How To Convert VHS to DVD Wisconsin

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

Audio-VideoSales-Service LLC
715-423-5771
2900 Plover Rd
Wisconsin Rapids, WI
Northern Wisconsin Security and Sound, Inc.
715-358-6717
P.O. Box 1001
Minocqua, WI
Lindberg Blue M Electric
(920) 261-7300
304 Hart St
Watertown, WI
Advanced Electric Equipment Service Inc
(608) 781-2627
2411 Larson St
La Crosse, WI
Electrical Equipment Co
(262) 250-7595
W154N11421 Fond Du Lac Ave
Germantown, WI
Superior Electrical
(920) 459-4500
1423 N 29th St
Sheboygan, WI
Interstate Electrical Supply Company
(414) 273-1177
1344 N 4th St
Milwaukee, WI
Quick Cable Corporation
(262) 824-3100
3700 Quick Dr
Franksville, WI
Englewood Electric Supply
(920) 467-6100
47 Engelwood Ct
Sheboygan Falls, WI
Custom Electrical Products
(414) 461-8200
5141 N 35th St
Milwaukee, WI

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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

Audio-VideoSales-Service LLC

715-423-5771
2900 Plover Rd
Wisconsin Rapids, WI

Related Articles
- Converting to DVD NYC Quality Wisconsin
Converting your 8mm Film to DVD NYC quality media is a smart idea not just because it makes things easier, but also because it allows you to preserve your movies for the future.
- How To Transfer VHS to DVD Wisconsin
- DVR Through Your Computer Wisconsin
- Samsung Digimax I6 PMP Wisconsin
- Converting WAV to MP3 Wisconsin
- Learning A New Programming Language Wisconsin
- Sharing iPod Music Wisconsin
- DTV Receiver Wisconsin
- Digital Imaging Explained Wisconsin
Regional Articles
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Appleton WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Baraboo WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Beaver Dam WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Beloit WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Brookfield WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Burlington WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Cedarburg WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Chippewa Falls WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Cudahy WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD De Pere WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Delavan WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Eau Claire WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Elkhorn WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Fond Du Lac WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Fort Atkinson WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Franklin WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Green Bay WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Hartland WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Janesville WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Kaukauna WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Kenosha WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD La Crosse WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Lake Geneva WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Madison WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Manitowoc WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Marinette WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Marshfield WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Menasha WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Menomonee Falls WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Menomonie WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Merrill WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Middleton WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Milwaukee WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Mosinee WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Mukwonago WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Muskego WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Neenah WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD New Berlin WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Oak Creek WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Oconomowoc WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Onalaska WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Oshkosh WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Pewaukee WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Racine WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Rhinelander WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Rice Lake WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD River Falls WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Schofield WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Shawano WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Sheboygan WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD South Milwaukee WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Stevens Point WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Sturgeon Bay WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Sun Prairie WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Superior WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Thiensville WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Two Rivers WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Watertown WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Waukesha WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Waupaca WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Wausau WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD West Bend WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Whitewater WI
- How To Convert VHS to DVD Wisconsin Rapids WI
Related Articles
- Samsung Digimax I6 PMP Wisconsin
Samsung's i6 is the first camera we've seen that's also an MP3 and video player. Multi-purpose devices are hardly unusual; smartphones have combined these tasks and more for years.
- Sharing iPod Music Wisconsin
- How To Transfer VHS to DVD Wisconsin
- Digital Imaging Explained Wisconsin
- DVR Through Your Computer Wisconsin
- Converting to DVD NYC Quality Wisconsin
- Learning A New Programming Language Wisconsin
- DTV Receiver Wisconsin
- Converting WAV to MP3 Wisconsin
Related Local Event
Shawano Flea Market - July
Dates: 7/3/2009 - 7/5/2009
Location: Shawano County Fairgrounds
Shawano, WI
View Details

Rss   Delicious   Digg   Add To My Yahoo   Add To My Google   Bookmark   Search Plugin

Topics:
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