Your Home Video Tapes Converted to HD Digital

 

New H.264 HD Video Studio

In late 2021 we upgraded our video editing suit and now offer an even more superior level of video scanning. We now capture direct to digital H.264 files in real time from to get the highest quality 1080p video capture from all popular video cassette formats.

1920 x 1080 HD

at an amazing 50fps  (Frames per second)

Click here for a sample clip

Before we start !!

 

Stuart Knight – Mr Scan Managing Director has more than 30 years experience working with video systems, he has previously worked with many police forces and prison services on CCTV video correction and enhancement engineering, he has also worked on digital video storage and enhancement engineering at the National Gallery London, to name just a few.

 

Stuart started his career as a test, calibrate and build engineer for G2 Video systems a video specialist who design and sell top of the range broadcast time-base correction equipment which we also use in house for all our video conversions to produce high end stable video results.

 

When shopping around for a good quality video conversion studio please don’t go with the guy who can offer any tape for around £5, basically you will get what you pay for and possibly have your tapes destroyed in the process. We are professionals, we only use top of the range equipment which is always well maintained.

so YES, we are very experienced in this field unlike many others online.

Experience is everything !!

You only want to do this once so why not get it done professionally first time with Mr Scan. Beware of others who us cheap domestic equipment and charge very low prices that are too good to be true as often they are and may damage your precious tapes forever.

 

VHS, VHS-C, S-VHS, Betamax, BetaCAM SP & Digital, Hi8, Video 8, DV, MiniDV, HDV, HD-MiniD, Mini DVD, Standard DVD, DVCAM, Digital-8, U-Matic

 

As standard your tapes to be converted to a digital download, you can also select good old standard DVD or a USB stick at the checkout, the choice is yours.

Important Information

Tape Conversion information:

Video format and codec – We use the most common codec to produce a digital  MP4 file, these are the most compatible with players such as PC/MAC, Xbox, Facebook and Youtube etc. If you wish to try a small clip of this video format before making your order just download our demo video above. We are not responsible for software on your device to play MP4 files, check our help page for recommendations.

Tapes are started from the beginning and continued until the footage changes to tape static or blank footage for at least 60 seconds. If however you know that your tape has some required footage towards the end of the tape please let us know where to find the required footage.

Blank Tapes – If a tape is put in our machine that looks blank we will play the first 10 minutes to check, if still blank no conversion will take place – If you believe your footage is further on in the tape you will need to let us know rough timings in your paperwork.

USB Sticks – Multiple videos will be put on one suitable sized USB stick

We keep things simple with pricing and  charge per tape and not on the length of the recording

Standard TV Broadcast – If your tape contains standard TV broadcast (i.e. Eastenders recorded from TV) then we will convert around an hour or where we see a suitable cut off point in the recording, if you require all or if there is a special part of this broadcast you require for example if you were a contestant on ‘The Weakest Link’ then please let us know in writing, if it is just a part required we need to know roughly where it is on the tape, in advance.

Confirmation of TV Broadcast – We need confirmation if you DO NOT require any tapes containing TV broadcasts to be converted or we will supply up to 2 hours of the footage on the tapes. If you do not require any TV broadcasts then we will simply run the tape for up to 10 minutes to check for home video with no charge.

Conversions are un-edited, there are as is on your original tape. Editing facilities are available upon request.

Obviously with older tapes, sometimes the video footage has degraded, if the video plays on our players we will convert all possible video footage for you. If it does not play then we will return the tape un-converted. If a tape needs a repair then we will invoice our set repair fee above for the repair, this is in addition to the digital conversion fee, the repair charge is not available without a digital conversion.

Please note as with all video conversions, you only get out what you put in, so if your original tapes are in a bad condition then this will be reflected in your DVD conversion, it is impossible to produce modern day HD video footage from old tapes.

Any tape or film sent to us which is not on the above list of conversions we will return with a shipping and handling fee applied.

Numbering – We can not always guarantee a set order for converting your tapes as we use multiple recorders and players, however we will mark tapes so that files can be cross-referenced with your original titles or numbering. 

Format conversion – Sometimes when converting formats such as NTSC to PAL you may see some video tearing at the top or bottom of the picture, this is totally normal and a process of the digital conversion.

Mini DV tapes recorded in LP – When a tape was recorded in LP mode it can cause slight glitching in video playback, LP mode allows for more footage on the tape by foregoing some of the error checking normally done. There are frequently issues with play back of LP tapes on any camera except the camera used for recording. Even using the same model of camera as the original may not be enough to get clean playback. If you know your DV tapes were recorded in LP mode you may wish to talk to us about supplying your original camcorder – this only applies to Mini DV tapes.

EP – Extended long play videos – If your tape is over 3 hours long then there may be a double charge fee.

U-matic Tapes – If we receive a Hi-Band U-Matic tapes these will still be converted but will be in monochrome only.

Copyright material – We will copy any material we are sent under the assumption that you own the copyright or have permission to digitise the tape. We offer the service of digital conversions and are not responsible for any copyright claims.

If we are converting your video to DVD please read the following information:

Due to the widespread use of USB sticks and USB ports in TVs we no longer recommend converting your old video tape to DVD, we have found that over the years DVDs are not robust enough to store your treasured video forever, we highly recommend a USB stick, however we understand that many customer still wish to use a DVD player so we can still if required produce DVDs.

Compatibility: As with any video conversion companies we use writable DVDs to supply the video footage. For footage of up to 2 hours in length we use single layer DVD+/-R discs, for video footage over 2 hours we use DVD+R DL (Dual layer) discs. So to put it in simple terms you just need to be sure your DVD player can play recordable discs, 95% will be fine with any type of disc however there are a few players on the market that won’t. Please check in your DVD player user manual, your DVD player will need to be compatible with recordable DVD+/-R DL discs – If in doubt Google the model number. You may need to update your DVD player firmware to be able to play some writable DVDs. We are not responsible for incompatibility issues, we test all our discs before shipping, we will try to assist where we can.

Most standard home videos are less than 120 minutes of video and fit on a single DVD.

Multiple tapes (up to 120 minutes) will be put on single disc unless specifically requested to be separate, each tape will have its own menu link, this will cut down on having to swap discs around on your DVD player and have all your films in one place. If you don’t want this option, just ask ! There is additional charges for producing extra discs at a later date.

 

 

Video Editing

If you require us to carry out any video editing, such as add music, remove certain video footage then this can be done in our editing studio at a cost of £55 per hour of our engineers time. Quotations available upon request.