tmarsh12345
New Member
Hi. I've just bought a cheap usb video grabber to get some old hi 8 tapes on to pc. Recording gives patchy sound and coloured streaks for video. Is it the cheap grabber or the tapes or a setting in OBS? Thanks.
Question / Help Cheap video grabber
- Thread starter tmarsh12345
- Start date
koala
Active Member
It's probably the source material itself. It is aged. And additionally, back when they were state of the art, you didn't realize how bad the quality really was. Now, with today's digitally produced video for comparison, you see their real quality and how bad they actually were.
It may also be the cheap grabber, but I doubt it. If you connect your recorder to a TV you can verify the actual image that's coming out of your recorder and decide if it's the grabber or the source material.
It may also be the cheap grabber, but I doubt it. If you connect your recorder to a TV you can verify the actual image that's coming out of your recorder and decide if it's the grabber or the source material.
tmarsh12345
New Member
Thanks. Tapes are pretty old. Looks ok in the camcorder though. I'll run it throught the tv to check. Should the red, white and yellow all be connected when recording?
carlmmii
Active Member
Normally yes, but the audio doesn't need to go through the grabber. The video will only be sent over the yellow cable (composite), with the audio sent over the Red (right) and White (left) cables.
If you have an RCA->3.5mm adapter, you can send it directly to the Line In on your motherboard if you're worried about the quality of the capture device.
If you have an RCA->3.5mm adapter, you can send it directly to the Line In on your motherboard if you're worried about the quality of the capture device.
tmarsh12345
New Member
Well I ran it through the tv and it doesn't play so i guess it's the tapes.
tmarsh12345
New Member
I'm looking at getting the tapes converted online but I have about 10 of them so it looks like it will be expensive. They seem to guarantee they can convert so I am thinking maybe I could buy a better capture card for equivalent outlay. What do you think?
carlmmii
Active Member
I would think that if your TV doesn't play the tape, then any form of capture device isn't going to help you -- a better capture card just means a more faithful capture from what's being output. If garbage is being output from your player, then the capture card is going to accurately capture that same garbage.
It sounds like you should focus more on being able to restore the tapes. This is one area where the quality of the cassette playing hardware does matter a lot.
It sounds like you should focus more on being able to restore the tapes. This is one area where the quality of the cassette playing hardware does matter a lot.
tmarsh12345
New Member
So why would the tapes play OK in the camcorder and not on the TV? The red yellow and white leads I used I had to connect to an adapter as they did not fit the tv and there is just yellow connecter on the tv. Could that be the problem?