DVD recorder as passthrough displays burned in "no signal" message

[Mansour]

Hello everyone,

I'm using a Philips DVDR3380 DVD recorder as a passthrough device for capturing VHS tapes. I didn't know if it had an internal TBC, so I tested it and it did in fact "correct" the signal and gives a continuous stream to my capture card. Yet when the signal is weak it displays a burned in message on the image saying "no signal". It has composite, component and s-video outputs, which I tested except the s-video, and both composite and component show the message. In the recorder's menu, there is no way to turn off OSD.
So I was wondering if there's a workaround to get a "clean" image from my device or is it useless as a passthrough and I should just get another device.


[Attachment 75309 - Click to enlarge]

My setup:
LG VLK9320W VCR combo (composite) -> Philips DVDR3380 DVD recorder (component) -> Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle -> Quicktime on Macbook Pro 15 (2012)

Thanks in advance!

[oln]

I don't know for sure though if it's similar to the earlier model I have the degree of horizontal stabilization it's capable of is quite limited ( but lack so it might be worth looking for something better. (They use philips/nxp video decoders which are quite robust at not flipping out at dodgy video signals but they don't have the ability to correct much horizontal jitter/instability like the hardware used in panasonic dvd-recorders and in-vcr tbcs).

Just wanna note for any americans reading that the Philipses sold outside north america are completely different interanlly to the ones in NA, despite this they often used the exact same model number for european and us models with completely different internals.

[lordsmurf]

Only certain DVD recorders are known for quality passthrough, not just any random recorder.

[Mansour]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I know that not just any random recorder is a good passthrough, and I'm still looking for recorders mentioned in the recommended list. But I just wanted to see if there's any way to benefit from my recorder (seeing that it was doing a decent job except the displayed message) before dismissing it, since there's no online market for used video equipment where I am, and therefore specific equipment are extremely hard to find.