Blending Old and New
Marketers of A/V equipment, and the
publications devoted to it, are often like the computer folks in that they assume that
everybody is updating all the time, and uses only the latest version of everything.
'Tain't so, of course, so this time we'll look at some problems related to the continued
use of older video equipment or the recordings made on it.
For instance, Steve says he has some recordings made
in linear stereo on a three-speed (SP, LP, and SLP) 1984-vintage VCR. "I have been
disappointed that the hi-fi VCRs common today default to monaural on the linear audio
track. Does anyone offer a VHS deck that handles all three speeds plus both hi-fi
and linear stereo audio systems?"
I doubt that he'll find a single machine that will do
everything he wants, and whatever equipment combination he does come up with to access all
those old tapes will likely have to come from the second-hand market.
The long-play (LP) speed was always a bit of an orphan. It
was included in some early machines, but it was never supported by the VHS system's
developer, JVC, who preferred the even slower SLP (or EP) mode. Many machines could play
the LP tapes, but not record them. Likewise, linear stereo was an interim matter, usually
associated with Dolby B noise reduction. It never worked very well, and was quickly
abandoned when VHS Hi-Fi became a virtual standard. My suggestion would be to get the old
machine refurbished if possible, or to find the same model on the Internet, and then copy
the old tapes to a more common VHS format. Or to DVD.
Mario, like a lot of long-term videophiles, has a large
collection of laserdiscs, and wants to know which, if any, of the recordable DVD formats
he can use to archive them.
He can copy a laserdisc to any of the DVD formats because
the picture signal on an LD is analog, and can be recorded simply by plugging the player's
output into the RCA line inputs of the DVD recorder. This confuses lots of people because
the LD is definitely a first cousin of the (digital) compact disc, and because almost all
later laserdiscs contained a (digital) PCM audio track, as well as an analog version. He
might be able to transfer the LD's audio via the player's digital output, optical or
coaxial, but he'll have to feed it through a receiver or amplifier with digital in, and
then connect to the DVD recorder's analog inputs; so far, DVD recorders do not have
digital audio inputs.
For that reason, the thing he won't be able to do is to
copy the Dolby Digital surround track from any LD that has one (not many do). The DD
output on players that supported it was not digital but a modulated radio-frequency (RF)
signal. A few old receivers could use this, but no DVD machines, so he'll have to listen
to those discs in Pro Logic.
"I currently have a good progressive-scan DVD player,
but the rest of my equipment -- including my old standard TV set -- is severely lacking in
quality," says Vince. "Will I need to buy a television or monitor capable of
displaying a progressive-scan image, or will an outboard processor allow my current set to
display the progressive signal?"
Television monitors have come a long way in the facilities
they provide for feeding signals in and out, but until recently they could only display
them in one format: 480i, or standard interlaced NTSC. There is no way you can coax such a
set to handle the more complex progressive scan unless it was designed to do so from the
start.
Fortunately, by the time you do get around to buying a set
with component inputs, it will certainly be able to display progressive-scan images,
whether produced by your DVD player or an external processor. It'll probably be HD-ready
as well.
...Ian G. Masters
ian@mastersonaudio.com
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