Going to start digitizing U-matic archive

[MiguelFranco]

Hi guys,

I'm new in the forum, this is my first post.

I'm going to have to digitize a U-matic archive with SP, Hi and Lo-band tapes and I started making a material list.

I've done a lot of research but am having some questions unanswered. So, I found out that Hi and Lo band VTRs are incompatible, however I found nothing about SP. Could I play back all the tapes if I had an SP VTR?

Also, is there anyone that has/know someone that has a U-matic VTR for sale (preferably in South Africa, since I'm from Mozambique)?

Last question: I have a Blackmagic Intensity Extreme, but it doesn't have composite input (and U-matic only outputs in composite). So I was looking at the Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle and the MATROX MXO2 Max (thunderbolt version). My question is: would i gain anything with the Shuttle (other than composite in) that I don't already have in the Extreme? At least the MXO2 has h264 encoding, but is it worth the higher price?

Thanks in advance!

[jman98]

We only have a small number of members here who know anything about U-matic. I hope one of them answers your questions, but if nobody does, try contacting our members lordsmurf or edDV.

I am not familiar with your Blackmagic Intensity Extreme, but it seems that it may accept component input. Can you use a composite to component converter like this?
http://www.ambery.com/costorgrgbco.html
That is the one I use with Hauppauge Colossus card and I have been happy with it.

[Cornucopia]

Not sure what you mean about "Hi" and "Lo" band. Here in the US (at least as far as I know), you only had Standard U-matic and U-matic SP. SP Players could play both, SP tapes had more info that standard players could NOT handle. So it makes sense to get an SP player (or recorder/player if that's all that's available). There were various models & tiers, most of them having to do with ruggedness for constant use (lower models would have plastic parts and give out sooner, higher would be metal and last much longer).

All the SP players I used (~15 diff. models) always had a U-matic Y/C connector, in addition to Composite. Y/C is equivalent to S-video (in fact, you could often get a simple Y/C to S-video adapter cable). That ought to be a better signal output than just the composite. Is it worth it? Hard to say - U-matic is only slightly better IMO than VHS (mainly better generational handling).

Scott

[sanlyn]

[QUOTE=Cornucopia;2202617](in fact, you could often get a simple Y/C to S-video adapter cable). That ought to be a better signal output than just the composite. /QUOTE]
Passive y/c adapters will be worse. Much worse.

[Cornucopia]

Maybe you don't understand what I'm referring to: The adapter just changes the pinout from the Y/C (round screw-on connector) to mini-din S-video connector, as well as shift the frequency of the C-channel's color subcarrier (from 6.88 MHz to 3.58 MHz), and remove a little of the pre-emphasis.
OK, I guess it's not THAT simple of a connector. And no, it's not passive. Could be passive if you just wanted the luma or if your deck/card combo has switches to accept/output either 6.88 or 3.58 (some did).

Scott

[MiguelFranco]

Thanks for your replies.

The Lo and Hi-bands are different types of U-matic (see here). I already found what I need. There are a few models that are compatible with the tapes I have, namely the BVU-950.

I'll try and see if I can use the Intensity Extreme, because an user in another forum told me that it can capture composite through a software tweak.

[sanlyn]

Maybe you don't understand what I'm referring to: The adapter just changes the pinout from the Y/C (round screw-on connector) to mini-din S-video connector, as well as shift the frequency of the C-channel's color subcarrier (from 6.88 MHz to 3.58 MHz), and remove a little of the pre-emphasis.
OK, I guess it's not THAT simple of a connector. And no, it's not passive. Could be passive if you just wanted the luma or if your deck/card combo has switches to accept/output either 6.88 or 3.58 (some did).

Scott

Oh. As the lady used to say on SNL: nevvver mind.