Wanting to improve VCR video (1 Viewer)

[FindleyF]

I connected the DVD player directly to the TV with SVideo cable; looks great. :thumb: Anybody got any suggestions on making the VCR video look better?


http://gridironking.com/htsetup3.html

 

[Sergey M]

I've seen good quality and well-shielded coax cables make an improvement on the signal quality. And also don't split the cable unless you absolutely have to (not saying that you did).

 

[Chuck Kent]

If your setup is as the picture on your link, then yes, you could try connecting the VCR's composite video output to the TV's #2 composite video input. The improvement won't be night and day but it is better than the rf coax feed. (Regular VCRs can achieve about 240 lines of resolution when playing tapes. Your TV can resolve a great more than this. So, there is only so much beter it can get unless you move up to an S-VHS VCR or an S-Video capable TIVO.)

Sound-wise, if you go with the TV Video #2 hookup, you'll need to follow with the audio cables too. Otherwise, you'll get a picture with no sound...

 

[Allan Jayne]

You will get slightly better reproduction of regular VHS tapes, too, with an S-VHS VCR connected via S-video cable. You would get the same improvement with S-video output from a regular VHS VCR but they don't make many (any?) such units.

A further slight improvement is had if the VCR has time base correction. (Time base correctors are also found in a small number of external video processing devices such as an iScan Ultra de-interlacer.)

Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Findley - if you have a tape collection that you want to improve .. I got nothing.

But if you are mainly time-shifting programs to watch later, then there is something that is going to rock your world.

Look into one of the PVR's (Personal Video Recorders) that are part of a sat service (DirectTV or DishNetwork). These things have a hard-drive built in and offer SVideo output.

But the key to the improved quality is this: they record the bits from the sat. This means that every replay is bit-for-bit identical to the original sat broadcast. There is zero generational loss like you get with a VCR.

Even if you went with one of the analog units (Replay, Showstopper, Tivo), the ability to pause/rewind live TV is a godsend.

I cannot recommend these units enough. If you like broadcast TV, you will never go back to a VCR or ordinary cable after using one of these units.

 

[Neil Joseph]

My only other suggestion is to keep the VCR heads clean.