Time Base Corrector

[funkythumb]

Any leads on where to purchase low cost TBC? All my searches turn up high-end broadcast quality hardware - way too much for my desktop captures of VHS / 8mm tapes.

[baker]

Ehy do you need a time base corrector? How is macrovision affecting you?

Baker

[DVWannaB]

Any leads on where to purchase low cost TBC? All my searches turn up high-end broadcast quality hardware - way too much for my desktop captures of VHS / 8mm tapes.

Try this link: http://store.yahoo.com/aaaprice/datvidtb1.html

DataVideo TBC-1000 for $295.

[Mirror_Image]

Take a look at this one:

http://www.simacorp.com/sedcm.html

[funkythumb]

Excellent! Thanks guys.

[The village idiot]

AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Sima copy master

Don't waste your time! I tried it, it is crap! It does indeed regenerate the sync, but the video that comes out is all grainy. And if they are all like the one I had, the video level will be way too high (like 120+ ire).

It is an evil piece of hardware!

[Mirror_Image]

The quality of the Sima box follows a fairly consistent rule of hardware:

You get what you pay for.

[vhelp]

evening all.

thevillage,
from what I understand, there are TWO version out. The first, is what
I have right now, and the second is the one in the pic that Image
has posted link to above. It has a small white SIMA logo on top left and
a red or orange'ish writing or logo at bottom right of wording, VIDEO.
That's the 2nd generation.

My understanding is this:
* it was posted that this SIMA SED-CM was a Stabalizer and a Sideo
Sync in one, but when I got mine some months ago (+-4) it did not desable
the MV during my DVD and VHS transfer to my DV cam via miniDV tapes.
* so, naturally, I was disapointed and was ready to return it, but I
decided on not.
* the 2nd generation says it IS MV'less. But, I have my reservations cause
we all know, that as soon as a new product comes out, and words leaks
out the it is MV'less, the next version is made MV equipt. So, I doubt
that it is MV'less.

thevillage,
as far as I have seen, I am currently using/testing the SIMA w/ my DC10+
card and have made some great looking encodes to CVD from it. I haven't
seen any graining'er video produced from it though. It may have just
ben from other complicated issues w/ your system such as video card;
capture card; wires; software; and other i/o cards and settings in your
motherboard.

I'm currently in a thread on below that you may want to have a look at
from time to time. It would be interesting to see how it turns out.
--> VHELP's FrameDrops - To Eliminate, once and for all

-vhelp

[kwag]

@funkythumb
http://www.dvnation.com/dve.html

[Rickyblaze]

If your copying old vhs tapes or even 8mm the TBC is what you want. Don't waste your time with the stabilizers and amplifiers I went through all those and finally settled on a Datavision TBC3000. It allows you to adjust the brightness ,contrast,tint and color all while making sure the signal from the VHS tapes stays solid enough for a great copy. The reason for my searching was the fact that after several attempts to get an old VHS tape (12 years old)to copy right and keep the audio and video in sync I had tried several different devices and ran across this on Ebay and bought it for a good price. Now all the old VHS tapes I have tried are copied in sync and the signal is solid for a great copy. I now use it on all tape transfers and have had very good success while using it. I guess what you need to realize is that the TBC actually redefines the signal to what it should be and this is what gives you the quality. Good luck and I hope you find a good TBC you won't be sorry

[bbb]

vhelp,

The SIMA SED-CM (Copymaster) will remove Macrovision from all VHS tapes. It will not remove Colorstripe on DVDs. Some DVDs have Macrovision and some have Macrovision and Colorstripe.

The Sima Color Corrector will remove both Macrovision and Colorstripe.
However, videophiles complain that the Sima Color Corrector degrades the image quality/sharpness.

*But the thing is, the DC10+ is not affected by Macrovision or Colorstripe.

Of course, you can always use your Copymaster to boost the signal from you VHS player.


funkythumb,

**If one needs to stabilize flaky signal, you need a real TBC. Of course, the price is generally $400 and up.

[vhelp]

bbb,
yes, I knew that about the DC10+ being MV'less.
.
.
But, I also think that the SIMA is helping in some way, ie, to stabalize some
part of the video source from VHS. At least, in my encoding test projets,
they copy looks great, and that neat thing about it, is that you DON'T have
to use any filtering , hence the short 3 to 5 hours per VHS transfer - -
well, this still needs to be tested, etc.

-vhelp

[The village idiot]

Well I must have had the second generation of the sima, and maybe mine was defective. It did indeed clean the sync, no arguments there. But I remember running colorbars from a very expensive generator through it, and the resulting video was much too high (as compared to sync level). This would throw off the agc circuit in many capture cards (might account for the grainyness). The level was measured on a waveform monitor (an oscilliscope with special configuration for video use). The video coming out of the sima also had significant high frequency roll off, making the picture very soft (also might account for the grainyness when captured). If you are capturing at VCD resolutions, you might never see these problems. But I was cap'ing at full 720x480.

Also the thing could have been defective. Just that for the $50 it cost, I didn't think it would really do anything. So I just completely discounted it based upon my tests, and brought it back for refund. The thing that bugged me most was what the signal looked like at the output. I also played a fresh recording through a new SVHS machine with good S tape. The sync from this machine is pretty stable by itself, but after the "processing" it was rock stable. The video however, was not locked to the sync any longer. So instead of the entire composite signal "drifting" back and forth, only the video was "drifting". This caused all sorts of problems for a TV wonder card (now removed).

Maybe it was defective. Maybe I was expecting too much from it. At any rate, I would only suggest the sima for very bad vhs tapes. For them it might work wonders. So now I'm off to order a Datavideo TBC-1000. I'm choosing this over the TBC-100 because the 100 doesn't handle audio, and I think there will be a substancial amount of delay with this level of TBC. Since the 100 doesn't delay the audio, the captures would start by being out of sync (audio to video). If I'm impressed with the TBC, look forward to a rediculously detailed review. If not impressed, I'll just give an honest review, though most users seem to be satisfied. And if really impressed, I'll put this up against some several thousand dollar units used in the television industry.

[Anonymous65]

None of the TBC's listed above or less than several thousand $ have a delay for the audio. The audio connectors on the TBC is only for easy connection to devices, and also for use as a distribution amplifier. All TBC's will delay the video by one frame, and there is nothing you can do about that. Nobody will notice the audio being out of sync by one frame. Not even large TV stations use audio delay for signals going through a single TBC. Sometimes, it can be a problem when video goes through several TBC's, DVE's and other video effects devices. When the video is delayed by 4 or more frames, you will start to see a lip sync problem.

All the cheap video amplifiers and stabilizers do only insert a new sync using a direct synchonization method. If the sync is missing from the video, it will not be reinserted. When the sync is there, it will be inserted by a clean sync. However, that will not make any difference when you capture poor VHS video. It's the vertical sync that will mess up timing and audio sync, and ONLY a full frame TBC will fix this.

[funkythumb]

Thanks to EVERYBODY for the terrific input. I am indeed trying digitize old VHS and supplied VHS clips from a bad VCR that has "glitches" in the video causing the digitizing to skip and throw the video & audio off sync.

All your input has been very instructive![/code]