Finding the best VHS to DVD service to preserve your family treasures can sometimes be a little tricky. When you look online, you can find lots of companies that say they use the same methods as Hollywood for copying your old home movie memories to DVD but are they telling you the whole story? As a former Hollywood visual effects coordinator, I feel my input here may help you. Let’s take a closer look at what makes a good transfer service company.
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The Method Is The Message
Marshall McLuhan, the “media theorist,” once said, “the medium is the message.” I’ll counter that with the phrase, “the method is the message.” At least that is how I see it when it comes to selecting the best company to transfer my old family VHS tapes to DVD. It doesn’t really matter if a company uses the same method as Hollywood to copy a movie to DVD. What matters most is the method that it uses to actually digitize the analog media. This, more than any other factor, dictates the quality of your final DVD.
Quality Indicator #1: Video Capture Device
To select the best VHS to DVD transfer company, there are certain indicators you can find on a company’s website. When a company openly tells you anything specific about the equipment they use, that is always a good sign. As an example, they might mention the brand name and model number of the video deck they use to play the VHS tape as it is being digitized. Even better, the company may cite the name of the video capture device they use. If a company says it uses something called a “Canopus” (or “Grass Valley”) ADVC 300, for instance, then things are looking good. This capture device is well-respected for the way it captures the analog signal coming from the VHS tape and the way it cleans up any noise and enhances the video. If no details are disclosed, then move on.
Quality Indicator #2: Color Correction
Another good indicator of a good quality VHS to DVD transfer service is color correction. If a digital transfer service company advertises that it will enhance the color of your video, making it look better than you remember it, there is a good chance that they are telling the truth. This is a guarantee that many companies will not make because it is a challenging promise to keep – unless they actually are a professional company using some of the best equipment and methods. Color correcting digitized video can be done with additional hardware or software but no matter what method is used, it is something that is rarely offered by a fly-by-night video transfer service. So, if your potential VHS to DVD transfer house is offering you color correction, take another sigh of relief because you are on the right track.
Quality Indicator #3: Uncompressed Video
The third and most “black-and-white” of my three “litmus tests” for identifying a good video transfer service is also the most simple. An ordinary video transfer company will only deliver standard definition video on DVD. The best VHS to DVD transfer companies know that this is only the beginning. The world is changing to high definition. Even if your particular analog video format can only be digitized to standard definition, it is important that you receive the raw digital files of your digitized home videos. These uncompressed digital files contain the most detail and, as such, become your new “master” with which to preserve your video memories for future generations. The DVD copy is just that – a copy. A good VHS to DVD transfer company will offer you these files on either a data DVD or a hard drive. If the company you are considering delivers uncompressed video files in addition to your DVD copies, then you are in good hands.
Grading VHS To DVD Transfer Companies
The whole point of this site is to provide you with information to help you make the best decision when selecting a company to digitize and preserve your valued VHS memories. One of the ways I do this is by grading as many VHS to DVD companies as possible. If you would like to save yourself some time and get some help choosing a specific company, here are a few pages that will offer you some choices.