General Enquirey - Pinnacle Video Transfer USB 2.0 Capture Device

[kato2010]

Hello
I would like to make a enquirey on the following item, If anyone could please just let me know if I purchase this item I have about 20 NTSC VHS tapes which are quite hard to copy on to DVD due to copy protected. I have tried everything but failed. Will this item transfer the copy protected VHS tapes & DVDs onto PC ? I will be very grateful if you could please give me a reply.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-Q0J0o7HhRc

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Avid-Pinnacle-Video-Transfer-USB-No-PC-required-/28082025951...item4162311ab8

Thanks

Kato

[usually_quiet]

VHS tapes can have real Macrovision copy protection or random noise that is falsely interpreted as Macrovision by recording devices. Either will cause most DVD recorders and most PC capture devices to stop recording. A video stabilizer like the Dimax Grex can clean up the signal and allow recording of problem tapes.

However, you have a bigger problem. PAL VHS players that play NTSC tapes usually don't produce a true NTSC signal or a true PAL signal during playback. They produce a hybrid called "PAL 60", which most PAL TVs can display, but which cannot be recorded by a DVD recorder. Most PC capture devices won't accept a PAL60 signal either. The EzCap 116 and EzCap 170 are the only current PC capture devices I know of that can reputedly accept a PAL60 signal. However I don't know what settings to use with the software provided for the two EzCAP devices to capture PAL60 video and audio, because PAL60 uses PAL color but NTSC framerate and resolution.

The Pinnacle Video Transfer device may not be sensitive to Macrovision but likely will not help you record your tapes. The technical specs don't say it can record a PAL60 signal. Also, it encodes video to MPEG-4 format, which is not DVD compatible, and would have to be converted to DVD-compatible MPEG 2 before burning onto a DVD.

[kato2010]

Sorry for the delay

To : Usally_quiet, thank you very much for your information and help.

cheers