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I am quite enjoying the video projector that I have recently brought into my house, with the true home 'theatre' experience a nearly 10' image brings. DVD playback is quite nice with a bit of allowance for the variable quality of DVD transfers, but VHS tape playback is a little grainy and I'm wondering if there is anything that can be done to boost and/or tweak the resolution and playback quality of my VCR. It's also not out of the question to consider the idea of picking up a higher quality player. I know that many would pipe in with a recommendation to abandon the format, but I have a number of obscure films, animations, etc. in my VHS tape collection and there is still a lot of material only available as older VHS tape releases. As a film buff, I hate to limit myself to only DVD viewing. Any tips and/or suggestions are much appreciated!
Bryan K.,
Music Lover & President-elect of C.C.A.C. (Concerned Citizens Against Cilantro)
Follow Ups:
Hi,
I also have 3 projection systems and sometimes sell and buld them up for clients.
I have been into AV for about 15 years and had some nice items.
In my opinion VHS can still be extremely good.
I know DVD has higher picture spechs etc but in terms of a filmic presentation i still consider VHS to have far more depth to the image.By far and without a shadow of a doubt the best route I 100% reccomend is to go for SVHS.
This will give a far better picture.
The player of choice for this is the JVC HRS 6800.
These can be had for peanuts on Ebay,Originally $1000+ this VCR is the closest i have ever come to perfection ever.Off air recording has a body to the image that is alsmost unbelevable,On SVHS tapes there is hardly any loss at all.
The sound aswell is phenominal.I have had over 30 vcr and this is the best yet i have bought.
It was built in a time when Quality was paramount instead of price,To build such an item today would be highly unlikely due to the sheer attention to detail and crafmanship.On my 100 inch screen the picture on SVHS is stunning.
I hope this helps you out,
JVC HRS 6800 is a jiant step in vcrs.
Thanks for the information...I may keep my eyes open for one of those VCR's as I'm not opposed to trying out a different player. However, I'm mainly concerned about playback of video tape rentals that will, alas, not be recorded in SVHS mode. In this case, it may be hard to get past the limiting resolution of the format. I suppose it may be possible to get a scaler of some kind to boost the lines of resolution; but not without an investment that probably isn't worth it. I have a more recent JVC SVHS player and have noticed that tapes recorded in this mode are surprisingly tight. I do also, to some degree, agree with your observations on the film-like quality of a decent VHS tape recording. The lack of motion artifacts is a refreshing change of pace after becoming accustomed to DVD recordings. At this point, I'll just be watching VHS on the 27" TV and calling it good (for now).
Bryan K.,
Music Lover & President-elect of C.C.A.C. (Concerned Citizens Against Cilantro)
Hi Bryan,
Thanks for the post.
Great info.
With the JVC HRS 6800 Bryan i would say that it dramatically differs from there modern day VCR,S.
I also had a new JVC Super vhs video and while still very good i sold it due to the 6800,It was vastly superior in every way.I do have a review of the 6800 from "what video magazine",they went head over heels when writing the review and were extatisk at its performance,This was at £1000 uk pounds?
I also noticed that the sound from this VCR even rivals many hi end gear.I also collect valve pre amplifiers from Audio research,Counterpoint and Sonic Frontiers.
The midband and soundstage from the 6800 are utterly suprising.
I have seen this beast on ebay go for as little as $50?????.
Good point about the rental tapes Bryan,A good quality standard VHS cassete is still incredable from this vcr,In fact the first time i used it i thought i was watching SVHS when in reality it was only standard tape.I have 3 of the machines as i cannot find any better for any money at all.
I hope all goes well for you,
Kind regards,
Ian.
I appreciate the tips (and the ebay links). I suppose I will keep my eyes open for one of those 6800 machines. For $50 or so, it's certainly worth giving it a try.
Bryan K.,
Music Lover & President-elect of C.C.A.C. (Concerned Citizens Against Cilantro)
Hi Bryan,
I just found these on Ebay.http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3076804748&category=50606
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3077224009&category=50606
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3077231337&category=50606
Also Bryan have you heard of DVHS?
This also another system used by JVC.
This technology is also awsome,It never really took off due to price etc but a freaind of mine bagged one fronm Ebay for £350.It is amzing beacuse the recording length in DVHS is stageringly long and loses nothing,Also caters fro SVHS.
Thanks,
Ian.
Your chances for having a pristine picture from VHS are pretty slim. VHS is capable of only 230 lines of resolution, which is less than 1/4 the resolution of DVD. Given the fact that you're probably going over a composite cable and that it's blowing this up to probably well over 6 ft. diagonally, then you probably have the root of it all there.Just to show my math, DVD is 720x480 encoded or 640x480 on your TV in full frame... VHS is roughly 310x230 (if you have to give a horizontal resolution).
As for making it better, I doubt you'll have much luck without spending either a lot of money or a lot of time (or both!) You can always convert to VCD or DIVX and do some cleanup in the process on the PC, but the biggest advantage here is that you'd be able to drop the composite connection. The other problems will remain, namely to original resolution of the VHS medium. The other possibility is using a time base corrector, but that probably won't do much for the image unless you buy a fairly expensive one with some more advanced settings. Honestly, you might be better off restricting VHS playback to a CRT if you still have it... the lower resolution and size will make those tapes look a lot better that the projector. That's one of the reasons I'm hanging onto my 27".
You could try a video scaler, (see below link) but the standard VCR format resolution is lower than that of standard definition TV, which in itself looks "fuzzy" on the larger screen sizes. Also try to keep the video cable as short and direct as possible (not through any switching device). I'm not sure if a new player would help, same format.And once Hi-Def programming gets you spoiled, your VCR tapes may be unwatchable!
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