VHS to OBS

[NickArr0w]

Hi!
I would like to know which are the best settings in OBS when it comes to capture old VHS tapes into my desktop computer.
My highest resolution for my computer screen I can use is 1280x1024. Should I set that resolution as "Base (Canvas Resolution)
or is another resolution recommended when it comes to record old VHS tapes?
I'm playing the CRT on my old PAL CRT using scart so I guess I should set the common FPS as "50 PAL".
What should the output scaled resolution be and should I choose Bicubic or Lanczos?
Should the encoder be set to CPU or GPU? Does it make any difference?
There's also a rescale option but unsure what resolution should be set there if marked.
Also wonder what bitrate should be enough for this purpose.

My setup is that my VCR goes into my CRT with scart so I can see footage on my CRT. In the output I have another scart goes into a scart switch, then into a scart to hdmi converter who then goes into my capture card, into my computer. I get picture and sound but want to know what the best settings in OBS would be as the picture looks a little strange in the computer. I have also noticed that there is some audio synch issues after a while.

Hope anyone can help me out!
Thanks!

 

[koala]

Plug your vcr directly into the capture device that converts the analog signal to digital to minimize analog signal decay. You can preview with OBS, you don't need any intermediate monitoring.

Common recording resolutions for analog material is 768x576 or 720x540, and it depends on your video standard NTSC or PAL. Set OBS to 50 fps if you're using PAL, and to 59.94 if you're using NTSC.
Don't use higher resolutions, because there is no more video detail to record. You will only record more noise. I recommended to downscale to 320x240 in a postprocessing step to squeeze out some noise. The native resolution of VHS tapes is not higher than 320x240, so there's no detail lost.

 

[NickArr0w]

Thank you koala for your reply. Ok, I will try to capture without CRT view and also try the resolutions you are mentioning.
I forgot to mention that I can set resolution on the capture card itself. Should it be the same resolution: 768x576 both in the capture card, Base (Canvas Resolution) and in the output (Scaled) resolution in OBS?

 

[koala]

It's best if all resolutions are the same, so no rescaling will take place.

 

[NickArr0w]

Ok, thanks! The lowest resolution my capture card can go is 640x480. Is 768x576 still the way to go?

 

[koala]

Never upscale. If your capture card supports 640x480 as maximum, use this for everything.

 

[NickArr0w]

Ok! At last, what about the bitrate, Bicubic and Lanczos and that stuff? I try to change these settings but doesn't notice any difference at all. Should I just ignore it?

 

[koala]

If you don't rescale, bicubic and lanczos is not applied. And about bitrate: since you're recording, use a quality based rate control like CQP (if you use nvenc on a Nvidia GPU) or CRF (if you use x264) or ICQ (if you use Quicksync on a Intel iGPU). CBR/VBR is for streaming only.

Best would be to use simple output mode where you just choose the desired quality and don't have to think about numbers.

 

[DayGeckoArt]

I would go to the Videohelp forum and ask about this there. There's a lot more to it than game recording etc, because video from a VCR is interlaced... But interlacing is resolution specific so by choosing the wrong resolution option you can totally mess things up. OBS also doesn't support interlaced output. Or it does record interlaced but without the flag so other programs don't know... I'm trying to figure it out myself

 

[NickArr0w]

Thanks alot to you guys that you toke your time and shared your knowledge!

 

[HarriFlex]

My Tape player is a JVC SVHS/MiniDV player, quite expensive in its day. My iMac is the M1 running Sonoma V14. The input has become quite erratic and OBS doesn't always Locate the Video Capture Device. Sadly Apple in their wisdom changed all the ports to Thunderbolt/Lightning, meaning I now have an array of leads plugged into a Belkin multipart adapter. Could it just be a poor connection, using the SVideo Lead in/out?

 

[AaronD]

My iMac is the M1 running Sonoma V14.

If you're on a Mac, you should ask in that sub-forum. This one is for Windows.

Also create a new thread with all the details. Old threads are often irrelevant because things change in the meantime. Even if it looks similar, it's probably not.

 

[wcndave]

Just a note to help others that might find their way here...

There is a difference between a scart to HDMI adaptor method, and a composite/RGB capture method.

A SCART to HDMI inline adaptor results in a 1080 or 720 image (mine has a switch on it to choose), and so the upscaling and de-interlacing etc has all been done for you, in the adaptor.

My Elgato video capture card that is composite to usb is a different type of device, not an inline converter, but a capture card.
With the HDMI converter, you still need a capture card to capture the HDMI signal...

The Elgato is giving me a 720x576 from PAL video.

Either way, you want to avoid scaling everywhere you can, as most TVs or monitors will do a better job.

So find out what your signal is coming in to OBS as, and then use that. Almost...

If you create a large canvas, and then drop your source onto it, you can find the "native" resolution, so here I have 720x576, however I read somewhere that this is not quite right, and I should change to 768x576. The image does look horizontally squashed at 720, so this works for me.

You then record the signal at the same resolution as the input, ie you do NOT scale it.
Scaling is generally bad it seems, adds noise, and how can it scale 20 rows to 30, without noise, as it's not a multiple, so there's interpolation....

Anyway, the question of "what resolution for VHS" does not have one answer.
But generally, don't scale where you can help it.

If you have an inline adaptor that's scaling, record what it puts out, don't add noise.
If you have a capture card that's providing video at 576, then record at that....