How to get PAL VHS to digital

[graymoment]

I have a VHS tape that a friend in Sweden recorded off of broadcast television about 16 years ago of a time that I was on TV over there for an event. I have never been able to play it because I did not have a PAL VHS player at the time (and now have no VHS player).

I tried having it converted to DVD through Costco's conversion service, but they sent it back to me stating they could not transfer copyrighted material. It seems to be par for the course with local VHS to digital services. Does anyone know of a way that I can do this at home?

I would be willing to buy something off of Amazon if it wasn't too expensive. I'd prefer to have someone else do it, but am willing to take on the task myself due to the fact that this was recorded off of live TV in someone's home.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

[graymoment]

I'll add that if there are suggestions for a service that can do this, I'm all for that as the first line of defense. I've just ran into issues with the fact that the content being transferred was recorded from television.

[davexnet]

Sometimes Indian grocery stores will do it, I know because I did this myself some years ago.
But that was back when VCR"s were still in common use. I guess you could make some inquiries...

To do it yourself, you need a PAL VCR but that's stating the obvious

[jagabo]

To do it yourself, you need a PAL VCR but that's stating the obvious

It may not be obvious to the OP.

North American VHS decks will not play PAL VHS tapes properly. So yes, you will need a PAL VHS deck. Then you will need a video capture device capable of capturing standard definition PAL video.

Another possibility is to find a converting VHS player like the old Samsung SV5000W and set it to output NTSC video. Then capture as NTSC. But this is a lesser quality route.

[Brad]

I'll add that if there are suggestions for a service that can do this, I'm all for that

I think Lordsmurf's company would do it.

Sometimes Indian grocery stores will do it, I know because I did this myself some years ago.

There was a guy at an Indian pharmacy here promoting his service online. I dropped off a tape and never heard back. At least it wasn't precious material. And I never paid for the conversion upfront.

[graymoment]

North American VHS decks will not play PAL VHS tapes properly. So yes, you will need a PAL VHS deck. Then you will need a video capture device capable of capturing standard definition PAL video.

In looking around on the internet, this looks cost prohibitive to accomplish for 1 tape, so I'll look into the service option.

I think Lordsmurf's company would do it.

I just sent them an email inquiry. Thanks for the recommendation. I tried a local company advertising on Craigslist, and they can't do PAL. I'm guessing they also do it with cheap home equipment.