Vhs Colour

[johndee]

Hi,

I have been converting all my VHS tapes to DVD's (The ones I could not get out of).

I noticed that the ones from camcorders seem to have lost much of the colour (Mainly red); but pre-recorded and TV programs of the same age seem OK.

Anyone have any comment?

Thanks to Huffy for the tip on Iulabs, I am using that and ConvertX, it gets round the Mickey Mouse (Macrovision) problem.

JB

[50mxe20]

Just to clarify:

Same VHS media for both?

Or is the Camcorder data on the original camcorder tapes?

[johndee]

Just to clarify:

Same VHS media for both?

Or is the Camcorder data on the original camcorder tapes?

One is our wedding, on Fuji, the others include a sail training video 12 years newer on Maxell, and one on Phillips. all standard VHS tapes, the ones from the TV vary also, usually the cheapest we could get for the young children (They are OK)

JB

[50mxe20]

Just to clarify:

Same VHS media for both?

Or is the Camcorder data on the original camcorder tapes?

One is our wedding, on Fuji, the others include a sail training video 12 years newer on Maxell, and one on Phillips. all standard VHS tapes, the ones from the TV vary also, usually the cheapest we could get for the young children (They are OK)

JB

Very strange. Have no explanation. I have stuff on the original tapes that seems to fatique quicker than the proper VHS tapes but if it is all on the VHS tapes it's hard to fathom.

[mtv]

Are they all original tapes, with no 'domestic' copying/duplication? EG: Your wedding video is the actual tape used in the VHS camcorder and not edited with titles, music etc? If it has been edited, was it produced by a professional video producer using professional equipment?

Chroma levels vary greatly in domestic camcorders and depending on the technology of the image sensor (and number of sensors) used.

The bandwidth and track-width of commercially duplicated VHS tapes is superior to domestic recordings.

The 'source' program is usually from broadcast-quality recordings and equipment. This is the most common reason why commercially-produced VHS recordings look so much better than ones recorded/duplicated on domestic equipment and yes, red is usually the colour most noticeable, both in loss of contrast and level, plus it tends to 'bleed' at the edges.

Recordings off-air onto VHS generally fair a tad better, due to the broadcast-quality signal.

With the advent of better quality optics and sensors used in camcorders, together with digital recording technology, the differences between domestic and professional formats has become far less than the old VHS days.

[kootaberra]

Hi,

I have been converting all my VHS tapes to DVD's (The ones I could not get out of).

I noticed that the ones from camcorders seem to have lost much of the colour (Mainly red); but pre-recorded and TV programs of the same age seem OK.

Anyone have any comment?

Thanks to Huffy for the tip on Iulabs, I am using that and ConvertX, it gets round the Mickey Mouse (Macrovision) problem.

JB

It may be that the camcorder tapes have what could be called 'high colour burst' level. Now the off air could be a lower level, which when replayed causes the AGC to raise the colour level. Now if the pre-recorded have the same level as the off air, then the cam corder could have 'high' colour burst level.

The only way is to put the tapes through a TBC which can 'replace' the coulour burst and alow you to adjust the colour (chroma) level. hope this helps.

[mtv]

The only way is to put the tapes through a TBC which can 'replace' the coulour burst and alow you to adjust the colour (chroma) level. hope this helps.

TBC = Time Base Corrector. Commonly used to correct and balance chroma (colour) and luminance (brightness/contrast) levels

[DrP]

Decent video editors will let you tweak the saturation levels of colour channels to correct the problem anyway. If the edit you use doesn't (and you don't mind getting your hands dirty) there is always avisynth