Aiwa PAL and NTSC VHS horizontal bars

An Albanian gentleman asked me to check this for him because he has lots of tape from home, and I don't have a clue about multi system VCRs. It's an Aiwa multi system VHS model HV-MX1.

It auto selects between NTSC and PAL when played back, and it has a selecta ble output of either.

When playing an NTSC tape, it auto selects NTSC and plays a perfect picture in color on an NTSC LCD TV via AV input. When a pre-recorded PAL tape is played, it auto selects PAL properly, but the picture on the monitor is bla ck and white horiz bars, as if the horizontal hold was off just beyond lock . However when PAL is selected as an output (despite the monitor being NTS C), the picture appears in black and white and with a "texture" to it (like playing a component input on the composite jack).

Not sure if something is wrong with the machine or some sort of incompatibi lity between equipment. He said it worked years ago the last time it was t ried, but that was on an RCA analog TV.

Reply to
John-Del
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It probably does not actually convert PAL to NTSC. Most likely meant to be used with a multi-system TV.

Converting PAL to NTSC is more involved than a line doubler, and you might know how expensive those things were. It is also difficult the other way ar ound. Different scan rates and color subcarrier frequencies, and that phase shift deal in PAL that makes the tint (phase) control unnecessary.

Now, there should be cheaper convertors. There's probably a chip for that. (to the tune of "there's an app for that") Also, there are PC cards for vid eo capture, I am sure there are PAL versions. After that, there are NTSC ad apters for the video coming out of the PC. This would work. Or he could jus t burn a DVD and that would work as long as the software does not mark it a nything other than region one. (NTSC)

Reply to
jurb6006

We have 2 of these vcrs at work and they will play back PAL tapes with an NTSC output if NTSC is set as the output in the menu and if the tape is recorded in SP mode. EP recorded PAL tapes won't play back properly.

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Reply to
Chuck

of tape from home, and I don't have a clue about multi system VCRs. It's an Aiwa multi system VHS model HV-MX1.

ctable output of either.

ure in color on an NTSC LCD TV via AV input. When a pre-recorded PAL tape is played, it auto selects PAL properly, but the picture on the monitor is black and white horiz bars, as if the horizontal hold was off just beyond l ock. However when PAL is selected as an output (despite the monitor being NTSC), the picture appears in black and white and with a "texture" to it (l ike playing a component input on the composite jack).

ibility between equipment. He said it worked years ago the last time it wa s tried, but that was on an RCA analog TV.

I talked to the owner and he again told me that this machine played his PAL tapes on an RCA 32" analog CRT TV. It was put away for a while and now he wants to play some tapes from home for his grand kids, and that's why he t ried it recently.

I tried it again today and it now plays the PAL prerecorded tape with a nor mal, clear, and stable picture when NTSC output is selected. Unfortunately , it's in black and white but at least it's now in horiz sync. I'm thinkin g there might be a horiz phase adjustment somewhere I can tweak. If the ho riz is right on the edge of break, it might be causing the loss of color. I tried cooling the machine down to see if I could get the horiz to drift a gain, but it hasn't (suspecting aging electrolytics).

Anyone have a link to a SM?

Reply to
John-Del

I stand corrected then. Probably a pretty expensive unit in its time.

Reply to
jurb6006

I would first scope the NTSC output and see if there is a color burst. If t here is it is likely too far off frequency. If there is not then the color killer is activated.

In any event, unfortunately for the guy this is liable to be fairly expensi ve repair. And then, my highest recommendation to anyone still using any fo rmat VCR is to copy everything to DVDs. In fact they now have super long li ved DVDRs for archival purposes because they have found that the regular DV DRs do not last forever.

Sorry about my error, but the format convertor is not a standard feature of multi-rate VCRs.

Reply to
jurb6006

John,

This one should be close.

formatting link

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Reply to
Chuck

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