Comments

gandjcarr wrote on 7/10/2012, 11:52 AM

Hi,

I can't tell by your question if you are asking about Beta or VHS.  They are two very different formats.  Beta is a format developed by Sony Corporation, and VHS was developed by JVC, Hitachi, and Sharp.  For Beta, you need a playback device that will play the Beta format, and for VHS, you need a playback device (VCR) that will play that format.  Then you will need a video capture device (usually a hardware product) that will allow you to copy the original tape to your computer in a digital format.  Once you have a file of the tape in your computer, then you can edit it and burn it to DVD.  If your video tapes are VHS there are a couple of combination decks on the market (I think) that will allow you to burn your VHS tapes directly to DVD, but I don't think there is anything still available for Beta.

dreamlass69 wrote on 7/11/2012, 5:56 AM

thankyou for your quick response i have both vhs and beta i have found a device to use for vhs but cannot find a device to use for the beta. i have the beta player and beta tapes yes it is very not as old as records or vinyls as they are called also. surely there is a device to use to download the beta tapes to my computer so i can save them to dvd.

thankyou

gandjcarr wrote on 7/11/2012, 1:47 PM

It is good that you have something that will play the Beta tapes.  The best I can offer you is to look at the Sabrent VD-GRBR Capture Box - USB, Audio, Video.  Not the best quality in the world, but neither is the analog format that the tapes were originally recorded in.  This product is available at www.tigerdirect.com for about $26, it actually does the job, but once you get it in to your computer, you may not be happy with the resolution.  But if they are memories that you want to preserve and have on DVD, it is worth a shot.  If you have a high end editing computer, there are a couple of video capture cards that I could reccomend that will cost over $200 but there are really no Beta transfer decks available other than perhaps on ebay.  Good luck!