VCRs with TBC

[DVtyro]

Lately I've been doing some VHS digitizing. To get the best results one must start with the best picture, which means SVideo output for better color and time base corrector for better stability. There are half a dozen models of consumer-grade VHS VCRs that have built-in TBC, most of them by JVC. They are known, and their prices are high. Standalone TBCs are hard to come by and expensive.

I came across an industrial-use VCR, Mitsubishi HS-MD3000, which happens to have built-in TBC, yay! And it has SVHS! And it actually has SVHS-ET! And Hi-Fi! And jog dial and flying erase head, although I am not going to do any editing on tape. On the negative side, it plays only SP tapes. Oh, well. So, I got myself one. Here is a short video with a couple of samples, if someone is interested.

[Electronic M]

A lot of the VCR/ DVD-recorder combos have a TBC to allow the DVD recorder to copy bad tapes to DVD without glitching out and have S-video...My Toshiba IIRC D-VR5 has all that, SQPB and plays all 3 speeds. Also the VCR DVD recorder combos tend to be newer than the regular VCRs so they're less likely to need maintenance.

I will say a pro-grade JVC I bought that does EP too seems to do ever so slightly better than the combos at cleaning up a bad tape.

[DVtyro]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

A lot of the VCR/ DVD-recorder combos have a TBC to allow the DVD recorder to copy bad tapes to DVD without glitching out and have S-video...My Toshiba IIRC D-VR5 has all that, SQPB and plays all 3 speeds.

Since I don't want to make DVD discs, I did not feel like having a whole VCR/DVD combo only to use it in a passthrough mode, seems unnatural to me But maybe I will try this approach too, I saw some combos in the local thrift store, they don't stock VCR only machines anymore.

Originally Posted by Electronic M

Also the VCR DVD recorder combos tend to be newer than the regular VCRs so they're less likely to need maintenance.

It seems these medical VCRs were made in this century, and many of them have very few hours on the heads and the mechanics seem to be sturdier.

The service manual for GE VIVID 3, which is an ultrasound machine, specifies the following VCRs: Sony SVO-9500MDP2 (PAL) and SVO-9500MD2 (NTSC), Mitsubishi HS-MD3000E (PAL) and HS-MD3000U (NTSC), Panasonic AG-MD-835E (PAL) and AG-MD-835P (NTSC). According to the respective brochures, all these machines have TBC and frame memory and can record and play in SVHS with Hi-Fi audio. I am not sure whether all of them are SP only.