Lines in digitized VHS

MovieEditorr wrote on 12/18/2025, 7:00 AM

Operating system: Windows 11 Pro
Device: Magix Video Saver! 2022 (8546KA1)

When I digitize old VHS cassettes. The quality is poor. Espesially in blue sky there is lines (see screenshot).

When I watch same cassette with same VHS recorder from TV there is no those lines and quality is much better.

Is my Video Saver broken or something? The quality has been like that from the beginning.

Comments

SP. wrote on 12/18/2025, 9:03 AM

@MovieEditorr Did you deinterlace the recorded footage? Analog video images are saved in lines and only contain half of the full video frame. Each frame switches back and forth between even- and odd numbered lines.

So, if you didn't deinterlace the lines, they are out of sync 1 frame and become annoyingly visible.

Do you have a CRT TV? VHS looks much better on those because of the way the screen works. It also could be that the signal on the tape weakend over the years and the TV boost it while the grabber might not boost the signal.

MovieEditorr wrote on 12/18/2025, 1:38 PM

Do you have a CRT TV?

Full HD LCD TV with Scart.

It also could be that the signal on the tape weakend over the years and the TV boost it while the grabber might not boost the signal.

The problem also applies to other VHS tapes.

AAProds wrote on 12/18/2025, 3:12 PM

@MovieEditorr

I doubt that it is the digitiser. You'll notice the yellow banding in the sky; that will be caused either by poor tape quality or the VCR, so I think the lines are probably caused by the same issue. You could try cleaning the VCR heads. This is a good guide.

@SP.

I doubt that it is interlacing jaggies; you probably wouldn't see them on a plain area such as the sky. They would, of course, show up on edges of objects which are moving.