How to convert VHS footage to HD files: An unorthodox system

In this clip I show how you can make your older video footage look sharper by utilizing various hardware tools, such as the Sharp VC-H800 VCR, Philips DVDR3475 DVD Recorder, Tendak's component to HDMI upscaler, Elgato's Cam Link and Game Capture Software, and ezcap's HD Video Capture in line with your laptop's HDMI output.

[@back4onemore]

If I wanted to just use the vcr and dvd recorder with the tv will it still adjust the picture if it’s a little off on the vcr with this setup minus the tendac thing? Not worried about upscaling.

[@digjunk3d]

what kind of cable are you connecting the dvd recorder to the tv? HDMI, component, or composite?

[@back4onemore]

Component but I could do either of the 3.

[@digjunk3d]

@@back4onemore when connecting a component cable sending a 480 signal, or a composite, the tv should be able to automatically detect that it is standard definition, and give you an appropriate 4:3 image. It's just when you send it via hdmi to the tv, or when you send it all three ways to say, an hd recording device that you'll have an issue with a distorted 16:9 video, if that is your question.

[@patrick-jefferson]

That's quite a complicated setup. Wouldn't it be easier to connect the vcr directly to the Tendak and the Tendak to the HD Video device, leaving the DVDR and the laptop out ?

[@digjunk3d]

The power of the DVDR is in its Time based Correction abilities in stabilizing analog video. And the primary reason for outputting from the laptop HDMI is to present a 4:3 ratio in HD dimensions. There are hardware options for doing 4:3, but many of them are questionable in the quality they present.