VHS video conversion - problem ??

whs · 09 Jan 2013

I still have a lot of VHS tapes. They are the original small tapes that went into the camera. And the camera (an originally $600 Canon model) is still in good working order.

So I started to convert a couple of tapes. I use these facilities because they had pretty good reviews. However, the results are pretty disappointing. The original plays crisp and clear on the TV but the conversion is very fuzzy. I have uploaded an example to Youtube here. It is a snip of a video that the wife made about 14 years ago when our house was all new.

What do you guys think. Is this sort of degradation normal and if not, what can I do about it.

jimbo45 · 09 Jan 2013

Hi there
VHS quality isn't the best -- the best way though is to do it in REAL TIME using an S-VHS connector from your video out to a S-VHS video in if your graphics card has one.

The other possibility is to use a DVD recorder that writes DVD's -- plug a SCART or Video leads from your VHS machine into the DVD recorder and make the dvd's.

Then copy the created DVD to HDD. You can then convert the DVD video format to whatever you like but the quality --will be OK a small screen (up to around 24 to 26 ins) but won't look too good on the modern very large LCD TV's @ HD quality.

Cheers
jimbo

whs · 09 Jan 2013

Thanks Jimbo. Looks like it is not going to be so great regardless of the method. I wanted to play the videos on a 32" led TV that has USB stick input. But since it is already pretty fuzzy on my 22" PC screen, I have little hopes.