VCR Advice?

[CluelessInSeattle]

I have a small collection of obscure VHS movies that never made it to DVD and at this late stage in the game likely never will.

This summer I read that the last manufacturer of VCRs finally ceased production.

I'd like to try transferring my VHS tapes to DVD.

Have any of you ever tried that? Were you satisfied with the results?

I'm assuming that I would need a high quality VHS player to get the best results. Do you have any suggestions on what to look for in a VHS player?

[MrHT]

I have transferred some of my VHS tapes to DVD. For the most part, I'm not very satisfied with the way they turned out for two reasons:

1- The video quality gets degraded during the analog to digital conversion. Not to mention the compression that goes along with it. The compression ends up looking a lot worse than when you buy movies on DVD. Never understood why.

2- The VHS tapes can hiccup during the recording. When a video jumps or has tracking issues, that all gets recorded. So, you either have to accept that flaw in the video or re-record the whole thing and hope & pray that the hiccups never happen again.

I've used both video capture cards on the computer and a DVD recorder to convert my videos and both have their own issues that make it a pain in the rear end to convert to DVD. Usually when I convert something to DVD and it ended up getting released on DVD later on at a good price, I ended up just buying it later on because I just didn't like the results of my DVD recording. But then again, I'm very fussy about little things, so the things that bothered me may not bother you. Of course, the content that never saw the light of day on DVD (such as TV specials that I recorded on TV back in the day), I converted to DVD and am just stuck with being satisfied with what I have even though it's flawed. I try to look on the bright side.... at least I know that my content is safe from degradation now.

There are some places that do offer to convert your VHS tapes to DVD. I don't know how much those places charge but maybe they have better equipment and if that means better results than doing it yourself, then it may be worth it. Not to mention that it will save you time because converting to DVD is very hard work and time consuming.

All I have to say is that if you really treasure your VHS tapes and there's no chance it will ever be out on DVD, then go for it and transfer them now before those tapes get degraded and unplayable. Don't expect perfection, but just be happy that you now can enjoy your videos for many more years to come.

[voltz]

I don't think I can say that I'm all in 100% favor for those VCR/DVD combo players that are currently on the market right now (the vcr part on mine broke), but they currently have the HDMI output that I'm thinking can be used on video capture cards like what you would possibly use for streaming services like Twitch. If that is a viable alternative, then I wouldn't mind considering it rather then trying to record 1 movie at a time per DVD.

[HotRats]

I transferred all of my tapes to DVD a few years ago and the results were very good within the limits of VHS. I used my old Grundig VHS (one of the best recorders made, approaching SVHS resolution on standard tape) linked to a Sony RDR-HXD870. Recorded the tapes at standard speed to the Sony's HD then ripped them at high speed to DVDR. The key to good VHS playback is keeping the heads and pinch roller clean, don't waste your time with head cleaners, take the top off and clean the tape path with cotton buds and isopropyl alcohol.