Sony EV-S9000E not capturing NTSC

[dogbait]

Just picked up one of these from ebay. Works fine with PAL tapes. I was under the impression that the pro sony decks could play NTSC as well (an undocumented feature). Am I wrong about this unit being NTSC capable? Are there any European Hi8 decks made by Sony which are able to play NTSC?

[danno78]

I don`t know, but your deck is the best consumer PAL Hi8 VCR. So if the best model can`t is unlikely that a cheaper one (Sony EV-S1000E, EV-C2000E) will do. On the other hand Pal Hi8 camcorders and Pal Digital8 camcorders with Hi8/8mm analogue playback will play NTSC tapes. The analogue ouput for PAL camcorders is not true NTSC, is PAL60 or NTSC M. Digital8 camcorders can convert analogue tapes in digital form (DV signal) over firewire. Keep in mind that not all Digital8 camcorders will play Video8/Hi8 tapes.
So your options are: PAL camcorders and a capture card/DVD recorders (only Pioneer models) with PAL60 support or NTSC playback device (camcorders and VCR deck - Sony ES EV-S3000).

[edDV]

I think you are confusing Hi8 EV decks with DV format EV decks.

Compounding this was the UK tax on recording that caused Sony to issue lobotomy firmware to UK products to make said products salable in the UK. They probably added hardware "features" to prevent firmware updates.

I suggest you query your local MP for tech support.

[dogbait]

Compounding this was the UK tax on recording that caused Sony to issue lobotomy firmware to UK products to make said products salable in the UK. They probably added hardware "features" to prevent firmware updates.

Excellent. Government as usual looking out for our best interests

It's a real pity it can only play PAL. It's a beautifully made deck, but alas no amount of prodding and poking can get it to play NTSC tapes.

I'm not sure whether Sony are really hobbled by red tape or whether they intentionally cripple their devices depending upon the region so that pro studios buy two. Even the professional EVO- range come in PAL and NTSC variants too rather than an all in one. Quite ridiculous...

Anyways, rather than pay $100 odd for shipping an EV-S9000 from the US I've bought a Sony DCR-TRV720 Digital 8 camcorder. Hopefully that will let me digitize my Hi8 NTSC tapes...*touch wood*

Thanks for the replies guys. Now I just need to find out if its better to connect the Sony TRV720 directly to my PC or connect its analogue outs to my Datavideo DAC-100 DV capture device...life's never easy...

[edDV]

Compounding this was the UK tax on recording that caused Sony to issue lobotomy firmware to UK products to make said products salable in the UK. They probably added hardware "features" to prevent firmware updates.

Excellent. Government as usual looking out for our best interests
It's a real pity it can only play PAL. It's a beautifully made deck, but alas no amount of prodding and poking can get it to play NTSC tapes.

I'm not sure whether Sony are really hobbled by red tape or whether they intentionally cripple their devices depending upon the region so that pro studios buy two. Even the professional EVO- range come in PAL and NTSC variants too rather than an all in one. Quite ridiculous...

Is I recall (this was the 90's) Sony EVO Hi8 series were single standard. The record tax came later and was targeted at digital recording but it may have affected later model Hi8. Some if not all DV digital EVO series here have NTSC/PAL mode switches.

Anyways, rather than pay $100 odd for shipping an EV-S9000 from the US I've bought a Sony DCR-TRV720 Digital 8 camcorder. Hopefully that will let me digitize my Hi8 NTSC tapes...*touch wood*

Thanks for the replies guys. Now I just need to find out if its better to connect the Sony TRV720 directly to my PC or connect its analogue outs to my Datavideo DAC-100 DV capture device...life's never easy...

The US model TRV720 will play NTSC Hi8 tapes at 1x speed but won't have picture in shuttle. This wouldn't change feeding the analog outputs to a DAC-100. An analog Hi8 camcorder would show picture in shuttle.

[dogbait]

The US model TRV720 will play NTSC Hi8 tapes at 1x speed but won't have picture in shuttle. This wouldn't change feeding the analog outputs to a DAC-100. An analog Hi8 camcorder would show picture in shuttle.

By 'picture in shuttle' is that where the camera is able to display video whilst its being shuttled back and forth?

Thanks so much for all the info - Finally would you recommend using the DV out on the TRV720 to capture video straight to the computer or using its analog outputs going into the DAC-100 instead?

[edDV]

The US model TRV720 will play NTSC Hi8 tapes at 1x speed but won't have picture in shuttle. This wouldn't change feeding the analog outputs to a DAC-100. An analog Hi8 camcorder would show picture in shuttle.

By 'picture in shuttle' is that where the camera is able to display video whilst its being shuttled back and forth?

Thanks so much for all the info - Finally would you recommend using the DV out on the TRV720 to capture video straight to the computer or using its analog outputs going into the DAC-100 instead?

Yes picture in shuttle means you get a picture while searching the tape.

Digital DV transfer is probably better. If you don't like it, try analog to DAC-100 and compare.

[sphinx99]

For me, a TRV820 over DV consistently outperformed an EV-S7000 on NTSC Hi8 and Video8 material. I'm glad I had the deck because it tracked a few older Video8 decks better than the camcorder. But the camcorder consistently gave me a better quality product, and since capturing I've found myself surprisingly grateful for the DV output which is far more workable across different platforms.

[dogbait]

Thanks sphinx99, that's good to know. I was concerned that the camcorder might give inferior results to the dedicated Hi8 decks. Now to compare and contrast the DAC-100 vs the DV out on the camcorder.

Any program recommendations for the Mac for capturing DV output (and perhaps performing software NR). I was going to pickup a copy of Final Cut Express for the purpose or is there something better?

[sphinx99]

I can't help as much there since I'm more of a capture guy than a edit-and-process guy. I do have a iMac with fully licensed and wallet-depleting FCP that I am learning on with DV files. It imports the DV files without problem and is able to capture directly from DV sources as well. But, because the majority of my material was captured Lagarith or HuffYUV on a PC, I'm finding it to be a pain in the neck to get it over to the Mac to play with. This is one reason I'm finding myself grateful for having done most of the Hi8 stuff with the camcorder.

[edDV]

...
Any program recommendations for the Mac for capturing DV output (and perhaps performing software NR). I was going to pickup a copy of Final Cut Express for the purpose or is there something better?

None that do noise reduction while capturing. iMovie and FCE can capture DV format to a *.dv file. DV capture is a simple DV stream to file process. There is no processing other than a decode for monitoring purpose.