Home Video (VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, 4k)

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On Reddit we have r/dvdcollection, r/boutiquebluray, r/4kbluray, r/steelbook, r/vhs, etc but let's start simply with a community to cover all the forms of home video collecting.

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While garage sale-ing recently, I found some old VHS tapes - I've now decided I want to start a personal archive and digitize these types of obscure tapes (programming.dev)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I got an Elgato capture card and a VCR off of EBay and have already digitized three tapes I've found at garage sales.

Any advice for cleaning up the image and audio? I recall there were VCR cleaners but never was confident of their efficacy.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

The spinny thing is the head drum. The divots are electromagnetic heads, usually four for video in a HiFi deck. Be careful when cleaning them as they are fragile. Avoid using any kind of material that may snag in their narrow gap. I like to use a strip of white paper wetted with isopropanol, holding it against the drum and turning it with the other hand. Repeat that till the paper comes away clean.

[–] Varyk 2 points 5 months ago

Oh this is great advice.

I also recommend softly holding whatever moistened but not dripping medium you're using up to the cleaner head divot line and spinning the head itself with your other hand.