VHS to DVD?

[admin_exported]

I am trying to copy some VHS tapes to computer to edit and then burn to DVD. I bought a USB capture card which takes composite or ‘S’ video input. The VHS player only has one scart input/output and the normal aerial in/out (yes it is cheap and nasty but it’s good enough for my purposes and I’m not buying another)

To connect the VHS player to the capture card I bought a ‘scart to composite’ cable. When I try to capture the video the computer program (I have tried 3 different programs) tells me there is ‘no signal’.

To prove the capture card was working I connected my camcorder to the capture card using composite cables and that works fine.

Thinking that the ‘scart to composite’ cable might be faulty I bought another but I get exactly the same ‘no signal’ message.

Anyone any ideas???

J.B.

 

[sc1]

Does the packaging indicate that the signal travels from the scart end to the composite end? Some of these cables only send the signal in one direction and I have been caught out in the past. The fact that the camcorder worked might suggest this.

You do not say if the VHS tapes are originals you have purchased or ones you have recorded. I have found that some prerecorded VHS videos are copy protected and will not record onto my dvdr from the vhs machine so maybe try a few different video tapes.

Sorry can't be of more help.

 

[John Duncan]

yeah, could be good ole' macrovision at work.......

 

[Anonymous]

What about sound? Can you hear sound through your computer when you connect the VCR to the USB capture card? Or it just doesn't display the picture and the sound is present... If this is the case, then the problem is in video standard compatibility. In Slovenia we use PAL and if I tried to connect my old video camera to my old TV I had to set the input signal correctly.

Since NTSC and PAL are not compatible on older devices.

 

[Anonymous]

Sc1 - Thank you - It never occurred to me that the scart cable would only work one way. On the packaging it does say RCA to Scart which would imply one way only, although it doesn't actually say that. Luckily the other adapter I bought (from B&Q £7.95) has a switch for 'in' or 'out' and as soon as I flicked the switch over everything worked perfectly. So problem solved.

Thanks to those who responded.

J.B.