This is how good S-VHS can look - final answer

[@electronicwaves]

Absolutely impressive quality! I love VHS. Would love to be able to repair the AKAI made in Japan 1987 VHS that I grew up with. Unfortunately, it has that awful system with the idler wheel (not idler gears) that goes bad and then ff and rewind stop working and also the vhs cannot take back the tape and if you press eject the tape gets stuck inside VHS machine...

[@Halterung01]

Thanks mate! Idlers can be a pain to deal with. Some techniques I found helpful over the years: 1. try turning them inside out 2. cutting a groove over the outside area of the idler and fit a small belt in 3. cleaning them as best as possible Best of luck to you!

[@electronicwaves]

@@Halterung01 Thank you! I was finally able to fix that AKAI VHS that I grew up with it. In case anyone is interested, I uploaded a video showing it working again! I am so happy! Taking out the idler wheel was the hardest part.

[@DaXande135]

Hab deinen Kanal grade unter einem Video zum 50 Jährigen Jubiläum von Kassetten gefunden, lol, sind ja voll die interessanten Videos! Und joa, da kann man was aus Qualität rausholen aus den alten Dingern

[@Halterung01]

Danke, freut mich, dass mein chaotischer Kanal aus random Videos tatsächlich Komplimente kriegt :D Ich mach das mit dem ganzen Videozeug alles nur als Hobby :D

[@phelissimo_]

Die Video- und Audioqualität ist richtig gut, alte Aufnahmen (80er, 90er) sehen aber immernoch besser aus, als neuere von 2000 oder jünger.

[@Halterung01]

Ich denke, das liegt daran, wie man unterschiedlich alte Inhalte wahrnimmt. Auf Betacam SP sehen 80er Jahre-Aufnahmen auch aus wie gefühltes HD - also, deutlich besser als VHS. Man hat eben nicht den Maßstab, dass man es mit 1080p vergleichen könnte. Auch abgesehen davon waren Bildelemente damals schlicht größer. Während man in manchen Center-Shots von dem Kerl kaum noch das Gesicht erkennt, liegt das nicht daran, dass meine Aufnahme minderwertig ist oder nicht hoch genug auflösend, sondern schlicht daran, wie WINZIG Details in den HD-Bildern heute sind. Aus technischer Sicht ist diese Aufnahme wirklich so gut wie es geht. Sowohl die Aufnahme auf Band, als auch die Überführung zurück ins Digitale. Sollte ich mal eine richtig hochqualitative S-VHS-Fernsehaufnahme finden, jag ich die auch mal durch meinen Setup durch.

[@DK640OBrianYT]

How did you adjust bias to the tape ? And which tape did you use ? If you adjusted the recording amplifier electronically, how was your procedure to distinguish when you hit the soft spot ? Did you use a generated sweep, like 0-10MHz, spectrum analyser, oscilloscope ? Bias as such is only used for the linear audio and control track. Didn't you mean that you adjusted the recording amplitude for the Luminance encoded FM signal ? This FM-signal is used as bias for the AM encoded Chrominance signal that is recorded at 629KHz. The FM-signal could be recorded at max level, but different tapes from different manufactorers behave differently. Therefore there must be something to be gained by adjusting the recording amplifier to perform at its best with one specific tape. This is what I intend to do with my JVC HR-S5000 using Fuji H471S for S-VHS and Fuji Super XG Pro for VHS

[@Halterung01]

In this case the VCR is a pretty recent machine, from around 2001, the Philips VR1000. The tape used was a TDK XP Pro S-VHS SE-120. Since this is a computer doing the steps of the autocalibration that happens before every recording, I can only take guesses but watching the VCR do it, makes it pretty obvious. It records a frame to tape, looks back at it and changes its recording values accordingly. The VCR does all the work here. If you have an older machine and want to calibrate its recording to a tape, the first thing to look at would be the Service Manual which is likely to be easily found online. But even if you can't find one or the Service Manual for your VCR doesn't have alignment procedures listed for what you intend to do exactly, you could always try to do it yourself. The pots have to be at least explained in the manual giving you some idea to what they change and how to probe and measure said change. I can't give a general step-by-step guide though as the order of adjustment is different for every machine. Most likely you'll throw your previous adjustments out of whack by tweaking something different. Generally it's "adjust Luma before Chroma" or "adjust rec head amplification levels before both of those" As for why I called it "BIAS adjustment". Due to the resemblence to similar mechanisms in consumer audio cassette decks, I think I just adapted that falsely. It's exactly as you guessed. Adjusting a machine to correctly record H471S is a great idea if you have enough of these tapes laying around. I had (and recorded) a lot of them on an FS200 that I had adjusted just for those. I'm actually kinda astonished they carry the S-VHS logo. Their values are REALLY off compared to the standard TDK reference tape that 99% of VCRs come preadjusted to. Every recording I tried to do with my FS200 prior to adjustment came out with the Luma breaking in (black horizontal stripes from the left side on brightly lit areas). There was just not enough luma amplitude on these correctly working machines for them. Good luck with that!

[@DK640OBrianYT]

@@Halterung01 Thanks for the warning regarding the H471S. I'll keep an eye out. And yes, I have a nice stockpile of these and should have plenty for the time being. They were also used by some in their D-VHS machines after drilling the necessary hole and it performed spectacular. The "consumer graded" Fuji double coated Super Pro should be the H471S in disguise. One batch of them were proved to be. The double coating revealed it. Yes, I do have the service manual for this machine in PDF and a printed original for the HR-S5500 which is the same machine apart from some small digital circuitry. I have others from Elektrotanya covering JVC S-VHS machines from the same years, 1987-1989. I see, the Philips VR-1000 has an automatic adjustment feature. Is it Hitachi that also has an automatic calibration feature called.... SuperTape or something in that ballgame. That makes it much easier. I better get the SM for that machine also. Perhaps I could gain an understanding of how it functions. Perhaps it mentions current/voltage levels. It's okay. I was only asking in the case that you had done the adjustments yourself, so I was interested in knowing if you used any specific procedure. I'm confident in using a SM, so it's not a problem and I should have the necessary equipment in my possession to handle these adjustments carefully and in the right order accordingly. The Panasonic NV-FS200 is also a lovely machine.