to solve this problem?

[Alextopchikchik]

Hi
when i capture movies From handycam through EASYCAP to my pc (usb shape common easycap) then quality are perfect but when i capture from VCR so found colorfull strips or sometime black n white recording..
Am i face ths problem due to old model vcr or fake easycao..?
..plssssss help
1_captured with easy cap
2_captured with vcr

Please tell me, how you solve this problem with easyCAP USB 2.0? I have this problem too

[Alextopchikchik]

If i remember well 2 years ago i had a similar issue with my card of that time.
Despite i had connected everything the right way i could only get a black & white picture
Then i tried the software called DSCALER. With it, you can literally "FORCE" the card to use the pal60 mode
I guess somehow your card is stuck/locked to the ntsc mode hence the black & white result.

I'm assuming you have connected everything the right way (composite cable if you got a normal vcr or s-video cable if s-vhs player with the s-vhs mode enabled in the vcr indeed->otherwise:b&w picture)

So like i said try Dscaler(the 4.1.12.0 version, might be a little hard to find by now) message me and ill provide you a link if you can't find it.

The only problem is that although this software is superb(provide a clear picture) it's not designed to record videos the best way(not as good as virtualvcr that's for sure).

So you will have to use it to solve the problem then coming back to virtual vcr which is THE tool to record (especially vhs sources )

You couldn't do that with virtualvcr (forcing to the pal60 mode) because it's all automatic , can't do nothing ..know what i mean.


If that doesn't work your card may probably not support the pal60 hertz and you can go back to your local store buy a new card.

Hello! I'm having a problem with an easyCAP USB 2.0 device, I'm connecting the device with a composite (RCA) cable to a VCR. The VCR has only 2 RCA outputs (video output and audio output).

However, on a computer (Windows 10) in the preview, I get a black and white picture with green and pink stripes, the picture moves and it is impossible to record this. Please tell me how did you solve this problem? How can I fix this quality from a VCR on a computer? I've tried everything, but nothing helps! I installed the DScaler program, it just has the same picture and nothing changes. However, I did not find version 4.1.12.0 version of the program and installed another version. I also tried using the AMcap program, but it does not have the settings that are mentioned here. None of what was suggested worked for me.

I will be very grateful to you for your help and answer! Thank you!

[Alextopchikchik]

If i remember well 2 years ago i had a similar issue with my card of that time.
Despite i had connected everything the right way i could only get a black & white picture
Then i tried the software called DSCALER. With it, you can literally "FORCE" the card to use the pal60 mode
I guess somehow your card is stuck/locked to the ntsc mode hence the black & white result.

I'm assuming you have connected everything the right way (composite cable if you got a normal vcr or s-video cable if s-vhs player with the s-vhs mode enabled in the vcr indeed->otherwise:b&w picture)

So like i said try Dscaler(the 4.1.12.0 version, might be a little hard to find by now) message me and ill provide you a link if you can't find it.

The only problem is that although this software is superb(provide a clear picture) it's not designed to record videos the best way(not as good as virtualvcr that's for sure).

So you will have to use it to solve the problem then coming back to virtual vcr which is THE tool to record (especially vhs sources )

You couldn't do that with virtualvcr (forcing to the pal60 mode) because it's all automatic , can't do nothing ..know what i mean.


If that doesn't work your card may probably not support the pal60 hertz and you can go back to your local store buy a new card.

In DScaller program i have same result (black and white video) and in DScaller settings i have Video Standart input = "none" (screen - https://ibb.co/ChhBzYM)

[themaster1]

Apparently easycap can work with PAL60 with VirtualDUB (and Windows XP), i suspect it's the same for Dscaler (Win Xp only), probably a driver issue. Microsoft changed it's policy somewhere around Win7 launch. So you can't use native proc amps (brightness, contrast,hue) on your card, let alone PAL60 / video standard tweaks...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq-l8LtXKpI

[Alextopchikchik]

Apparently easycap can work with PAL60 with VirtualDUB (and Windows XP), i suspect it's the same for Dscaler (Win Xp only), probably a driver issue. Microsoft changed it's policy somewhere around Win7 launch. So you can't use native proc amps (brightness, contrast,hue) on your card, let alone PAL60 / video standard tweaks...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq-l8LtXKpI

Thank you very much for answer! So it's looks on windows 10 i can't use my easyCAP for capture videos from VHS?

VirtualDUB in "Capture Filter" tab does not display sstandart (PAL, NTSC) switching properties - (screen: https://ibb.co/y4tsY15)

If I use the Windows XP operating system, will I definitely be able to capture a color image without interference? What if I use a virtual machine with windows XP, will it be possible to record video through a virtual machine that will have windows XP installed and easyCAP connected?

[themaster1]

It's limited on Win 7/8/9/10, not all fonctions are available. I wouldn't use a VM

[oln]

There is an original and a bunch of clones that have been sold with the easyCAP name with wildly different hardware and drivers so can't know if what works on one will work on a different one unless you know it's actually the same device.

I know in some cases (not specifically easyCAPs) it can work better to change tv system in the bundled capture app rather than virtualdub.