Playing VHS tape with Sony VCR on a PC?

[Blue_nose]

Hello

I wish to convert a few VHS tapes to DVD disk and have the PC accessories to do so (converter, cables, etc). I have done this many times using another VCR.

I now have a Sony VCR model SLV-SE230 and have rigged it up to my PC. Windows 10 detects that I have plugged in the VCR. However, when I press PLAY on the VCR with a home made video inside it, I see no movie on my PC screen via commercial video editing software (whereas I can see a movie playing when I use my other VCR, just as if it were playing on a TV screen). I have downloaded the manual for my Sony SLV-SE230 and there is no mention at all of how to connect it to a PC.

Does this mean that VHS tapes playing in my Sony SLV-SE230 VCR cannot be viewed on a PC, or am I not doing something right?

Thanks!

[Blue_nose]

Since you already confirmed that the grabber ususally works with other devices, that is most likely the reason. I suppose your other devices directly output Composite video + Chinch (yellow/red/white) as oppose to the Sony VCR for which you need to adapt "Scart" to this connector.

I think I know what you mean. You are saying that with this Sony VCR, I am not able to connect it to my PC in the same way as I do the Hitachi VCR?

[IamNic]

Hello @Blue_nose,

if I understood you correctly, you connect the Hitachi VCR via Composite-video+Chinch (Yellow, White, Red), since it features said output directly on the device, while for the Sony VCR you have to adapt Scart to Composite-video+Chinch.

Did I get that right? 🤔

If so, then the adapter you are using to plug into the back of your Sony VCR is directional and would only work on the display-side (e.g. TV) but not as an adapter on the device-side (as you use it here).

There are different Scart to Composite Video+Chinch adapters, some only work as input, some work as output, others even have a switch on the side to use them for both applications - yours seemingly doesn't have such a switch, so it could be just for input on a TV and therefore the reason, why it doesn't work connected to your video grabber.

Composite+Chinch to Scart adapter with a switch to use it for both signal "directions".

- Nic

[Blue_nose]

if I understood you correctly, you connect the Hitachi VCR via Composite-video+Chinch (Yellow, White, Red), since it features said output directly on the device, while for the Sony VCR you have to adapt Scart to Composite-video+Chinch.

Hello Nic

No. I am trying to connect the Sony VCR in exactly the same was as I connected the Hitachi VCR since that is the only way I know how to do it and that is the way it works (with the Hitachi, at least).

With the Hitchaci, I plug in the scart lead into the VCR, and I am doing the same with the Sony. The scart lead connects to the converter/grabber via the red, yellow, and white cables (which are on the other side of the scart plug as in the screenshot). The converter attaches to the PC via the USB lead.

If my set-up was appropriate only for a TV, how to explain the many DVDs I have burnt from a VHS tape via the Hitachi VCR. That's what I was trying to ask before. Is it possible that the Sony VCR cannot display VHS on a PC screen whereas the Hitachi VCR can?