Tape Format Support List

WE NEED SAMPLES!

Support List (Issue #20)

Ideally 1-5min FLAC compressed, at 28-40msps or higher upload samples to Telegram or email (harry@opcomedia.com)

BetaMax NTSC/PAL needs more samples from fresh media and old media.

Betacam/Betacam SP & MI/MII

W-VHS/MUSE.

Video2000

2" Quadruplex (any and all format versions)

1" SMPTE A/B/C

Capturing Tape Formats

Caution

• LaserDisc, Video8/Hi8 & Betamax NTSC are single channel FM RF formats, i.e DdD is suitable for use capturing.

• VHS, Betamax PAL and other formats require multiple ADC channels for Video RF & HiFi audio (and Baseband or Linear audio)

• Umatic & SMPTE and other broadcast formats require an ADC for Video RF but also requires standard audio ADC's for Linear & timecode audio tracks.

• Betacam & W-VHS require duel ADC's for the video tracks alongside the above-mentioned for audio.

Please look at the Clockgen Mod & the new MISRC which provides synchronised at the clock source level capturing of multiple channels of signals.

Index

• CVBS Composite

Open Reel Formats

• EIAJ

Colour Under Formats

• VHS
• SVHS
• Betamax
• Sony 8mm
  • Video8
  • HI8
• Umatic
• Phlips VCR
• Video2000

Broadcast Formats

• 1" Type C
• Betacam
• Betacam SP

Toy Formats

• PLX2000

Types Of TV Systems

525 Lines (NTSC)

625 Lines (PAL)

405 Lines / 819 Lines / 655 Lines (Older/Obscure now)

NTSC / NTSC-J (Black level difference is all)

PAL / PAL-M (525 line with PAL colour encoding)

SECAM / MESECAM (The French being French)

HDVS/MUSE/Hi-Vision/UniHi (1125-lines 1035-lines active 1035i)

Composite Video

Signal Format	Resolution	Field System	TV System	Aspect Ratio	RF Capture Support	Decoding Support
CVBS	525 Lines	Interlaced	525 NTSC	4:3 / 16:9	Yes*	Yes*
CVBS	625 Lines	Interlaced	625 PAL	4:3 / 16:9	Yes*	Yes*
CVBS 240p	240 Lines	Progressive	NTSC	4:3 / 16:9	Yes*	Yes*
CVBS 288p	288 Lines	Progressive	PAL	4:3 / 16:9	Yes*	Yes*
960h CCTV	960 x 576	Interlaced	N/A	16:9 Only	Yes*	Not Tested

*Capture is currently only reliable with the MISRC

Capture is possible via CX Cards currently (Other SDR units may also work with the correct input filter range)

VHS

Tape Format	Resolution	Tape Speed	TV System	RF Capture Support	Decoding Support
JVC VHS	240 Lines	SP	625 PAL	Yes	Yes
JVC VHS	240 Lines	LP	625 PAL	Yes	Yes
JVC VHS	240 Lines	EP	625 PAL	Yes	Yes
JVC VHS	240 Lines	SP	525 PAL-M	Yes	Yes
JVC VHS	240 Lines	LP	525 PAL-M	Yes	Yes
JVC VHS	240 Lines	EP	525 PAL-M	Yes	Yes
JVC VHS	240 Lines	SP	625 MESECAM	Yes	Yes
JVC VHS	240 Lines	LP	625 MESECAM	Yes	Yes
JVC VHS	240 Lines	EP	625 MESECAM	Yes	Yes
JVC VHS	240 Lines	SP	525 NTSC	Yes	Yes
JVC VHS	240 Lines	LP	525 NTSC	Yes	Yes
JVC VHS	240 Lines	EP	525 NTSC	Yes	Yes
JVC VHS	240 Lines	SP	525 NTSC-J	Yes	Yes
JVC VHS	240 Lines	LP	525 NTSC-J	Yes	Yes
JVC VHS	240 Lines	EP	525 NTSC-J	Yes	Yes

Ruxpin Tapes GNU Radio Scripts available PDF Info / Lost Media Link

S-VHS (Super VHS)

Tape Format	Resolution	Tape Speed	TV System	RF Capture Support	Decoding Support
JVC SVHS	400 Lines	SP	625 PAL	Yes	Yes
JVC SVHS	400 Lines	LP	625 PAL	Yes	Yes
JVC SVHS	400 Lines	EP	625 PAL	Yes	Yes
JVC SVHS	400 Lines	SP	525 NTSC	Yes	Yes
JVC SVHS	400 Lines	LP	525 NTSC	Yes	Yes
JVC SVHS	400 Lines	EP	525 NTSC	Yes	Yes

BetaMax (βeta)

Tape Format	Resolution	Tape Speed	TV System	RF Capture Support	Decoding Support
Betamax	250 Lines	βI	PAL	Yes	Yes
Betamax	250 Lines	βI	NTSC	Yes	Yes
Betamax	250 Lines	βII	NTSC	Yes	Untested

Note

Betamax HiFi is very different between PAL and NTSC.

• NTSC Betamax works like LaserDisc Video8/Hi8 - with the FM HiFi audio fitted in between the colour-under chroma and the FM modulated luminance, with >the video heads capturing everything via a single RF path.

• PAL Betamax however works like VHS HiFi with depth multiplex and separate heads with different azimuth to the video heads, requiring two physical RF taps and two capture paths - one for video, one for HiFi audio. (There's no space in the video RF to squeeze the HiFi audio in PAL Betamax)

ED Beta

Extended Definition Betamax

Tape Format	Resolution	Tape Speed	TV System	RF Capture Support	Decoding Support
ED Beta	500 Lines	βI	PAL	Yes	Not implemented
ED Beta	500 Lines	βI	NTSC	Yes	Not implemented

Umatic

More Samples & Testing Required!

Tape Format	Resolution	Tape Mode	TV System	RF Capture Support	Decoding Support
Sony Umatic	250 lines	LoBand	525 NTSC	Yes	Yes
Sony Umatic	250 lines	LoBand	625 PAL	Yes	Yes
Sony Umatic	250 lines	HiBand	625 PAL	Yes	Yes

Tape Format	Resolution	Tape Mode	TV System	RF Capture Support	Decoding Support
Sony Umatic	320 lines	HiBand SP	525 NTSC	Yes	Implemented
Sony Umatic	320 lines	HiBand SP	625 PAL	Yes	Implemented

Sony 8mm

Sony's portable consumer format had both camcorders and a limited range of VCRs.

Video8/Hi8 Runtime & File Sizes

Format	Time Minutes	Time Hours	DdD 10-bit Packed 40msps .lds	DdD 16-bit FLAC 40msps .ldf
PAL-SP	120 minutes	2 Hours	400GB +-	150GB +-
PAL-LP	240 minutes	4 Hours	700GB +-	250GB +-
NTSC-SP	150 minutes	2.5 Hours	500GB +-	300GB +-
NTSC-LP	300 minutes	5 Hours	800GB +-	600GB +-

*Rough numbers based off 1min captures

Video8

Tape Format	Resolution	Tape Speed	TV System	RF Capture Support	Video Decoding Support	HiFi Audio Decoding Support
Sony Video8	280 Lines	SP/LP	625 PAL	Yes	Yes*	Yes*
Sony Video8	280 Lines	SP/LP	525 NTSC	Yes	Yes*	Yes

HI8

Tape Format	Resolution	Tape Speed	TV System	RF Capture Support	Video Decoding Support	HiFi Audio Decoding Support
Sony Hi8	415 Lines	SP/LP	625 PAL	Yes	Yes*	Yes*
Sony Hi8	415 Lines	SP/LP	525 NTSC	Yes	Yes*	Yes

*Hi8 requires more work, but video8 is virtually near native hardware decoding for SP tapes.

*HiFi PAL needs fine-tuning mode disabled on some tapes, carrier detection code needs updating.

EIAJ

Tape Format	Resolution	Tape Mode	TV System	RF Capture Support	Decoding Support
EIAJ	300 Lines	Monocrome	405 PAL	Yes	Preliminary
EIAJ	300 Lines	Monocrome	405 NTSC	Yes	Not implemented
EIAJ	300 Lines	Monocrome	625 PAL	Yes	Preliminary
EIAJ	300 Lines	Monocrome	525 NTSC	Yes	Not implemented
EIAJ	300 Lines	Colour	625 PAL	Yes	Preliminary
EIAJ	300 Lines	Colour	525 NTSC	Yes	Not implemented

*Requires --fallback_vsync currently

2" Quad (Quadruplex)

Tape Format	Resolution	TV System	RF Capture Support	Decoding Support
2" Quad	xxx Lines	405 B/W	Yes	Pending
2" Quad	xxx Lines	819 B/W	Yes	Pending
2" Quad	xxx Lines	655 PAL	Yes	Pending
2" Quad	xxx Lines	525 NTSC	Yes	Pending
2" Quad	xxx Lines	625 PAL	Yes	Pending
2" Quad	xxx Lines	625 SECAM	Yes	Pending

1" SMPTE Type C

Tape Format	Resolution	TV System	RF Capture Support	Decoding Support
Type C	430 Lines	525 NTSC	Yes	Working
Type C	430 Lines	625 PAL	Yes	Working
Type C	430 Lines	625 SECAM	Yes	Not implemented

*Requires --fallback_vsync currently

1" SMPTE Type B

Tape Format	Resolution	TV System	RF Capture Support	Decoding Support
Type B	430 Lines	625 PAL	Yes	Not implemented
Type B	430 Lines	525 NTSC	Yes	Not implemented
Type B	430 Lines	625 SECAM	Yes	Not implemented

1" SMPTE Type C

Tape Format	Resolution	TV System	RF Capture Support	Decoding Support
Type C	430 Lines	625 PAL	Yes	Not implemented
Type C	430 Lines	525 NTSC	Yes	Not implemented
Type C	430 Lines	625 SECAM	Yes	Not implemented

Philips VCR

Philips N1500, Philips N1700

Tape Format	Resolution	TV System	RF Capture Support	Decoding Support
VCR SP	200 Lines?	625 PAL	Yes	Preliminary
VCR LP	200 Lines?	625 PAL	Yes	Preliminary

Philips Video 2000

Tape Format	Resolution	TV System	RF Capture Support	Decoding Support
Video 2000	230 Lines	625 PAL	Yes	Not implemented

BetaCam

Samples are Required!

Tape Format	Resolution	TV System	RF Capture Support	Decoding Support
PAL	320 Lines	625 PAL	Yes*	Not implemented
NTSC	320 Lines	525 NTSC	Yes*	Not implemented

RF capture requires MISRC or CX Cards with Clockgen Mod as this requires 2 channels for Video.

BetaCam SP

Samples are Required!

Tape Format	Resolution	TV System	RF Capture Support	Decoding Support
PAL	360 Lines	625 PAL	Yes*	Not implemented
NTSC	360 Lines	525 NTSC	Yes*	Not implemented

RF capture requires MISRC or CX Cards with Clockgen Mod as this requires 2 channels for Video.

4ch Baseband Capture but AFM could be RF Captured and run though HiFi-Decode, samples are required.

MII

Samples are Required!

Tape Format	Resolution	TV System	RF Capture Support	Decoding Support
PAL	xxx Lines	625 PAL	Yes*	Not implemented
NTSC	xxx Lines	525 NTSC	Yes*	Not implemented

RF capture requires MISRC or CX Cards with Clockgen Mod as this requires 2 channels for Video.

UniHi

Tape Format	Resolution	TV System	RF Capture Support	Decoding Support
UniHi	1125i30	HDTV	Yes*	Not implemented

*Not enough is known about decks, non of dev group own this format.

PXL-2000

There is already a decoder and YouTube Documentation on this.

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