Archiving VHS
 

I want to archive about 30 VHS tapes onto DVD, using my PC. But there's that old format issue: DVD+ or DVD-. Read allot on the 'net, where the general consensus is that DVD- is more compatible (or is it less in-compatible?). Other than burning both formats, which I'd like to avoid, as I'll be giving these to numerous family members, can anyone offer some advice? Thanks

QuickTime H.264.
Or wmv if forced to.
Chip

DVD-R preferred if they are going to be played in a DVD player. If they are going to be played on computers, then H.264 (in this case the disc is just a digital file carrier like a CD, not formatted as a video DVD).

Really, the best video result I have obtained is with a dual VCR/DVD recorder, if you can get hold of one.

The real difference between +R and -R is that DVD+R has better defect management than -R (see the Wiki entry for DVD+R), though this is a benefit generally only seen by computers writing data. The real benefit that DVD+R has is that its rewritable version, DVD+RW, does not need to be finalized before being read by another player. For example, if I record a TV show on my DVD recorder and then put the disc into my computer, the computer will be able to play the video, even if I don't finalize it on the DVD recorder; I just won't have a fancy-schmancy menu to select from. There are other small differences, like drag and drop writing, but these probably don't apply to movie making. And DVD+Rs/+RWs can have their book type changed so that they "trick" players into thinking that its a DVD-ROM disc, a.k.a. a commercial-type DVD. Check your PC burning software for this; my guess is that most stand-alone DVD recorders would do this by default

Now, I've used DVD+R since we got a DVD Recorder in 2006. I have no idea what made me buy a pack of DVD+RWs over anything else, but I've used those and DVD+Rs since then, and have never had any compatibility issues. I even have an old Panasonic DVD player from 2001 that can read DVD+Rs from the computer and recorder just fine. And most of these early machines have either died by now or have been replaced by Blu-Ray machines with Internet connectivity, so I don't think the compatibility issue is that important anymore. I say go online to Amazon, pick a good brand like Verbatim AZO or Taiyo Yuden, and do the eenie-meenie-minie-moh. A lot more info about DVD burning and quality can be found at this website: www.digitalfaq.org

Like old_tv_nut said, a stand-alone DVD Recorder like the Panasonic models will generally give you better results than video cards, except for professional (read: expensive) capture cards. A method I found that works great is use a stand-alone recorder to copy the VHS onto a DVD+RW (no finalizing needed!), rip it onto your computer, edit the video and make a menu for it, and then burn as many copies as you need onto a +R or -R disc. You get the great quality of the DVD recorder, and the editing ease of your PC.

Granted this thread is a few weeks old, but I just want to offer my two cents.

Personally, I don't like to work with the VCR/DVD decks. If you want to do any kind of video cleanup after using one, you have to worry about dealing with the compression artifacting from the DVD and any added again by re-encoding.

It might make me sound like a masochist, but I still use capture cards based on the tried and true BT878 chipset to get complete control of the incoming video signal and store it in a lossless format like HuffYUV or Lagarith with the audio as uncompressed PCM. From there I can do any color adjustments or video noise reduction using VirtualDub or Avisynth as well as audio cleanup in something like Audacity. Once I get something I'm happy with, then I can encode it in a final format and archive the lossless copy.

I am starting to shop for a DVD recorder; even that is way "high-tech" for me! The trick is that I want to do some "tape trading" but that means dubbing to DVD these days. I have a bunch of points saved up with a rewards company through work; I'm not sure if this link will open to the general public, but I'll try:
http://www1.awardslinq.com/ecommerce...tegory_id=1339
This is the only real DVD recorder they had; I have enough points to get it for free, including shipping. It's a Toshiba, the only specs it gives:
-R/RW, +R/RW w/ OTR (no tuner), USB Port (Photos/Music) DV in., HDMI (1080p), CE-Link, Auto Finalization

Are there any reasons to stay away from this for my purposes? I'd hate to get it and then be told my copies aren't any good or some such.

To nocusr: You might have to figure out what DVD players your family members use. I had a Panasonic DVD-A120 from 1999 that only played DVD-R discs, it refused to play DVD+R. Every other DVD player in the house and what my friends had played both finalized +R/-R video discs flawlessly. If you think their DVD players are recent, it could be safe to use either format. Just pick a good quality disc manufacturer.


To bgadow: I have a refurbished Toshiba DKVR60 (Funai) that I used for most in-house tapes in my school's department (around 300 recordings, most tapes were over 90 minutes), though I never used the VHS side of the machine, as most of the tapes were linear mono/stereo and that deck was not up to par on reproducing linear tracks (background noise), let alone the less than stellar reliability of modern Funai VHS decks. I used external video recorders to play back the transfers (Kenwood KV-905, Sony SLV-M91HF, a couple of JVC SVHS machines, a couple of multisystem decks and others--as those were cheap thrift finds). The DVD recorder section is very reliable, more so than the Samsung unit I had used before it got a bit "picky" with the discs and glitchy firmware. We also used a really ugly looking Emerson (Funai) DVD recorder from 2005 or so, which had been very beat up and used it for a while before getting the combo, though it was very picky on certain discs, as it preferred Verbatim DVD-Rs, and no problems. It was retired after many recordings, but it still works. The only downside is that the recorded disc menus cannot be bypassed, let alone be customized (no preview images/clips, just a list of titles). If you need or want a proper DVD menu, you may need a capture card and personal computer. I think you can also rip the disc and work a menu on the computer-end, though I haven't done that. I do recommend Funai-made DVD recorders (Toshiba, Emerson, et al.) for high volume recordings, as they have been very reliable for what we had used them for.

Also, I have used a 2005 Panasonic DMR-ES10 and a 2003 Sony RDR-GX7 for a couple of recordings and both have produced good results. The GX7 has a few available picture tweaks, though the GX7 has known reliability issues with the original IDE drive (I haven't used it much, so it works fine). The ES10 can be set to bypass the title menu and change the frame of the preview before finalizing, but for full control, you may need to use a computer.

I have used the computer solution, though I only have notebooks and a Sony DCR-TRV340 D8 camcorder to do the A/D conversion and edit from there. The results were nice and very tweakable, but was impractical for our needs.

Thanks, jedo! I went ahead and ordered the Toshiba; I can't beat the price, of course. Next I'll study up on the best discs to buy.

Sure thing! For the price of free, it's definitely worth a shot.