Questions on converting Beta tapes to DVD and quality

[rbatty11]

Hoping you can help with what I think are two simple questions:

1. Can anyone with 1st hand experience tell me how much 'better' beta video/audio quality is over VHS (if any)??

2. A friend gave me a few Beta tapes to convert to DVD. It is as simple as hooking up audio/video outs from Beta player to a/v ins of DVD recorder, correct? I did do a search and I'm pretty sure this will do it.

3. Is Beta audio and video mpeg2 and ac3 (same as VHS)?

I appreciate any help.... thanks.

[mikel]

I have converted about 50 beta tapes to DVD.
Most are unavailable TV shows.
It will all depend on the quality of the tapes.
I have some beta tapes that are noticeably better than VHS.
How they were stored will be a factor...temperature, moisture...etc.
If the recording was at fast speed. (BII as I recall), and the oxide has not flaked off,
decent and sometimes "very good" transfers can be made.

ps. make sure you have a head cleaning "tape" handy....just in case the heads clog.
FF & rewind the tapes first to "exercise" them .

Video & audio out on the beta will connect to video & audio in on the recorder.
Be aware that some of the earlier beta machines used mini plugs for the audio.
(the early mono units)

Good luck.

[filmboss80]

To answer your third question, Betamax and VHS are both analog formats. Neither are mpeg2 or ac3 in their native form. But that doesn't matter, since the DVD recorder will automatically take the input footage and turn it into mpeg-2 video and ac3 audio, all wrapped up in VOB files. Just make sure you have a good bitrate for your recording. And like mikel said, Beta was always superior to VHS in terms of picture quality. The format lost out to VHS due to pricing, marketing, and licensing issues.

[rbatty11]

Many thanks for your help. I have regular VHS and SVHS head cleaning tapes but not Beta head cleaning tapes. Are they even sold anymore? Also, any ff/rewind machines for Beta? Links? Hoping this goes smoothly without problems. Again, thanks for the info.

[RWANDREWS]

You will not find head cleaners or rewind machines for BETA through ordinary sources anymore, but EBay usually has several at any one time. Check Consumer Electronics>VCR>Beta

Bob

[Seeker47]

I have some beta tapes that are noticeably better than VHS.
How they were stored will be a factor...temperature, moisture...etc.
If the recording was at fast speed. (BII as I recall), and the oxide has not flaked off,
decent and sometimes "very good" transfers can be made.

And B1s was superior to any SVHS I ever saw. Only a few of the Beta deck models could record it, but more of them could play it back. I think some of the commercial film releases on Beta may have been in B1 format.

ps. make sure you have a head cleaning "tape" handy....just in case the heads clog.
FF & rewind the tapes first to "exercise" them .
Video & audio out on the beta will connect to video & audio in on the recorder.

Another issue I ran into was video sync problems: the digital xfer would have sudden "jump cuts" or speed changes, which I'm pretty sure were not due to oxide loss, tape stretch, or a deck playback problem. I say this with some confidence, because inserting a TBC-1000 between the Beta deck and the Pioneer DVDR cured this, either totally or (with some worst case tapes) to what I'd consider a 97% improvement. If it was one of the other problems, I very much doubt the TBC would have made that kind of improvement.

[Side benefit: there were plenty of film titles that came out on Beta (as others did later on LD) which to this day have not been available on DVD. If you needed to xfer one of these, a device like the TBC-1000 should also take care of your MV-related copy problems.]

[Scooter_NJ]

http://www.tapeandmedia.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=BCT-5CLN

Google is yer pal!

[rbatty11]

Thanks for the responses/link. All of this helps very much!