DVDr quality with VHS, laser and cable.... (1 Viewer)

[John Morgan]

I recently got a Pioneer DVD-R recorder and am in the process of converting VHS tapes, and lasers that are not out yet on prerecord DVD to DVDr. Anyway, I know there is a general issue of bit rate and quality, but I was hoping to get some feedback from this forum on length of programming before any noticeable degradation of the original is concerned. I have been using exclusively the optimize setting which uses all the available disc space for the length of the progam. I assume that a too low bit rate is a different kind of degradation than say an old VHS dupe of a dupe. So, if possible, I don't want anything less than my original, but if I can fit two short films on a disc, that is preferable...especially for old tapes.
So, my question is what maximum time would you recommend for the following formats to DVD-r without a noticeable loss of quality.

1. LASER DISCS
2. regular prerecorded VHS
3. Super VHS (actually that ET mode on the JVC machine)
4. Old VHS tapes that have obviously been dupes of dupes.
5. Off air cable (digital) like TCM, FMC, etc.

Also, I use my Times Warner DVR to make sure I record and get what I want, then I tranfer it to the DVR built into my Pioneer DVD recorder and then after editing out beginnings and ends I don't need, I burn my disc. My DVR goes into my DVDR recorder via superVHS connection. Am I losing any quality by going this extra step?

Thanks,
John

 

[ChuckSolo]

The best I can tell you is that on my Gateway DVDR, the two and four hour modes are the best. Since mine will only record two, four, and six hours, I stick with the first two. I have recorded old 8mm home movies from my Sony camcorder to my Gateway using the 6 hr mode and the results were excellent. Do you mean the DVDR is being fed by the DVR via the S-Video connection? You will always get a degradation when going from a digital connection to an analog one, which S-Video is. I wouldn't worry about it though.

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

Hi John.

How big is your TV?

I've found on my Panasonic recorder that I'm very happy with the results when I put 2 to 2.5 hours on a DVD from LD. I've recorded sporting events at lower quality from standard def satellite, and I'm unhappy with the results at the 4 hour setting on our 52" TV, but they look just fine on my parents' 29" TV. However, at 3.5 hours the results border on acceptable on the 52" TV, and at 3 hours I'm happy with the results. I haven't put a 3 hour movie on a DVD from LD yet, so I don't know how it'll look, but I imagine it'll be fine.

I've recorded some television to send to a friend in Japan at the 8 hour setting, and it looks better than the EP VHS tapes we were sending before, but not by a whole lot.

 

[John Morgan]

Thanks Chuck and Aaron. My television is just a Sony 35 incher. So far, the stuff looks great. Hopefully a lot of the prerecord VHS tapes I have will eventually make it to DVD, but one never knows!

So far, everything looks fine to me. Of course, if I get a bigger screen someday, I hope the results are still decent. Usually I put one title per DVD for my lasers...even with running times around 90 minutes, but on VHS, I usually figure I can go up to that 3 hour level you mention. I just don't want to waste a lot of DVD space if two titles can fit on one DVD without it looking worse than the original source.

Thanks....
John