Is the TBC function in my Panasonic Diga DMR-EH55 working?

[bigbadben]

I'd like to digitize my old VHS tapes. My setup is a Samsung DVDV70 VCR going to a Panasonic Diga DMR-EH55 to a IO-DATA GVUSB2. I'm having trouble determining whether the TBC in the Panasonic DMR-EH55 works or not. According to this page: https://content.abt.com/documents/27759/DMR-EH55_HighPictureQuality.pdf it has a time based corrector. Does the TBC only work if you record directly onto a DVD, not via passthrough? I have the VCR connected to the AV4 Input.

[Alwyn]

No it will work in passthrough. The telltale sign it's working is to watch the upper side edges when you're playing a tape, with and without it in the workflow. Without, you'll see slightly wobbly upper side edges, perhaps a bit fuzzy. With it, those edges will be rock solid. You'll immediately see the difference with a average to poor tape.

These examples are rather extreme, but this is what you're looking for. I have an EH-57 and it performs similarly to the ES-15.

http://aaproductions.net/stabilisers.htm

[Alwyn]

Just seen your examples. Definitely working, observe the nice sharp stable left edge at the top.

In case you haven't picked it up the best output is S-video from the SCART socket, as per this topic:

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/403635-Panasonic-DVD-recorder-passthrough-settings...e9#post2685593

In practice, is is very minor and fleeting, but it is there.

[bigbadben]

I have an EH-57 and it performs similarly to the ES-15.

Do you have fuzzy lines at the very bottom of the video like I do? I bought the EH-55 because it performs similar to the ES-10. Maybe my VCR is to blame and I need a better one.

[Alwyn]

Do you have fuzzy lines at the very bottom of the video like I do?

We all do! All part of the VHS game. It's called head-switching noise. I believe it can be reduced with a flash VCR, but it will almost always be there to a certain extent. I crop it away; others mask it.

[bigbadben]

In case you haven't picked it up the best output is S-video from the SCART socket, as per this topic:

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/403635-Panasonic-DVD-recorder-passthrough-settings...e9#post2685593

In practice, is is very minor and fleeting, but it is there.

The real SCART to S-Video cables can't be found anywhere outside of Europe - the ones with S-Video and white and red RCA only. The cheap eBay SCART $2 adapters are composite over S-Video because they don't separate chrominance and luma, that's why there is red, white, and yellow on the same box. I tried using a SCART to composite cable I already have but just an S-Video cable has way better colours and is sharper. Component would need a converter box, not an option. HDMI capture devices have problems with analog signals.

[Alwyn]

This gadget outputs SVideo from SCART (from Cablechick):


[Attachment 73145 - Click to enlarge]

Component would need a converter box, not an option. HDMI capture devices have problems with analog signals.

The Startech USB3HDCAP has Component input, and does a great job with HDMI input of an analogue source correctly set up for 576i output.

[lollo]

I'm having trouble determining whether the TBC in the Panasonic DMR-EH55 works or not.

In your example the effect of the Panasonic correction is not evident, but it should be there. Find a shot where you have vertical straight lines and compare.

The Panasonic crops 5 pixels on the left edge, you loose that area if using it (no way to avoid it). And that's probablywhy the left edge is straighter, together with its lineTBC correction (the right edge is better in the Panasonic capture)

https://imgsli.com/MTk4Mjc0

Your captures also suffer of inserted/dropped frames and are not aligned, check your setup. But next time provide the raw captures and not compressed videos.

[bigbadben]

This gadget outputs SVideo from SCART (from Cablechick):


[Attachment 73145 - Click to enlarge]

But it's not true S-Video. Chroma and luma are coming out of the same S-Video port, otherwise it wouldn't be able to have composite and S-Video on the same adapter.

[lollo]

Chroma and luma are coming out of the same S-Video port

So, what?

[bigbadben]

Chroma and luma are coming out of the same S-Video port

So, what?

Wdym so what? That defeats the point of S-Video, to separate chroma and luma. One of the biggest advantages of S-Video over composite is the separation of chroma and luma.

[lollo]

And they are separate in the S-Video connector

[Alwyn]

Bigbad, you decide if true S-Video is coming out of the S-Video socket on that gadget or not.

[Skiller]

The cheap eBay SCART $2 adapters are composite over S-Video because they don't separate chrominance and luma

Well if chrominance and luminance are not separated then it's Composite video coming out of your signal source. Nothing to do with a passive Scart adapter. Such adapter can only route the signal onto a different connector as is. It does not mix or separate anything.

[bigbadben]

The cheap eBay SCART $2 adapters are composite over S-Video because they don't separate chrominance and luma

Well if chrominance and luminance are not separated then it's Composite video coming out of your signal source. Nothing to do with a passive Scart adapter. Such adapter can only route the signal onto a different connector as is. It does not mix or separate anything.

I'm just confused because I have an offbrand S-Video cable for a PS2 that has the PS2 video connector on one end and RCA (yellow, white, and red) and S-Video. You can use either S-Video or Composite on one cable. One guy, on a gaming forum said that it wasn't true S-Video because of the yellow connector, and the original Sony cable had only the white and red RCAs. It seemed like a scam and the sellers in China might be using the same wires for composite for S-Video for this SCART adapter. Because just because it has a SCART pin for S-Video doesn't mean it's being used. I tested that S-Video cable and I remember it looking exactly the same as composite, it just looked a lot sharper. How they managed to create this kind of cable I don't know.

[Skiller]

I'm just confused because I have an offbrand S-Video cable for a PS2 that has the PS2 video connector on one end and RCA (yellow, white, and red) and S-Video. You can use either S-Video or Composite on one cable.

The PS2, just like the PS1 and even the PS3, outputs S-Video and Composite video simultaneously at it's proprietary connector. As a result, with a cable such as the one you have, you get proper S-Video at the S-Video connector and proper Composite video at the yellow RCA connector at the same time.

However, on a Scart output, such as at the back of a VCR, there is either S-Video or Composite, because some pins are shared. It is impossible to have S-Video and Composite at the same time through Scart.

One guy, on a gaming forum said that it wasn't true S-Video because of the yellow connector

Not correct, it is S-Video.

and the original Sony cable had only the white and red RCAs.

Yes, I actually happen to have that official Sony S-Video cable and it does indeed not have the yellow RCA. It has S-Video and audio (white and red RCAs). But that doesn't have any impact on S-Video vs. Composite if other cables do have the yellow RCA. It's just there in addition to S-Video because the PS2 supplies it all the time, whether you use it or not.

It seemed like a scam and the sellers in China might be using the same wires for composite for S-Video for this SCART adapter.

Like I said, some pins are shared. This is normal by standard and results in the infamous black and white picture in case of a mismatch. If you see color, it's all fine.

I tested that S-Video cable and I remember it looking exactly the same as composite, it just looked a lot sharper.

That is exactly what's to be expected. More horizontal detail, and no more dot crawl and cross color artifacts. S-Video isn't magic.

[bigbadben]

Thanks Skiller for the explanation. It all makes sense now and I’ll be buying the SCART adapter.