Converting VHS & Beta Video Tapes to DVD For Best Quality.

e found that most software companies like tocommon noise that is found on video tapes before it
promote how easy it is to transfer your VHS tapesencodes the digital signal. Though trial and error I
to DVD when using their software. Although theirhave tried all combinations of settings of these filters.
products do make this process very easy, I haveThese filters made no improvement in the final DVD
found that the final video on DVD is worse then thequality. The 3D filter left a ghost trail behind objects
original VHS tape. After trying several common VHSas the camera panned. The 2D filter and the Y/C
to DVD software products I became frustrated thatseparation had no effect at all. My final DVD’s
I could not achieve the original video quality of thewere created with all of the filters turned off.
original VHS tape. DVD technology surpasses VHSAlthough I didn’t use the filters, it is highly
tapes by a long shot and in my mind there is norecommended that everyone try all combinations of
reason why there should be any degeneration ofthese filters for each of their tapes. Every VCR
video quality after the transfer. After much trial andrecording has its own unique noise characteristic. One
error and hundreds of hours spent I have written thiscombination of filter settings does not work for all
article. This article reviews three (3) popular softwaretapes so you need to experiment with these filters.
products and describes a method on how to convertThe output file settings on the Procoder were:
your VHS tapes to DVD while achieving little to no1.Quality/Speed: High Speed
degeneration in video quality on the final DVD.2.Bitrate Type: Variable Rate (VBR)
Common Software Products Tested:3.Number of Passes: 2 Pass.
Three (3) software programs were tried:4.Video Bitrate: 4500 kb/s
1. Roxio VHS to DVD5.Max. Bitrate: 7000 kb/s
2. Homestech 4.0 VHS to DVD6.Min Bitrate: 2000 kb/s
3. Pinnacle Systems - Dazzle DVD RecorderIncreasing these numbers may make your final DVD
The above software packages were the mostnon-standard compliant.
popular and seemed to be very attractive to get theWhy do many of the popular software programs
job done. They were available at local computerdegrade the quality of the original video? This
stores and were also the most popular softwarerequires an understanding each of the processes
packages found within internet search engines. Theinvolved:
above software packages use a small USB device1. Convert the original signal from analog to digital.
that allows the VCR to be connected to the2. Encode and create a file from the digital signal.
computer. The USB device converts the analog signal3. Convert file to MPEG file format.
to digital before sending it into the computer. The4. Convert MPEG file to VOB files for use on final
final DVD produced by each of the three (3)DVD.
products was less quality then the original VHS video.Whenever there is an encoding or conversion
The software that came with each of the packagesprocess a “codec” is needed. A codec
installed properly and was working fine. The Pinnacleis a technical term that can be best described as
Systems product did not come with a driver. Theirbeing an interpreter between two different speaking
website did not have any drivers. After several hourslanguages. Most language interpreters have an accent.
I could not get the Pinnacle product to work at all.This accent is the interpreters’ own
The other 2 products were returned due to thedegeneration of the language they are interpeting to.
video quality being noticeably lower then the originalSome interpreters have heavier accents then others.
VHS tapes. It was determined that the digital signalVery few interpreters have no accent. Since
produced by each of the small USB devices was aconverting a VHS tape to a DVD involves more then
major cause of the final DVD being of poor quality. Itone interpretation, or conversion, the opportunity for
was also determined that the software in each ofdegeneration will always be present. The conversion
the packages contributed to the final DVD to alsoprocess needs to be programmed by the software
have lower video quality then the VHS tapes.developer. The less the accent, or degeneration, the
Final VHS to DVD Process Used:more time, knowledge, and skill are required on behalf
After trying and then returning each of the softwareof the programmer who is creating each of the
products above, I spent many hours researching thiscodecs within the software programs. The three (3)
task. I have managed to talk to some video expertssoftware programs that were tested and returned
and read hundreds of forum posts. The final processcost around $50.00. The developers are not going to
to convert VHS to DVD with little to no degenerationspend excess resources on a software program
in video quality was:costing this little.
1. Use the Canopus ADVC-300 Advanced DigitalSo how one to know which software is converts the
Video Converter to convert the VCR output tobest? You don’t. The only way is through
digital format. This unit needs a firewire connectionlengthy, timely, and frustrating trial and error. The
on your PC.author of this article went though months of trial and
2.Use a free software called “Win DV”error and reading forum posts from many experts.
to capture the digital video (DV) and create AVI filesThe purpose of this article is to give you a way to
on your hard drive. Capturing digital video softwareconvert your VHS tapes to DVD with near perfect
only captures to AVI files. There isn’tquality while sparing you the timely trial and error.
software available that captures directly to MPEGThe Final Cost:
files which is what you need for DVDs. Additional fileAlthough they cost around $50.00 dollars, the three
converting is necessary.(3) software packages tested earlier in this article
3. Use “Canopus Procoder 3” to splithave poor conversion and are not worth using if you
the AVI files into M2V video and WAV audio files.are trying to achieve the best quality in converting
4. Use “TMPGEnc MPEG Editor” toyour VHS tapes to DVD. I have purchased the
combine the M2V video and the WAV files into MPEGADVC-300 converter, Procoder, and TMPgenic
files.software from eBay totaling about $550.00. After all
5. Use “TMPGEnc MPEG Editor” cutVHS tapes were converted the ADVC-300 and
and remove portions of the MPEG files if needed.software was sold on eBay and the net cost was
6. Use “TMPGEnc MPEG Editor” toabout $120.00. Although the up-front cost of the
author and create the final DVD’sequipment and software may be non-desirable, your
The Canopus ADVC-300 is a unit design specificallyfinal cost is well worth having the best quality of
for converting analog to digital signals from VCRs. Ityour old video tapes on DVD.
has several built-in filters designed to filter out