Capturing PAL Video8 to NTSC VHS

[TrackingError]

Hello,

I have an old Sony CCD-V100E camcorder that was purchased in Europe circa 1986. It works well, other than a questionable battery situation which is easily resolvable.

The biggest obstacle to its functionality is the fact that all of my A/V equipment was purchased in America (an NTSC zone). Since the camcorder is European (PAL), it has not been proving easy to capture the Video8 tapes to VHS.

Is there any DIY method for converting between NTSC and PAL sans computer? I know that I could just capture the tapes to my computer using Kino or something similar, and then author the digital files to a DVD and output the DVD to VHS tape, but I am hoping to do something equivalent to this without the aid of any digital tools. There must have been a way to convert between various video standards before computers were in wide use; what was that method?

Thank you,

T.E. (Lawrence) | sequoia.base-v.ch/

[jagabo]

Any format converter will work internally in digital form, even if the device only has analog inputs and outputs.

[2Bdecided]

There must have been a way to convert between various video standards before computers were in wide use; what was that method?

http://www.110220volts.com/SV-4000.html
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SV-5000W-Worldwide-VHS-Format/dp/B00004TEUK

Or professional converters.

The comparatively simple circuits that were found in those high-end domestic VCRs are still available in stand-alone units. e.g. first hit in google for NTSC PAL converter...
http://www.world-import.com/samar.htm

With skill, you can get a much better quality result using a PC - but if you're outputting to VHS, the quality doesn't matter quite so much.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
David.

[jagabo]

The Samsung converting VCRs are digital devices. They convert the incoming analog signal to digital form, scale the frame size, convert the frame rate, then convert the new digital frame back to analog. I have an SV5000. Yes, it can convert from PAL to NTSC or vice versa. But at it's core it's a pretty crappy VCR.

[2Bdecided]

It wasn't a recommendation My recommendation would be AVIsynth!

[jman98]

It wasn't a recommendation My recommendation would be AVIsynth!

TrackingError hasn't logged in since July 16, so you're just talking to a brick wall here. Looks like he read jagabo's first post and left.

[TrackingError]

It wasn't a recommendation My recommendation would be AVIsynth!

TrackingError hasn't logged in since July 16, so you're just talking to a brick wall here. Looks like he read jagabo's first post and left.

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Thanks for the recommendations, all. Duly noted.