Best VHS playback source--original deck or other

[Cingular]

I have read though the forums quite a bit and there is one issue I am unclear.

I have a series of VHS tapes that were recorded on a Panasonic PK-958 video camera / PV-8000 recorder and a PV-A850 Programmable tuner.

This is the old camcorder that you carry around a compact VCR recording portion on your waist along with a shoulder mounted PK-958 camera.

Unfortunately the PV-8000 deck that these tapes were recorded on was damaged. Is it better to hunt down a PV-8000 deck/tuner to playback these tapes for digital conversion?

I have read that for VHS it is better to use the original source deck rather than a high end TBC type deck? Is this correct?

Will this PV-8000 work better than a JVC HR-S9xxxx series deck/Panasonic AG-1980/Mitsubishi D-VHS series deck for playback/digital conversion?

The PV-8000 is RCA video out, no S-video.


Thanks for your help

[orsetto]

I don't remember the specifics of your setup. Was this the very small portable VCR that could be separated from the tuner/timer/AC power module? The one that used normal full-size VHS tapes? If so, I'd recommend going with a Panasonic AG-1980 as the playback source for making DVD transfers. Those old miniature VCRs have nearly all broken down by now and aren't repairable at reasonable cost. To some degree, using the original VCR is preferable for transfers, but this isn't a hard-and-fast rule. The Panasonic AG-1980 was a professional-grade VCR that sold for $1600 when new, it had circuit refinements undreamed of when your mini-corder was made, and full-size ultra-rugged mechanicals. The AG-1980 has various adjustable options to improve or change the look of your tapes and is well worth the investment, especially right now. The combination of a dead economy and slowing interest in VCRs has dropped the average selling price of a good used AG1980 thru the floor in recent months: in the last few weeks I've picked up four AG-1980s from eBay at an average price of $90 delivered. A year ago they were $250, two years ago they were $500: you will never find a better price/performance deal on a high-end VCR than current AG1980 listings.

The trick with an AG-1980 purchase is to not be swayed by the appearance: most were installed in professional racks and look like hell, with scratches and mars and sometimes inventory numbers written on the case in spray paint or chalk. This doesn't affect the operation at all: just make sure the seller offers a return guarantee, and that they specifically mention testing for good playback, FF, REW, and eject. If a seller mentions any issues like tape loading or poor playback, avoid that unit. If you're willing to gamble, and see a 1980 listed as "won't eject/all else OK", and the price is very low (under $50), you could get lucky with a real bargain. Many 1980s were installed using rack mount trays, these trays used longer screws than the original cabinet screws. When removed from the rack, most sellers keep the rack but leave the four rack screws in the VCR cabinet. Without the rack, these screws drive too deeply into the cabinet, this is fine except on the front left side where a rack mount screw will interfere with the eject function: if that one screw is loosened slightly or removed, the eject "problem" disappears, and you have a perfectly-functioning VCR on the cheap!

Its helpful if the seller mentions "bright display", but a dim display should not be a dealbreaker (the front panel display on these uses a weak power regulator that burns out quickly, seven of ten AG1980s have dim displays). The only thing of value on the display is the tape counter, which can still be read even on dead displays by looking closely. The AG1980 has no on-screen menus, all functions are available on the front panel. Most used 1980s are missing the remote, but it was a very spartan one that only controlled the tape movement so any old Panasonic remote or universal remote you might have on hand will work just as well.

Since you know for sure your tapes were made on a Panasonic, the 1980 should be a better match as a source deck than a JVC. The JVC offers a different "look" and abilities that can be preferable in some cases, and those of us with many different tapes from many different VCRs find it useful to own both a 1980 and a similar JVC. But in your specific situation, you can probably get away with just the 1980, and the 1980 tends to do better with "camcorder" material anyway. The Panasonic is also cheaper, because more of them survived in good working condition and the supply is better. You have to shop more carefully to be sure you get a good JVC, and good working JVCs command premium prices. Worth it if you know why you need one, and understand how to select a good unit, otherwise the AG1980 is a better initial bet for most casual users.

[Cingular]

"Was this the very small portable VCR that could be separated from the tuner/timer/AC power module? The one that used normal full-size VHS tapes?"

Yes, this is the silver smallish "portable" VCR that had a separate tuner, the eject operation was located on the top of the unit rather than inserting the cassette into the front side of the unit accepting full size VHS tapes. This VCR always worked well, and served as a stand alone VCR for other purposes as well.


I did find a mint condition AG-1980P that seems to work rather well, apparently manufactured January 2001, along with a second AG-1980 that appears to be made around 1999? that is mint condition as well. Both were priced quite reasonably and do not have dim displays.

I have also found an AG-1960 that is a one owner and looks taken care of but the picture quality was awful. I called around to Panasonic and found a video repair service in IL that told me the capacitors were dried out, otherwise they said the unit was in excellent condition. The shop's repair was as follows: "Replace 35 dried capacitors on chroma and SEQ circuit boards,
thoroughly clean tape path components, video cylinder and align
according to specifications."

I have not received the unit back for testing yet. My thoughts were that a AG-1960/AG-1970 would track better with problem tapes? Is the AG-1970 a vast improvement over the AG-1970? How reliable is a repaired AG-1960?

These tapes recorded with this Panasonic PK-958 were recorded mostly in SP mode but some are SLP or LP.


Here is a link to a photo of this VCR/Tuner/Recorder :

http://www.recycledgoods.com/33830_Panasonic_PK-958_Newvicon%20Omnipro%20Color%20Video...der%20and.html

[orsetto]

With Panasonic industrial/semipro VCRs, the newer the better. The first AG1950 is an enormous tank, very good in its day but most would be considered only average in performance today. The AG1960 was a very odd experimental model, with low-profile chassis and direct drive for everything. Mechanically impressive but as you've seen its electronics do not age well. The 1950 and 1960 do not have TBC or noise reduction features, they were essentially just ruggedized versions of consumer flying-erase-head editing models. The redesigned AG1970 has a decent TBC and so-so noise reduction, with certain tapes it can provide a fantastically clear image and its TBC fixes some tapes that the later AG1980 and the JVCs can't handle. Overall, though, the 1970 is now more of a "niche" model thats optimized for a very limited number of circumstances. The most useful all-around Panasonic for tape-DVD transfers is the AG1980, because the 1980 has the best TBC ever built into a VCR and its luminance/chroma noise reduction is extremely effective. The 1970 was very successful, so the 1980 shares its basic chassis, front panel and cabinet. The 1980 has the much-improved video electronics but in other ways is inferior to the 1970, which has a much better transport and power supply. This is splitting hairs, however, and meaningless to current VHS-DVD dubbing interests. Today, the 1980 is a much better choice than the 1970 for playback of most tapes, although if you find a 1970 cheap enough its very nice to have as backup to a 1980. Both track tapes equally well, but the weaker TBC in the 1970 is sometimes critically useful and the 1970 has a much greater range of adjustment in its picture controls. If the source tape is very good to begin with, the 1970 can arguably extract more useful picture detail than the 1980, because the 1980 goes a little too far with its noise reduction sometimes, causing a "cartoonish" effect.

Still, the overzealous DNR in the 1980 does the best overall cleanup, allowing the encoder in your DVD card or recorder to concentrate on the image instead of tape noise. This would be especially apparent with your PV-8000 tapes: the PV-8000 had only two narrow video heads which were optimized for SLP recording. These narrow heads lay down SP tracks that play well on other two-head VCRs but poorly on later 4-head VCRs. The powerful noise reduction circuit in the AG1980 will go very far to compensate this and clean the signals. Its possible you might get better output by hunting down an old two-head VCR, because the track widths would match perfectly, but odds are the 1980 will still show better color and less noise.

[Cingular]

I read about the High end JVC deck JVC SR-W5U and SR-W7U, they are listed on the VCR buying guide. I hear that these $5000 decks are rare but will scrape every last ounce of picture quality off of a tape. Reportedly these VCR's make everything look better. I suppose they are unusual enough that not many people have tried them.

[orsetto]

They are so ridiculously uncommon that they barely register on the radar as a plausible option. Their performance is very high, but so is the risk of overpaying for a rare, damaged or broken unit that JVC itself has absolutely no clue how to repair. These were sold as vanity objects to the filthy rich in Japan: not many were imported to the USA, those that were are often of questionable provenance. If you can find one, and have approx $500 available to roll the dice, they are indeed superb units. But they are hardly necessary to get maximum value from tapes made on a PV-8000. There are limits to what even a JVC WVHS can accomplish, and scraping non-existent "extra detail" from SP tapes recorded on a two-head VCR is one of those things. An early-80s two-head deck like the PV-8000 leaves 60% of the available tape surface blank at the SP speed, since the two-head design records very narrow SP tracks. Good as they are, the JVC SR-W5U- SR-W7U cannot retrieve any additional details or quality from blank areas of the video tracks. (They can do wonders with tapes recorded on four-head machines.)