VCR Mods

[Ocelot85]

So we've all seen many RGB & S-Video mods for consoles but what about mods for VCRs?

Has anybody done anything like an S-Video mod for a VCR? As far as I'm aware it shouldn't be too difficult to do to almost all VCRs.
I am aware that it wouldn't be much of a benefit to a VCRs picture quality over composite but it's still a fun little project. The main problem I can think of is getting access to the chips that are hidden underneath the tape mechanism but surely not all machines have the same layout.

Anyway, Has anybody done anything like an S-Video mod for a VCR? or at least had an interest in doing so?

[RGB32E]

So we've all seen many RGB & S-Video mods for consoles but what about mods for VCRs?

Has anybody done anything like an S-Video mod for a VCR? As far as I'm aware it shouldn't be too difficult to do to almost all VCRs.
I am aware that it wouldn't be much of a benefit to a VCRs picture quality over composite but it's still a fun little project. The main problem I can think of is getting access to the chips that are hidden underneath the tape mechanism but surely not all machines have the same layout.

Anyway, Has anybody done anything like an S-Video mod for a VCR? or at least had an interest in doing so?

Yeah, the S-Video mod for a VCR is called "buy a S-VHS VCR"!  Did you forget that S-VHS VCRs existed?   S-VHS and Laser disc players were the two source devices that caused more and more consumer TVs to be sold with S-Video inputs.... just a though. 

[Midori]

Although... Isn't an S-video mod to a VCR pretty much pointless? Just like a LD players S-video output is pointless.

The video is stored in composite video form. If you want any other form of output it's just a conversion from the original composite video.

The only thing that justifies the thing is if your monitor/TV does a better job with S-video than with composite. And if so it would probably be wiser to have the composite to S-video converter separate so that it can be used on other devices :-)

My five cents.

[NFG]

An Svideo mod on a laserdisc player can be a good idea.  I modded mine, and I get considerably more detail at the TV than I do with composite.  Dot-crawl is almost entirely eliminated.  Obviously you can't create a better image from a poor one (It's true that LDs store the video data as a composite signal) but you can preserve the detail from LD to TV with better quality cables.

[cgm]

Yeah, the S-Video mod for a VCR is called "buy a S-VHS VCR"!  Did you forget that S-VHS VCRs existed?   S-VHS and Laser disc players were the two source devices that caused more and more consumer TVs to be sold with S-Video inputs.... just a though. 

I own one, quite a nice unit with a TBC and all. They aren't cheap used either. From what I recall reading,  plain VHS (and Betamax) stored the chroma and luma channels separate so S-Video would still yield a better picture since one wouldn't have to rely on potentially crappy Y/C separation circuits. Oh and about those TBCs (time based corrector), if you plan on digitizing anything off of an analog cassette medium, get one. They clean up the video quite a bit and the higher end ones are even adjustable.

[Ocelot85]

Although... Isn't an S-video mod to a VCR pretty much pointless? Just like a LD players S-video output is pointless.

The video is stored in composite video form. If you want any other form of output it's just a conversion from the original composite video.

The only thing that justifies the thing is if your monitor/TV does a better job with S-video than with composite. And if so it would probably be wiser to have the composite to S-video converter separate so that it can be used on other devices :-)

My five cents.

I heard that VHS stores information in S-Video form which is the reason I brought up this discussion.

Yeah, the S-Video mod for a VCR is called "buy a S-VHS VCR"!  Did you forget that S-VHS VCRs existed?   S-VHS and Laser disc players were the two source devices that caused more and more consumer TVs to be sold with S-Video inputs.... just a though. 

Yes I am aware there are S-VHS & D-VHS players but I don't own one nor can I afford one when I do see one, but I do have a few regular VHS VCRs that could be modded.