zarifes@bnrmtv.UUCP (Kenneth Zarifes) (12/19/85)
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I am reposting this message because I don't think it got through.
I am in the process of making copies of incredibly expensive Japanese
animation tapes that *I BOUGHT* (I want to watch the copies so my originals
don't wear out) and the results have been poor.
I'm recording from one RCA portable hi-fi VHS to an RCA portable stereo
(non-hi-fi) VHS.
The colors bleed and the sound sucks. Can a good enhancer help?
What is the general consensus comcerning enhancers? I saw a Recoton V-615
enhancer for about $288.00 that someone told me was great. But others
have told me they are a waste of money (the whites turning out blindingly
white is one complaint I've heard).
Also, Recoton recommends sending the signal through a $65.00 stabilizer
and then into the enhancer (I guess this is to eliminate rolling?).
Is there a product out there that is a stabilizer-enhancer in one box?
Any opinions and/or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
I'll post a summary to the net if appropriate.
Thanks in advance.
--
{hplabs,amdahl,3comvax}!bnrmtv!zarifes --Ken Zarifesfish@ihlpm.UUCP (Bob Fishell) (12/28/85)
> The colors bleed and the sound sucks. Can a good enhancer help? > What is the general consensus comcerning enhancers? I saw a Recoton V-615 > enhancer for about $288.00 that someone told me was great. But others > have told me they are a waste of money (the whites turning out blindingly > white is one complaint I've heard). I can't comment on the model you've mentioned, but I experimented briefly with Radio Hack's video enhancer and stabilizer, found them wanting, and subsequently returned them for a refund. A stabilizer is a gadget which touches up the sync pulse so as to prevent rolling. They were developed mainly to counter the effects of Copyguard and any tape-induced degradation of the sync signal. An enhancer, on the other hand, operates on the luminance signal, boosting its dynamic range so as to make blacks blacker and whites whiter. The one I got from Hack also included a "color processor," which operated on the chroma and color burst signals, allowing you to amplify them and alter the color balance. All these gadgets are great in principle, but the ones I used intoduced so much additional distortion into the video signal so as to make their intended effects useless. While they could, in some cases, give me a little better picture when placed between the VCR and the TV, I got much better results dubbing without them. Now, Radio Hack is not known for superior quality; I very well might have just gotten what I paid for. The enhancer you describe probably does a better job. The sound sucks because it's bad to begin with (unless your original has hi-fi tracks), and dubbing it onto the linear tracks of a VCR makes it worse. However, if you are recording from hi-fi to linear, you may have the recording levels mismatched. Try routing the sound through your stereo system, amplifying or attenuating as the case may be. Most VCRs don't have audio (or video) level controls that the user can twiddle, relying instead on preset levels and internal limiters. I've gotten some sound improvements by taking the audio signal from my stereo amplifier's headphone jack. Since I've just got mono VCRs, I have to mix the signal (2 330-ohm resistors do the job nicely), but I can adjust the recording level that way. -- __ / \ \__/ Bob Fishell ihnp4!ihlpg!fish