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VHS-Decode – Software defined VHS decoder
- Lindalee51 4y ago
- rwmj 4y agoReally nice! In case anyone was wondering, this is for capturing and decoding the raw VHS RF signal from special test points on your VHS recorder. Some hardware hacking is required: https://github.com/oyvindln/vhs-decode/wiki/Hardware-Installation-Guide https://github.com/oyvindln/vhs-decode/wiki/Hardware-Install... By the way, great Japanese docudrama about the making of VHS with Toshiyuki Nishida and Ken Watanabe: https://rarefilmm.com/2020/05/hi-wa-mata-noboru-2002/ https://rarefilmm.com/2020/05/hi-wa-mata-noboru-2002/
- actionfromafar 4y agoIf you are familiar with TBC or Time Base Corrector, you can think of this program as an offline non linear time base corrector with a LOT of options. Also because it takes the VHS data as early after tape capture as possible, a lot of components in the VHS player are bypassed and implemented by superior software.
- pmarreck 4y agocombine this with some ML-powered artifact correction and perhaps a bit of upscaling and you might invent the best VHS digitizer available
- jacquesm 4y agoYou definitely want to tee the process before you start doing any ML artifact correction to make sure that it actually is an improvement.
- lathiat 4y agoI wonder if this could be used to better decode tapes with some degradation and artefacting.
- actionfromafar 4y agoAbsolutely. While a tape player may drop out and struggle to recover, this software stands a much better chance of deciphering.
- jacquesm 4y agoThis may be a viable path to fixing up really old recordings as well, those tend to have a lot of noise and pops / crackles in them.
- h2odragon 4y agoTangential but cool: in 1998 there were commercial, 50GB data VHS tapes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-VHS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-VHS about a decade after that someone asked me for help reading a crate of these tapes that had been flooded then stored in a shed for several years. Couldn't help them at all but it was an amusing diversion figuring out what the hell they had.
- greggarious 4y agoThere's a store in Pittsburgh that does this for people as a paid service. OP's project is cool but it's my understanding the specialized hardware is the big barrier to doing this at home, for most folks, especially if you don't want the tapes routed through a third party for the same reason people invented the polaroid so you don't have to send everything to the Ritz as the mall.
- actionfromafar 4y agoVery cool. This could have been an excellent backup medium in a different timeline.
- esrauch 4y agoTape is a backup medium in this timeline though, just not exactly vhs form factor.
- nuxi 4y agoVHS was also used for backups, see e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArVid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArVid. And - if I remember correcly - GRAU and/or StorageTek robotic tape libraries also had support for VHS devices.
- matheusmoreira 4y agoMagnetic tape is an excellent backup method even today. LTO cartridges already have tens of terabytes of capacity. The problem is there are no consumer tape drives, only expensive enterprise models.
- boboche 4y agotoo bad the first and best capture option costs several hundred of dollars otherwise this would be epic. Now its just awesome ;)
- gattilorenz 4y agoThe easiest supported option seems to be this: https://a.aliexpress.com/_mrd5cMK https://a.aliexpress.com/_mrd5cMK
- mod50ack 4y agoYes, which you still need to add to a VHS player.
- gattilorenz 4y agoWell yes, but that’s the problem with VHS tapes :) Realistically, this seems at least an order of magnitude cheaper than any option with comparable quality, and VHS players can be found for much more money and way more easily than a Time Base Corrector (whose output you will still need to digitize somehow)
- gattilorenz 4y agofor much LESS money, not more, of course. Too late to edit
- interestica 4y agoNo audio?
- gattilorenz 4y agoIf I get this correctly, you’re using the RF input to get the whole magnetic signal on the tape, which would include the audio track
- capableweb 4y agoSlightly off-topic, but bit related: I'm about to start a project for digitalizing a bunch of recordings from a 1990s Sony Handycam for a film project run by a friend of mine. The quality doesn't have to be perfect, but I want to ensure I don't risk degrading the "tapes" themselves. Anyone know of any hardware that is up for the task? Doesn't have to be professional quality, but of course I want good results. Just about to start the project so haven't had time yet to look into what hardware I need yet, maybe people here have good ideas, you usually do :)
- jacquesm 4y agoThe big problem with old tape is that it tends to stick. Try winding it manually for a short stretch to see if the tape is still loose and if it isn't then you probably should contact someone with more expertise to get the tape to be unstuck before putting it in a machine. Stuck tape also tends to break very easily.
- haunter 4y agoI went with a lazy way to digitalize old VHS/VHS-C tapes. Bought a Panasonic DMR-EX99V [0] which is a DVD/HDD/VHS/TV tuner combo in one. That was the last model Panasonic made and it also has an HDMI output. So basically I recorded all the VHS to the internal HDD > then just moved them to the PC through the DVD recorder. It has a USB port but unfortunately you can't access the raw recorded files on the HDD that's why the DVD > PC step is needed. I'm not an expert probably someone could hack it to gain access... Anyways it was one of the better purchases I've made. Works perfectly and so far no problems at all. And it just works hence why I said lazy at the beginning, simple system with good quality. 0, https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71mbsPXPhzL._AC_SL1500_.jpg https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71mbsPXPhzL._AC_SL1500_....
- jccalhoun 4y agoassuming the camera has rca out jacks, you can get a rca to hdmi adapter box for less than $20. If you computer doesn't have hdmi capture they also make rca to usb boxes as well (I don't think the cables from rca to usb without a chip in it will work but I might be wrong). Then OBS can record it
- lightedman 4y agoI wonder if this could be helpful in finally making an emulator of the Action Maxx console system, which used VCR tapes for content.
- gattilorenz 4y agoI’m not familiar with the Action Max, but the Wikipedia page links to this emulator: https://web.archive.org/web/20110405205335/http://www.jaegertech.com/software/singe https://web.archive.org/web/20110405205335/http://www.jaeger...
- lightedman 4y agoI am somewhat familiar with that project - it's close but it isn't the true emulator we've been trying to achieve for a long time.
- gattilorenz 4y agowhat is missing?
- ThinkBeat 4y agoCan I use this to defeat Macrovision copy protection on old VHS movies?
- aidenn0 4y agoThis uses high speed ADCs to capture the signal. Anyone know the bandwidth of VHS? If it's narrow enough, using a much cheaper SDR could be an option. The usage of a DC blocking capacitor implies it's not baseband.
- TylerE 4y ago~5.5mhz split 3.4m luminance 400khz chroma / 1.7mhz stereo fm audio
- aidenn0 4y agoYeah that's too wide for say an RTL SDR
- rasz 4y agomuch cheaper than $30 25MHz 16bit/50MHz 8bit cards they are using?
- aidenn0 4y agoFirst item in readme was much more expensive than that
- h2odragon 4y ago> $30 25MHz 16bit/50MHz 8bit cards wait waht? tyop? if not please tell me where i may ask Santa for this item cuz i wants it. edit: this link was useful: https://github.com/happycube/cxadc-linux3#where-to-find-current-pcie-1x-cx2388x-cards--notes https://github.com/happycube/cxadc-linux3#where-to-find-curr...
- rasz 4y agoread the submission
- aidenn0 4y agoI see it now; it needs crystal replacement to run at 8bit 40MHz it seems.
- Sporktacular 4y agoWhat is it about OSS project webpages and burying any layman's explanation or context. It's like they've been knee-deep in it so long, surrounded by fellow geeks they just assume everyone should know what they're talking about.
- capableweb 4y agoThey owe you nothing, so if you want to figure something out, searching the web is your best chance. Also, how is it not clear what the project is? First thing I see from the submission link: > Software defined VHS decoder > A fork of LD-Decode, the decoding software powering the Domesday86 Project Which links to https://github.com/happycube/ld-decode https://github.com/happycube/ld-decode and https://www.domesday86.com/ https://www.domesday86.com/ > Software defined LaserDisc decoder and > Domesday86 is a project that aims to recreate the experience of the original BBC Domesday project using modern hardware and software Which leads me to searching what BBC Domesday is, as I didn't know: > The BBC Domesday Project was a partnership between Acorn Computers, Philips, Logica, and the BBC to mark the 900th anniversary of the original Domesday Book, an 11th-century census of England. It has been cited as an example of digital obsolescence on account of the physical medium used for data storage. Not sure why everything has to be made for/explained as it's made for literally everyone. Some software is for a niche section of programmers/developers/$niche-group, that's perfectly fine. If you're curious, use a search engine like the rest of us.
- joemi 4y agoThings don't need to be explained from base principles or anything like that and as you mentioned they're not beholden to anyone, but explaining to a bit broader of an audience than one's particular niche is still generally a good idea. It makes it easier for people not-in-the-niche-but-somewhat-close to be able to understand/evaluate things. It could be a project that's relevant to this near-to-the-niche person, but without somewhat broader explanation, they'd miss it. Another good idea (that no one is obligated to do) for project descriptions/overviews is to give a brief mention of why. For instance, it would have been nice if the readme for this project mentioned the purpose being "To bypass all non-essential hardware, and process it all in software directly for an affordable and simple way to create a true 1:1 archival copy of analogue tape mediums." It wasn't too hard for me to dig a bit into the project wiki to find that out and piece it together, but I'm used to doing so, specifically because so many readmes tend to not do it themselves. Finally, you've said "they owe you nothing" and I've also noted the lack of obligation, but while technically/legally true, there are still some expectations and unofficial obligations to varying degrees when releasing open source software. Generally, the more useful/interesting the software is, the more expectations and unofficial obligations there are. Take for instance any software that has a benevolent dictator for life (BDFL) scenario. That term on its own has expectations of benevolence built-in. There are expectations that they'll guide the project in good directions, that they'll ensure bugs get fixed, and to some degree that the community will have some input on things even though the BDFL makes the final call. More generally on most projects, there are expectations that bugs will get fixed, pull requests considered/merged when appropriate, documentation will be provided, and so on. It's hard (perhaps impossible) to have a successful open source project that does not do these kinds of things, so in a real-world practical sense, there _are_ obligations in open source projects, if you want any kind of success for the project.
- EGreg 4y agoCan we have AI remove the artifacts from VHS after it is digitized? Anything exists like this available ONLINE?
- rasz 4y agono, but we can have AI hallucinate alternative "pretty looking" version
- crispyambulance 4y agoI find this stuff really interesting. It reminds me of another project where someone developed an optical scanner to capture the shapes of vinyl record tracks (without making physical contact, of course). The idea was then to "play-back" the record by simulating a needle responding to the tracks in an ideal way and then simulate the needle's transducer and finally the turntable pre-amplifier. I see this project still uses an actual VHS head. I wonder if, in the future, folks will try to capture magnetic tape signal by using something like a hard drive head scanning over the top of the tape but not touching it? This could potentially retrieve signal badly damaged, unplayable tapes-- lay out a segment of tape on flat surface, scan it, repeat, until entire tape has been scanned.
- anfractuosity 4y agoI assume this is the project you mean? - https://ofersp.github.io/digital_needle/ https://ofersp.github.io/digital_needle/ it's a shame there doesn't seem to be sourcecode. Very cool though. You can also get laser turntables - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_turntable https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_turntable which look intriguing I'm rather curious about these microscopes - https://matesy.de/en/products/magnetic-field-visualization/magview https://matesy.de/en/products/magnetic-field-visualization/m... which can visualise magnetic fields, they're very expensive though.
- userbinator 4y agoIf I remember correctly, laser turntables were not popular because they also reproduced all the fine dust on the surface of the disk.
- iforgotpassword 4y agoYep. Every tiny dust particle makes an audible pop, while an actual stylus would've just pushed it out of the groove.
- interestica 4y ago
- tomphoolery 4y agohas anyone told Technology Connections about this??
- userbinator 4y agoIn terms of physical construction, I believe early 90s VCRs were the best. Late enough to have most of the reliability issues worked out, and before cost-saving became a priority. That said, perhaps the last designs (late 2000s?) are also alright because they were simplified to reduce assembly cost, but may be more fragile too.
- sneak 4y agoI don't understand why this is better than simply doing composite or s-video to 480p HDMI with a cheap little box and capturing that? It seems like this is an order of magnitude more complex and expensive. Is the quality really that much better?
- mosquitobiten 4y agoI went that route and there's a catch. The composite/s-video adapters/upscalers to HDMI have a chip in them that is factory programmed with some video and color settings that can't be manipulated. You can do some alterations in OBS with filters or in Premiere after saving it to compensate for innacuracies. For ex. my situation: cheap upscaler bought before covid had really high saturation and turned small areas of similar colours into one color squares no matter the bitrate chosen in OBS(this type of artefact is very obvious in 140p youtube video). After getting into it again in present day the upscaler stopped working and bought another one of the same kind. Guess what, it ships with a different chip and different settings, this time it has almost no colors and presents weird glowing around dark regions when the camera moves around fast. Now I'm in a pickle and I'm really considering going the above route.