Suddenly stopped working, black screen

F

fairdoswil

New Member
Hi,
I was converting vhs tapes to digital on my MacBook Pro. I managed to successfully convert a dozen tapes without any issues.
Now for some reason, I just get a black screen (audio still comes through). I have tried using quicktime and get the same issue.
I have tried two different vcrs and two different converter kits and also tried on a windows laptop but not getting anywhere. I also tried the videos that previously played fine and now they are just presenting the same black screen issue.

Any ideas?!
 
Since it's happening on Windows too, this is almost certainly not OBS or Mac side. When audio comes through but video is black across multiple VCRs and converter kits, it's usually either the tapes starting to degrade or Macrovision copy protection if you're now trying to convert any commercially released VHS. Do the tapes that previously worked still fail, or is this only happening with a newer batch?
 
turingsroot said:
Since it's happening on Windows too, this is almost certainly not OBS or Mac side. When audio comes through but video is black across multiple VCRs and converter kits, it's usually either the tapes starting to degrade or Macrovision copy protection if you're now trying to convert any commercially released VHS. Do the tapes that previously worked still fail, or is this only happening with a newer batch?
Click to expand...
Hey cheers for the reply. It’s happening to tapes that previously worked too.
 
That points to physical tape degradation then. Magnetic oxide can start breaking down even on tapes that previously worked — check if any of them have a musty or vinegar smell, that's a pretty reliable indicator. If these are important recordings, a professional VHS transfer service may still be able to salvage them before things get worse.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top