Signal stabilization hardware? TBC? Am I on the right track?

[GMFTatsujin]

Hey guys and gals,

I've got a ton of old VHS tapes I want to convert over to VCD (saves space, media doesn't degrade as quickly, all kinds of reasons).

Capturing them on my ASUS GeForce MX is no problem for the most part, except that on some of the tapes the signal is so degraded that I get lots of sync errors - horizontal, vertical, color bleed, you name it. My card refuses to capture the frames that are worst affected, although they appear clean on the TV. Admittedly, it's not a pro-grade card (I got it for the nice 3D gaming - the TV-in was bonus, but it's servicable).

The noise and hiss I can digitally clean up once I've got it captured, but just getting them properly caputured is impossible.

None of the tapes are Macromedia encoded. They're all off the TV or from my own movie production with a camcorder.

So, three questions:

First, am I right in thinking that I need a timebase corrector? As I understand it, these things regenerate drifting sync signals to get all the pixel information lined up correctly in the stream. Am I on the right track here?

Second: Does anyone have any recommendations as to which TBC I should buy? I'm not looking for a pro-grade rack module or anything, just a little box that will straighten things out on the way to the computer. I've seen some in the $200-$500 range, but I'm wary. Past that, they jump into the thousands of dollars, and look like they require a pilot's license to operate. I'm not even instrument rated on my bicycle.

Finally, I'm in the USA with that abominable Digital Millenium Copyright Act. From my own research I've figured that Macromedia works by shifting the sync signals around. A TBC setup would potentially circumvent this, which would make such a device illegal under that law. Are there devices available that will do the stabalization I need without me having to smuggle it through customs?

Thanks heaps,
GMFTatsujin

[GMFTatsujin]

For anyone who has experience with this kind of thing, I'm looking at the following:

Datavideo TBC-100 (A PCI card that perform Timebase correction, then passes the signal off to another output - I think...)

There's also the Datavideo TBC-1000 Distribution Amp - a box with one input to 4 outputs (overkill for my needs, but hey)

Has anybody looked at these things? Or dealt with this issue? Or got any recommendations? Echo! Echo. echo....
GMFTatsujin

[TheInformer]

A TBC is in itself not illegal and performs a valid function. It just so happens to clean up the macrovision rubbish So the answer is "No" you will not have to smuggle anything.

I myself use a SIMA CopyMaster to clean up and 'enhance' the video signal (its intended purpose). Hehe it cleans up (in my experience) the Macrovision just like a TBC does. Circuit City used to sell them for about $50.

[marsmayhem]

I too have the SIMA (Video CopyMaster Model SEM-CM). It removes Macrovision protection level 1 (DVDs can have level 2 on them), which is what's on protected VHS tapes. It's also supposed to balance color correctly and keep the signal strong enough to prevent signal loss on generational copying (ie. Copy of VHS is as bright and colorful as the original). I use it for my video captures. I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes for me - I tried it on a really old tape I have and it wan't able to clean up much for me. Garbage In, Garbage Out, as the old saying goes, I suppose. And I don't have any Macrovision tapes that I know of. I thought I'd use it for the signal stabalizing, and if I ever copied a tape, to keep the quality high. $50 at Best Buy.

They do make a Level 2 TBC, where you can tweak the color/balance settings manually. The SEM-CM I have is automatic, so there's nothing you can tweak (if you wanted to).

It's not illegal. Using it to pirate stuff is, however.

[Bud]

Legal Site Information......

Sima SCC* digital color corrector and copyguard eliminator
Eliminates both level 1 pulsing and level 2 color stripe copy protection form DVDs. Plus you can adjust the: tint, color, sharpness, brightness, contrast, blue, green and red. SVHS & Composit video in and out w/ bypass.
ON SALE $99.95

http://www.videoguys.com/sima.htm

[bhsparks]

Will the SIMS CC be compatible with an AIW7500? I read a couple of reviews that said ATI was a bit buggy in it's hardware compatibility. I'd like to make sure the SIMA will work before plunking down the $100.00

[loveturtle]

how about some links to those cheap <500$ TBCs?
you are correct in thinking a TBC will resync bad video(get rid of the jitters)
you might want to look at those SVHS vcrs from JVC the upper models have a TBC built in with 4 MB frame memory-that sounds like the best option for you as a standalone TBC will cost you mega mulah
I think the JVCs are all under 700$
a copyguard eliminater wont fix these issues

[SLK001]

What you need is something to restore your sync, which is what a TBC does. The SIMA device does NOT do what you want (tried one over the weekend, took it back yesterday - I have the same problem as you -old video tapes). A TBC will sync to your video tape, strip out the tape's sync pulses and insert a proper level sync string of its own, then pass the video unchanged.

The SIMA device basically just amplifies the whole signal, which will do nothing for a non-standard sync signal (GARBAGE IN - GARBAGE OUT to MORE GARBAGE IN - MORE GARBAGE OUT).