All Topics > Technology > How To Convert VHS to DVD >

How To Convert VHS to DVD Texas

VHS tapes and technology like VCRs are becoming extinct with the advent of DVD and digital media. This article gives you some tips on how to conert your old VHS tapes to DVDs so you don't lose any of your favorite movies.

Local Companies

HL Electronics
972-660-4096
2113 109th Street
Grand Prairie, TX

World-Net Supply Co.
832-526-2771
7330 Rampart St. # 106
Houston, TX

NxEdge SMG
512-933-1100
3714 Bluestein Drive
Austin, TX

Digital Delight
713-283-8100
6210 Evergreen
Houston, TX

B G Micro
(972) 205-9447
555 N 5th St
Garland, TX

H. Customs Home Theater
(817) 300-1518
mansfield, TX

Recycling Surplus, Inc. & ABM System
(713) 541-2700
9329 Alberene Dr.
Houston, TX

TTI, Inc.
817-740-9000
2441 Northeast Parkway
Fort Worth, TX

BlueFish Technologies, INC.
713.482.8656
13940 Bammel N. Houston
Houston, TX

ipodrefresh
512-589-0851
vizquel loop
austin, TX

Provided By:

Tips

Clean the tape heads on your analog VCR or camcorder. Older tapes, especially, can deposit a lot of residue on the heads, resulting in dropouts and other picture flaws.
If your VHS VCR has a sharpness control, turn it down. A softer image has less noise and that enables the MPEG-2 encoder to do a much better job. Some tape players also have an "Edit" button which affects playback sharpness. Put it in the position that provides less sharpness.
Connect a video processor to the output of your analog tape player and then connect the output of the processor to your capture device. So-called "proc amps" and timebase correctors (TBC's) provide tools for stabilizing analog video, changing brightness and contrast levels and adjusting color. Just being able to adjust levels and color can result in a DVD that looks much better than the original VHS tape.
If your want to convert Hi8 and 8mm to DVD, one of the best ways to import it into your computer is with a Digital 8 camcorder. Several models of D8 camcorders can playback analog tapes and convert them to DV and have built in digital noise reduction and TBC's to clean up the analog video before it's converted to DV and sent to your computer via the Firewire cable.
If you transfer two hours of VHS to a DVD it can result in a significant loss of quality unless you have a high quality MPEG-2 encoder or use methods that encode the video at "half resolution." The normal DVD video resolution is 720x480 for NTSC, but some encoders and DVD authoring programs allow you to use 352x480 resolution. When you convert VHS to DVD this smaller resolution can still deliver very good results at the low data rates (bitrates) required to fit two or more hours of video on one DVD, especially if you use an analog-to-MPEG2 encoder or a standalone VHS to DVD recorder that bypasses the analog-to-DV step.

Steps

Capture the VHS video to a computer video editing program using an analog-to-DV converter (which includes many DV/Digital8 camcorders as well as standalone analog-to-DV converters), encode it to MPEG-2 and author a DVD, This is the most time-consuming method but it gives you the flexibility to edit the video as much as you want, adding transitions, special effects, music, etc. But, between the capture time, the editing time and the often considerable time it takes for software encoding to MPEG-2, this can result in several hours of work for your computer - and you - for each hour of video.
Capture the video to the computer as MPEG-2 using hardware capture devices that convert the VHS to MPEG-2 as they capture and then author and burn a DVD. A one-hour video is captured and compressed to MPEG-2 in one hour, but you are generally limited to doing "cuts-only" editing of the MPEG-2 files. However, if your original tape doesn't need editing this is a fast way to convert VHS to DVD, but still have the flexibility to create custom DVD menus. Many of the inexpensive hardware analog-to-MPEG boxes can deliver very good quality, in part because the analog source video does not have to be converted to DV before being encoded to MPEG. Converting VHS to DV can add artifacts that make it harder to get good MPEG compression.
Connect your VHS VCR or camcorder to a standalone DVD recorder that works much like a VCR. This VHS to DVD recorder basically gives you a DVD copy of your tape in real time. You don't have a lot of flexibility as far as menus, buttons and chapter settings, but it's the fastest and easiest way to convert VHS to DVD. If you get a "DVD VCR" with Firewire connections you can plug a DV/Digital8/DVCAM camcorder or VCR into it and transfer the tapes to DVD at even higher quality than by using the analog connections.

Warnings

If you do convert your analog video to DV before putting it on DVD, don't be shocked when you see the size of the DV file it captures to your computer. DV files take up almost 14 gigabytes per hour.

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Convert a VHS to DVD. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Featured Local Company

HL Electronics

972-660-4096
2113 109th Street
Grand Prairie, TX

Read more about How To Convert VHS to DVD

- Digital Imaging Explained Texas

If you want to know more about the digital imaging process, read on. This article goes through digital imaging step-by-step so you can understand what's going on when you take digital photos and then tranfer them and store them.

- Sharing iPod Music Texas
- Learning A New Programming Language Texas
- How To Transfer VHS to DVD Texas
- Samsung Digimax I6 PMP Texas
- Converting to DVD NYC Quality Texas
- DTV Receiver Texas
- Converting WAV to MP3 Texas
- DVR Through Your Computer Texas

Regional Articles

- Sharing iPod Music Texas

If you're interested in sharing iPod music with friends on other computers, look to this article for tips. Read on for more information.

- How To Transfer VHS to DVD Texas
- DTV Receiver Texas
- Samsung Digimax I6 PMP Texas
- Converting WAV to MP3 Texas
- Converting to DVD NYC Quality Texas
- Digital Imaging Explained Texas
- DVR Through Your Computer Texas
- Learning A New Programming Language Texas

Related Local Event

2009 IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility - EMC 2009
Dates: 8/17/2009 - 8/21/2009
Location: Austin Convention Center
Austin, TX
View Details

Advertising	Food & Beverage	Nightlife
Business Services	Franchise	Online Database
Career	Health	Pets
Cars	Holidays	Real Estate Resources
Computer Hardware	Home Appliances	Retail & Consumer Services
Construction	Home Electronics	Software
Education	Home Services	Technology
Entertainment	Industrial Goods & Services	Telecommunications
Environmental	Insurance	Trade Shows
Family	Internet	Travel
Fashion	Legal	Weddings
Financial Services	Miscellaneous	World History

Advertising	Family	Home Services	Real Estate Resources
Business Services	Fashion	Industrial Goods & Services	Retail & Consumer Services
Career	Financial Services	Insurance	Software
Cars	Food & Beverage	Internet	Technology
Computer Hardware	Franchise	Legal	Telecommunications
Construction	Health	Miscellaneous	Trade Shows
Education	Holidays	Nightlife	Travel
Entertainment	Home Appliances	Online Database	Weddings
Environmental	Home Electronics	Pets	World History