Viewing VHS Cassettes on Computer

[Winston]

Has anyone had any experience hooking up a VHS VCR to the computer just for viewing?

I'm asking because I'd like to go through and catalogue my old VHS tapes, to see what I want to keep and what I will hand over to someone who will have more use for them than I do at present.

I have a VCR, but not a TV, which is why I got to thinking if it was possible to somehow hook up the VCR to the computer.

I don't need to capture the video, encode it or burn it to DVD's or anything, just view through the tapes on the monitor and take a few notes of the contents.

Is this possible without too much of a hassle do you think? Will I need some kind of special video card, and what programs will be needed to make the viewing possible?

Any advice you might have is most welcome.

[Asmodean]

A friend of mine (he's an electronics genius) once assembled a device that allowed him to do so. He found the blueprints on the internet. I'll ask him where, the next time I see him. Perhaps he knows if a thing like that is available commercially.

Asmodean

[Edan]

You will need some kind of hardware that has a TV tuner, either an internal card, or an external usb (or firewire) device, that accepts as input the output of your VCR.

USB would be easier to set up, but a card would probably be less expensive. Most cards will come with some software to watch TV (although from what I'v heard, some 3rd party software is much better than the software that comes with some of the cards

[Winston]

Ok, an external TV tuner device seems like something I could probably figure out how to operate.

From a quick search, I found one from the store I usually go to, from Pinnacle, at ~USD 130, which seems reasonable enough. It will apparently also show and record regular TV broadcasts. So Asmodean, you don't need to ask your friend, it seems they are available.

But it is USB 2.0 only! I have USB, but I can't figure out whether I have 2.0 or just 1.1, how do you determine which one it is? (I've had this trouble once before, when I got my DVD burner. It works fine, but I never did find out if I had USB 1.1 or 2.0).

[Wycoff]

It'd probably be easier just to go out and buy a cheap TV... A small one can be had for $75 - $90.

[Winston]

Yes you're probably right, Wycoff, but i don't really want a TV. Been there, done that.

Plus I'd have to pay the license fee which is close to USD 400 annually. No way Jose.

[Asmodean]

Yeah...damned TV license fee.

But Winston...no TV??? My hat's off to you.

Asmodean

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by Winston

Plus I'd have to pay the license fee which is close to USD 400 annually. No way Jose.

A TV License? Is this a local thing? That's insane

[Dis]

people without tv's are freaks.

[Winston]

The Danish TV license fee is insane. Especially considering that it only finances 1 state-run channel, heavily left wing-biased, and about 10% of another partially state run channel, not quite as biased, but even stupider than the first one.

I may be a freak, but I know what I'm not subsidizing.

I must admit however that I sneak peek the evening news on one channel's web stream about twice a month on average. A bit more during the recent election we had here.

Asmodean, yeah I gave it up a couple of years back. I must say it's probably one of the wisest and surprisingly enough easiest decisions I've ever made. But it is no doubt a bit harder if you have a family around, granted.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by Winston
The Danish TV license fee is insane. Especially considering that it only finances 1 state-run channel, heavily left wing-biased, and about 10% of another partially state run channel, not quite as biased, but even stupider than the first one.

I may be a freak, but I know what I'm not subsidizing.

I must admit however that I sneak peek the evening news on one channel's web stream about twice a month on average. A bit more during the recent election we had here.

Asmodean, yeah I gave it up a couple of years back. I must say it's probably one of the wisest and surprisingly enough easiest decisions I've ever made. But it is no doubt a bit harder if you have a family around, granted.

400 USD for a TV license? Holy Hell.

How exactly does that system work?

[Dis]

technically our tv is free. although most people have cable tv. I pay about $60 a month for that. That's over $700 a year.

[Winston]

It works so that if you have one TV set (or more) at your house you have to sign up for registration with the License Admin. I believe these days you get automatically signed up when buying a new TV set, if you aren't already.

You then have to pay the license twice a year, January and July. The fees are approximately:

Color TV + radio: USD 360 per year
B/W TV + radio: USD 230 per year
Radio alone: USD 50 per year

It doesn't matter whether you watch the state run channels or not - or even if the TV set is ever in use. As long as you have it and it's capable of receiving a signal, you have to pay.

I guess it's marginally better than if it were tax financed, but it's still a ridiculous and very rigid system. Especially considering the service you actually receive for your money, which as I mentioned is heavily lacking in objectivity, not to mention the overall poor quality of programming.

I might add that the horrendously poor TV programming in general was the reason I quit, not the license.

[alva]

You can't have a tv without paying a license???

[DRoseDARs]

That's f*cked up.