VHS fps

[ian follow]

Hi guys,

I have a somewhat stupid question but I'm just curious.

How can you determine the fps of a VHS tape? I know it should be 25 or 30 fps, but... I get the best results at around 25 fps (24.7, 24.8). It is PAL VHS, so I'm not sure is it that difference result of capturing or is it small imperfection of a tape.

Thank you,
Ian

[sterno]

PAL is 25, NTSC is 30. Those are the standards, there isn't really anything to be determined (except, of course, whether the tape is PAL or NTSC).

[ian follow]

Tnx for your post sterno.

Yes, I know 25 and 30 are the standards, but... Like a curious child I like to ask "stupid" questions. I'd like to know why my capture rate is 24.7 fps? It is taped with PAL camera, it is PAL VHS, so it should be 25. And besides that, what is that difference of 0.3 fps? My sw captured zero point three frames less? I'm missing something here.

[ironwood321]

Black and White NTSC 30fps but Colour NTSC 29.97fps. How are you capturing your footage? What hardware / software are you using?

The frame avarage might be low because you are dropping frames either from bad unstable footage or a slow machine.

[PigOnWing]

If you're referring to VirtualDub's 'Avarage Rate' report while capturing, it calculates the avarge rate based on the actual amount of frames captured (not including dropped frames) divided by the amount of time captured. So it takes but one dropped frame (and sometimes less, as the 'time captured' isn't necessseraly calculated by full seconds either) to get the 'avarage fps' report something less than the actual fps used.

It's nothing to worry about. The material is still 25fps.

-- Piggie

[ian follow]

Thank you guys,

I was using virtualdub, but I'm using Terratec's software at the moment. I think your answer PigOnWing is what I was looking for.

Tnx,
Ian