didi-5

Apologies if this has been asked before ...

I have a number of VHS tapes which are in American NTSC format - attempts to copy them to DVD on my Daewoo combi have failed because presumably they are the wrong format. Looking around it looks as if it is possible to transfer NTSC tapes to DVD as long as you have NTSC recording capability as well as playback, but has anyone successfully done this - and if so, how does it work?

Thanks!

taffy1967

I've also failed to copy an official NTSC VHS copy of the 1967 Brit comedy classic 'Smashing Time'.

I link my daughters laptop up to our video recorder (which is NTSC compatible) via an EZGrabber video capture device that I got from Amazon. This is basically a little box with a button and the necessary leads to connect to the video on one end and a PC USB connector on the other.

It came with a CD-ROM which has the software and thankfully worked on that laptop (my desktop PC refused to load it).

But where as converting VHS to PC files is relatively straight forward, that NTSC VHS video tape caused problems and the picture was flashing on the computer screen as it copied it. So I stopped copying and the playback picture was no better.

I tried tweaking the controls on the little EZGrabber software box that appears on the PC screen, but the best I could manage was a monochrome copy.

So I'd also like to know how to get a full colour copy too?

sippog

There should be quite an extensive thread - or more - on this very topic. Unless it's been deleted

didi-5

If anyone can point in the right direction for these threads I'd appreciate it - running a search found nothing!

GoggleboxUK

I think the problem here is that the capture software is preset.

I use Ulead Video Studio to capture which allows you to change absolutely everything including frame rate and source encoding.

If you use BitTorrent you'll find this software available, if not then give me a PM.

"There's always something"

HammerDave

I managed this with NTSC videos by changing the settings of my stand-alone DVR (a Pioneer). In the initial setup menu, there's an option to switch from an input signal of 525 lines (NTSC) to 625 (PAL). My old faithful Sanyo VHS player, which must be 10 years old but is hanging in there, is able to play back NTSC tapes and output an NTSC signal.

The only other thing I definitely haven't done is invest in a SCART macrovision-stripping box which I wouldn't place in the signal chain (even if I had one, which I don't) between the VCR and the DVD recorder, which hypothetically would stabilize the signal and remove copy protection. Which you mustn't do. Because it's bad.

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Mr Otford

Apologies if the answer to this is obvious but I'm new here.

I too am attempting to copy an NTSC video tape. This is what I have found when using a VCR which can 'play' NTSC tapes, an AV amplifier and a PAL DVD recorder:


If I connect the AV o/p from the VCR to the AV i/p on my DVD recorder the picture is distorted (the top inch is repeated at the bottom of the screen below the picture).

If I connect the AV o/p from the VCR to one of the AV i/p on my AV amplifier the image is displayed properly on my TV (exactly as if I had connected the UHF o/p from the VCR to the UHF i/p on the TV) even though it is the video o/p from the AV amp. that I feed to the TV.

So the question is: what does the AV amp do (or not do) to the video signal and could I use that to my advantage when (trying to) copy the video tape - perhaps by connecting the video o/p from the AV amp to my DVD recorder?

Is there a difference between NTSC and PAL video formats?

TIA

Richard

autolycus

I'm no expert, but i think you need to follow hammerdave's suggestion and make sure you do not fit a macrovision-stripping device between your VHS output and your recording device.

(They cost about £20 from amazon)

Mr Otford

Er thanks, I think!

Not knowing what a 'macrovision stripping device' is nor owning one I have successfully complied with Hammerdave's suggestion. This has not changed the results encountered



Richard

autolycus

Ther's a thread here which should help

Mr Otford

Lots of thanks


Cheers

Richard

taffy1967

The EZ Grabber comes with 'Ulead Video Studio 10 SE', but I can't see how that can help since the PC is only getting a monochrome image or an unwatchable image (depending on how the EZ Grabber software capture is set)?

GoggleboxUK

No, the PC is getting a video signal with Macrovision wrapped around it.

Macrovision is a burst signal broadcast alongside the video signal which requires the software to decode it or block it completely in the same way a video player would in order to show the picture on your TV.

Macrovision's Colourstripe mode can be defeated simply by using Component Output, which does not support burst.

Macrovision's AGC mode can be defeated with a number of off-the-shelf devices that regenerate a proper video blanking signal or by many modern video editing software programs.

"There's always something"

taffy1967

Thanks and so the Ulead Video Studio Software I have should be able to convert or correct it then, once it's copied on to my PC?

GoggleboxUK

Absolutely.

As long as the image you see in the little capture display window within the software is right so will your results be.

Have you tried changing the recording format (MPEG2, MPEG4, avi etc)?

"There's always something"