Aubrey TBC-1 (AVT-8710 rebadge) artifacts

[Spektre]

My Aubrey TBC-1 works a champ keeping poor tapes in sync when problems occur.

I am capturing a few really well recorded tapes though and it appears to be introducing a full screen (boxes) artifact.

I'm attaching a clip showing the artifact with the TBC and the same clip without the TBC in the chain.

As these full frame TBCs MUST digitize the signal at some point, is this an artifact of the reconstructed signal being made analog again?

Anyone ever seen this weird "screen door" effect from their TBC output?

[Spektre]

AHA! I am not alone...

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/331681-s-video-artifacts

[Spektre]

OK, it's an old issue.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/236244-Checker-Board-Pattern-from-VHS-to-DVD-Capture

[Sharc]

Crosstalk chroma->luma contaminating the luma (Y) can cause such checkerboard patterns. Cheap (poorly screened) S-Video cable?

[Spektre]

It's all over the place. The same from a DataVideoTBC-1000

I hope one of these threads gives a solution.

[Spektre]

Crosstalk chroma->luma contaminating the luma (Y) can cause such checkerboard patterns. Cheap (poorly screened) S-Video cable?

High quality S-Video cables, but I swapped it out anyway to check...No change.

As shown above others have the same issue and they dubbed it "checkerboard". Haven't found the reason the TBC does it or how to correct it though.

[Spektre]

Well after reading the forum, I can see from the examples above it is a common problem with TBCs, but I'm not finding a solution for it.

[Sharc]

What model is your VCR? Composite or S-Video output? Does it have an internal TBC? If so, disable it to avoid 2 TBCs in the loop.
What is your setup exactly?
Does the pattern still exist in the B&W picture when you connect the Y-wire only and disconnect (break) the C wire of the S-Video connection?

You can try to reduce the pattern with Avisynth in post - but this is probably not what you want ....

Maybe a recommended DVD recorder in passthrough serves the purpose better than the AVT-8710 .... The AVT-8710 seems to introduce a levels shift (brightness/saturation ...)

[Spektre]

My computer is significantly upgraded.
Specs: Ryzen 7 2700X, 16G RAM, 1T nvme capture drive
(2013 specs AMD X4 9650, 8G RAM, 500G system drive)
OS: Windows 10 LTSC 2019
(2013 Windows 7 Pro)
Modern processors no longer support Windows 7.
Vid storage: 20T SATA drive in RAID 1
(2013 2T SATA drive. 20T in 2013 was a LOL)
ATI 600 USB stick
AG-1980P
Ambery TBC-1

So AG-1980P -s-video> Ambery TBC-1 -s-video> ATI 600 USB > VirtuaDub NTSC Lagarith

The 1980P does have a line level TBC. Turning it off has no effect.

Haven't tried cutting the wire apart and trying luma only.

Removing the Ambery TBC-1 (and thus one S-video cable) removes the problem.

[Sharc]

Removing the Ambery TBC-1 (and thus one S-video cable) removes the problem.

So.... do you REALLY need it? Just looking at your 2nd picture without the Ambery TBC-1 ....

Also take a look here:
https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-restore/2251-tbc-time-base.html#post11853

[Spektre]

Removing the Ambery TBC-1 (and thus one S-video cable) removes the problem.

So.... do you REALLY need it? Just looking at your 2nd picture without the Ambery TBC-1 ....

Also take a look here:
https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-restore/2251-tbc-time-base.html#post11853

Yes, unfortunately.

It does what it is supposed to do. Makes it so no frames are dropped.

It is just, recently now, leaving this artifact.

I remember reading that post back in 2012 when I was doing the furst batch of tapes.

[The_Doman]

Did you try with a composite connection cable just to see if the checkerboard pattern is there too?
The checkered pattern looks much too artificial/regular to be caused by a bad quality cable.

It reminds me also of this (different) topic:
S-Video checkerboard pattern

[Spektre]

The first image on this thread is exactly what it looks like.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/236244-Checker-Board-Pattern-from-VHS-to-DVD-Capture

[Sharc]

The checkered pattern looks much too artificial/regular to be caused by a bad quality cable.

Here an example of a capture using a poor quality S-Video cable, producing chroma->luma crosstalk:

[Alwyn]

Here an example of a capture using a poor quality S-Video cable, producing chroma->luma crosstalk:

Interesting; thanks.

[Sharc]

Here an example of a capture using a poor quality S-Video cable, producing chroma->luma crosstalk:

Interesting; thanks.

The crosstalk "converts" the clean Y to a fake composite signal. But since there is no Y/C separating filter (comb filter) in the S-video path the "dotcrawl" has full effect, hence undermining the S-Video benefit.

(No proof of course that the cable is really the OP's problem)

[Spektre]

Thanks for the advice.

Turns out it was a poorly shielded S-video cable creating the checkboard pattern. A new Insignia cable from Best Buy fixed it up.

"High quality" can still equal bad if old enough I guess.