Posted by Gene E. Bloch on 03/22/07 18:38

On 3/21/2007, Cori posted this:
> Okay, I bought me a Zenith VCR-DVD combo which burns DVDs and records
> on VHS http://www.zenith.com/sub_prod/product_Display.asp?cat=&id=1046
> and I bought me a Canopus ADVC 110 converter which will convert from
> VHS tape or from camcorder tape to DVD.
> http://www.canopus.com/products/ADVC110/index.php
>
> Now, suppose I borrow home movies from a friend to transfer to DVD.
> Once I burn the DVD on my Zenith from their tape, is it "as digital as
> it's going to get," and that's it? Can I just make myself a copy with
> a DVD burner on my own Mac, and have the footage in as good a quality
> as there is? Or do I have to run all the material directly onto hard
> drive through the converter to have really good quality? What I'm
> asking is
> 1. Is there a difference in quality when the Zenith saves me several
> steps in converting material direct to digital?
> 2. Is there any generational loss if I make a DVD from another DVD,
> since one is a copy but they're both digital?
>
> Thanks for any abilities to explain this in terms understandable to my
> mind.
>
> Cori

Well, I long ago vowed never to answer your posts, but I'll break my
rule today.

If you play a DVD, the digital data gets converted to analog. If you
pass the resulting analog output through the ADVC100 to get it into
your computer, it gets redigitized. These are two lossy steps. I
reiterate in different words: you will *lose* quality (twice) in doing
that.

If you copy the files from the DVD into your computer using your
computer's DVD drive, the DVD's digital data is copied bit-for-bit into
the computer. No losses (no changes at all) in information.

You could, of course, capture the video directly from the camcorder by
FireWire, using the FireWire output of the camcorder and the FireWire
input of your computer. Of course, this can't be done if it's an
analog-only camcorder. However, in the case of the analog camcorder you
still could digitize the analog output directly into your computer by
using the ADVC. Both of these methods get your data into the computer
with minimum loss, which reading the DVD directly would also
accomplish.

These two methods are almost equivalent. However, the two devices
(ADVC, DVD recorder) will have different qualities of digitization. Try
them and see what you like best.

Still, nothing beats copying the data from a digital camcorder by
FireWire, of course, since that is a bit-by-bit transfer.

--
Gene E. Bloch (Gino)
letters617blochg3251
(replace the numbers by "at" and "dotcom")

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