Converting VHS to digital

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Converting VHS to digital

quickymart

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#283944 22-Mar-2021 08:25

I have several old videotapes I'd like to convert from that dead format to digital. Most of the places I've found online charge quite high (IMO) for what seems to be a relatively straightforward process.

I did buy a dongle from Trademe years ago that you plugged into your VCR and the other end into your PC to convert but it never worked properly. I've since moved house and it's long since lost.

I'd like to do this myself, but can someone recommend a decent, inexpensive piece of kit I can purchase to convert my videotapes to digital? Some of them are slowly dying and I'd like to have them in digital format so they're preserved.

Thanks :)

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#2678173 22-Mar-2021 08:44

I know this is not what you’re asking for, but I recently had several VHS tapes digitised by Lindsay at Adam Design in Kumeu and it was a reasonable price and very good results. The tapes were a bit mouldy and he was able to save them.

Cheers,
Joseph

gareth41

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#2678174 22-Mar-2021 08:47

Assuming you already have a VCR, get a cheap video capture card and use that. Use the S-Video output on the VCR if it has one, its better quality than the Composite output. Also use H265 as the video codec, AAC2.0 as the audio codec, and the output container MKV. I would just capture to an uncompressed YUV file and then later encode that to H265/AAC2.0 using ffmpeg. You can then copy those MKV's to USB drives and plug into most late model TV's.

xpd

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#2678197 22-Mar-2021 09:36

I've got a VCR/DVD combo unit, successfully converted a few family VHS tapes to DVD. Then copied the files off the DVD and manipulated them from there.

So maybe keep eye out for such a unit on TradeMe.

XPD / Gavin

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quickymart

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#2678199 22-Mar-2021 09:39

I used to have one of those too, but it died :( hard to find any VHS players these days. I realise it's a dying/dead format, but still there must be a market for existing videotapes, even if they are just going to be converted.

This is what I found for video capture cards: https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/SearchResults.aspx?searchString=video+capture+card&type=Search&searchType=all&user_region=100&user_district=0&generalSearch_keypresses=18&generalSearch_suggested=0&generalSearch_suggestedCategory=&rsqid=7109868173f745ce96462e64cb37d425-001&condition=new

Lots to choose from. Can anyone suggest something specific? The dongle I had previously ( which from memory was this one here: https://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/dvd-bluray-players/vcr-players/listing-3020061697.htm?rsqid=167f95ed34884075adcf2a11c02a389b-005 ) was basically useless.

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2678204 22-Mar-2021 09:48

quickymart:

I used to have one of those too, but it died :( hard to find any VHS players these days. I realise it's a dying/dead format, but still there must be a market for existing videotapes, even if they are just going to be converted.

...

Lots to choose from. Can anyone suggest something specific? The dongle I had previously was basically useless.

My recommendation is the Blackmagic Design Intensity Pro. Unfortunately, they only seem to sell the Intensity Pro 4K now, which is more expensive ($~350).

I wouldn't touch one of those DVD/VHS players. Lossy encoding and likely poor quality VHS hardware. Might be okay as a source, but I wouldn't be surprised if you needed to pair it with an external time base corrector to get decent results. A mid-level VCR from the '90s will likely do a much better job on its own.

I'd use a capture card, record to a lossless format (I use FFV1 for archival material), edit and convert to H.264 or H.265 for playback.

Rikkitic

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#2678219 22-Mar-2021 09:54

How would an HDMI video capture card work for this? You need to digitise the VHS signal, which is a different process. Something like this would work and it may be all there is, though I have found Easycap in the past to be a bit wonky and difficult to work with.

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SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2678229 22-Mar-2021 10:01

Rikkitic:

How would an HDMI video capture card work for this? You need to digitise the VHS signal, which is a different process.

I assume you're referring to my recommended hardware. The Intensity Pro can capture both HDMI and analogue sources.

Rikkitic

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#2678246 22-Mar-2021 10:13

I was actually referring to the TradeMe link. Those devices are just HDMI.

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quickymart

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#2678249 22-Mar-2021 10:22

My thinking is maybe some sort of component to HDMI converter (or something) is required for them to work properly.

Rikkitic

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#2678254 22-Mar-2021 10:33

I am no expert on any of this, but with VHS you have an analogue system (video tapes) and you want to convert it to a digital one (computer files). Component is analogue, but the digitisers I have seen usually work with either composite or s-video. Once the format has been converted, you can output it via HDMI on most modern computers, but that has nothing to do with the conversion itself. I doubt there are any devices that convert directly from AV to HDMI.

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DonH

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#2678428 22-Mar-2021 13:31

Rikkitic:

.... I doubt there are any devices that convert directly from AV to HDMI.

Jaycar sell several such devices. For example:

https://www.jaycar.co.nz/composite-audio-video-to-4k-hdmi-upscaler-converter/p/AC1776

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Spyware

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#2678431 22-Mar-2021 13:36

You can't make ice cream out of horse shit.

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Rikkitic

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#2678463 22-Mar-2021 13:59

DonH:

Rikkitic:

.... I doubt there are any devices that convert directly from AV to HDMI.

Jaycar sell several such devices. For example:

https://www.jaycar.co.nz/composite-audio-video-to-4k-hdmi-upscaler-converter/p/AC1776

Ok I don't think those existed in the time I was playing with this. At least I wasn't aware of anything like that. But @Spyware has a good point. I can't see much value in upscaling VHS to 4K and it certainly doesn't warrant the steep price. Just get a composite/s-video dongle for a lot less money and use that. I think S-video is probably the best possible quality you can hope for from VHS conversions anyway.

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Apsattv

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#2678476 22-Mar-2021 14:37

Once you have your raw video capture

The Topaz Video enhance AI software can show some pretty good results from converting VHS resolution to 1080 HD or even 4k Up-scaling. Loads of fun.

froob

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#2678537 22-Mar-2021 15:53

I’ve used an Elgato Video Capture USB dongle to copy about 20 or 30 tapes - seems to work pretty well. I actually have the tape player hooked into a Panasonic hard drive recorder, then the Elgato is connected to the analogue output on that.

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