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Archive for the ‘Video Transfer’ Category
Thursday, November 10th, 2011
A lot of transfer companies overstate the importance of transferring video tapes. “Transfer it now…before it fades away forever!” This type of marketing is designed to scare you to death that your precious home movies will magically become unplayable–maybe by tomorrow!
The truth is that with proper care, video tapes can last anywhere from 10 to 25 years–maybe even longer. But since videotapes are comprised of degradable elements, they are particularly susceptible to damage from extreme temperatures (hot and cold), humidity and water issues, and repeated playback. Your tapes probably won’t be unwatchable tomorrow, but when one or more of these issues affects a tape, you do run the risk of losing your video memories permanently. And that’s not hyperbole.
Recent situation: A customer contacted us to ask if we would be able to transfer her family’s old Betamax tapes. She had been planning to have the conversions done for a long time, and recently decided to take the plunge. Here’s the rub: the tapes had been stored in a backyard shed for the past ten years. That means they were exposed to the cold of winter, the hot of summer, and any moisture that had seeped into the shed over the years. In addition, before they were placed in storage, the customer mentioned they had been watched over and over, since they were the only copies of the family’s home videos. (!)
We took a look at the tapes anyway, because we always try to preserve a customer’s videos, even if it seems tough. Naturally, the tapes were difficult for our Betamax decks to handle. Some of the tapes didn’t even have cases, so dirt and dust had gotten mixed into the cassette shell. A few of the shells were noticeably warped.
 And to make matters worse, the tapes were visibly losing oxide. Have you ever flipped open a video tape cassette and seen the actual black plastic tape that threads through the VCR? The “black” on the tape is the oxide, which is where the magnetic particles containing the video and audio are held. If and when the oxide begins to flake off, the tape returns to its initial clear appearance. (At right is a photo that shows how it looks when the black oxide flakes off the originally-clear plastic videotape.)
Some of these tapes had stretches of tape that were completely clear–none of the oxide was even there anymore. On some of them, we could even see the particles drifting around inside the cassette shell.
We were able to restore some of the video on these tapes, but not all of it–and some of it was very unstable and jittery. This customer’s story should serve as a cautionary tale to those who think they have forever to transfer their videos. You might. But do you want to take that chance?
Wednesday, October 19th, 2011
Have you ever noticed that your VCR or camcorder has an option to select different recording modes? Most often, these modes will be called SP or EP. On certain units, you will also see LP or SLP. But all you really need to know is this:
Always use SP!!!
 SP is an abbreviation for “standard play.” SP is the best mode to use for videotape recording because it will provide the clearest and most stable picture, both on your VCR or camcorder as well as other decks. On VHS and 8mm/Hi8 tapes, using SP will enable you to fit 2 hours of video on a single tape. On Mini DV and Digital 8, the SP maximum is one hour per tape. SP was the original recording mode developed by JVC for VHS recording, and the first pair of heads on a VCR or camcorder is always devoted specifically to SP.
But what about LP, EP, and SLP? What are they, and why shouldn’t you use them?
Let’s start with LP, short for “long play.” You rarely see LP mode on VCRs these days, but the setting did exist, primarily on Panasonic VCRs. Back in the dark ages of the VHS v. Betamax format war, the one advantage Betamax had was its ability to record 3 hours on a single tape. VHS was still limited to only 2 hours per tape. So Panasonic developed the LP mode, which could fit 4 hours of video on a single tape. JVC, the original manufacturer of VHS, was furious with Panasonic, which had previously agreed to not develop a lower-quality, longer-recording mode. (But ironically, the development of LP played a large role in VHS’s eventual triumph over Betamax.)
However, the tradeoff is that LP provides lower picture quality than SP. In order to fit twice as much video on the same amount of videotape, the video tracks have to be packed closer together and the tape has to be pulled through the VCR at half speed. Eventually, four-head VCRs were developed to mitigate these problems. One set of heads, at a wide width, are used for SP, and provide optimum picture quality. The other set of heads are used for the lower-quality speeds (LP and EP/SLP) and prioritize on tape economy. But because this second set of heads are narrower–to accommodate the slower tape speed–there is a reduction in video picture quality as well.
JVC retaliated against Panasonic by developing the 6-hour recording mode. This speed can be called either EP (JVC’s term, meaning “extended play”) or SLP (Panasonic’s term, building on their LP terminology and meaning “super long play”). The principles behind EP/SLP are the same as LP: the mode uses narrower heads and slower speeds to write video to the tape at reduced quality. In this case, because the tape is being threaded even more slowly and the video packed onto the tape even more tightly, the resulting quality is worse than LP.
Why did we specifically address the JVC-Panasonic snafu? Because this manufacturer dustup actually played a role in how certain VCRs react to tapes. JVC was so annoyed with Panasonic that it intentionally designed its VCRs to play LP tapes terribly. Even today, we often cannot use JVC VCRs to play LP tapes–they track the tapes very badly, adding a pronounced jitter and occasional dropouts. Fortunately, the same is not true of EP/SLP; in fact, Panasonic’s decks are usually better than JVC’s for EP/SLP conversion work.
LP and EP/SLP tapes–whether they are VHS, Mini DV, or something else–are almost always harder to stabilize during a video transfer. Tapes recorded in these modes are much harder to track, and can also show more color issues, audio problems, and frame skips than those recorded in SP. (Mini DV camcorder guides even caution you against recording in LP!) If the tape has been in storage for many years, that can exacerbate these problems as well.
That is why we advise to always use SP. Using LP or EP/SLP was more understandable in the past, when videotape prices could be high. But tapes are not expensive these days. Buy a few more tapes and record in SP, if you are still using a VCR or tape-based camcorder. You will end up with better-quality recordings, and gain better results if you have your tapes digitized in the future.
Monday, October 10th, 2011
Well, that was short. Today Netflix head honcho announced that the ill-named, ill-conceived, and finally, ill-fated service Qwikster was history. ”It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs,” wrote CEO Reed Hastings. Gee, ya think?
I give credit to Netflix for reversing this decision so quickly, but it still baffles me how such business decision even made it this far. It worries me when no one considers what customers actually want. How about a running a survey or focus group before you make a significant decision like this? Oh well. Moving on…
 In other news, a recent report shows that Blu-Ray is growing significantly. In 2010, 38% of all Blu-Ray players were shipped to North America, according to research firm The NPD Group. The study also predicts that the quantity of shipped Blu-Ray players will surpass shipped DVD players by 2015, when 105 million units are expected to arrive in North America.
The report also contained news on the DVD recorder front. Unsurprisingly, DVD recorders are expected to be completely eliminated in most of the world, save for some units shipped to Japan, over the next three years. It’s actually been a few years since decent DVD recorders were available in the U.S.; for some reason, they have always been more popular in Europe than here.
Blu-Ray recorders are expected to arrive, however–although it’s generally believed that many consumers will move toward devices that lack physical media access altogether. Even now, many Blu-Ray players have the ability to connect to the Internet wirelessly, and many consumers may prefer to opt for a device that simply has a large hard drive or other form of digital storage.
But we’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. First, the U.S. needs a stronger and wider broadband system to make streaming video the norm for consumers. Until that happens, consumers will not rely completely on non-physical media.
And secondly, cloud-based solutions do not solve the question of how best to preserve family films and videos. It’s OK for mass-produced content, but what do you do with a tape that is only going to be shown to your family? Do you want it up in the cloud, physically separated from your house? And what does that mean for ownership when a faceless company has full access to your footage? (Not to mention…what happens if that company suddenly folds and your video vanishes because it’s not actually in your possession?) A lot of questions still remain as these facets of technology advance.
Sunday, October 2nd, 2011
It’s no secret that DVD is on the wane, at least for Hollywood and film releases. But is the delivery of movies and television over the Internet the only way to turn around the 40% decline in home entertainment revenue?
 According to the Los Angeles Times in a recent article, that is exactly what movie studios believe. Over the next few years, there will likely be an explosion of options in streaming video, including everything from web-connected TVs to movie-sharing tools on Facebook, as the studios try desperately to reverse their declining fortunes. As the LA Times puts it, streaming may cause the biggest shift in home entertainment since the launch of DVD in the late 1990s (over a decade ago!).
But while streaming movies is undoubtedly growing, revenue hasn’t even begun to compensate for the drop in DVD sales. Most analysts believe the main reason is that while many movies are available on DVD, far fewer are available for streaming. And customers simply aren’t used to paying for streaming; witness the recent outcry over the Netflix price hikes. Studios are delusional if they think that streaming a new movie will someday earn the same dollar amount as a DVD or Blu-Ray purchase.
Finally, when you compare the ease of DVD to streaming, there is an important contrast as well. DVD was adopted quickly because it was simple: purchase a DVD and play it in your DVD player. DVD was essentially a videotape in a CD shell–an easy concept for consumers to understand and buy. But streaming a movie can be incredibly complex, because there are simply too many confusing options, not to mention the question of how to get the movie from your computer to your den’s 40″ TV. And even if you get the movie downloaded, you’re usually limited to playing it on a single device, which is far less convenient than a disc that can be taken from the living room, to the computer, to the DVD player in the minivan.
The article also addresses the 28-day new release rental delay, as well as the new premium video-on-demand system, both of which we wrote about in a 2010 blog post. In short, some studios may begin imposing longer wait times for DVD rentals and streaming options for new movies, in an effort recoup slowing theater and DVD sales. (Disney, Paramount, and Sony still allow rentals the same day a film is released, and Sony also recently began making some new movies available for streaming purchase two weeks before the DVD release.)
Ultimately, the Hollywood studios want customers to begin using a cloud service, where you can access any movie or show you own from any digital device you have. It’s a great idea, but you are still limited by your Internet connectivity to access movies that you own. Personally, I vastly prefer having my favorite movies only dependent upon my DVD player.
At Timeless DVD, our main thoughts on this situation revolve around how the growth of streaming and the wane of DVD will impact home video transfer. It’s fine to download a movie that a million other people want to download as well. But what is the best and most convenient way to access the digital transfers of your home video tapes? For the foreseeable future, DVD will probably still be the best option for family home movies–but we’re keeping our eye on it.
Saturday, August 7th, 2010
DNR is a common term in electronics. It means “digital noise reduction.” One might think this might be valuable tool–and it can be. But DNR can also stir a lot of emotions for film preservationists and video transfer pros.
 At right is a basic example of DNR in action. The image on the right is the original film. The image on the left is the same image after extensive DNR processing. (Click the image for a larger example, which shows the details more clearly.)
Typically, film and video both show noise. This can range from simple grain in the picture to chroma noise (the red/blue mist that often hovers on top of the picture). Most of the better VCRs, such as the professional lines manufactured by JVC and Panasonic, include various settings for reducing noise. For instance, the JVC HR-S9000 series has a “TBC/DNR” button as well as a picture control setting, both of which adjust the amount of processing in the picture.
When using these types of filters in real time during a transfer, you generally search for a compromise, because removing noise always includes removing detail as well. But there is an ongoing debate about this in many video preservation forums. Some people would rather have more detail (such as the texture of the man’s face) than a smoothed-out, filtered picture. But other people are really bothered by excessive noise and want to completely remove it. So it generally becomes a matter of personal preference.
But both using and not using DNR can both be taken too far. Two DVDs that show the extremes of noise reduction are the releases of 1932′s Grand Hotel and 1942′s Now, Voyager. The DVD of Grand Hotel has very sharp detail in its scenes. But the grain and noise are so thick that they actually hamper the viewing experience. In one scene, Joan Crawford’s character is standing in a shadowed section of a scene, and her reaction to a critical plot point is all but obscured by the grain. In this case, more noise reduction would have helped improve the DVD by leaps and bounds.
By comparison, the DVD of Now, Voyager is a good example of DNR taken way too far. Apparently, this movie was ridiculously processed during transfer, over-filtered as well as over-sharpened. Strangely, for a movie from the 1940s, there is hardly a flicker of grain present in the entire film on DVD (a sure sign of too much DNR). The picture quality throughout appears incredibly sharp; but on closer inspection, skin and hair textures have been completely smoothed away. So it’s likely that the film experienced extreme DNR, followed by edge sharpening–both of which resulted in a presentation that no 1940s director of photography would have created.
In recent years, the transfer of classic films to Blu-Ray has ignited a new round of this argument. There is a trend of studios over-processing older movies for Blu-Ray release, and many film fans and cinephiles are not happy about it. Many studio “suits” reportedly believe that any grain in the picture is evil and should be stripped out (probably thinking that modern audiences expect every HD movie to look like it was made last year). As you can see from the images above, 100% noise removal is not always a good thing–especially where older films are concerned.
DNR should be used carefully to remove grain. As in the Grand Hotel example, if the grain in the film is coarse or distracting–particularly to the extent that it affects an actual scene–it should be removed. But on the other hand, film also has inherent grain in it. If you can’t see any grain at all when moving frame-by-frame in an older film, then it’s likely been scrubbed within an inch of its life–and this just isn’t natural. At that point, not only has the natural film grain been removed, but the textures in actors’ skin and hair and other details in the actual movie as well.
The bottom line is that every film or video tape is different. For videotapes, each tape requires its own settings, which includes choosing the best VCR to play it as well as the most ideal processing settings. At Timeless DVD, we try to strike a balance between removing some noise but not over-processing or over-softening the image. Much of video transfer is made up of compromises, and DNR is a great example.
Monday, July 5th, 2010
 All it takes is a hurricane, unexpected flooding, or month of solid rain, and your house can easily experience significant water issues. What do you do if your video tapes are a casualty of water damage? It actually doesn’t have to mean the video is lost forever–even if the tapes were completely submerged. But if your tapes are exposed to water, here are some pointers to keep in mind.
First, whatever you do, don’t play the tapes in your VCR! Playing wet or water-damaged tapes can further damage the tape, and more importantly, permanently ruin your VCR.
When you see that your tapes have water damage, move quickly. The longer the tapes sit in a damaged state, the worse the deterioration can become. Get the tapes transferred to DVD as soon as you can. We advise finding a video restoration service that specializes in handling environmentally-damaged tapes, since these folks will have the experience to repair and transfer your tape correctly. One such service is Video Interchange.
If you prefer to handle the transfer yourself (again: not recommended!), here’s what to do. First, if the tapes are still wet, submerge them into distilled water. This will wash any contaminants, such as chlorine, salt, or sewage, off the tapes. If the tapes have dried, skip this step–it’s best to not make dry tapes wet again.
To dry out a tape–either after the actual damage or the distilled water bath–extract the reels of tape from the cassette and place them in a cool, dark location. Ensure that the place also has good air flow; an oscillating fan can help with this. Don’t use any drying method involving heat (such as a hair dryer), since excess heat will cause tape to warp. When the tape is fully dried, replace the reels in the shell and try it out in the VCR. (Carefully!)
And one final note: analog tapes, such as VHS, usually survive water damage better than digital tapes, such as Mini DV.
Water damage to tapes is definitely a scary thing! But the good news is that a video transfer can usually be made from the tapes, preserving their essential video content.
Saturday, June 19th, 2010
There’s a fallacy out there about Blu-Ray DVDs: they have the best video quality possible. It’s not true. By far, the number one complaint about Blu-Ray from frequent disc purchasers is that the quality is not always the best it can be.
 Why is this happening? For some reason, most Blu-Ray discs that come out these days are loaded with random extras, such as a features that let you use your iPhone as a remote for your Blu-Ray player, or look up recipes with BD-Live. But many of these releases are very disappointing in terms of their audio and video quality–which is the main feature that video enthusiasts look for.
Is is possible that studios are adding all these extra features to try to get more average consumers to buy discs? Absolutely. But here’s the problem: we’re in the middle of a recession, and “average consumers” are not purchasing Blu-Ray right now. They’re still buying or renting plain old standard DVD.
The folks who are spending their hard-earned money on Blu-Ray releases are film and tech enthusiasts. These are the people who buy all the special editions and box sets and view collecting awesome DVD or Blu-Ray releases as a hobby. And by far, what these enthusiasts want are their favorite films on Blu-Ray in the absolute best quality possible. Period!
Ideally, a film on Blu-Ray should look as good as it did using the very best projector on the day that it opened–whether that was in 1940 or 1970. That doesn’t mean it needs to be absolutely perfect. But studios need folks to run these conversions who have real film restoration experience. Too many older films are released on Blu-Ray that have noise reduction taken to extremes, with the grain normally present in old movies completely buffed away. Not every movie needs to look like it was shot in HD. Black and white films can look absolutely beautiful on Blu-Ray, even with much of the grain intact; just look at any of the Criterion releases for a good example. (Clearly, Criterion is one studio that values experienced film transfer technicians, and not added bells and whistles.)
Unfortunately, many studios seem to think that running 5-year-old HD transfers of their films through a DNR-heavy digital process will create an acceptable Blu-Ray transfer. And then they simply load up the disc with picture-in-picture viewing modes, streaming options, and other interactive crap, and charge more money for the disc. Well, this is not a great strategy, given who is purchasing these discs–and over the long-term, will result in lower and lower sales for Blu-Ray, particularly if the economy does not improve.
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
Here’s a recent question from a Timeless DVD customer:
Timeless DVD just completed a transfer for my home videos, and the DVDs are great. Since I have a second copy of each DVD, can I throw away my original tapes? Tapes take up a lot of space and that’s one thing we don’t have in our house.
Basically, there are two ways of looking at this.
The pros: By tossing your tapes, you’ll save a lot of space.
The cons: If a better transfer method comes along in the future–or if you are not 200% happy with your DVDs–there is no way to redo the transfer. In addition, you may want your video to be in a different format someday. For example, you might transfer your tapes to DVD now, but what if you want to edit high-quality DV AVI files of your tapes later on? You’ll be much better off creating your AVIs from the original tapes than converting the video from a compressed DVD.
 Most professionals would tell you to NOT throw out your tapes, although the reasons to transfer them to DVD or to video files still applies. The materials that comprise a VHS tape are subject to degradation, especially when the tape is used repeatedly or not kept safe from dust and harsh environmental conditions. And tapes are magnetically-based, which means that the signal recorded on the tape can be affected by electromagnetic energy. But a tape can last anywhere from 10-40 years, depending on the conditions it experiences and the quality of the manufactured tape.
So is it reasonable to assume that with correct care, a tape can last through multiple transfers–the main reason to keep them? Absolutely. Store them in an out-of-the-way but safe place. (If you want to be really safe, store them at a separate location from your DVDs for ultimate protection in the event of a fire or other disaster.) Ensure that they don’t experience any extreme temperatures (either hot or cold), direct sunlight, or humidity. Keep them rewound all the way to the beginning and stand them upright. For added protection, seal them in an airtight container along with a large bag of silica gel to absorb any moisture. (See our How to Correctly Store Video Tapes page more discussion on this topic.)
The other part of the argument is that short-run DVDs are not infallible. The Taiyo Yuden discs we use at Timeless DVD are very highly rated, both in terms of authoring reliability as well as longevity testing. It’s estimated that a well-made disc like TY will last 20-30 years at a minimum, and most will probably average 40-50 years before they begin having issues. But no one single tape or disc brand is 100% perfect, and even DVDs are not immune to fingerprints, dust, scratches, and human error.
Additionally, if a DVD has a bad sector, then the entire disc will be unreadable by a DVD player–and the disc may be unrecoverable if the problem occurs at important points on the DVD. This is not true of video tapes. A tape will usually be playable (or at least fixable) even if it has flaws, splices, or other bad sections.
So we recommend keeping your home video and camcorder tapes, no matter what. These tapes are one-of-a-kind masters that can never be replaced or reshot. On the other hand, most commercial movies or television shows will always be available in one way or another, so it is not critical to safely store every VHS movie you’ve ever owned. (The only exception: rare or out of print TV shows or movies.)
We all want a clutter-free home. But don’t assume that just because you’ve had your tapes transferred to DVD, they are safe to throw away.
Thursday, June 10th, 2010
There’s a lot of software and gadgets out there that imply that transferring VHS tapes to DVD is a snap. However, the truth is that VHS is one of the most difficult formats to transfer! Here are some of the potential issues we watch for when preparing to transfer a VHS tape.
 Before beginning a transfer, it is necessary to visually inspect the tape closely. (This is true of every transfer.) The first thing to do is make sure that the flap covering the plastic tape flips open and closed correctly. If a tape is broken, the hinge is frequently where the problem lies.
If nothing looks wrong there, then the plastic tape must also be checked for rips, mold, dirt, or water damage–all of which can seriously damage a VCR. And of course, give the cassette shell a once-over for any other cracks, peeling labels, or any issues that catch the eye. It doesn’t take much for a small defect to cause serious problems in a deck.
Then you must select the VHS deck to use–a harder prospect than it sounds! VHS was unarguably the most popular home video format throughout the 1980s and 1990s, which means that lots of different manufacturers made decks and video cameras. In general, each manufacturer developed its deck slightly differently, with JVC and Panasonic at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of tape handling.
Because of all the different decks and camcorders that were out there, and by extension the many different ways a tape could have been recorded, it’s difficult to predict exactly how a tape will play when it is inserted in a given deck. It’s usually necessary to try each tape in more than one deck in order to obtain the most stable playback. Naturally, this is one of the most frustrating and time-consuming aspects of VHS transfer! We use a variety of the highest-quality decks out there, from different manufacturers, so we are usually able to circumvent the tracking and stabilization issues that cheaper consumer VCRs experience. But even with the best equipment, it still isn’t always possible stabilize aged tapes or recordings that were created with misaligned heads or tape transport errors.
Finally, there are restoration issues. Many older tapes experience image degradation, which involves everything from contrast to color shifts. The extent of these problems often depends on how well or poorly a tape was stored and cared for over the years. The only way to fix these issues is with a processing amplifier, also called a color corrector. Whenever we begin to transfer a tape, we work with the adjustments on our proc amp to set the black, the gain (white), the saturation, and the hue for the playback picture. Most tapes require at least some adjustment to the black and the gain. Dubbed tapes often need some saturation, while aged tapes are most often in need of some hue shifting.
Video transfer isn’t rocket science, but careful technicians will be aware of these issues and work to deliver the best VHS conversion possible. And that’s what we always do here!
Monday, May 24th, 2010
At least a quarter of Timeless DVD’s customers are not interested in preserving their videos on DVD. Instead, they want to have their tapes converted to video files and store them on a hard drive, possibly for future editing or easier online sharing with friends and family. Sometimes these customers will also have all of their old photos digitized as well.
So we are often asked, “What’s the best hard drive to use for media storage?” The answer depends largely on what you are planning to do with the videos or photos once they’re on the drive.
For instance, if you’re simply looking to archive your videos or photos, then all you need is a drive that matches the size of your files. But keep in mind that DV AVIs and Quicktime/MOV files typically take up a lot of space: roughly 13 GB for each hour of video. So if you know how many hours of video you have, you simply need to find a drive that’s the appropriate size.
On the other hand, if your goal is to edit your video files, you need to make sure that you have enough free space on the drive for additional files as well. Editing video entails required space for render files, clips, and various other files that most video software programs create during the project. In addition, if you plan to store your video files on the hard drive and edit them from there (without copying them to your internal drive), you’ll need an external drive that has a fast connection to the computer. Look for external drives that have Firewire or eSata connections, as opposed to just USB.
Hard drives come in a wide variety of flavors. Some of the more common styles include flash or thumb drives, small USB portable drives, and large, traditional external hard drives (which often have the most connection options).
Flash drives are very small, and usually are in solid-state format (utilizing a special memory chip with rewritable cells). Unlike a traditional drive, a solid-state drive will be much faster, cool to the touch, and lack any moving parts that can malfunction. Most Flash drives hold a capacity of a few MB to 256 GB. They work best for those who frequently need to transfer small files between computers.
Traditional USB drives are portable, and come in the 2.5″ hard drive size. They are designed to be used with laptops, and as such, often do not require a power plug to be attached. They are slightly more expensive per GB than standard 3.5″ drives.
Most of the drives you see advertised as external hard drives are standard 3.5″ SATA drives in an enclosure. They almost always have USB connectors, and often have Firewire and eSATA as well. Typical external hard drives can hold huge amounts of data (up to 4 TB!) and are ideal for people with large quantities of video files. These types of drives are generally the best option for video files and editing.
So consider what your project will be, and purchase your drive accordingly. There are tons of products out there–one for every project!
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