VHS Tape Copying?

[sjaguar13]

I don't know where else to post this, so I figured the guys at Electro-Tech might know. I have two questions about VHS copying. The first question is about 1 to many duplications. If I daisy chain one vcr that is playing the video to a few vcrs using the video-in jacks, could I successfully copy 1 video several times in the time it would normally take to copy 1 or would the daisy chaining lower the signal or something to the point where I would end up with several horrible copies that wouldn't be useful at all?

The second question is about quality. It's a mult-part question, but I heard SVHS is better quality that VHS. How do I got about getting an SVHS copy? Do I do S-Video Out on one vcr to S-Video in on another? What do I do with the audio, use the composite jacks like a regular VHS? Do I need some kind of SVHS tape to get good quality, or would using regular VHS tapes with the S-Video connection provide a better copy than composite jack only copying?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I don't know where else to post this, so I figured the guys at Electro-Tech might know. I have two questions about VHS copying. The first question is about 1 to many duplications. If I daisy chain one vcr that is playing the video to a few vcrs using the video-in jacks, could I successfully copy 1 video several times in the time it would normally take to copy 1 or would the daisy chaining lower the signal or something to the point where I would end up with several horrible copies that wouldn't be useful at all?

[/qoute]

Yes, you can daisy chain and make multiple copies at the same time.

The second question is about quality. It's a mult-part question, but I heard SVHS is better quality that VHS. How do I got about getting an SVHS copy? Do I do S-Video Out on one vcr to S-Video in on another? What do I do with the audio, use the composite jacks like a regular VHS? Do I need some kind of SVHS tape to get good quality, or would using regular VHS tapes with the S-Video connection provide a better copy than composite jack only copying?

Not much point using S-VHS unless you're making S-VHS copies from an S-VHS source.

 

[sjaguar13]

Is there a maximum that can be hooked together before the quality become un-usable?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Is there a maximum that can be hooked together before the quality become un-usable?

Try and see! - if you want a lot I would suggest using a video amplifier and splitter to feed the videos seperately. Main reason is that between the input and output of a VCR it goes through lots of processing, including the automatic level control and all the chroma/luma splitting and recombining.

 

[ThermalRunaway]

Try and see! - if you want a lot I would suggest using a video amplifier and splitter to feed the videos seperately. Main reason is that between the input and output of a VCR it goes through lots of processing, including the automatic level control and all the chroma/luma splitting and recombining.

Yes and regarding the AGC, if any of the tapes he's trying to copy have MACRO protection on, it'll confuse the AGC and he'll end up with dark periods on the film. Disney are favourites for using the MACRO protection.

Brian

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Yes and regarding the AGC, if any of the tapes he's trying to copy have MACRO protection on, it'll confuse the AGC and he'll end up with dark periods on the film. Disney are favourites for using the MACRO protection.

I presumed he wasn't trying to pirate films (why would anyone pirate video tapes nowadays?) - there are plenty of honest uses for such a system, in particular wedding videos or any commercial tapes you make yourself - although I would expect them to be on DVD these days anyway?.

 

[ThermalRunaway]

I never use videos anymore. There was a die-hard VHS fan where I last worked who always had some wild excuse for why VHS was better than DVD, but I just don't see it myself. Sure you can get highly compressed films which then don't do the DVD format justice, but a good quality DVD clearly out performs VHS by a substantial amount, and DVD is much more user friendly.

Brian

 

[panic mode]

agreed although i'm getting tired of DVDs too. i'm looking forward to PC based entertainment and streaming content. a 300Gb hd will hold most of my movies. i bet this is what pirates already do. this is how digital music started and not you have mp3 player in every tootpick and hairbrush. currently there is tons of tv channels on the internet but the bandwith usually sucks. nasa looks ok but i want more. i find my 6Mbps is still not fast enough. i want much more but nobody offers anything faster at the moment. i don't know how someone can still live with dialup. there was several companies announcing release of high speed modem with some 200Gbps for this summer but everything is so quiet now... hurry guys... i can't wait...

 

[Overclocked]

agreed although i'm getting tired of DVDs too. i'm looking forward to PC based entertainment and streaming content. a 300Gb hd will hold most of my movies. i bet this is what pirates already do. this is how digital music started and not you have mp3 player in every tootpick and hairbrush. currently there is tons of tv channels on the internet but the bandwith usually sucks. nasa looks ok but i want more. i find my 6Mbps is still not fast enough. i want much more but nobody offers anything faster at the moment. i don't know how someone can still live with dialup. there was several companies announcing release of high speed modem with some 200Gbps for this summer but everything is so quiet now... hurry guys... i can't wait...

You could always get two 6MB lines and have both go to 2 ethernet ports (if you have them of course, the new mobo's [socket 939] have them) Then you can bridge the connections and get 12Mb Service, which would give you 1.5MB Download speed.

 

[HiTech]

daisy chaining vcrs for multiple dubs will eventually degrade the input signal... causing the recorded signal to be affected as well. It can be done but there are limits and often the sync signals suffer. The best method is to buy a audio/video distribution amp. Radio Shack and other on-line electronic suppliers sell them for around $30. The cheaper ones will provide boosted signals to drive about 4 vcrs for dubbing.

As for SVHS, the tape must be SVHS tape or you're back to square one. SVHS tape has an extra hole in the underside of the cassette housing which triggers a switch so the SVHS deck recognizes that appropriate tape over standard tape. SVHS is substantially better in playback quality but again, VHS tape is a dying format. MiniDV and DVD are the best until prices drop to affordable levels for consumers to go true digital storage on chips to eliminate lasers, motors, alignment, and sampling rate issues.

 

[ThermalRunaway]

agreed although i'm getting tired of DVDs too. i'm looking forward to PC based entertainment and streaming content. a 300Gb hd will hold most of my movies.

Yes PC based entertainment is the way things are going. I have all of that in my Land Rover - I've got a DVD head unit in the front with a fold-out touch screen, and I've got a small PC in the back which I use to play media from. I've got lots of other plans for the PC as well.

Brian

 

[Thunderchild]

a single tape to tape can be done bvy direct connection i did my aunt entire tv recorded film collection but for more than one recording you must use and amplifier

 

[HiTech]

... but he's talking about 1 to MANY duplicator sets which whill certainly degrade the signal. To retain best signal quality, true dubbing vcrs record the RF signal from the head via very little additional circuitry. Processing A/V signals just downgrades things further, hence the reason behind working with just the signal from the heads.