Weird VHS artifacting. Luma/Chroma crosstalk?

[AntonHarboe_]

Hi. I have been having problems with some VHS captures. There seems to be some weird patterns with in some colors. (Screenshots below)


[Attachment 61946 - Click to enlarge]

I would love if someone could help me with this. I dont have the money right now to upgrade to a S-VHS VCR with a s-video output. I heard on another post, that it would problably resolve the issue i'm having.

Is this my composite cables, or just the vhs tape that is damaged?

VCR: LG, v280 dvd/vhs combo
Capture card: Hauppauge 610-USBLive2
Software: OBS

Thanks in advance!

[dellsam34]

Most likely tape, otherwise you will be having problems with every tape. Unrelated to your problem OBS is not the right capture program.

[AntonHarboe_]

Thanks for your reply! Yes, i have this problem with every tape. It will just randomly distort the colors and make this pattern (DotCrawl?) I can upload some more screenshots below.


[Attachment 61948 - Click to enlarge]

I normally use amarectv to record, i just used OBS for some reason. Both programs produce the same output for me.

[dellsam34]

Yes a lot of dot crawl due to luma and chroma interference, Either the VCR's chroma circuit is faulty or you got a bad connection somewhere. It's better off getting another VCR even if it is not a S-VHS one.

[DB83]

When I first used my USB-Live2 I had a few, but not as bad, issues.


You could try changing the composite leads. They might not be properly shielded.


Also, since the USB-Live2 has a detachable connector make sure it is firmly in place.


My issues suddenly disappeared without any other input. (Maybe I was just lucky)

[AntonHarboe_]

Thanks for the info guys. I just bought a new VCR recently. I heard that i could try buying new composite cables? The ones i'm using now are pretty old i think. These artifacts on the VCR sometimes appears at one spot, but if i rewind and play the same thing again then it is gone.

Another thing is that on my Hi-8 Camcorder it doesnt have these artifacts, even though it is composite video. Is that because the tape/video is digital? (Photo of the composite cables) they look something like this:


[Attachment 61955 - Click to enlarge]

This weird Luma/Chroma glitch also appears on my S-VHS Camcorder when using composite cables, so i dont think it is the VCR's fault if it is also appearing on another device.

Thanks for the support!

[jagabo]

Bad horizontal time base is causing the comb filter in the capture device to fail. With a composite input it's not separating the chroma carrier from the luma, also the colors shift as the playback head is speeding up and slowing down relative to the tape. Fast forward your tapes to the end then rewind them back to the beginning before capturing. That may help as it loosens up the reals and allows the tape to move more easily.

[AntonHarboe_]

But do you think it would help with new composite cables?

[jagabo]

But do you think it would help with new composite cables?

Probably not. But it's worth a try.

[AntonHarboe_]

Ok, Thanks!

[AntonHarboe_]

I also just wanted to know why the bad comb filter artifacts only appear on the vhs, and not on the dvd, hi-8 etc.

[AntonHarboe_]

And Jagabo, when you say "horizontal time base", you mean "time base corrector" right?

[AntonHarboe_]

Hi, guys. The issue was always the capture card itself (610 USB-Live2), but im still not sure what the true problem with the Hauppauge device actually was (The composite input just seems very bad). I saw another guy on another thread say the same things, and he was comparing to the well known EasyCAP (The bad one).

Please watch the video below, and see the difference between them.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/398281-USB-Live2-worse-quality-than-EasyCap


[Attachment 61972 - Click to enlarge]

Left is EasyCAP, and right is Hauppauge 610-USBLive2. You can see on the mens faces, how there is a lot of red lines. None on the easy-cap.

I tried it out myself, and the image on the EasyCAP is noticabley worse than Hauppauge's device, But the Chroma/Luma crosstalk is completely gone. I now ordered a Dazzle DVC 100, and i will try it out, as i have seen many positive reviews on it.

Thanks for the info anyway, it means a lot.

[jagabo]

Different capture devices respond differently to poor time base.

[AntonHarboe_]

yes.

[Skiller]

And Jagabo, when you say "horizontal time base", you mean "time base corrector" right?

No, Jagabo is talking about the accuracy of the horizontal line timing.
If it is inaccurate, like it is always the case with analog tapes played back without a line-TBC that corrects this, the lines of the image wobble sideways slightly. It is most evident on static elements such as text.