Hi. I am trying to transfer old homemade VHS tapes to my PC and eventually to DVD.
I have all the right equipment. I can transfer via coax, composite,
and even firewire from a pass-though camcorder(though not tried yet).
I have a powerful PC, and it has happend on two PC's and VCR's so far,
so that's not the issue. The video DOES play over coax, but it's very
jumpy and the sound rapidly cuts in and out, making rather annoying to watch. Looks
like something caused by tracking, but that's not it. Over composite
video, the picture freezes (and jumps around on the screen) on the PC.
This same video looks wonderful on any television, coax or composite.
This also happens with all of my tapes. Does this have anything to do
with copy protection, a frame rate difference, or resolution
difference? What can I do to get a clear copy from the VCR to the PC?
Thank you so much.

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Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 25 Nov 2006 13:46 PST

thecableguy...

If I'm understanding correctly, at this stage, you're simply
inputting the VHS output into a video capture card and then
watching in on the PC, and have not yet recorded it onto the
PC or converted it to a format like mpeg2, which would make
a difference in playback.

In that case, it may simply have to do with the difference
between a PC monitor and a TV, which is one of many things
discussed on this very informative page from digitalfaq.com:

"Playback on digital devices (computer monitor)
 
 A computer monitor has nothing in common with a television
 set. It's refresh rate, resolutions and color-depth can be
 altered at will. A computer monitor is progressive rather
 than interlaced. While monitor can playback interlaced
 footage (often using DVD player software like PowerDVD or
 WinDVD), it will not look as good as playback on an analog
 device because varying de-interlace playback filters must
 be used. The computer is a progressive interface and does
 best with progressive playback."
http://www.digitalfaq.com/dvdguides/capture/understandsource.htm

Please read the rest of the page with regard to the specifics
of working with VHS.


This 4-page thread on the topic of capturing VHS to TV, from
the videohelp forum should also be informative:
http://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=277455

This videohelp page will tell you more about your capture card:
http://www.videohelp.com/capturecards


Let me know where this takes you...

sublime1-ga