BristolUK

It's been absolutely ages since this topic was discussed

I foolishly brought over hundreds (literally) of VHS tapes (UK PAL system).

I wisely brought over my two VCRs on which to play them.

I stupidly completely forgot that North American TVs wouldn't recognise them.

I became aware of Universal multi-system VCRs. Samsung and Sharp made some. Solution, I thought, but they had mixed reviews and they cost a lot, around $500 or so. A UK combo was a reasonable alternative but it cost a fortune to have one sent over.

The next idea was a converter for about $90 but this also meant various adapters and connectors, with no guarantee the VCRs would even still work after the passage of time. Not to mention that with this many tapes, most of which were long play with anything up to 8 hours each, and many of which had long since been missing little slips of paper saying what was on them, it would be an impossible job.

I became resigned to not being able to use them and over time I replaced a few with used DVD/VHS alternatives and in more recent times downloaded some replacements.

So I've been throwing them out gradually - including "why on earth did I keep that" responses and noting what I would still like replaced.

I'm down to half a dozen compilations that I made of various clips of TV and movies scenes and I would like to see them again.

The multi-system VCRs are still expensive and maybe even less reliable.

I'm not sure if I'd need a voltage converter or just a travel plug to see if the VCR mechanics work, but even if they did, that's not going to tell me that the audio/video will be produced.

I suppose I could take a chance, buy one of these video converter things, use it and then see if it succeeded.

There are video transfer services available locally that don't seem too bad a price but none have the ability for PAL tapes.

Out of town rates seem far more expensive. As much as $50 per two hours and these tapes may have about 20 hours between them.

Any suggestions other than chucking them out as well?

Are there any new gadgets that will do the job?

Turtle

I have quite a few old VHS-C tapes which I wanted to store on the PC rather than watch on TV and I also have my old UK VHS player. The player is 220v, so needs a step-down transformer rather than just an adapter, but the transformer works fine. I bought a $24.99 USB gadget from Canada Computers - MyGica USB Video Capture - which has the red,white & yellow cables that I plug into a SCART socket adapter, although you could probably plug them into the VHS directly if it has those sockets.. The USB end obviously goes into the PC.

Although the MyGica says it's Windows 8 compatible I had no problems with Windows 10. The software that comes with it worked fine, I was able to tell it that the input signal was PAL-B and all my VHS-C tapes are now safely stored on the PC.

magnumpi

Pinnacle also make a break out box, Best Buy had them years ago, I have one and use it for old 8mm and DV video. As said above u can use one to load the contents onto a PC as long as u have the right codecs for the image type. (Usually found free online)

BristolUK

This sounds very promising. Thank you both.

Siouxie

Here's another option

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

BristolUK

Yes that appears to do the trick too.

I had already ordered the necessary gadget and with the transformer it's just a bit less than that.

So long as one of the VCRs still works I should be all set, although the transformer may take some time to arrive. Had to do a lot of shopping around for that. One place wanted $76 minimum to deliver.

Stinkypup

Here is another option

BristolUK

Done that one already. Thrown out hundreds and so has my MIL following my example and hers would have played!!

But I want to see my compilations again. I put a hell of a lot of work into them. There's even a series of clips from a movie done like a mini-movie.

Oink

You do know there's tons of free stuff on the internet these days, apparently.

BristolUK

Sadly my creations are not.

dave_j

Hope you didn't pay too much. First of all look at the VCR and see what it's power rating is. If it's below 100W then something like the following cheap step up unit should do https://www.amazon.ca/Power-Converte...wn+transformer. A more powerful unit like https://www.amazon.ca/gp/offer-listi...wn+transformer will certainly work.
You may or may not have to buy a PAL to NTSC converter depending on the TV you have. Have a look at the TV settings, you may be lucky and have a TV that will accept both formats although you will have to examine the TV settings to see if this is possible. I know that the TV I had in the UK would accept both.

BristolUK

@dave_j

The white one seems to be misleading in the description, ignoring the reviews that say it melts.

However, thanks...you saved me a few bucks. The black one is the one I ordered but when I looked for the name on Amazon I selected electronics. With the same search but without selecting a category, many many more options came up.

I was able to cancel the original order and replace it with the $11 one.
(as long it's not one of those too good to be true ones)

You've done your good deed for the day

I suppose I could check our new TVs but experience has usually been that British stuff recognises both while American stuff only recognises American. For tapes, rather than DVDs anyway.

Either way, I need to wait for the transformer to see if the VCRs work and getting them onto computer is a good option. Then I can get shot of the two VCRs

Cheers

dave_j

I have a number like the white ones and apart from the one I dropped and smashed they work ok.. but.. you have to be aware of the limitation on power and use accordingly. Some modern electronics use less power than you might think but there's always the temptation to cut corners. Best of luck with those tapes.

Siouxie

There's a few TV's that support multi system (PAL and NTSC) some although not advertised as such have the ability (as has been mentioned upthread) - what do you have? Apparently most LG tv's support PAL as do some Insignia models.

Specific multi system tv's >

MultiSystem Televisions | 110-220 Volt, 4K Ultra HD, Curved LED PAL NTSC TV's
Multi-System LCD TVs for PAL, SECAM, NTSC | Sony, Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba MultiSystem TVs | Largest Selection for Multi System LCD TVs - World Import

BristolUK

I had those two websites saved in my bookmarks for years, checking periodically, and removed them when I gave up.

Every option I looked at in Canada involved the multi-system VCR for at least $500 or a multi-system TV that was small and a similar price with delivery, with the latter dependent on my VCRs working.

It was only this year we upgraded to a more modern TV so I wasn't going to (couldn't) splash out on something specialist.

But I see now there's a nice flat screen 19" that would have done the job and because it's light, delivery isn't that much. It's still over $300 by the time it's all converted to Canadian. The $135 base price looked so attractive too.

My transformer is only $11 (free delivery too) thanks to dave_j and the gadget is $39 all in, so $50 isn't much to risk.

If only I'd added my UK TV to the UK VCRs that were sent over.

I can't find anything to suggest the TVs we have now will work for PAL but I can still try if the VCRs work.

Much appreciated.