I have some old personal VHS tapes. I want to have them digitized so I could continue to view them. It seemed simple enough. Alas, it is not that easy.
Option One: Library
Some of the public libraries have "maker stations" with a VHS digitization station. Seems simple enough. Alas, they are not open frequently. (I stopped by to see the whole area closed.) You also need appointments well in advance to go there. Seems like an option once I can get time that matches the opening hours.
Option Two: Borrow a VCR and burn DVD
This seems simple enough. We have a DVD recorder. I just need to borrow a VCR, plug it in and record a DVD, then I can rip the DVD to digital files. I borrowed the VCR, hooked it into the DVD recorder, put in a blank DVD and recorded. It seemed to work. I was able to play the DVD on the DVD recorder.
Then there came the problem. I could not read the DVD on a computer. I pulled up the DVD manual and saw that you need to finalize the disc to be able to read it elsewhere. D'oh! Of course, the only way to finalize is use a menu from the remote. And we don't have a remote that works with it. (Why did manufacturers insist on functionality that could only be done with remotes?)
To make matters worse, the manual does not mention the specific remote that works with it. We have a Sony dvd and universal remote that don't work with it. (We once had a universal remote that did work with it, but managed to lose that one.)
Finalization option one: Get a remote
Remote Option One: Sony DVD Remote
This failed. We see it recognizes something (3) on the DVD player when using it, but that's it.
Remote Option Two: Sony Universal Remote
Didn't work. Did some googling and it looks like the TV remote was of the same vintage as the DVD player, but they never worked together. D'oh!
Remote Option Three: Phone remote App
I downloaded a bunch of remote apps on my find. After trying them I discovered that they are not supported on my phone. Did some more searching and discovered that IR is not very popular, but was in vogue a while back.
Remote Option Three: Dig up an old phone
This is a case of almost. I saw Galaxy S6 on the list of phones with the IR Sensor. Alas, I have the S6 Edge+. They decided to take it out of this (and only this one.) A couple others were "just too early" A Huawei Honor 5 (it was in the 6). A Samsung Galaxy S3 (it was in the S4). Then there were other old phones like the FirePhone that mention IR a lot, just not in the the ability to send it out.
Remote Option Four: Find a used one
This could be an option. It would help if I knew the exact model I needed. There are some off-brand universal remotes that could come quickly that say they work with the DVD player. There are also some that say they are the right remote, but would take longer to come. Will need to keep something in mind. May also check thrift shops for the particular vintage that may work.
Finalization Option Two: Get DVD+RW blank disks
According to the DVD manual, these are automatically finalized. Looks like you can get a 15 pack for less than $1 per disc delivered quickly. Will the computer be able to read these properly?
Finalization Option Three: Software to extract unfinalized video
This seemed easy, but turned out to be more challenging. I found a number of things mentioned. Isobuster seems to be something that can extract it. But, it is a pay product only on windows. CDRoller is another windows tool. I also saw https://markandruth.co.uk/2019/09/30/ripping-unfinalized-dvds-from-linux for doing it on Linux. This approach may work on a Mac. In either case, it looks like it takes a long time. I will also need to pull out an old computer with a DVD drive.
Option three: DVD to video camera to computer
In a previous project, I got a mac mini to take firewire input from a camcorder to process miniDV tapes. Could I connect the output from the DVD player to the camcorder to record the tapes there and read them on the computer. The input on the camcorder has smaller ("headphone size") jacks rather than RCA. I have some adapters. Would they work? I'd also need to find some empty spot on tapes. Could be a possibility.
Option Four: HDMI to Computer
I learned that my DVD burner will send the incoming RCA input directly to HDMI. If I could pipe HDMI into my computer, I should be able to digitize just about anything without intermediary media. I saw some $10 gadgets that claimed to do it. However, they would require going to windows (and did not seem to work well.) I'll need to look to see if I can find something fairly universal and reliable.
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