Best deck for VHS and mini-DV digitization?

I've seen tons of consumer-grade VHS converters at the big box stores. But I'm curious about the professional grade high-speed digitizers. I've seen decks with both VHS and mini-DV bays but I don't even know what to call them to do a search, much less what models to look at.

What models should I be looking at for high quality, high-speed digitization? I may be converting hundreds, if not thousands, of tapes.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on May 18, 2010 10:59 AM

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12 replies

May 21, 2010 1:04 PM in response to David Harbsmeier

Didn't realize I was being unclear - I'm looking for one piece of equipment, not two. The device I linked to is a single device with a deck for mini-dv, a deck for VHS, and the electronics, all in one piece of hardware. Most capture devices have only the electronics and connect to external (from their perspective) devices like an 80s era VCR that you have to find at a garage sale somewhere.

I get the feeling this is a moot point. If you were familiar with the equipment I'm looking for, you would've been able to give me some suggestions, regardless of how inelegantly I phrased the question. Feel free to let this one go - it doesn't look like I'll find the answers here.

Jun 19, 2010 10:20 AM in response to ap0110

Found it!

To answer my own questions:
- the process is indeed called "digitization".
- the device can be called a "VHS transfer device" or a "digitization bay" but doesn't seem to have a standard name
- here is one such device - it came out 2 years ago

http://www.everythingusb.com/ion-vcr-2-pc-usb-vhs-archiver-14591.html

See - not that complicated. Hopefully this helps someone else.

Jun 19, 2010 10:27 AM in response to ap0110

That model will probably work well for video that you don't intend to edit, since it digitizes only in h.264 or MPEG-2. Both formats are for final delivery (iPod/iPhone or DVD-Video). Neither are meant for editing and will need to be transcoded IF you plan to edit.

Also note that this unit plays/digitizes in real time. It will not do it at high speed as a feature you earlier indicated that you're looking for.

-DH

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Best deck for VHS and mini-DV digitization?

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