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From: fish@ihlpm.UUCP (Bob Fishell)
Newsgroups: net.video
Subject: Re: Enhancers and stabilizers
Message-ID: <633@ihlpm.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 27-Dec-85 16:04:07 EST
Article-I.D.: ihlpm.633
Posted: Fri Dec 27 16:04:07 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Dec-85 01:53:11 EST
References: <218@bnrmtv.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 47


 
> The colors bleed and the sound sucks.  Can a good enhancer help?
> What is the general consensus comcerning enhancers?  I saw a Recoton V-615
> enhancer for about $288.00 that someone told me was great.  But others
> have told me they are a waste of money (the whites turning out blindingly
> white is one complaint I've heard).

I can't comment on the model you've mentioned, but I experimented briefly
with Radio Hack's video enhancer and stabilizer, found them wanting, and
subsequently returned them for a refund.

A stabilizer is a gadget which touches up the sync pulse so as to prevent
rolling.  They were developed mainly to counter the effects of Copyguard
and any tape-induced degradation of the sync signal.  An enhancer, on the
other hand, operates on the luminance signal, boosting its dynamic range
so as to make blacks blacker and whites whiter.  The one I got from Hack
also included a "color processor," which operated on the chroma and color
burst signals, allowing you to amplify them and alter the color balance.

All these gadgets are great in principle, but the ones I used intoduced so
much additional distortion into the video signal so as to make their intended
effects useless.  While they could, in some cases, give me a little better
picture when placed between the VCR and the TV, I got much better results 
dubbing without them. Now, Radio Hack is not known for superior quality;
I very well might have just gotten what I paid for.  The enhancer you
describe probably does a better job.

The sound sucks because it's bad to begin with (unless your original has
hi-fi tracks), and dubbing it onto the linear tracks of a VCR makes it
worse.  However, if you are recording from hi-fi to linear, you may have
the recording levels mismatched.  Try routing the sound through your
stereo system, amplifying or attenuating as the case may  be.  Most VCRs
don't have audio (or video) level controls that the user can twiddle,
relying instead on preset levels and internal limiters.  I've gotten some
sound improvements by taking the audio signal from my stereo amplifier's
headphone jack.  Since I've just got mono VCRs, I have to mix the signal
(2 330-ohm resistors do the job nicely), but I can adjust the recording
level that way. 
 
  
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				Bob Fishell
				ihnp4!ihlpg!fish