topic Playing VHS tape with Sony VCR on a PC? in Home Cinema, Projectors & Players

Playing VHS tape with Sony VCR on a PC?

Blue_nose — Sun, 07 Jul 2019 15:29:18 GMT

Hello

I wish to convert a few VHS tapes to DVD disk and have the PC accessories to do so (converter, cables, etc). I have done this many times using another VCR.

I now have a Sony VCR model SLV-SE230 and have rigged it up to my PC. Windows 10 detects that I have plugged in the VCR. However, when I press PLAY on the VCR with a home made video inside it, I see no movie on my PC screen via commercial video editing software (whereas I can see a movie playing when I use my other VCR, just as if it were playing on a TV screen). I have downloaded the manual for my Sony SLV-SE230 and there is no mention at all of how to connect it to a PC.

Does this mean that VHS tapes playing in my Sony SLV-SE230 VCR cannot be viewed on a PC, or am I not doing something right?

Thanks!

Betreff: Playing VHS tape with Sony VCR on a PC?

IamNic — Sun, 07 Jul 2019 16:04:32 GMT

Hello @Blue_nose,

which video grabber and which video editing software do you use?

- Nic

Re: Playing VHS tape with Sony VCR on a PC?

Blue_nose — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 15:09:59 GMT

Thanks for your reply.

I am using a VIDBOX converter/grabber and Honestech software. I am not doing anythging different from when I previously used a Hitachi VCR which played home movies in the honestech software, but there is a loading tray fault with that machine so I am trying out the Sony VCR that I have.

Thanks again.

Re: Playing VHS tape with Sony VCR on a PC?

IamNic — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 17:20:52 GMT

Hello @Blue_nose,

have you verified on a TV that the player even outputs a signal? If you can't get a signal there, that might be the solution to the issue.

It still could be a faulty cable/adapter in the line.

- Nic

Re: Playing VHS tape with Sony VCR on a PC?

Blue_nose — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 10:36:43 GMT

Thanks again.

This is the set up I have:

The scart lead plugs into the VCR and the USB into my PC tower. When I plug the USB into the tower and can hear that Windows recognises the device, just as when I insert a flash drive into the tower. The problem is not connecting the device; it is that the movie doesn' t play on my PC screen. Should the VCR be set to a certain channel? I can see PR1, PR2, L1, L2, etc.

Yes, I have connected the VCR to a TV and with a VHS tape inserted, I can watch whatever its contents on the TV screen.

Thanks again.

Re: Playing VHS tape with Sony VCR on a PC?

IamNic — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 19:57:42 GMT

Hello @Blue_nose,

@Blue_nose schrieb:

Yes, I have connected the VCR to a TV and with a VHS tape inserted, I can watch whatever its contents on the TV screen.

do you use the same setup (uncluding the showen SCART to Composite video adapter)?

If on your TV you use a scart-cable directly, that might be the solution - some Scart-adapters are directional and can't be used as video in/out.

- Nic

Re: Playing VHS tape with Sony VCR on a PC?

Blue_nose — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 10:28:19 GMT

The SCART leads plugs into the VCR and the USB plugs into the tower (as indicated in the screenshot). It works on my Hitachi VCR and I have burnt many VHS tapes to DVD in that way. But for that to happen, I need to be able to see the movie playing on my PC screen via my movie editing software. I cannot see the movie playing on my screen with this Sony VCR. There is clearly nothing wrong with the software if I have burnt tapes to disk in the past using the same software.

What, therefore, I am asking is does the Sony VCR model that I am using have that capability?

Thanks.

Re: Playing VHS tape with Sony VCR on a PC?

IamNic — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 14:24:26 GMT

Hello @Blue_nose,

you misunderstood me - what I was asking was - do you use the same exact setup of cables/adapters when you plug your VCR into your TV?

If for example you use a Scart to Scart cable there you use a different setup - what I want to know is, if you get an image on your TV if you connect the VCR to your TV with the same Scart adapter combined with the Composite Video+Chinch cable. Meaning unplugging the cables from the video grabber side of your setup and plugging the same ends into your TV instead.

- Nic

Re: Playing VHS tape with Sony VCR on a PC?

Blue_nose — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 15:18:48 GMT

I plug one Scart plug into the back of the TV set and the other Scart end into the VCR. I do not use those red and yellow cables + VIDBOX in order to watch a VHS tape on my TV. Those red and yellow cables + VIDBOX are to convert the VHS tape from analogue to digital. Once it is converted to digital I can burn the movie to a blank DVD.

In reality, I never use the VCR to watch VHS movies on the TV - I only use a VCR to display the VHS tape on my PC screen.

Re: Playing VHS tape with Sony VCR on a PC?

IamNic — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 15:49:15 GMT

Hello @Blue_nose,

even though you have understood my question - you answered it anyways.

@Blue_nose schrieb:

I plug one Scart plug into the back of the TV set and the other Scart end into the VCR.

This is what I meant - when trying to see if the VCR outputs a signal, you use a different setup than when you connect it to the video grabber.

Please check your Scart to Composite Video adapter - there are directional ones, which may be the cause you can't get a signal when you connect your VCR to the video grabber but you can see it outputting something when you use a different cable to connect it directly to the TV.

Please check if this particular adapter supports video-output on the Composite end - it may only support a signal coming from the composite video cable.

Since you already confirmed that the grabber ususally works with other devices, that is most likely the reason. I suppose your other devices directly output Composite video + Chinch (yellow/red/white) as oppose to the Sony VCR for which you need to adapt "Scart" to this connector.

- Nic

Betreff: Playing VHS tape with Sony VCR on a PC?

Blue_nose — Fri, 12 Jul 2019 09:51:25 GMT

I think I know what you mean. You are saying that with this Sony VCR, I am not able to connect it to my PC in the same way as I do the Hitachi VCR?

Betreff: Playing VHS tape with Sony VCR on a PC?

IamNic — Fri, 12 Jul 2019 15:43:06 GMT

Hello @Blue_nose,

if I understood you correctly, you connect the Hitachi VCR via Composite-video+Chinch (Yellow, White, Red), since it features said output directly on the device, while for the Sony VCR you have to adapt Scart to Composite-video+Chinch.

Did I get that right? 🤔

If so, then the adapter you are using to plug into the back of your Sony VCR is directional and would only work on the display-side (e.g. TV) but not as an adapter on the device-side (as you use it here).

There are different Scart to Composite Video+Chinch adapters, some only work as input, some work as output, others even have a switch on the side to use them for both applications - yours seemingly doesn't have such a switch, so it could be just for input on a TV and therefore the reason, why it doesn't work connected to your video grabber.

Composite+Chinch to Scart adapter with a switch to use it for both signal "directions".

- Nic

Betreff: Playing VHS tape with Sony VCR on a PC?

Blue_nose — Mon, 15 Jul 2019 15:05:37 GMT

Hello Nic

No. I am trying to connect the Sony VCR in exactly the same was as I connected the Hitachi VCR since that is the only way I know how to do it and that is the way it works (with the Hitachi, at least).

With the Hitchaci, I plug in the scart lead into the VCR, and I am doing the same with the Sony. The scart lead connects to the converter/grabber via the red, yellow, and white cables (which are on the other side of the scart plug as in the screenshot). The converter attaches to the PC via the USB lead.

If my set-up was appropriate only for a TV, how to explain the many DVDs I have burnt from a VHS tape via the Hitachi VCR. That's what I was trying to ask before. Is it possible that the Sony VCR cannot display VHS on a PC screen whereas the Hitachi VCR can?