How To Convert Old Vhs Tapes To Dvd

VHS video tapes, they have been around for years, but since the emergence of DVD in the late nineties very few of use VHS anymore. But don't throw away your old home movies as there is a way of transferring the old VHS tapes onto DVD.

There are a few options available, here we look at the two most commonly used:

Method 1: You can transfer to a recordable DVD player, either a combination VHS and DVD or by connecting your VHS player to a recordable DVD machine using a scart cable. Combination players are very easy to use but lack the ability to edit your videos, it's simply a case of putting your VHS tape in one slot and your recordable DVD in the other slot, play your VHS tape and record onto the DVD.

Whilst using a combination DVD recorder is easier, the cost of the device can be prohibitive, even a low cost device will cost upwards of two hundred pounds ($320).

Method 2: Using a Digital USB Video Grabber. For more versatility and to be able to edit your images you can transfer them to your home computer. You would think it's as easy as plugging a scart lead from your old video recorder into your computer, but sadly that won't work. Old VHS tapes are analogue and most computers can't convert the signal to digital. Therefore the signal needs to be converted before it enters you computer.

The easiest solution is to use a USB Video Grabber; this device will convert the analogue signal into a digital signal that can be recognised by your computer and video editing software.

The devices usually have a composite video in socket (yellow plug) and two stereo audio sockets (left and right) these allow you to connect the video recorder. The other end of the Video Grabber has a USB plug that connects to your computer. Most video grabbers are supplied with basic video editing software that allows you to cut and stitch frames or add titles and special effects. They range in price starting from around thirty pounds ($48) and are available from almost all computers shops.

The basic model is adequate for most home users and are fairly straight forward to use, requiring only a basic knowledge of computers.

In conclusion we would recommend the USB Video Grabber over the combination recorder. At just thirty ($48) The Video grabber is a lot cheaper and it allows for more editing which in return can give you hours of fun playing around with your old movies. But for those who are less computer literate the combination recorder is a straight forward plug and play method.