Just bought a used Panasonic NV-HS1000 SVHS VCR - advice needed please

I’ve been charged with the unenviable task of digitizing the family’s heirloom home-movie collection (a combination of VHS and VHS-C tapes), and as I want to do this task once and ONLY once, I thought it would be prudent to acquire a ‘prosumer’ VCR capable of extracting every last bit of grainy detail from those old 240-line VHS tapes. Hence I have just bought a used Panasonic NV-HS1000 SVHS VCR.

I'd classify myself as almost a VHS novice. I used it in my childhood when I used to record my favourite TV shows. However I was dealing with lower end consumer decks and didn't really understand the workings of the machine or the tapes themselves, other than the basics. I never delved inside any of the machines. When recording and playback quality deteriorated, I would insert the trusty Scotch magnetic tape head cleaner, play it for a few seconds, and voila, the quality was restored. And when the machine no longer responded to the head cleaner and/or began chewing tapes, it was replaced with a new model. When DVD / HDD Recorders emerged in the early 2000s, I ditched VHS and haven’t revisited the format until now.

The NV-HS1000 is a world away from the machines I used to use. It retailed at £1000 GBP in 1992 and is an absolute battleship with enough controls to fly the Millennium Falcon! I have tested a few (dispensible!) tapes in it and is seems to be in good working order. The picture clarity and stability is superior (the difference isn’t night and day, but it is noticeable) to the 2 VCRs I have compared it to (a low-end Matsui 4-head and mid-end Sharp 6-head), and all of the controls appear to work as they should.

But to be honest, I am a bit overwhelmed by all of the different settings and features this deck provides. I have read the User Manual, however it assumes a certain level of prior knowledge so isn’t the easiest read. I would be grateful if someone could please give me the basics on how I should be using this deck to obtain the best results from digitizing said movie collection. (I will be outputting from the deck via S-Video cable and analog audio RCAs to a Canopus ADVC-100 FireWire interface connected to my Mac Pro, where I intend to capture the content in .dv format).

Given my lack of knowledge and experience, I am reluctant to open the unit up and perform any cleaning or other maintenance in case I mess anything up (if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, right?). The external condition of the unit certainly suggests it has been well looked after (it looks almost brand new), but this doesn’t really give much indication of how much action the heads (and other moving parts) have seen. What would you suggest I do? Is it enough to try and track down one of those Scotch magnetic tape head cleaners and live in ignorant bliss, or should I get over myself and take a look inside?

 

What's the harm in taking a look inside? I would open it up and make sure nothing looks out of place before inserting the valuable tapes. Also, post some pictures of all of the settings and whatnot so we can see them and answer questions.

 

There's a forum that I am a regular of that is well suited to address your issue.

Being a Panasonic deck, I definitely would open it up and check its condition. Many times problems with Panasonic decks were with defective capacitors which can cause color problems and dimming issues. When doing any kind of VHS transfers a prosumer deck is a must to get the most out of the tapes. With that said....

Since most of your captures will be from VHS source material, its best to obtain a TBC (Time Base Corrector) to help stabilize the signal to ensure a good capture, and to prevent dropping frames.

I believe the unit you have has built-in TBC and DNR circuits since it was a pro editing VCR. If it does, then that is great because the built in TBC will help clean up the signal for better output and an external TBC will help stabilize the signal for capture.

From the pics I have seen of this unit its somewhat similar to the AG-1980P I have. I would not use a head cleaner on the video heads as excessive use can cause big problems with the heads.

Also, if the deck has an 'Edit' switch, I would use that too.

 

This is not a pro editing machine -- it was a high-end consumer machine. This was essentially Panasonic's version of Mitsubishi's U80 or JVC's HR-S8000. The pro machines have a minimum of controls, typically BNC video connectors, and balanced XLR audio inputs and outputs.

I would be careful with any digital noise-reduction controls, because they can often do more harm than good. If you have any TBC controls, I find bumping the chroma (saturation) up a point or two often helps.

 

Its PAL, so few controls to fiddle
Baby Buds and careful manual head clean after removal of head panel
Isoprop from Boots for the Buds

 

Yes, it is a consumer deck, not an editing deck or pro VHS deck. Big difference.

 

I also agree about the need to manually lean the video heads. Texwipes and alcohol will do the job -- turn the head drum by hand if possible, and be very careful not to move the cloth vertically, lest you break off the head.

Getting new video heads these days for machines like this is really tough. Not a lotta parts out there.

 

OK I'll take a look inside it this weekend (will probably need to do it outside as the house is an absolute dust haven! :thumbsdn: )

Here is a pic showing all of the switch settings on the front of the unit:
http://www.avx.hu/forum/uploads/post-31-1262083451.jpg

(This isn't actually my unit as I gleaned this pic from the web, but mine is identical except that my unit has one extra switch to the right of the AI switch, called NICAM/MONO. Can't say I notice any difference in sound between the two settings on this switch so perhaps it's for recording only).

I’ll briefly run through the effects of each switch from right to left:

PICTURE (Soft->Sharp): Adjusts sharpness of image. Generally looks best when set to 50% or less. Also depends on viewing distance from screen (softer looks better for close-up viewing and sharper looks better for distant viewing).

TBC (Off/On): Notice extremely subtle change in picture quality and colour rendering between the two settings. Image is stable regardless of whether off or on.

16:9 (Auto/On/Off): Minor expanding or shrinkage of image to fill screen (probably the equivalent of Overscan on/off setting on TV).

INPUT SELECT: (S-Video/Line): Selects input for recording from external source.

SVHS (On/Off): Selects whether to record in SVHS format (400 lines) or VHS format (240 lines).

EDIT MODE (Player/Recorder/Passive): Notice extremely subtle change in picture quality and colour rendering between the settings but not sure why?

REMOTE MODE (1/2/3): Only applicable if using two NS1000 VCRs simultaneously.

HIFI/NORMAL MIX: Audio sounds best on HIFI setting (Normal setting sounds unnaturally subdued).

VIDEO MODE (Colour/Auto/B&W): Chooses to display image in colour, B&W, or auto.

AI (Off/On): According to user manual, “AI automatically calibrates tape and optimizes playback. Contrast of tapes recorded with good level is automatically optimised, and when a tape recorded with insufficient level is played the NR circuit is activated automatically. This process has positive effects on used video heads also.” When this switch is on, several other controls (including PICTURE Soft->Sharp) appear to be bypassed and therefore cannot be adjusted.

NICAM/MONO: Apparent audio settings but can’t hear any difference between the two.

 

No, this is fattenizing the picture to fit a 16x9 screen. Stay away, unless the image looks correct (which is unlikely).

 

As I said to a mate of mine who was wringing his hands over a £80 photo slide scanner or a £200 one.

"Listen are you wanting to scan these slides for the benefit of the National Photo Archive or just to get some happy memories back in a more usable form?"

He smiled and said "you're right!" and got the £80 one. It worked fine and he was able to share the long unseen pics with the family and no one mentioned or cared how marvellous or crap they looked.

Set the controls to auto and get on with it.