Best VCR/capture card combo for high-quality transfers?

Well I had been trying to perfect this since 2011 and only until about a month have I finally settled on something. Anyways I’ve devised two methods. One method I basically use for most of my tapes while the other is only for a certain group of tapes.

Method one: 2008 Dazzle used through 2008 Pinnacle Studios. Quality isn’t too bad but in some instances could be higher. For the most part Im happy with it.

Method two: 2016 Dazzle for video and 2008 VIDBOX USB Capture for audio all connected to Cyberlink PowerDirector 13. I used the 2008 VIDBOX device for better audio results since the 2016 Dazzle device, as well as the current Roxio capture device which I’ve also tested, gives off some annoying static which stands out heavily if played too loudly.

Using this method, I run everything through a separate program, in this case PowerDirector, since 2016 Pinnacle Studios does not give me the option to run two devices simultaneously unlike 2008 Pinnacle Studios. Further more I don’t run the two devices through 2008 Pinnacle Studios since the video comes out slightly stretched horizontally losing a small fraction on the right side when switched to the 2016 Dazzle (2008 Dazzle video is projected correctly). The video is projected correctly in PowerDirector.

Quality wise method two is actually a bit better than method one. However, one thing I noticed is method two does have some slight color flickering at the top which method one does not have. However I mentioned earlier that I only use method two for a certain group of tapes, most of which are black and white, so the flickering is not noticeable in those cases.

Further more I’ve also discovered that having more than one VCR on hand doesn’t hurt either. Most of the tapes Ive been capturing I do on a 2003 Panasonic VCR in the living room. However just last week I was doing a tape on that VCR and the tape had an annoying audio crackle throughout. I then captured it again using the 1999 General Electric VCR in my bedroom and it came out a lot better. Further more at my other place I also have a 2004 Sony VCR which I used to do a lot of capturing on. I always keep head cleaners on hand too. Just yesterday I found a new one for $10 in a record store and bought it. Never hurts to have more than one.

Anyways hope any of this helps.

Was posting about this on FanRes so figured I’d post here as well. Sorry in advance if this is long. Any chance anyone here has used any Elgato products, EyeTV Hybrid to be specific?? The reason I ask is because about 8 or 9 years ago I for about 3 years had a friend copy some of my Universal Monster tapes to DVD. His capture method was EyeTV Hybrid. About 6 years ago I started trying out EyeTV myself. The tuner I have/had was the one pictured below and according to my friend it was the same tuner he had.

However whenever I use this tuner to capture VHS’, regardless of the VCR being used, I do not get the same results as him. I’ve even talked about this with him and even he’s puzzled. I asked him at one point maybe 3 or 4 years ago if I could perhaps try his tuner instead but he informed me it broke. At some point I even purchased the same tuner again on the possible chance perhaps my tuner was broken. No dice. Got the same results. Anyways let me show you what I mean.

This first grab comes from a DVD he burnt.

Here’s from a video I had captured using EyeTV Hybrid (this was the same exact tape my friend captured).

As you can see very fuzzy and grainy. The sound is fine, the video not so much. Why is this? The actual quality that the videos my friend captured, aside from being a bit pixilated, I was very pleased with and have been trying eagerly to replicate but have not. I even tried a few other EyeTVs (Hybrids, 250, HD) and even tried Elgato Video Capture and all gave me varying results but not exactly to the look and quality my friend had. One other EyeTV I tried was this one. This was a 2009 tuner I believe.

Here’s a grab from a DVD I burned using a video recorded with that tuner.

This is basically the same look the 2008 Dazzle (DVC100) I’ve been using lately has been giving me when I try to do my Universal Monster tapes. It has this very washed out and bright look which for me doesn’t look very good. However, quality wise the '09 EyeTV Hybrid is much poorer compared to both DVC100 and the EyeTV my friend captured with. I captured my '92 SW Trilogy recently with DVC100 and they aren’t that low in quality nor have the washed out look. Not perfect perhaps but definitely better than the '09 EyeTV. Also the image above does not have the same geometry as my friends capture (note that his has more image on the sides).

Just to back up a bit the first video capturing software I had tested was Honestech VHS to DVD 3.0. The main bugger about this was the ‘overlap’ the exported video gave me (why I had started this thread on FanRes https://forum.fanres.com/thread-724.html) and the Universal tapes had the bright washed out look. Elgato Video Capture, which I tried at one point but ultimately sold, gave me the same effect.

My DVD (Honestech capture).

Friends DVD (EyeTV capture).

Note in the last pic there’s a bit more detail in the forehead compared to the Honestech capture due to the lack of brightness??

Anyways I mentioned I tested a few other EyeTVs. One of them was this one.

Here’s a grab from a capture from that tuner.

Pretty close. This actually looks a bit more detailed compared to my friends capture. However the signals slightly off evident by the noticable ‘curves’ of some of the edges (compare the letters in ‘Frankenstein’ in this grab to the grab from my friends capture).

Anyways I ultimately decided to keep toying with this and really only use EyeTV to capture TV programs from my cable box as the issues it was giving me with VHS’ it wasn’t giving me there. Unfortunately most of my EyeTV Hybrids are now faulty to some degree though my original one, the one giving me the fuzzy video, still works fine at the moment.

I mentioned the other month ago about my methods for capturing VHS’. The Dazzle DV100 hooked into the 2016 version of Pinnacle Studios on my HP laptop will work mine for other things while I planned to capture my Universal tapes with Dazzle v1.0 for the video and my Honestech VIDBOX for audio (some of which I did). Well I’m now having problems with Dazzle v1.0. First I noticed that videos in color captured will have a subtle but noticeable color ‘flicker’ on the upper screen evident by these pics. They’re exactly a frame apart.

Notice the purple ‘glow’ towards the top of the video in the second image?? That’s the ‘flicker’ I’m speaking of. Yes you can maybe see a bit of it in the image above it too but its still noticeably less than the second. Another tape I did that had color footage had the same effect. This flicker is fortunately not visible if the footage is B&W but at the same time most of the video capture devices I’ve tested did not have this effect.

Another problem I’m having with this Dazzle which I just noticed the other night is the video plugin isn’t working on it. I guess either the driver needs updating or the device is getting faulty although I’ve only had it for a few months. The Device Status in the devices properties window reads: Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged. (Code 19). So I have to tinker with that. I may revert back to the Roxio capture device I was using a few months back should nothing work out since it had essentially the same look and quality as v1.0 including the color flicker.

However, I really wanna capture my tapes looking like how they came out when my friend was using EyeTV and for whatever reason I cannot. Just last week I tested WinTV through Cyberlink PowerDirector to see what that gave me. It’s this device.

Note that the device looks much like the EyeTV tuner featured in my first image. And if that weren’t enough it captured at the same fuzzy quality as EyeTV!

So I’m not having any luck with this. Anyone skilled with EyeTV that can tell me why I’m getting that cruddy looking video?? I don’t think its a VCR problem either. I’ve tried the same EyeTV tuner on a 1999 General Electric VCR, a 2003 Panasonic VCR (same model as my friends VCR), and a 2004 Sony VCR. All have the fuzzy effect.

Is there perhaps a different capture device anyone here recommends?? I basically have the programs I need to actually do the capturing so stuff like VirtualDub isn’t gonna help me here I’m afraid. I’m not exactly rich either so I dont exactly wanna spend hundreds of dollars on one of those fancy capture cards which considering my luck probably wont work with my computer though to my credit I don’t know much about them (I’m using an HP laptop circa 2009 with Windows 7 32 bit as well as a circa 2007 Macbook if it means anything). Also keep in my mind all the different devices I’ve used I’ve tested over a span of about 6 years now. Anyways I think I’ve rambled enough. I do hope someone can assist me with this.