Matrox rtx100 vs DVD recorder

[davesdad]

I have a lot of S-VHS camcorder tapes to back up on to DVD. The quality of the backup is more important to me than the facility to edit. My employer has a dedicated edit PC including a Matrox rtx100 that I can use at weekends. Moving it is a hassle and it seems difficult to get a good quality backup from the PC - probably due to my lack of knowledge! I was wondering whether to buy a DVD recorder such as a Panasonic or Sony, but would do so only if it produces better results. The tapes are up to 20 years old and are in urgent need of backup. Any advice very gratefully received. Matrox or DVD recorder?

[Dr Mordrid]

Hard choice.

First understand that the RT.X100 would require a major investment in resources; not only its initial cost but also in providing it with a computer capable of filling its hardware requirements (most don't) and most of all your time.

The Premiere Pro editing software that comes with it is NOT that easy to learn, especially for beginners, and the addtional options provided by the RT.X100 itself also extend the learning curve. Then there is the matter of learning to use a DVD authoring program.

Here's how I'd proceed;

Given the age of the tapes step 1 should be to get a video processor. This would mitigate (but not totally elminate) age related problems in the tape like deteriation of the colorburst and synch signals. I recommend the SIMA ColorCorrector 2 because of its street price: ~ $130-150.

http://www.simacorp.com/products/item.ep.html?id=478

Their GoDVD is also not a bad box, but not as flexible, and can be had at Best Buy for around $100 on sale;

http://www.simacorp.com/products/item.ep.html?id=491

After your archival project either can be used in a home theater to clean up things whenever the need arises. There are many more powerful units, my Elite Video BVP4 Plus for one, but prices start at around $700.

Now for stage 2....

If all you're interested in is backing up home videos and you aren't interested in editing, fancy menu's and such I'd go with a good DVD recorder. I'd recommend either a Panasonic unit or one of the LiteOn AllWrite boxes (I have a model 5005).

The Panasonics can use either DVD-R or DVD-RAM. They have many nice features including the ability to view part of a recording while it's continuing to record at a later time index. Neat.

The LiteOn's advantages are many, though they can't time-shift like the Panasonics. They can, however, record on about any media: DVD+R or RW, DVD-R or RW or even CD's.

Recordings to DVD can last from 1 to 6 hours while recording to CD is limited to the VideoCD or SuperVideoCD formats; 74 and ~35 minutes respectively. I've found the LiteOn's 4 hour DVD recording mode to have excellent quality.

Another feature to look for is the ability to record from an IEEE-1394 device, often called iLink, especially if you have or plan on purchasing a DV camcorder.

My LiteOn has this and it allows for a DV camcorder to be connected as an input source. Just power up the camera, connect it then use the DVD recorders menu to control both devices.

I mostly use DVD+RW's with my LiteOn because it allows for erasure.

Hope this helps a bit.....

Dr. Mordrid

[Brian Ellis]

There is another possibility which may be a lot easier and more hassle-free.

As you are after quality, I would not go the DVD-recorder route. Even if you don't edit now, you may start doing so in a few weeks. Applying transitions/titles etc. to a DVD MPEG-2 will result in a quality drop as re-rendering MPEG is not a pretty solution.

The RT-X route has been dealt with by Dr. M

The third route is via a Canopus ADVC-300 and an IEEE-1394 card. I don't have personal experience of it, as I use its less smart brother, the ADVC-100. It incorporates a time-base corrector and filters, specifically for converting old analogue tapes to a DV stream. This can be easily captured, edited, encoded and authored to make excellent quality DVDs. It does not require anything special in the way of computers and using a less quirky software, e.g., MSP7 or VS9, your quality will be excellent with less time wastage. Just an idea....

[Dr Mordrid]

IF on the other hand he's not interested in matters of editing then I'd say he can get just as good a quality from a DVD recorder. According to BitRate Viewer my LiteOn uses very high quality settings and the playback shows it.

What's less time consuming than wiring up the boxes (a one time deal), plugging in a VHS tape then hitting Play on the VHS deck and Record on the DVD recorder? It has the advantages of an almost zero learning curve to boot.

Don't get me wrong.....as you know I'm shoulder deep into editing, but I'm also aware of how many people find it needlessly complex for simple tasks like backing up old VHS tapes.

As my dad used to say (often): don't go squirrel hunting with a howitzer

Dr. Mordrid

[davesdad]

Many thanks for the advice.

Having access to the Matrox based sysytem as a no-cost option from my employer seemed like a good idea in spite of learning its complexities. As I'm in the market for a DVD recorder some time in the next 9 months or so, I was particularly interested in which route would give the best quality backup.
If I go down the DVD recorder route, do I need a video processor for best results or does it depend on the tape quality?

[Dr Mordrid]

That is highly dependent on tape quality. IF the tapes play properly from your VCR then they should record nicely on the DVD recorder without a video processor.

It's if/when you have tapes whose color has faded or that have "the jitters", indicating that the colorburst and/or synch pulse have deteriorated, when a video processor can be your best friend. Either of these conditions can occur just from the tape being old or played many times.

Dr. Mordrid