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General discussion

What is a simple way to convert old VHS tapes to DVDs?

Jan 8, 2010 2:36AM PST
Questions:

What is a simple way to convert old VHS tapes to DVDs?


This question comes from three CNET members who
coincidentally e-mailed me all within the same week, so let's
find a solution for them. I'm sure many others who have a
collection of VHS tapes are also looking to move them to a
digital format.

I need to know how to convert my VHS tapes and my VHS-C tapes
to a DVD. I have quite a few tapes that I made of the CHRRs
and others that I'm afraid will become unplayable. Can you
help me? Thanks.

--Submitted by John S.

Is there a method to make DVDs out of my invaluable VCR
tapes? Thanks so much.

--Submitted by Gloria E.

What is the best and least expensive way to convert my home
video on VHS tapes to DVD without having to record to a
digital camcorder first?

--Submitted by Alan A.

Here are some member answers to get you started, but
please read all the advice and suggestions that our
members have contributed to this question within the discussion thread.

Re: What is a simple way to convert old VHS tapes to DVDs? --Submitted by mtrehan
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-12542_102-0.html?messageID=3217007#3217007

VHS to DVD program(s) --Submitted by Mark R. Jones
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-12542_102-0.html?messageID=3217102#3217102

Converting VHS tapes to DVD --Submitted by casey721
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-12542_102-0.html?messageID=3217154#3217154

Converting VHS to DVD --Submitted by kwilsonjr
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-12542_102-0.html?messageID=3217248#3217248

Re: What is a simple way to convert old VHS tapes to DVDs? --Submitted by DLGA
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-12542_102-0.html?messageID=3217693#3217693

Video tape to digital format --Submitted by comp_dok
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-12542_102-0.html?messageID=3217076#3217076

Thanks to all who contributed!

If you have any additional solution or advice for these members please click on the reply link below and submit your answer. Please be detail as possible when posting your solution and if you have references to how-tos, please include the link to them. Thank you!

Discussion is locked

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Format wars...
Jan 19, 2010 6:25AM PST

As far as performance and domestic quality goes, there is little difference between +/- R. Most DVRs that I've seen on the market are +R/RW. I've also noticed that +R discs tend to be slightly cheaper to purchase than -R. I still recommend using RW so that you can re-edit on a PC, copy the final result to an R disc and recycle the RW for the next tape(s). DVD-RAM was a Panasonic RW format that came in a cartridge so that the disc was fully protected, but other manufacturers insisted on making drives that were unable to accept the cartridge, and so the disc had to be removed from the cartridge. As a result, the RAM disc is now generally available without the cartridge, but market pressures make it more expensive and it is not commonly recognized by other DVRs.

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help?
Dec 2, 2012 8:24PM PST

Yeah.. I'd like to know this too. I've already recorded a VHS to DVD, but I'd like to know if there is a proper DVD format?

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Panasonic Cleans up VHS tapes to DVD
Jan 19, 2010 2:06AM PST

I bought the Panasonic DMR-EH75V because it got good reviews for copying VHS tapes. For many of my tapes, the DVD quality was BETTER than the input VHS. It especially fixed most tracking errors.

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Transfer and Convert VHS tapes to DVD
Jan 20, 2011 2:37PM PST
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VCR2PC
Jan 8, 2010 8:50AM PST

Ion makes a set up called VCR2PC that offers a simple method to convert VHS to DVDs. It runs around $100 for the USB compatible VCR and software package. It makes the conversion process simple allowing you to choose betweeen burning it to DVD immediately or saving it to disk for later use. Once setup the process can be run completely unattended. It also allows you to combine tapes. I took a three tape mini-series and converted it to one DVD using the saved files and Windows Movie Maker. I know there are also systems that allow you to use any VCR and run it into a PC using an intermediate box, but I've never used one. All I know is the ION system works great. I've used it with Vista and after I upgraded to Windows 7. The Vista software is allegedly compatible with XP and ION gave me a free upgrade to the Win7 software when asked.

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VCR control
Jan 12, 2010 5:51AM PST

How much control of the VCR playback is there on the ION machine? There must be at least simple tracking control. Any fine tuning to get the best playback before its forever locked into the digital format? Some of my old VHS tapes are really fussy about what machine they're in!

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VCR Control
Jan 15, 2010 12:22PM PST

The ION machinedoes have tracking control I, too have some older tapes that are fussy about what they are played on. I have an excellent JVC VCR that will play anything. I wish it had a USB output. The nicest thing about the ION machine is it doesn't require you to go right to disk. You can save it to your HD, then use video editing software. I had a 3 tape mini series that I used Windows movie maker on to splice together on one double layer DVD.

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Easy Way
Jan 8, 2010 8:50AM PST

I have used Roxio easy VHS to DVD for both VHS and mini DV cassettes. The manual is poor but you can easily figure out what to do. I found that there were sound glitches at time but acceptable. Keats

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VHS to DVD
Jan 15, 2010 9:59AM PST

I use Roxio VHS to DVD ~$55.00(BestBuy) which includes cables and software.
I connected the USB cable from Roxio on my laptop(USB 2.0 port) and since the VHS player i have is old it only contains audio and video inputs and outputs. No S video on vhs player although the cables did allow for s video.
I installed the provided software although i believe if you already have Roxio 9 videowave or Roxio 10 videowave the same capture can be accomplished.
I went to capture video as shown on the frontpage menu and then manually started started the vhs player, since all she wanted was the movie, i passed up all the previews(Old previews by the way)i hit capture as the movie started and when the movie ended i stopped capture.
"DO NOT USE PLUG AND BURN", get the AVI file on your HardDrive, many things can go wrong if you try that.
Now i since i have DVD Architect Pro 5.0 other programs will also convert the avi files to standard DVD files.
I scanned the cover of the VHS folder and inserted graphic along with a Title.
Here's the part you have remember, say take a Movie thats over 2.0 hrs or say even if its a movie that lasts 3 hours, you have to remember that the program is going to compress that avi file and the more it compresses the file the worse the movie on dvd will look.
Yes you can split the movie into parts on a movie editor, but you might end up with 2 DVD's and is this what you want?
Another option is to put the movie on a DVD+/_ Dual Layer in which compression will not be as horrible as a sinle DVD.
Another thing to remember is that rendering the avi file to dvd files will take a long time so once you start leave it to do its thing and this might last 3-4 hours. Total time to capture and render might be between 4-6 hours.
Check "www.roxio.com"
I just recently finished making quite a bit of dvd movies from vhs tapes and since i saw the question and my experience was fresh i thought i would go ahead and answer your question.

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Video to DVD
Jan 17, 2010 12:27AM PST

Hi Ira,

Thanks for the info. I recently purchased Roxio Creator 2010 with the RCA to USB adapter included at Costco for $55.00. Such a deal!

I have a bunch of 8mm video tapes to convert and this should really do the trick... not to mention the old vinyl and over 100 cassettes that I have to convert for preservation.

Be well.

Tom

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Panasonic DVD player/recorder
Jan 8, 2010 8:53AM PST

Panasonic makes a versatile DVD recorder. Mine is DMR-EZ17.
The typical DVD stores 2 hours. Blank discs are under $1 each.

Recorded DVDs play on virtually any DVD machine and, with software, play on most PCs.

The Panasonic machine costs around $200 at Target.

Otherwise, you need a video capture card, a firewire port, etc.

For PC-based projects I use Adobe Premier CS3, Camtasia screen recorder, Next DVD Ripper, and Media Player Classic. You may also need a pack of K-Lite Codecs.

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converting vhs to dvd
Jan 8, 2010 8:54AM PST

my wife, who is a techno-phobe, is using a sony vrd mc6. it takes the vhs input, and digitizes it,and records it to dvd. you don't have to monitor it either,when the tape ends, it stops recording. no muss-no fuss. it has a small screen to view movies as they record

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Mac answer
Jan 8, 2010 8:54AM PST

If you are on a Mac, you can use Roxio's easy VHS to DVD. See www.roxio.com. See Mac Products.

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Stand Alone Deck
Jan 8, 2010 8:54AM PST

I have a Panasonic stand alone deck that transfers from one to the other in the same unit. It works fine. JB2wheeler

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Simple way to convert old VHS tapes to DVD
Jan 8, 2010 8:54AM PST

I use a VHS/DVD player recorder. All you have to do is insert your VHS and DVD, follow the instructions and you get the product DVD.

I bought mine over a year and a half ago, I don't know what is available in the market. An example I was able to find on the web:

http://salestores.com/samsungdvdv6.html

(Note: I also used a different type of converter that you connect to your VHS player and the other end to a computer, it writes a file to your computer and you have write it on a DVD - possibly have to convert that. The quality was very poor so I gave that up, cost of this coverter was about $120 when I bought it)

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I converted all my VHS to AVI first, and then to DVDs.
Jan 8, 2010 9:01AM PST

I have a USB television tuner (Hauppauge and other brands are about $70). The tuner should come with TV player software that should record to a standard format.

I plug the VCR Out coaxial cable into the USB Tuner, and plug that into my laptop. I play the tape, then hit "record" in the TV Player. I now have an AVI file that can be loaded to a DVD.

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www.homemoviedepot.com is the answer
Jan 8, 2010 9:01AM PST

I solved the video ,film and slide transfer problem through www.homemoviedepot.com. For $294.00, you can fill a specified Fedex box with all kinds of media including, film,video and color & black & white slides & negatives. For this fee, they will transfer all of this to DVD's. For an additional fee, they will transfer all of the media to an inexpensive hard drive. You can then easily edit any of the media immediately. I was very pleased with the results that I got and would recommend their services. Go to their website for more information.

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Beware DRM violations...
Jan 9, 2010 5:54AM PST

Most services like this don't want to get caught copying tapes that are under the DRM laws. In fact they sometimes send them back to you, with charges for even suggesting it, and no DVDs!!

Pretty expensive mistake. For anyone reading this make sure the service will accept original movie tapes, recorded movies, or movies that were manufactured before the DRM laws were in effect.

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Easy conversions
Jan 8, 2010 9:03AM PST

Get a combination VHS player and DVD recorder. they are les than $100.

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convert VHS to DVD
Jan 8, 2010 9:04AM PST

Hi,
I also have many VHS tapes and what I did was to purchase on e-bay a Liteon DVD & VHR Recorder model # LVC-9006. It works great. I converted more than 65 tapes.

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Anti-copy software
Jan 15, 2010 11:43AM PST

Did you have any problems converting commercial movies with copy prevention software on the tape?

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Converting VHS to DVD
Jan 8, 2010 9:13AM PST

The absolute simplest (not necessarily the best or the cheapest) way is to buy a stand-alone "entertainment system" DVD recorder with a built-in tape player (which may or may not also record tapes). With most of these, you put in the VHS tape and a blank recordable DVD and press one button, come back [the length of the tape] later and you are done.

The downside is that this may be expensive, and it allows only rudimentary editing (or very possibly none at all).

If you want to use a PC, you need a hardware capture device that can take the video output of a VHS tape player (VCR or just player) and convert into USB or Firewire. You also need software that can capture the output of the conversion device onto the hard drive, and DVD authoring software to use those files to make a video DVD. All of these pieces can be bought together or separately, and the level of complexity and quality can vary all over the map.

I don't want to suggest a specific product, but Pinnacle, Roxio and many other vendors offer consumer level software bundled with a compatible hardware device that can do the whole job. Alternatively, you may want to just use a capture device and use some more advanced software that will let you do extensive editing with transitions and special effects (something like the more advanced pinnacle products or Premiere Elements). Finally, the ultimate high-end software is full version Adobe Premiere, but it's price (over $500) is out of the reach of most consumers.

For most people however, either the stand-alone DVD recorder or a fully bundled consumer level package including both hardware and software (for less than $100) will probably be the best solution unless you want to do more than "just" convert the media, e.g. unless you want to do extensive editing.

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Converting PAL VHS tapes to DVD in North America
Jan 8, 2010 8:19PM PST

My problem is that all my VHS tapes are in PAL but I am now living in Canada where everything is in NTSC. Thus I need to convert the PAL to NTSC in order to re- record it. I have tried the Roxio Easy VHS to DVD with only poor results - poor sound quality and jumpy picture. I do have a Datavideo PAL to NTSC standards converter bought from UK but because my PAL VHS tape machines only have RCA connections, the pictures come back in black and white only.
I would welcome some practical suggestions.

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Convert in software
Jan 16, 2010 2:09AM PST

This is a nuisance. I have seen DVD players that can not only accept either NTSC or PAL but actually convert them (I have an old Polaroid portable DVD player that can play either PAL or NTSC DVDs and output NTSC - and they didn't even bother to say so on the spec sheet), but I haven't seen VHS players that can do that. If you had a multi-format DVD player, you could just convert the tapes to DVDs and leave them in PAL format. (A lot of new TVs accept both anyway.)

Computers also almost always play either format just fine and, if they have a TV output, it is always in the local format (so my laptop can play PAL or NTSC and its S-video output is NTSC either way).

With PAL TAPES I suspect you're going to be stuck capturing them in PAL, digitizing them in PAL, and then either converting them using software or burning PAL DVDs and playing them on something that plays both. Software varies widely in how good a job it does, however. Most DVD burning programs WILL convert whatever you feed them to their default format, so an American version of Roxio would always burn in NTSC and probably automatically convert any PAL files you feed it. I have worked with professional software by MainConcept that does a very nice conversion job, but is is quite expensive. There are probably free or cheap software packages out there that do a decent job, but you'd have to look around.

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Have a look at this for PAL tapes
Jan 16, 2010 4:19AM PST

IONAudio dot com may have just what you need.

"There's also a PAL version of VCR 2 PC with SCART output so no matter where your VHS tapes came from, ION can help reconnect you and your videos."

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PAL vs NTSC
Jan 24, 2010 12:46PM PST

Your dilemma made me recall when I was in Germany.
Don't forget that most countries on PAL are also on 50Hz. What you do about THAT, I don't know. But it may be the cause of your flutter.
postitdave

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PAL vs NTSC
Jan 24, 2010 6:01PM PST

Thanks for your reply. The VHS machines that I bought in Hong Kong are multi standard and supposed to work on 120 - 240V and 50 - 60 Hz.
They certainly work normally in Canada when playing the PAL VHS video direct to a multistandard TV - also bought in Hong Kong. So now I need a good way to capture this signal and save it in a form that can be copied to DVD.

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Converting VHS to DVD
Jan 8, 2010 9:13AM PST

The simplest way is to purchase a VHS player with DVD recorder. I have an inexpensive Magnavox and it works great.

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Simple, inexpensive, and effective
Jan 8, 2010 9:14AM PST

There are a number of combination VHS and DVD player/recorders on the market - some quite inexpensive and all of which are capable of dubbing to/from either media. I have two, a mid-range Sony and an inexpensive Sylvania. To be honest, the Sylvania generally has proven more reliable and hassle-free than the Sony even though it cost much less at Sam's Club. I believe these days you can buy similar machines for well under $100. Dubbing is a one touch automatic process.

If you already have a multimedia PC, you could connect a VHS player up to it and accomplish the same thing, but if you don't already have all the pieces readily available, the combo players are a no-brainer.

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video conversion
Jan 8, 2010 9:15AM PST

The "easy" way to convert old VHS tapes to DVD is to use a VCR/DVD recorder combo unit. (Search Amazon for "vcr dvd recorder combo".) This will only work for home movies. Most purchased VHS tapes have macrovision protection which will prevent a good transfer to DVD.

A better way to preserve old videos is to start with the source tapes (Hi8, 8mm, VHS-C, etc.). Bring them into the computer. Save them raw or as H.264. And never burn them as DVDs. That's so 2009.