Railfan Technology > VHS to DVD or digital media

Is there a way to transfer a VHS video from VHS to DVD (or other digital media) and still keep a quality picture and sound. Specifically, I have a favorite VHS of mine, "Trains On Location - Cascade Crossing", on VHS but nothing to play it on any more.

Thanks.

If the video is commercial it is likely copy protected and you will not be able to do a copy unless you hack that protection. If the manufacturer is still in business he can probably sell you a DVD copy which will have far better images.

Posted from Windows Phone OS 7

fbe Wrote:
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> If the video is commercial it is likely copy
> protected and you will not be able to do a copy
> unless you hack that protection. If the
> manufacturer is still in business he can probably
> sell you a DVD copy which will have far better
> images.
>
> Posted from Windows Phone OS 7

Yeah, they are, Trains Magazine! I looked on their website and couldn't even find any DVD's.

Over the last few years, I have been transferring my VHS tapes to DVD discs using domestic machines. ie from my elderly VHS player to a DVD recorder which the supermarket sells. The Trains on Location tapes will not copy or transfer. I am told a spare track on the tape was used to prevent such copying. Chris UK.

The burned DVDs will only be playable for around 5 years or so. The only digital media that lasts for a significant amount of time is magnetic hard drive. VHS tape might last longer if stored well. The problem is VHS machines will fail from the deterioration of rubber belts and rollers and dried out lubricants.

I have one of these, and it copies very well, but you need to read the applicable pages in the manual:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CCILYDA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You must use DVR-R (emphasis the dash, not plus, as it won't work with those)

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have one of these, and it copies very well, but
> you need to read the applicable pages in the
> manual:
>
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CCILYDA/ref=oh
> _aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
>
> You must use DVR-R (emphasis the dash, not plus,
> as it won't work with those)

But will it copy VCR tapes with copy protection (believe the copy protection is called Macrovision)?

Pretty bad when you buy a product, but later can't use it any more even though it's just fine. That's why I like real books and magazines, you can't take the format of those away (well, might need some adjustment with reading glasses as I am getting old...).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/14 15:03 by cpn456.

< But will it copy VCR tapes with copy protection (believe the copy protection is called Macrovision)? >

I have copied about a dozen commercial tapes, but no idea if they had that sort of protection. Some were from Revelation Videos.

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> < But will it copy VCR tapes with copy protection
> (believe the copy protection is called
> Macrovision)? >
>
> I have copied about a dozen commercial tapes, but
> no idea if they had that sort of protection. Some
> were from Revelation Videos.

I believe legitimate owners of videos have limited rights to make copies for archival purposes, so I think it's kosher for me to say publicly that there are equipment available to defeat Macrovision, and it's affordable. People who are serious should be able to find more info on the Internet, right?

I used to own an obscure-brand VCR player which I bought from an electronic surplus store, and was surprised when I digitized old tapes on my Mac and didn't have the Macrovision color/sound distortion that showed up when I used my more expensive Sony VCR player. Sadly, I have neither machines anymore.

Thank you for your ideas and posts. If someone has a suggestion to this, I'd sure be interested in hearing about it; maybe just getting them on the computer in a digital media is the best bet. It seems hard to imagine that people just let their movies/videos go to the trash because there isn't a medium to play them any more. It's worse in this case as I have some of these videos that apparently are not available in any format any more. I certainly hate not being able to watch videos of SP SD's clawing their way up Cascade Summit any more because of this!!!

radar Wrote:
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> The burned DVDs will only be playable for around 5
> years or so.

Why would that be?
Thanks

RRTom Wrote:
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> radar Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The burned DVDs will only be playable for around
> 5
> > years or so.
>
> Why would that be?
> Thanks
The coating which shall receive the images shall in time deteriorate.
Then too DVDs and their brethren shall also disappear.
Technology allows us to acquire music and related
directly from the Internet, to be placed upon our own
computers to view or to listen.
For example those SDHC (SD High Capacity)
small cards or even the mini cards will hold a vast amount of
information.

Over time, various methods of saving electronic documentation
have disappeared from circulation, remember 5 inch floppy disks
or those three inch square discs which held 1.5mb of data?
Where are the devices to use that information?

Best bet is probably a series of lower capacity of fixed
hard drives. I don't know for how long
the viability of information on the newer
solid state/non-moving
hard drive installed in some laptops
shall be usable.

Even though my 15" MacBook Pro has a 500 gig solid state
hard drive I still back up to a traditional RAID
series of hard drives.

Bryce Lee,
Burlington, Ontario
Canada

Thumper Wrote:
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> I don't know for how long
> the viability of information on the newer
> solid state/non-moving
> hard drive installed in some laptops
> shall be usable.

That information is held by electrostatic charge, the same force that keeps a balloon stuck to the wall after you rub it on your arm.