VideoHelp Forum
+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 12 of 12
Thread
  1. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Search Comp PM
    I thought I would write a little on this VCR range as I think it merits the effort and it may help someone.

    These VCR's were the 2000-2002 PAL range. Trying to list the whole range is like trying to untangle a web but as I recall.

    NV-HD610 - Base model Hi-Fi deck.
    NV-HD710 - Mid range Hi-Fi deck with adjustable picture, recording level set and audio dub. Adds front AV inputs.
    NV-HD760 - Top range Hi-Fi deck with adjustable picture, recording level set and audio dub. Adds front AV inputs, edit control and front jog and shuttle.
    NV-HS860 - S-VHS with 3-D noise reduction and TBC (independent).
    NV-HS960 - S-VHS with 3-D noise reduction and TBC (independent). Adds front jog and shuttle, anamorphic heads and edit control.

    I have all these VCR's and my findings are as follows.

    HD-610 is decent, but no picture set - locked on auto. Skip this model.
    HD-710 is a good home cinema VCR with all the features needed and makes for a good source deck if you have clean tapes. There were plenty sold and from eBay I got one for £20 that was as new - could have been new. Output signal is clean but some video ringing visible under close scrutiny. Also a tad dark.
    HD-760 is almost exactly as the 710 but with a jog and shuttle. I have this VCR and this, along with the 710 play closed captioned tapes without an external decoder. Output as 710.
    HS-860 is an S-VHS deck. Now, in my opinion this is a bypassed jem. I have scrutinised the output, compared and contrasted with other VCR's on the same monitor and I am left with the impression that something special is going on in there. With my known test tape I get NO sharpening halos. Now, this is easy to do by reducing sharpness, but the 860 manages without losing any sharpness. I don't know how, but the engineers have managed - no mean feat. Also it has (presumably line) TBC and a very effective 3-D noise reduction system. The output is bright and solid - detail is better on VHS than the other VHS decks in the range as there is almost no video ringing and shaped areas of solid colour are distinct, without bleed or smear. I have not seen a signal so clean come from any other VCR - even my studio JVC's.
    Compare to the 760, the 860 is like night and day so there is a completely different video process going on. WELL worth seeking out. I have two. One has its heads scrubbed by a previous owners' dilligent and regular use of an abrasive tape and the other is almost as new. Both give good signals (almost identical) but the worn example does have slight patterning in areas or solid colour (possibly due to marginal heads).
    HS-960 is as the 860 but adds jog and shuttle along with amorphous heads. Now, I have had one of these and even one that showed signs of low use gave symptoms of worn video heads (comet tails) so I wonder if the heads were hard enough. The amorphous heads in the HS800/HS1000 range are tough, but those machines were very expensive so something had to give with the reduced price of the 960. Something to be aware of at least.

    Now, with any of these, I strongly suggest giving the heads a good manual clean and then removing the auto-head cleaning roller. This doobry wears the heads/drum as I can attest.

    For me, the HS860 is the pick of the range. You have to see it compare to other makes, models and even other Panasonic VCR's to see it shine as the star it is. Models that came after (630, 730, 830 S-VHS and 930 S-VHS) are very similar but they have the PSU integrated onto the main board and also solid shaped colours (like a red rectangle on a grey background) have more bleed along with more video ringing on sharp but subtle contrast variations. The 830/930 will, in certain conditions, show ringing after echoes whereas the 860 shows almost none. The 610, 710 and 760 do however have echoes so it is not just that the whole range is better.

    830 adds 3-D noise reduction and 930 also adds TBC to along with 3-D. Saying that, although the 860 is notably better on awkward scenes than the later range, when using my 930 it does give a nice signal.

    Hope these ramblings may help when selecting a PAL VCR.
    Last edited by Quasipal; 29th Oct 2010 at 16:01.
    Quote Quote  
  2. Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    UK
    Search PM
    Originally Posted by Quasipal View Post
    HS-960 is as the 860 but adds jog and shuttle along with anamorphic heads. Now, I have had one of these and even one that showed signs of low use gave symptoms of worn video heads (comet tails) so I wonder if the heads were hard enough. The anamorphic heads in the HS800/HS1000 range are tough, but those machines were very expensive so something had to give with the reduced price of the 960. Something to be aware of at least.
    I have a 960 with the amorphous (not anamorphic!) heads. No comet tails. Very stable image, even with the TBC off. High level of detail but can look a bit grainy without the "3D DNR" switched on - which is odd, as I thought a selling point of amorphous heads over ferrite was that they reduced noise. I usually capture "raw" and do the noise reduction later with software, with good results. I prefer it to my JVC S-VHS decks, but rank it below the Sony 5800P I have.
    Quote Quote  
  3. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Search Comp PM
    Thank you for the correction, I got my terminology muddled!
    Quote Quote  
  4. Originally Posted by Lodovico View Post

    I have a 960 ...
    I usually capture "raw" and do the noise reduction later with software, with good results ...
    I`ll purchase a 960 and wanna know what capture card and software is the best tool in order to do that ...
    Is needed a TBC card or does any other capture card has a proprietary system resemblance function with TBC?
    Quote Quote  
  5. Originally Posted by atanatizante View Post
    Originally Posted by Lodovico View Post

    I have a 960 ...
    I usually capture "raw" and do the noise reduction later with software, with good results ...
    I`ll purchase a 960 and wanna know what capture card and software is the best tool in order to do that ...
    Is needed a TBC card or does any other capture card has a proprietary system resemblance function with TBC?
    The 960 has a 'line' TBC already. You may need a separate 'full-frame' TBC if any of your tapes are retail with macrovision, or of poor quality resulting in dropped frames. If you have lots of tapes to capture and convert, you'd best get one.

    Read here about the difference and the jobs they do:

    http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-restore/2251-tbc-time-base.html

    And thanks for digging up that old thread. It confirms some of what I've noticed about my own NV-HS860. I use an ADVC-300 to capture DV-AVI. If by 'raw' he means 'lossless', then you'll need a capture card to do that and maybe someone else can suggest one for you.
    Quote Quote  
  6. Originally Posted by manono View Post

    ...

    And thanks for digging up that old thread ... .

    No Manono, I thank you ...
    Quote Quote  
  7. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    dFAQ.us/lordsmurf
    Search Comp PM
    The ADVC-300 "cooks" the video.
    It's really not an ideal card -- even the ADVC-100/110 is better. Go figure.
    Best is the ATI AIW or ATI 600.
    Want my help? Ask here! (not via PM!)
    FAQs: Best Blank DiscsBest TBCsBest VCRs for captureRestore VHS
    Quote Quote  
  8. Originally Posted by lordsmurf View Post
    The ADVC-300 "cooks" the video.
    I'm not sure what you mean by 'cook'. I realize it may not be ideal, but it suits my purposes. I use very little of the filtering it has available. But thanks for recommending good cards to atanatizante.
    Quote Quote  
  9. Does anybody know which Avermedia card has this chipset from Analog Devices ADV7840 : http://www.analog.com/static/imported-files/data_sheets/ADV7840.pdf
    I also wanna know if anyone has experience with it ...
    Quote Quote  
  10. Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Hungary
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by atanatizante View Post
    Does anybody know which Avermedia card has this chipset from Analog Devices ADV7840 : http://www.analog.com/static/imported-files/data_sheets/ADV7840.pdf
    I also wanna know if anyone has experience with it ...
    No capture card with this chipset, only eval board from analog devices.
    Quote Quote  
  11. Member PuzZLeR's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Toronto Canada
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by atanatizante
    Is needed a TBC card or does any other capture card has a proprietary system resemblance function with TBC?
    I'm personally not a very big fan of internal VCR TBCs - line based ones sometimes overcompensate or blur, or jitter more, and field-based ones tend to output wrong field orders in some cases. But more-so, I believe many TBCs from a capture device (DVR, capture card, USB, DV-Box, etc) that "may" have one, or claim "they have one" is likely over-rated.

    This is a debate in itself and only opinion based on personal experience and depends on tape source.

    But my point is that you will still need an external full-frame TBC in the chain if, as was mentioned, you have a variety of tapes because it's more than likely that a few or more will throw your capture device off and it will drop frames. An internal TBC will not help much here, pretty much only this external TBC can correct alot of that, including other corrupt/harsh/abrupt VHS signals and MV and "false positives". This type of TBC is quite a different animal.

    (I'm referring to, for example, an AVT-8710, but I hear there are DVR pass-throughs for this of which my info is limited.)

    As for best capture cards, yes, the ATI AIW cards/or 600 card/USB devices mentioned are wonderful, and great for VHS caps, but check if they're an issue with PAL ahead. Not sure on this end.

    If however, you seek a device still in production today, with support today, and works on modern systems, and can do NTSC/PAL without issue, you can look into the ezcap.tv. (And I mean the REAL one on that web site, NOT any fake.)

    I may get in trouble for saying this, but the ezcap.tv (again, the REAL one) has very comparable quality to the ATI 600 USB. It has similar architecture under the hood AFAIK. It's surprisingly very good.
    I hate VHS. I always did.
    Quote Quote  
  12. Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Location
    United Kingdom Derby
    Search Comp PM
    Does anyone know if the Panasonic NV-HS860 was sold in the USA in an NTSC form. If so what was the model number?

    If it wasn't sold in America does anyone know what the equivalent or comparable American Panasonic VHS player would be?
    Quote Quote  



Similar Threads

Visit our sponsor! Try DVDFab and backup Blu-rays!