ADVC 55 or 110 for converting tapes?

[cubeboy1]

I wish to convert old VHS tapes (oldest is about 1987) to digital files on my computer, ultimately to be burned to a DVD. I have a pinnacle dazzle unit which has not dazzled me at all; it has bad audio lag issues.

I will not need the analog outputs of the 110, but does the 55 have this "audio lock" feature as well? Other users complained about the hue changing on very old tapes. What are the chances of this happening? Is the 55 the better option?

[GrassValley_BH]

To be honest, I'd still recommend the 110. Not because of the audio lock, but because you'll be able to preview your capture on a real TV, making adjustments much faster and easier than constantly re-encoding and burning DVDs.

What you see on the computer monitor can vary greatly from what you'll see when you play it back on a TV.

[cubeboy1]

i don't think i will be previewing on a real TV - just my computer (They are on the opposite sides of the house). Bottom line is i want to find a unit that will capture with no colors changing, no audio lag; i just plug it in and i can forget about it until the tape is done. (The oldest of the tapes is about 22 years old and want to digitize them before they get any older)

If it makes any difference, i will post my system specs:

Windows 7 Home 32-bit
Intel Dual Core 3.0 GHz
nVidia Geforce 8800 GTS 640MB
4GB RAM

[kbosward]

In my experience, it is possible to adjust the video overlay settings in your graphics card so that it looks like what your TV would be showing. Just burn a sample clip on a DVD and play it on your TV, and play the same clip on your video editor and adjust the video overlay settings on your graphics card so that it looks the same as the TV.

If you have very old tapes, you may have trouble getting clean, non-jittery captures unless you have a tape player with built-in TBC. For best results, find a tape player that has built-in TBC, noise reduction and S-video output. Then you could get by with a ADVC-55.

Ken.

[wk17]

To be honest, I'd still recommend the 110. Not because of the audio lock, but because you'll be able to preview your capture on a real TV, making adjustments much faster and easier than constantly re-encoding and burning DVDs.

What you see on the computer monitor can vary greatly from what you'll see when you play it back on a TV.

Currently have an ADVC-55, and considering to buy an ADVC-110.

However, the following advantages of the ADVC-110 are unclear to me. Can somebody please clarify. Thanks.

1/. Assume that the preview of the capture on a real TV is during the conversion itself. However, do not understand the part about making adjustments.

2/. If the result on a computer monitor can vary greatly from what you'll see when you play it back on a TV, what should you do in case you intend to display the converted videos on both real TV and Computer monitors?

3/. Does the ADVC-55 also have "locked audio"? If not, is this feature recommended, and in which situations will it make a difference?
UPDATE> Found the ADVC-110 manual > It says: DVCAM support. When you are connecting to a DVCAM unit, set DIP switch 4 to the OFF position to set the ADVC110 to Locked Audio Mode. > Since I do not have a DVCAM unit, assume no benefit for me?

4/. Read on this forum, that the color bar reference signal on the ADVC-110 is only for the analog output. Would like to understand what its benefits are.

5/. Does the AVDC-110 have the same version of the converter chip as my AVDC-55?

Wim

[wk17]

Since I only convert the whole contents of 8/Hi8 & VHS tapes from analog to digital, I think that buying an ADVC-110 to replace my ADVC-55 will not give me any benefits.

Extra Features ADVC-110:

Locked Audio	No benefit, since only for DVCAM devices, which I do not have.
Digital>Analog	No benefit, since I only want to digitize my 8/Hi8/VHS tapes.
Color Bar	No benefit, since for Digital>Analog (N/A)
RealtimePreview	No benefit, since I convert the whole tape to digital in one run. Afterwards will edit the digital version.

Please your opinion. Thanks.

Wim

[antonsvideo]

you may want to dump both because Firewire will be gone before you know it and is already gone from all new PCs and it is almost impossible to find a Firewire card now

[wk17]

you may want to dump both because Firewire will be gone before you know it and is already gone from all new PCs and it is almost impossible to find a Firewire card now

Fortunately, I already have a Firewire PCI-E card which I use for my ADVC-55.

Only need to decide if its worth replacing my ADVC-55 with an ADVC-110.
Based on the table below which I created, it looks like that in my case the ADVC-110 will not give me any benefits.
Please your opion.

Extra Features ADVC-110:

Locked Audio	No benefit, since only for DVCAM devices, which I do not have.
Digital>Analog	No benefit, since I only want to digitize my 8/Hi8/VHS tapes.
Color Bar	No benefit, since for Digital>Analog (N/A)
RealtimePreview	No benefit, since I convert the whole tape to digital in one run. Afterwards will edit the digital version.

Wim

[antonsvideo]

yes, I see no benefit
the best investment would be a TBC if you can still find one

btw, which capture software do you use?

[BernH]

The locked audio thing means that it is capable of producing a dvcam locked audio type stream during the transcode to firewire. It doesn't mean you need a DVCAM device to benefit from it.

That option is a benefit over the ADVC-55 because it keeps the A/V sync better. Without it, the AV sync can be +/- up to about a quarter of a frame maximum. Usually not enough to notice unless you are critically measuring it though.